Winking Lizard Tavern - Columbus

This place tasted better than I expected! Sad to say that they've closed down two of their locations in Columbus and that they don't have a real live lizard in here like the other ones did. Anyway, I came at 5:15 on a Wednesday and found parking pretty easily in their lot. There were a lot of empty spots open! It was a little empty inside, except for maybe three or four groups sitting in here. I saw kids with their parents and a few families. There were a few folks sitting at the bar as well. Their beer and whiskey list is pretty extensive! Wow! I was impressed! I had to order Wild Turkey 101 with lemonade. Yummy! It was good! My friend had some type of lemon IPA. I wasn't a fan of the citrus flavor in it, but she enjoyed it. I think this restaurant's selling point is their wings. They had a huge thermometer on one page showing spice levels for sauces. I chose the spicy BBQ, which was about 3/4 of the way up on the list. I got the boneless wings. It wasn't even spicy. Someone else mentioned that their spice levels aren't all that spicy so I wasn't super shocked. Still, it was good! I almost wonder how the spiciest tastes since spicy BBQ was pretty way up there and was hardly even mild. I also ordered Pfred's Preferred Pfries, which were cheese fries with bacon. So good! Thick and very filling! I shared with my friend and we struggled to eat it all! She ordered a pulled meat sandwich. It was a special. She couldn't recall if it was brisket or pork. I tasted it and it was good! The sauce was nice. It came with fries and a huge pickle but she had no room to eat the fries, let alone finish her sandwich. The waiter didn't check up on us as much as I would've liked, but I didn't need anything. He didn't smile at all. He was really serious. Either it was a long day or his feet were hurting. Anyway, I love the vibe here! They've got a ton of TVs, so I can imagine it gets busy when there's a game. I liked the music though. Lots of 80s throwbacks.

Usually a great time whenever I come here. This time, they were out of 3 beers that we tried ordering but didn't let us know before ordering. Kinda made for a frustrating experience. Will rate this 4 stars based on previous visits. Usually good prices and fun place to watch games. Even better in the summer with outdoor seating a fire pit Second time here where we had extremely rude servers. And out of most of the beers we wanted.... not sure what's happened to this place.

Winking has massive choices for beer lovers. Sorry to see this spot exit Grandview Ave.

For $19.78 and in 20 minutes I got a pound of nice moderately crispy dripping in grease onion rings (just how you should eat em! with two sides of ranch (they have the good ranch- you all know what I mean . This also included three grilled barbecue chicken breasts (the meal and two sides. I shouldn 't have ordered the breasts charred- they did come charred but more dry than I 'd have liked. Again this was my error not theirs. It came with a nubbin of nicely garlicky cheesy toasted bread which was nice and soft. The Mac n cheese was pretty genuinely cheesy tasting and not an otherworldly neon yellow. The corn salsa side was less of the Texas caviar or corn-dominant salsa I was expecting and was instead a moderately spicy black bean salsa with some roasted corn in it. My bad again. They let you eat popcorn for free from bags popped near the entrance while you wait. I 'm a sucker for snacks. Overall good food- Exactly what I ordered.

I have yet another sports bar slash restaurant that I either like or hate based on my mood at the time. I like that Winking Lizard has a big menu. The food on that menu can be pretty good. It also has some good service when it's not busy. This only will become worse when a big game is on. I think they need to focus more on its service at the bar. It's good enough with the food. The bartender likes to chat with regulars too much. He seems to forget he's being paid to work. The drinks are okay but overpriced. It has some good local beers, but these can be found cheaper at dive bars up the street. A more interesting selection is the Leinenkugel Cranberry Ginger Shandy. The food is pretty good for a sports bar. It has common bar menu items of fried **** and some good healthier choices. There's a spicy black bean burger which is about $10. It's a good size for what they charge for it. The atmosphere depends on when you go. I prefer a more intimate space to watch sports. The volume of the TVs are so loud you need to shout to be heard above these. I would only come here to see a game if brought here. The atmosphere is not so bad if they would control the volume on TVs. Would come back again if they can improve service.