Barrel 44

I went to this location once for a group function and honestly I wasn’t too impressed. The décor definitely had a monastery feel, or at least it reminded me of what a 18^th century home/​church might look like. The food wasn’t that remarkable.
Don’t fret if you never got to try it before it closed. You didn’t miss much.

Nothing too special. THe place was never really remodeled from when it was Bexley Monk.
The waiter I had didn’t seem to know much about whiskey, which was odd to me.
Anyhoo, they are closed as of September 18^th. The staff was let go and the place is dark. Hopefully the new Bexley Giant Eagle will go here.

Love the bourbon trail sampler. 3 bourbons per sampler & definitely try the apple cinnamon infused bourbon.

Very quiet for lunch. Its tucked in the back of a plaza which is a shame. I ended up with the 44 burger… AMAZING! cooked right, juicy and flavorful. I will definitely be back

This is for the restaurant, not the bar. Nothing special. Empty on a Wednesday night. They were not serving several menu items, supplies were out or something like that. What they did serve was ok.
They need new carpet, or at least clean it up.
There are other places in Bexley, check those out.
The bar however, was very crowded.

If you’re here for the Whisk (e)y selection, Barrel 44 has one of the best in town. If you can find a place dedicated specifically to Scotch or Bourbon (good luck with that in Columbus,) you may find a better selection. Otherwise Barrel 44 is hard to beat. They may not have everything that’s on the Whisky menu, and they may have stuff that’s not on the menu, so ask if you don’t see anything you’re game for. Flights are available for those who like to sample.
The food is excellent, and tough to beat at this price point. The only warning I’d offer is this: everyone says the place is casual, but you may bot be comfortable here in jeans and t-​shirts. I’d advise a collared shirt at minimum.

This review is based upon two visits and if I could give it a 2.5 I would, 2 seems too harsh, and a 3 seems generous based on my two visits.
Great Happy Hour. It’s awesome that they have a Saturday Happy Hour! Food is good, we’ve had several of the small plates, and the Chorizo Shrimp Flatbread. The selection of beer, wine and spirits is impressive. The bar-​staff (we’re bar sitters) are friendly and well trained.
The restaurant looks pretty much identical to how it looked when it was Bexley’s Monk, but it works. The last time I visited Bexley’s Monk it seemed pretty sad and time-​worn so I believe Barrel did some much needed fixes on the tired bits, because it certainly doesn’t look as sad as it did before the Monk closed.
The service that we had during our first visit was great, the second was like the tale of two experiences. It started out amazing, we got there a little after 4:00 on a Saturday and were the only ones there at first. As the evening progressed and more customers arrived our service became less and less attentive. I didn’t see much excuse for it, even though the activity had increased they were by no means understaffed and the bar area was half full and the dining area less than half full.
I had asked about their points card with our first server soon after we sat down, but did not receive an application. I asked a second bartender (we were sitting at the bar). The second bartender gave us an application which I immediately filled out and placed close to the glass our tab was in. When we finally got someone to run our bill they neglected to process it against the card, so no points.
I would not normally be irked about something like that, but since our service had changed from super attentive to nearly ignored, and then the original server who I had asked about the points card rang our tab without remembering that I had asked or seeing the filled out application — well, I can’t really explain it, but it just didn’t sit well. She gave the application back to me and said since it was rung without the card there was nothing she could do. It has irritated me all weekend. .. it felt like one of those turning points where the inattentative service during the last part of our visit could have been turned around by a little effort but wasn’t.
The first time we went there my vodka tonic (which had an orange slice in it) was tossed out and refilled as a water. They were great about it, and gave me a brand new drink. That said it nearly happened again this past Saturday, again, it had an orange slice in it. How many waters do they serve with orange slices? I don’t know, maybe they do it all the time, but I think I would tend to think it was an alcoholic drink and not a water — or maybe ask first? I only comment about my drinks getting tossed because even though our attentive service had declined, they seemed obsessed about refilling my drink with ice water.
The food is really good, but we have only had small plates and a flatbread. We’ve had the Palm Beach Crab Cake, the Jumbo Scallops, Tuna Wakame Cups, Shrimp and Scallops Sambucca and the Crostini with Beef and Blue Cheese. They were all good and would be ordered again with exception of the Beef and Blue Cheese Crostini which was supposed to be served rare and on Cuban bread. The flavor was good, but the beef was medium and the Cuban bread was ridiculously thick, at least 2.5 inches which is insane — don’t you want me to spend more $$ on food instead of filling me up with a half loaf of bread? There were three crostini — they could have cut one of the bread slices into thirds and it would have been perfect.
So, I will most likely give them another chance, but it will be a while. Saturday’s experience left me a little cold. In a town with so many restaurant choices they are a bit too cavalier with their service. I see today after reading some of the great reviews about Bexley’s Barrel 44 that I am not the only with mixed feelings on their service. Hopefully they get the proper focus cause it takes more than a good menu to keep people coming back.

Came here for dinner one day last week for the first time. My dinner companion frequents this place and seemed to recommend the burgers, so we both got that. I had the Babalu burger which was pretty good.
The place was nice, the wait staff was nice, they had a good selection of food… I would probably go there again, but there was nothing particularly exceptional about it. The menu outside of the burgers was rather pricy.

This is about my 4^th visit to the Bexley location. I am a big fan of the Crostini with Beef and Blue Cheese and the Duck Flatbread.

Wine, whiskey, food, dim lighting, empty dining room… repeat.
As a newish resident of Bexley, I’ve been to Barrel quite a few times now as it is a really great option for fantastic drink options, knowledgeable service, and filling American fare. Yet, each time I’ve gone, I’ve left wanting a little more.
I never visited when it was the old Bexley Monk, but I can imagine a lot of its appeal carried on well into the Barrel brand.
I felt most comfortable sitting at the bar on all my visits because the dining room was practically empty. Great if you want privacy and silence. Not so great if you wanted to people watch while sipping an Old Fashioned.
The menu is a mix of upscale American favorites like a Ratatouille Flatbread, Barrel Bourbon Burger (which was awesome,) Crab Cake Sliders and Crostinis with Beef and Blue Cheese. I recall them also having a phenomenal happy hour.
This is the place to go for a nice, simple night out with a variety of pretty outstanding food options, whiskey selection and attentive service. It’s just not my first choice for a night on the town in Bexley.

My first (brunch) trip to the Bexley Barrel 44 was completely fantastic. I had a great burger at the bar, the service was attentive, not overbearing, and I was surprised there were so few people in the place. I was anxious to come back and try the dinner and whiskey menus.
My second (dinner) trip was quite the disappointment. We called ahead for a table of 9 and were assured we’d be seated right away. Upon arrival at ~8 PM on a Friday, the sparsely populated dining room should have given us a hint. This seemed unusual on their one year anniversary weekend but I assumed they just didn’t market the event. We soon figured out people are probably just choosing better alternatives.
Our waiter pointed out that one of the specials was created for a VIP in the private room that he was also waiting on. We could see that he also had a ~20 top birthday party in the main dining room. It was unusual for one waiter to be covering such an unreasonable number of large groups, especially at the end of a double shift. I wrongly assumed he was finishing up with those groups.
45 minutes after arrival, part of our table received the first round of drinks and none of us had been given an opportunity to order dinner. With our waiter tucked away in the private dining room, we approached a very apologetic manager who mentioned they were short a server (just one?) and she promptly took our order. The two undelivered drinks then showed up, clearly melted from sitting at the service bar. Another waiter filled the water glasses as nearly all were empty at this point.
The food was fantastic and several added the generously sized lobster tail for only $ 10. One person enjoyed the Ritz Cracker encrusted Walleye special. My Grilled Flatiron Steak was served at the desired temperature and was perfectly paired with the sauce and potatoes. I especially appreciated the textures of the accompanying crisp bacon and soft mushrooms. I would absolutely recommend this dish. Only one item, the Duck Flatbread, received marginal reviews. Another in the party advised it was delicious on a previous visit.
We certainly enjoyed the flights (3 – 1 oz pours) of whiskey and our brown liquor experts raved at the rare and extensive selection. It was unfortunate that procuring a second round of drinks was virtually impossible and even worse when the waiter blamed it on the bar. We had to request missing drinks from the second round be removed from the check instead of being delivered when the entire table was ready to leave. It’s never good practice to make excuses, especially after clearly giving very little attention to a table. We pushed the dirty dishes on our unbused table aside, signed our checks, and left.
The manager was pleasant and conversational when she took our order and asked us to return. She did not, however, do anything about the mandatory 20% large group gratuity. While we ordinarily consider 20% a minimum threshold for reasonable service, this was one occasion where we would have left less. It is likely our server is quite capable as we did see him actively working the other tables. It is unfortunate he was overwhelmed without any support and couldn’t provide a basic level of service for our dining experience. I am anxious to try the many options Columbus has to offer before giving Barrel 44 another shot. Two stars for the menu and none for the service or empty restaurant vibe.

My first trip to Barrel 44 was on a Sunday evening. The place was EMPTY. Really, like mine-​was-​the-​only-​car-​in-​the-​parking-​lot kind of empty. And I can’t figure out why. Lovely atmosphere, really friendly and well-​informed wait staff, and durn good food. I opted that evening for the «44 Burger,» which comes with Swiss cheese and portabella mushrooms that have been sauteed in a demi-​glacé with cherries. Sounds weird, tastes fabulous.
Let me back up: I am NOT a whiskey drinker, but I felt compelled to try one of their mixed drinks when I read their lovely descriptions. I am still not a whiskey drinker. I did not love my drink at all. But I should have guessed that going in, and I will not count it against the restaurant. I was the idiot who ordered a whiskey-​based drink, and that’s exactly what I got.
Back to dinner: I also ordered dessert that night (really treating myself.) I had the crème brûlée cheesecake, which was a very light cheesecake with pockets of crème brûlée throughout and a bit of caramel on top. I planned on eating half of it and taking the other half home, but when it arrived at my table, it was small enough and delicious enough to be a one-​sitting dessert.
I went to Barrel 44 again on a Saturday morning for brunch. You’ve GOT to try the French toast. When it arrived at our table, my friend and I both noticed that you could SMELL the butter in which it had been cooked. The toast itself is coated in Frosted Flakes before cooking, and they add a terrific crunch. The meal comes with breakfast meat: I had turkey sausage links (delish!) and my friend had, well, a mountain of bacon, which she said was delicious as well. This time, I skipped the mixed drink and just had orange juice. I’ll make that choice again as well.
This is not a weekly trip. It’s a little pricey and really rich food. But as a special occasion place, or an «I-​feel-​the-​need-​to-​treat-​myself» place, I know it’s worth it!

THANK GOD IT IS NOT THE MONK!!!
This is an awesome whiskey themed bar and restaurant. I’ve only been in the bart and have been impressed every time there. The Happy Hour makes me truly happy with excellent prices and good food offerings. I’ve had all the small plates several times and have been happy wit the taste and quality.
The bartenders are great and very friendly. The place has a fun atmosphere and again, I’m so glad it is NOT the monk and I’m sick of the comparisons here. The Monk was a whole different animal. This is a much better use of a great space.
This place does it right. Great pricing and an awesome selection of whiskey and food.
Definitely a place to be visited often. bexley finally has a great happy hour gathering place!

This location has a completely different vibe than the short north location! For starters, the bar is at least twice as long and wraps around in a big olé rectangle in the center of the space, encompassing both rooms. Second, the clientele, muy diferente! It’s Bexley, so there are more, oh, how to say… old people? But it’s totally cool. They’re good old people, not like shitty old people who bitch when you make too much noise or cuss.
Same awesome happy hour specials on bourbon and small plates, and I haven’t been to Barrel 44 in ShoNo often enough to say if the menu is the same or not, but I can tell you that my service experience at the Bexley location was magnitudes above my handful of non-​drinking experiences at the ShoNo location. Bit of a hike from mi casa, but I would go back under the right circumstances.

I whole-​heartedly agree with Liz M’s review. The Bexley Barrel 44 is just kinda «meh».
It’s most definitely not bad, but it’s also not great. I really, really hate their gigantic space. I feel like it’s not used well, and it’s incredibly uninviting. And it’s a bit confusing too! When I first walked in, I had no clue which door to go through. Oh, and I’m pretty sure the space hasn’t been updated since I’ve been alive. But who could even afford to redecorate such a massive restaurant?!
And here’s the low-​down on the food we had:
* Bruchetta — Average, but really tasty.
* Scallops — I don’t eat these, but everyone at the table said they were delicious.
* Flatiron steak — Good, not great.
* Shepherd’s pie — Disappointing.
* Ribeye steak — Good, not great.
For a drink, I got a Manhattan. They’re my fav, and it’s a whiskey bar, right? Well, it tasted fine, but it had one of those terrible neon-​looking cherries in it! Where was the delicious, authentic Maraschino cherry?! #cherrybomb
The service at Barrel 44 was good — probably the best part of the experience. The price, however, was not so good. We spent about $ 75 on a ho-​hum dinner. #sadness

A-​OK doesn’t really say it all, but neither does «I’ve experienced better». It was fine, but just blah blah blah. The only thing that seems to draw people to this place is the Jazz and the bar, which fills up quick and leaves the gigantic dining room for people to feel lonely and bored as well as isolated from the fun.
Menu didn’t have much that inspired me, but we all found something to order. My recommendation is to skip to Pomodoro Burger. Bruscetta topping does not belong on a burger. You’d thing a chef would know that. My boyfriend loved a lobster and fresh pasta special they offered, while our friends were disappointed in their portabella sammie and shepard’s pie. Our bill with one beer and poorly refilled waters was $ 35. I was sad to pay so much and just feel blah about it.
I feel like the space does not fit the Barrel 44 personality and will ulitmately be bad for business. I’m not sure what this space should become, but a giant barrel 44 probably isn’t it. Their business model works way better in the short north.

Happy hour on a Friday! This was a happening place and literally at 5pm. There were plenty of people are typsy so it made a great people watching atmosphere. Reviewing the menu, I noticed that there apps were super killer sounding. Tried the tuna cups n crab cake both were really good n would recommend. Especially the tuna cups with seaweed salad! Double yum!
Should’ve stuck with a selection of apps but the waitress recommended the blackened catfish. I got the sandwich it was too much bread
The selection seemed a bit cougarish, don’t know if thats normal but I was down with it. :-)

This place has a lot going for it. The heritage of Bexley Monk. They did a great job of balancing the cool interior of the Monk, yet making the place their own. Well done on keeping the continuity with the past. They kept the piano bar, so I’m assuming they still have people come in to play on the weekends. I’ll have to head back and check it out.
The staff is really good, friendly and attentive without being annoying. The food was good. We sampled two flat bread pizzas. The first was a little blackened on the bottom, but still tasty. The menu has something for everyone. Prices are reasonable, especially where the quality of the food is concerned.
It is called Barrel 44 for a reason and this place has enough whiskey to float a battleship around. The Americas were represented with a variety of Jims, Johns, and Jacks. There are several Irish clans on the shelf with multiple versions of the Jameson and Bushmill families are coexisting peacefully.
If you haven’t gone there yet, go. You won’t regret it.

This edition of Barrel 44 is located in Bexley where the old Blind Monk used to be. So if you’ve been to the Monk, you’ll know what the «new» Barrell 44 feels like. Well, sort of. It’s missing a vibe and it seems to be missing accessories that used to be in the Monk. Anyway, I didn’t get a good feeling about it, and at least one of the servers had a flippant attitude about her.
Anyway, the food is what I came for, and the food was a lot better than either the service or the décor. I started off with a plate of blackened scallop (3) that were cooked just right. I then got a «sambucca plate» which came with two large shrimp and two scallops covered with a sauce of some sort. Very good, though. My final course was three garlic prawns (just larger than average shrimp) served with a few asian noodles. These were also pretty good.
But I think that with the ambiance and service, I won’t be going back.

Ack! I wrote a whole review and just disappeared because Unilocal was under maintenance! Here we go again…
This is the second location of Barrel 44, just recently opened here in Bexley. Let me say that Bexley was in sore need of a place like this. We came for happy hour after a LOOOOONG week at work.
Great list of whiskeys and cocktails? Check. Nice servers? Check. (Even though they were really busy.) People watching and nice atmosphere? Check.
We had the duck flatbread and a few drafts and left quite satisfied. We will definitely be back to try the whiskeys and cocktails as well as some of the real food. We’re just happy to have a nice bar like this within walking distance!
BTW, I couldn’t find a real phone number for this place — even the receipt didn’t have a phone number. So I put in the number for the Short North location.