Boston Beanery Restaurant & Tavern

When I first moved to Morgantown, a friend a few years older than me told me she worked at the Boston Beanery. "Gross," I thought. "I hate baked beans." Since then, I've been to the Beanery more times than I can count. But it wasn't until recently that I realized I could blog about it - why? Because it's not a huge chain like I originally thought. I just assumed, as a freshman, I wasn't familiar with this chain. After all, there are two Boston Beaneries in Morgantown alone. I realized there are only a handful of restaurants, and it was actually started right here in Morgantown. Pretty cool.


The Boston Beanery isn't a bean place, though I believe they do have one bean sandwich. In essence, it's a sports bar with food. It's a pub. Morgantown has two locations - one on Evansdale in the plaza with Rite Aid and Pizza Hut on Patteson Drive; the other is along High Street. As you can imagine, the Evansdale location is a bit more laidback and easy to get to. The High Street location is usually if I'm just passing through and need a quick bite. Since the Beanery became smokefree, I've visited much more often. It used to be a cloud of smoke when you walked in.When you walk in, there's a long dining area and a bar area. There are TVs and memorabilia on the walls. Whenever you go in for a bite, you can always find some sport on TV.

There's a menu with a ton of beer to choose from, and the menu consists of typical American cuisine - burgers, salads, fried appetizers, steak and pasta.You already know what this place is gonna be like - the ingredients aren't the greatest, and the meal is just okay. I've never had something here that I've been dying to go back and try. On this particular day, my friend Dom and I split two appetizers: cheese quesadillas and boneless honey bbq chicken wings. I had a taste of the quesadilla, and it wasn't bad. The chicken was probably frozen bits, but it tasted fine. The boneless wings were pretty good. The white meat was decent quality, and the sauce was good. I would have preferred them cooked a little longer so the oustide had a little bite to it, because it was almost too soft. But they were definitely tasty.

For my main dish, I ordered the new smoked turkey wrap. This dish really had the ability to be quite good. Right now, though, it's bland. It consists of turkey, bacon, cheddar, lettuce and tomato on a spinach wrap - yum! But it's supposed to include honey mustard. That sauce is key to this dish - that's what gives it the flavor. Unfortunately, without that tang, the wrap just falls flat. I ended up dipping mine in a little bit of ketchup just for some flavor. Their sandwiches and burgers all come with curly fries, which are always tasty. I like to dip mine in ranch, just for something different. Maybe next time I'll ask for extra honey mustard. But, it's what you'd expect from a place like this. And I've had other dishes that are all about in the same area - around average.

Grade: B