Bar #47 Pacer's Restaurant (Deceased)

This week's bar faces the strongest opposition that I have seen so far. When announced that I was going here for this week's bar I had multiple negative comments with a slew of likes on them. Looking up reviews of the bar gives an odd split of very negative and positive reviews. My friends and I still ventured in to this week's bar ready for anything. Is bar #47 the worst bar in Lakewood or is Pacers Restaurant on pace for the best.

The first thing you see when you get to Pacers is a gigantic patio. It's in fact the largest one in Lakewood. So, if today's blog entices you to visit, then do it while it's warm enough to enjoy the giant outdoor space. The second thing we noticed was the entrance is a revolving door, always a good decision for drunk people. Of course the entrance is for the entire office building and not just the bar.

Upon entering the bar you are greeted by the hostess and a long room. The bar is split in four parts. The quarter you're in is just entrance area and bar seating. You can circle around the bar for more seating at the bar and play a variety of games like pool, darts and corn hole. There is of course the large patio area, that we chose against to hide from the insect hordes. The downside to living next to a Great Lake is it's also a great buzzy insect incubator. Lastly there is a bunch of seating at tables and booths ending with a large projection TV. The whole restaurant has a horse racing theme, which explains their name.

Just to get this part out of the way the service was good. They were friendly, answered my questions and put up with the my minor obnoxious ordering quirks that have slowly grown through this blog.

I ordered a Southern Tier Pumkin Ale. It had its own glass and they put cinnamon around the rim. Pumpkin is the primary flavor to the beer with a background taste of mild ale and a dusting of seasoning. I prefer a pumpkin ale to taste like pumpkin, not as an ingredient to be hidden. So I approve of the beer and will drink more of it once it's no longer summer.

Now onto food! There's free fresh popcorn. I ordered the garlic and chili wings both saucy and crispy. This didn't please me, they are very small and the crispiness eliminated almost all meatiness leaving them a bit tough. I also ordered the self proclaimed “America's Best Ribs.” They are not the best ribs in America. They are quite good. The sauce was solid, not standing out but enjoyable. The ribs were tender and meaty. Kelly ordered the quesadilla with very low expectations but they were good, being both light and non-greasy. Their ranch sauce/dressing was highly recommended. They also offer food, some nights, till 1 am.

Jonn doesn't like spicy foods for the most part. You may remember from a previous blog that he still tried the ghost pepper sauce and extremely regretted it. Jonn has been trying fight back against things that make him unhappy. He has a fear of heights but has been climbing mountains, very tall buildings and even trapezing. This is the reason that he tried the undead sauce, just because he doesn't like most hot things doesn't necessarily mean he won't like this one. The counter argument was presented: I don't like being hit in the face with a ball peen hammer. I'm not going to try getting hit by other hammers to see if I'll like a different one. The moral to our story is that there is a difference between facing new things and your fears and doing things that will make you unhappy in different ways.


Today's tip on women: Guys, when women have a cold with puffy eyes, and a runny nose. No matter how much “you don't mind”, they do not feel sexy. They also probably won't want your oozing face near theirs if you're the sick one. Tell them they're beautiful and give them some chicken soup because you know you're going to be a whiney jerk when you catch it from her.

Pacer's can stand as much as a restaurant with a bar as a bar with food. They have your normal bar activities including trivia, karaoke and free wifi. There's no problem just drinking during your visit. Pacer's has a large food selection levels and received mostly good reviews by the five of us. The beer selection is passable giving multiple options no matter what your beer taste is. The pricing is above dive bar but you can eat a meal for under $10. We left bar #47, Pacer's Restaurant, happy and so can you.

14600 Detroit Ave

216-226-2000

pacers1453@sbcglobal.net

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Bar #30: The Flying Rib

This week's bar was picked because I was hungry. This is one of the few bars that comes right out and says we're good at this one specific type of food. The Flying Rib is bar #30 and I'm eating ribs tonight.

I entered the Flying Rib, which used a mixture of antique ceiling, dark wood, and modernish designs. The first room was all bar on the left and all four person booths on the right. 

Unfortunately, there were five of us so we moved onto the dining room, decorated with a ton of beer sings and a punching bag machine. In the beginning, we had to order at the bar but both bartenders quickly switched over to serving us directly at the table.

I didn't write down what I drank.

 Check back later and I'll have actual information here.

The salad was fine and 

more filling than expected. Jalapeno poppers are fried cheese with a jalapeno pepper slice inside. You really can't go wrong with that, and they didn't. Now the important question. How were the ribs? The sauce was good, a little tangy. The meat just fell off the bones. There were the little bonelets on the end of the ribs. Overall they were good and more than worth the price.

I ordered a side salad, jalapeno poppers and a half rack of ribs. 

There's a lot to do at the Flying Rib, most of which is in the third game room that takes up the right half of the bar. They've got indoor cornhole, ping pong, darts and pool. The game of the night however, was the electronic punching bag. A group of guys were going back and forth on it. They were punching hard enough that little Jurassic Park rings were appearing on the beers. They started with using their fists. They then, upped the ante to using their heads. The first head bunt hit as hard as some of the weaker punches. The second guy slipped and almost put his head into the machine. They went back to punching after that.

Johnny our beer connoisseur was unable to be with us this bar.  His job shipped him off to Taiwan for a couple weeks to teach them how to build his solar panels.  But he was with us in spirit and with spirit over Skype.

The Flying Rib had good service, food and a comfortable enough atmosphere. Everyone there was enjoying themselves and they had more than enough games to keep the good times rolling. There are plenty of reasons to go to the Flying Rib, their ribs are just the BBQ icing on the cake.

11926 Madison Ave

216.521.0117

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