The other night we headed over to [1] Black Bear Bar & Grill with a couple of friends to grab some dinner and drinks. We have had many good experiences at Black Bear as an after work hangout because of its consistently good bar & grill type food and fun, casual, laid-back atmosphere.

Since I had eaten an uncanny amount of red meat throughout this holiday season, I was in the mood for chicken. Although I’m a big fan of the Adirondack Chicken Sandwich at Black Bear, which is topped with bacon, cheese, sauteed onions and barbecue sauce, this time I went for another of my favorite Black Bear sandwiches–the Chicken Cheesesteak. One of our friends also ordered the same.

Black Bear’s Chicken Cheesesteak is a step above what you might get at other places because, rather than giving you a chopped up chicken steak-um, they actually give you sliced pieces of grilled chicken. Top that off with some carmelized peppers, onions, and cheese, and you have a winner.

The fries at Black Bear are also pretty good. They are nice and crispy, which is how I like them. Although we had a Heinz bottle on our table, a quick pour of the ketchup revealed that the Heinz bottles were obviously refilled with a cheaper, more watery brand.

Ashley had been craving ribs, so she opted for the 1/2 rack of Baby Back Ribs. Although her ribs were tasty and had a pretty good “fall-off-the-bone” quality, there simply wasn’t a lot of meat with them. Ashley managed to easily finish off the 1/2 rack, and despite her slender figure, regretted not ordering the full rack.

The service at Black Bear has always been pretty consistent for us. The wait staff is friendly and on top of things. Keep in mind that it is a busy place, and the bar area always seems to be crowded, so sometimes drinks take a bit longer than usual to arrive to the tables.

After dinner, we hung out at the bar area for a few drinks. We could hear roars upstairs from Black Bear’s weekly “Rock, Paper, Scissors” tournament. Black Bear has all kinds of weekly events and specials–one of my favorites being Wednesdays, when they have specials on their delicious Mini Burgers (aka “Sliders”), along with drink specials.

On weekends after about 9pm, Black Bear betrays its rustic decor and becomes the same kind of “hip-hop central” place that most of the downtown bars sadly become. So we stay away during those times. However, Black Bear is a great place to go after work, or for dinner when you are in the mood for bar & grill type food such as burgers and sandwiches.