Salads. Most of us eat them to fulfill our daily veggie quota, but they’re not always thrilling. If prepared with enough vigor, however, they can eat like full-bodied meals. Recently I’ve noticed more restaurants promoting salads to entrée status, like Barrel 44 Whiskey Bar in my neighborhood. As my boyfriend explains, “they’re salads, but they’re filling. And you don’t run out of meat before you finish them.” Barrel 44 offers four hefty salads: the Mojo Pork Tenderloin Salad with grilled Holland peppers, black bean jicama salsa, and Vidalia dressing; the 44 Salad with sundried cherries, candied pecans, goat cheese, beet curls, and burgundy vinaigrette; the Asian Seared Tuna Salad with seared Ahi tuna, pickled ginger, wakame, wasabi aioli, and sesame soy vinaigrette; and the Black and Blue Salad with grilled flatiron steak, Maytag blue cheese, crumbled bacon, and cucumber ranch dressing. They each cost between $6 and $11.
Aside from gregarious greens, Barrel 44 has my favorite stout on draft. It’s one of the only bars I know of that carries the sweet yet robust dark beer that's strong-armed its way into my dreams. It’s terrifyingly, unabashedly good. So even though Barrel 44 cut too many corners on décor, its menu and whiskey selection nearly make up for it. Perhaps someday the owners will realize they’re not fooling anyone with their (laughably) tepid Wal-Mart curtains and wall art…and that a little Johnny Cash would go far. Until then I’ll happily munch and sip on my salad and stout.
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