Surly Girl Saloon in Columbus, OH

The Surly Girl Saloon in Columbus, OH

A few weeks ago I went to Columbus for a Ben Folds show. Originally my group of friends were going to eat at the Sausage Haus, a kitschy German restaurant featured on the show Man Vs Food. The wait time was 35 minutes, and we had an hour before the show, so my friend Chase suggested the Surly Girl Saloon. Noting my hesitation, he described it as "diner food with a bunch of craft beers and kitschy cowgirl stuff on the walls." Sold instantly.

The Surly Girl Saloon serves traditional diner food with a spicy kick. I had the Cajun meatloaf sandwich, and it was amazing. Meatloaf is easy to mess up, but they got it the right consistency (not crispy, but not gooey like undercooked breakfast sausage), and the spices gave it an extra push over the edge to Awesomeville. They have designer cupcakes for desert, red velvet and the Cupcake du Jour (that day it was mandarin orange). Best of all, they have 24 beers on tap, including microbrews, organic brews, and beers specifically made in Ohio or by women. My choice was Tommy Knocker's Maple Nut Brown Ale, very tasty with hints of maple syrup and chocolate.



The only downside is that the food took awhile, so we had to get it to go and eat it in the car on the way to the show. We were afraid we were going to be late, but ironically enough, Mr. Folds himself was eating dinner at the same time a few blocks away at the similarly hip Betty's according to his Twitter.

Surly Girl is good stuff. I'd like to try it again when I'm not so rushed. It also seems like a rad place for a punk show, so maybe that will be the incentive to give it another shot.