Twains Billiards & Tap

11/06/08

Fantastic Burger!! Great Beer!! Awesome Bartender!!

by eatingoutpc at Citysearch

Love a good burger? Then try one from Twain's. Twain's has the best burger I've had in a long time. And I LOVE a good burger!! Made to order and cooked perfectly, it comes served with the usual lettuce, tomatoe, onion, with additional toppings available (mushrooms, jalapeno peppers, etc.). The sweet potato fries are also fantastic -- served by the basket, they are crisp and served piping hot. Also really, really good are: The beer, of course!! They brew their own. The French Dip - LOADED with meat and cheese; the Cuban Sandwich - grilled to perfection; the Wings (their medium is pretty hot!); the Hummus (spicy); and the Greek Salad - generous on the feta and real kalamata olives. The restaurant itself is a huge bar and billiards room, with additional arcade and darts areas. The long bar probably seats 20 people, and there are 2 TV's usually set on sports. Go on a Saturday afternoon and sit with Bartender Sarah. Sarah REALLY knows her beers, and is an interesting character, with her long black braids and big black rimmed glasses. A total hoot!! Service is always great. The prices are very reasonable for the amount of food served, and the atmosphere is very pleasant (non-smoking).

07/06/08

Best wings, Best homemade pastrami and corned beef, best beer, best bartenders. Friendly owners.

by bt08 at Citysearch

I was shocked after reading some of the reviews on this site about my favorite bar. I tend to sit at the bar, and I've never had bad service there--sometimes the tables get a little lackadaisical service, though. I don't care about kids being there as long as they're being monitored by THEIR OWN PARENTS, not the bar staff (it's not their job). I honestly think Twain's has the best bar food and the best crafted beer in Decatur--the cask and Belgian selections are always great in particular, and the stout is substantial. I have always had good experiences with Twain's staff too, they're friendly and unpretentious but like all bar industry professionals they prefer when you treat them like people instead of servants. Plus they have pool tables and they show hockey if it's on.

06/26/08

Food - Icky, Beer - sicky, Tables - sticky

by britinaredstate at Citysearch

So, take a look at the reviews of this abomination of a bar and you'll find that if you go there for the pool you'll probably quite like it.

There's a good reason for that - if you like pool, you only really need a flat table. The table doesn't need to be heated, it doesn't need to be re-filled, it doesn't need to respond to the demands of customers and it sure as heck doesn't need to smile at you. It can just sit there.

Unfortunately for Twains, the same cannot be said for food. It is not good enough to put something on a menu and then hope that the fact that it is there is where your responsibility ends.

From the time I sat down at my booth (too big for two people, too small for four) and put my hands down, I KNEW it was going to be a rough night. My hands stuck fast. Thinking that I had inadvertently found a Diet Coke spill, I moved to another seat. Same story. We moved to another (larger) table and whaddya know - Twains must have commissioned table tops from the ACME glue company.

Then the beer came. Twains prides itself on the fact that they brew their own beer. My pale ale affirmed my belief that there are some things better left to the pros. It was not REALLY bad, it was just not good. The hoppy start to the beer was finished with a slightly bitter ammonia aftertaste that could've been cleaner in the lines , but I suspect was actually the beer. Not an auspicious start.

Next came food. The meatloaf sandwich was served cold (intentionally?) and the other sandwiches tasted like they had been freshly unwrapped from the WalMart deli. The wait staff responded to our concerns with no enthusiasm and a tinge of resentment (although they comped the meatloaf sandwich - the savings will go towards a fresh supply of Purell for my wife's purse).

I doubt that I will go to Twains again - Suzie Q's is a better for pool - but I'm guessing that if I do, I will find the waitress trying to peel off the credit card receipt we pressed on to the top of the ACME table.

• Pros: lots of pool tables
• Cons: poor food, poor beer and less than courteous service