one20 Pub & Grill

You're probably wondering why I chose to eat at a pub for lunch. No, I'm not boozing it up during lunch hour! In fact, I had to resort to drinking ice tea, in a bar. Pretty sad sight, I know! The real reason for my visit to one20 was that I had received a gift certificate on Friday and I decided to use it. Actually, when I went to pay, it was apparently expired!??!!? Luckily the server was nice and still accepted it. I've been to one20 before and despite it being a bar, the food isn't all that bad. Of course it's the usual stuff: fried appetizers, burgers, sandwiches and some entrees. But if you look more closely, there are a few interesting items as well.

As I was sipping my iced tea, amongst people drinking beer, I decided to start with the Hot Wings. I know it's quite difficult to get really excited about a pound of hot wings; however, these were pretty good. They were decent in size and fried perfectly. The outside was crispy, while the inside was still quite juicy. In addition, the wings were coated with just enough hot sauce which covered the entire wing without drowning it. Thus, the wings remained crispy even though it was completely coated with sauce. Despite it being an all day special, blue cheese or ranch dressing was included. The "second course" as my server declared tongue-in-cheek was a Beef Dip with fries. I was pleased to discover that the beef was actual roast beef (not that Arby's ham-like roast beef). Moreover, there was plenty of roast beef stuffed in a crusty bun. Although the au jus was probably powdered mix, it was not overly salty. The fries that accompanied the beef dip were pretty pedestrian.

On a return visit with Pomegranate, I finally got to try their Loaded Beef Burger. For all my previous visits, I've had anything but the burger. And we all know that a good pub needs a respectable burger! And yes, it was a respectable burger. The patty was not overly dry and not oily while the bacon was lean and crispy. The mushroom were sauteed nicely; but the onions are hardly caramelized. I decided to substitute yam fries and they were crispy. The chipotle mayo had a decent kick to it, which I enjoyed very much. Pomegranate had their Chicken Wrap and although the flavours were good with some spice and fresh veggies, the chicken was quite dry. It probably needed more sauce to make up for that.

I don't usually head to a bar to get lunch. Frankly, my image of a bar includes beer, beer and more beer. Food is almost an afterthought. However, the food at one20 is more than passable. It's not gourmet; but it really isn't expected to be. Moreover, the prices are very reasonable, nothing is really over $10.00. Mind you, my ice tea was $3.75. I could've had a beer for a little bit more. But I can't go back to work after guzzling beer! I will go back to the one20 for lunch again; but I'll just stick with water.

The Good:
- Food is pretty cheap
- Food ain't bad for a bar
- Service is pretty good

The Bad:
- Beer everywhere and I can't have any...