Brown Derby RoadHouse

I think this is the first time I've ever seen a brewpub in a chain restaurant that doesn't typically feature homemade beers. Roadhouse is typically you're average below-average chain restaurant ubiquitous with Applebee's. Apparently it used to be a different restaurant, but the lady that bought it several years back decided to go into a franchise. Big mistake.

The food was awful. Roadhouse is supposed to be a steak, grilling, barbecue place. I ordered the baby back ribs with a baked sweet potato. The sweet potato was as big as my head and tasted just fine, but a monkey could put a potato in an oven for a half-hour.

The ribs were just awful. Scrawny and stringy, as you moved down the rib from where it connected to the spine it suddenly changed to cartilage, or just under-developed bone. You shouldn't be able to pull - not break, but pull - the "rib" in half length-wise. It was also fatty and just not good eats.

The beers were well below average as well. A decent selection, I think there were eight that day. Nothing outside the norm was very true to style. For example, the German pilsner tasted American, the Belgian Trippel tasted like a stronger Blue Moon. It's still better than Bud and the like, but not much. I'd sooner order a guest tap.

The service was awful as well. The bartender was not busy but it was still nearly impossible to get any service. Seemed like she hated her life and wanted nothing more than to sulk in the back and get drunk.

Brown Derby Roadhouse, which evidently is neither a Brown Derby nor a Texas Roadhouse, is located right off OH-18, less than a mile from I-71 in Medina. They have a fairly good sized private lot.

The exterior and interior both look like any chain Roadhouse/Tumbleweed type place. Lots of wood, cowboy stuff, orange neon, peanut shells, etc. The only thing that gives this establishment away as a brewpub is the equipment viewable behind glass from the dining area. The bar is to the right with the majority of the place devoted to table seating.

The beer selection consists of 5-6 Roadhouse beers with an equal number of guest taps from the likes of Victory, Thirsty Dog, Bluegrass, Leinenkugel and Hofbrauhaus. The house beers are the standard Light, Red, Wheat type offerings plus a seasonal or two. The beers are average at best across the board. The beer is available in 5-glass samplers for $5.00.

Service was pretty good on a Friday early evening. The server didn't know a whole lot about the beers, but was helpful in providing samplers and outlining their own beers.

The food here is decent but overpriced. My chicken/ribs combo was along the lines of other restaurants like this.

Overall I am skeptical that a brewpub fits in with the motif and clientele here. I did not really see anyone else drinking the Roadhouse beer on my visit. However I hope they can keep it going as it is good to see them trying, and having some decent guest beers to boot. Worth a quick stop on the way to or from Cleveland if nothing else.