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First Impressions: The Barrel Room

By Southern Grit · On April 1, 2015

Written by Chris Fellini with photography by Joshua Fitzwater

In a land filled with extravagance and expense, The Barrel Room brings some simplicity to the downtown Norfolk scene. Specializing in craft beer, The Barrel Room harkens back to a time when bar food was secondary to the pints in front of you.

(L2R- Edison bulbs, customer through the window, cosmo)

We walk in, and the first thing I notice is the damn Edison bulbs. Every new bar in the area seems to have a love affair with these things right now. The dining area has a quaint tavern feel, with some exposed brick and off center photographs from another time hanging along the walls. It feels nostalgic, like a restaurant in the ‘90s, but could use a barroom brawl or two to make the space feel more lived in. The bar area juxtaposes against this with more modern touches, such as the digital screen listing the available tap selection. Our hostess takes a break from flirting with her boyfriend at the end of the bar to come and seat us at a wobbly four top table. There’s a good mix of larger six tops along the wall and several four tops near the front windows. We take some time to absorb the space, while our hostess goes back to eating off of her boyfriend’s plate and flirting in the corner with her back to the door.

( L2R- margherita pizza, bacon marmalade and pimento burger)

Diana, our server, comes up shortly to greet us. She is easy to get along with, and we discuss their successful grand opening. They went through 13 sixtel kegs and a half barrel, so many of the listed beers aren’t available. She’s adjusting to doing everything on iPads and while lamenting the way they make her feel impersonal with her tables, she’s anything but. The beer list is heavy on stouts, making a final push of winter warmers. There are several beer options more fitting for the upcoming spring, such as a radler and a watermelon wheat beer. The cocktail list is fairly simple, and definitely drives home the fact that this is a place for pints. I order a beer and the Moscow Mule. The owner, a gentleman at a back table named Angel, sends over a few other cocktails on the house. The Moscow Mule is delicious, blending the spice of the ginger beer with the bite of the vodka. The Cosmopolitan is fairly straightforward, and the Negroni makes good use of Commonwealth gin from Richmond. I only wish they’d toned down the bite on the gin, as Commonwealth is by no means a smooth gin. The cocktails aren’t pretentious, and neither is the wine list. Again, everything here is about the beer.

(Moscow Mule)

The menu is fairly basic, for now. The kitchen is a small space, so they plan on starting off slow and building the menu as they go. There’s a small appetizer list and some salads for the health conscious. As far as entrees, the main focus seems to be on burgers and pizza. Some of the appetizers are a bit more progressive, such as the bacon wrapped asparagus. Many are just standard bar staples, such as the parmesan fries or the tater tots. We split the bruschetta, which as a restaurant, is a bold move to feature when tomatoes aren’t in season for another few months. Although not a bad dish, the use of in season tomatoes would have really amped up the flavor profile. The burger patties are hand ground and pressed and come with a range of toppings. Fitz got the bacon marmalade and pimento burger. With a pleasing mix of sweet and salty, the half pound burger hits some good flavor notes. I order the margherita pizza, which isn’t terrible and certainly fitting of the bar atmosphere. I wish they had been a bit more traditional with the making of the pizza. The tomatoes could have been sliced a touch thinner, and the cheese used more sparingly. Having only been opened for less than a week, they are still adjusting and tweaking all the food, but so far the burgers seem to be the clear winner.

The Barrel Room makes an interesting addition to downtown. This is not a place to go on a fancy date to or make a reservation at before seeing a play at the Wells Theatre, yet it’s certainly not a loud and raucous sports bar. It’s a simple place for some friends to grab a beer and socialize. It’s a family friendly atmosphere a short walk from the mall. I’m curious to see how it fits in with what has by and large been a destination for the higher end bar scene.