Toadie's Bar & Grill

Above avg bar food. Went to Toadie's last night for the first time. Had read a mix of reviews but was anticipating it to be decent.

There are plenty of tv's in this sports bar/grill. You don't have to turn your head or your chair around to see what's playing.

Toadie's also has a lounge area with very comfortable chairs and ottomans off to the side of the main restaurant area. It's a great place to sit and relax after eating at your table. They don't have any tv's in the lounge area, it would be great if they put two in that area to still be able to see whatever marquee sports event is on at the time.

Food. I was pleasantly surprised at the food quality. I got the side salad w/honey mustard, queso & chips, and the (signature dish) brisket tacos. The side salad was generously portioned, h/m dressing was fine. (I did ask waitress to hold the cucumbers, which she forgot to do but no big deal.)

I enjoyed the queso w/ ground beef. I had eaten the queso at a place across the highway from Toadie's a few months ago and it was terrible. A lousy excuse for queso, which is not acceptable in an area which embraces good Tex Mex. So, to come across Toadie's flavorful queso was a relief and much enjoyed. Very healthy portion of chips to go w/ the queso and salsa.

The brisket tacos were good stuff. The plating wasn't very impressive but that's just a side note cause what matters is the taste. The dish is two flour tortillas filled w/ a moderate to decent (not stuffed) amount of brisket w/ shredded cheese. On the side is pico, sliced avocados, bbq sauce (tomato-based, tangy) and salsa. There is also a side of charro/borracho beans that comes w/ the dish.

I added the pico, avocado and bbq sauce to the first taco, and pico/avocado/bbq sauce/salsa to the second. Both were very good. The combination of all the sides go very well together. I can see why they consider this their signature dish, it's good stuff for sure.

The beans served with the tacos were very flavorful. A tad bit salty but not at all too much. Enjoyed them.

Had two drinks w/ dinner. They were a little weaker than I'd prefer but were okay. Waitress was good overall. She checked in on us regularly. Good service.

I'll be back to Toadie's. The food was above average of what would be expected for bar food. Good service, plenty of tv's (except lounge area), clean restrooms. Overall good experience.

I once was lost, but now I'm found. Everyone who goes out to unwind on a regular basis usually has what I call his or her "Home Bar". Someplace you can chill after a long week at work, catch the game on the bigscreen, grab some good food, laugh and swap war stories of recent events both in the world at large and the personal variety as well. A place where everyone knows your name, staff and regulars alike are genuinely happy to see you. Your favorite beverage is not only known but it is there waiting for you at your favorite barstool mere seconds before you park yourself on it. Toadies has become my "Cheers" for a number of reasons not the least of which is the fantastic staff that makes you feel right at home.

Flashback:

So I'm sitting in Duke's in Bedford a couple of years ago at the bar having a conversation with some guy I just met and in the course of discussing the bar staff there I remark "you know, if I could just find a beautiful Asian bartender that was fun to talk to my life would be complete." The guy then says "you need to see Whitney across the highway at Toadies. You won't be disappointed." So I made a mental note of that tidbit of information and we went on discussing other topics. Now I had driven by Toadies tons of times but never bothered stopping in. Always seemed to have quite a few cars in the lot though. So a couple of months pass, I stopped by and peeked in the window a few times during that time but never saw anyone by that description working there so I didn't go inside. Then one Friday night I decided to roll on in and commit to checking the place out for a few hours. The rest as they say is history.

So that fateful night I stroll into Toadies and plop myself down on a barstool about midway down the right side of the bar. Within seconds this stunningly beautiful young Asian woman walks up to me and introduces herself as Whitney and asks me what I'd like. I tell her the story about the guy I met at Duke's a couple of months back and she laughs. I told her my search was over. I told her what I drank and never had to mention that ever again. I was surprised to learn over time that Whitney runs the place pretty much single handedly on a daily basis. She's quite the dynamo. I'm something of a connoisseur of world class bartenders. Whitney is funny, smart, hard working, gorgeous and an awesome bartender with an incredible memory for names and customers and she runs a tight ship. She handles every situation with intelligence charm and grace. What's not to like? I've noticed a good number of servers and bartenders from other places in the area frequent Toadies later in the evening after they get off work.

As for the Toadies itself it's not a huge sprawling place but big enough with 10-12 booths along the wall and 15-20 tables in the central main seating area. The bar is L shaped and probably seats around 20-25 customers with a very large flat screen over the longer section of the bar which can be seen anywhere in the place and a smaller flatscreen 40-50" in the corner behind the bar where the servers pick up their drinks. Various medium size flatscreens are scattered throughout the place with individual small flatscreens installed in all the booths so you can watch something other than what is on the large main screens or even play poker/trivia games or whatnot if you're into whatever sports options are on. There's also a fairly large lounge area with leather sofa seating to the right of the bar near the side entrance that's nice to hang out in sometimes especially if you have a half dozen or more people. There's also a half dozen or so tables outside with medium size flatscreens out there as well. Place is absolutely rocking for all the UFC fights and they don't charge a cover.

As mentioned before Whitney is an amazing lady but the rest of the staff is awesome as well. The servers out on the floor are all very attractive. Their uniforms are a school girl theme but are tasteful and not too over the top or in your face like you see at a lot of the "breastaraunts (like Hooters, Twin Peaks, etc…). Very cute outfits in my opinion. Even if you are not being served at their table they always make time to stop and chat you up a bit with a smile or a funny story which is something I find lacking at times at other places in the area I've been to. Guess I'll go through the servers alphabetically. Amber is the cutest ever and don't be surprised if she busts a move or two spontaneously if a good song comes on. Oh they have a great electronic jukebox with a vast library of music spanning decades. Since I've been around more than a few decades that comes in pretty handy. You can pay an extra credit to have your song played next which I often do if I'm feeling beat down by the music that someone else has played. Cay is an absolute doll and always has a great story for me or asks me for my opinion about something. Lennon (yeah, like the Beatle) has sweetest personality ever. Pretty girl. Paige is the free spirit and the most mischievous of the lot. She would have been quite the stunning hippie chick back in the day. Great personality. Nastassia has this exotic lithe model look thing going on and is also very artistic. I like watching her draw things and letter the daily specials on the Toadies blackboard thing. She's really very good. I have a fine art degree so I should know. I heard they just hired someone new but I haven't met her yet. Supposed to be really cute though which doesn't surprise me. I can only get over there every other weekend to hang out unfortunately.

The other bartenders are all guys. Most excellent dudes one and all. Brad is cool. Probably the most laid back of the bunch. I think the ladies dig him. Just a theory I have mind you  Jesse works a lot of day shifts so I don't see him as much as most of the other guys. Jesse loves him some Texas Rangers. Very together dude that Jesse. Jimmie is the MAN! Great personality and always has a hot sports opinion, political opinion, relationship opinion…you name it. Great guy to chew the fat with about the issues of the day. Funny guy and very passionate about what he believes in. Then there's Drew the barback standing behind the bar taking it all in. Really nice guy. Whitney and her posse of bartenders can make anything you can dream up. Lots of exotic shots made at this place. Some nights they're flipping bottles and glasses around like Tom Cruise in the movie "Cocktail". I usually prefer to sit up close the drink station where I can watch the bartenders in action.

Drink specials are awesome there. Domestic draft beer is $2.00 every day I'm pretty sure. Almost half what a beer sets you back at Hooters. Tuesday is $2.00 U-Call It all night long (though I usually just stick to my beer so I can hang longer). They do $2.00 U-Call It on Friday's too but just until 8pm I think. As for shots Tequila shots, Sex with a Toad (can't remember what's in that…Yaeger and something green I think) and Lemon Drop shots are on special every day for $3.25 from what the specials blackboard says. $2.50 wells every day too if I'm not mistaken.

Okay, lets talk food. Sure it's bar food but it's damn GOOD bar food. They have great cooks there. I order food every time I go. Lately I've been tearing up the boiled crawfish since it's in season. I'm from Louisiana so I love me some crawfish. I adore their Irish Nachos. Those are thick sliced potatoes with melted cheese and bacon. Those are killer. You can have them put beef or chicken on them too if you want but I usually just go with the basic offering. The brisket tacos are their "official" specialty and I order those quite often too. They have these pretty cool things called chicken twists I haven't seen anywhere else that I like too. They have pizza, great burgers, fries, grilled chicken and also a fantastic strip steak that is not on the menu but was told about that I order more often than not with a baked potato and charro beans. I love those damn charro beans with the jalepenos. There's lots of other stuff but this is what I order the majority of the time.

Another great thing (for me) about Toadies is that it is open on all the major holidays (even Christmas). Being divorced I often don't have my kids on this or that holiday so it means a lot to spend the holiday with my 2nd family there at Toadies. I can't believe I waited so long to check this place out. It was right under my nose all that time. If you're looking for more than just another random sports bar and want a place to go where everyone knows your name then you need look no further.