www.roanoke.com

This cavernous restaurant, equipped with a wood-fire grill, a barbecue smoker and a brewery, reflects the personalities of the local friends who developed the concept. Co-owners Mark Shrader and Jon and Peggy Coburn began their project by recalling the best places they ever knew, stretching from college to the present. They talked, made lists and put together plans for a restaurant they and others, whether professionals or college students, would find comfortable on a weekly basis.

Today, their ideas have become a reality in the young-at-heart, noisy Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill, which opened in January at First & Main, Blacksburg's newest shopping center.

THE VIBE

Bull & Bones has the capacity to accommodate 407 patrons. It has a large front dining room with booths and free-standing tables, which flows into the classy bar area equipped with stools and a spacious section of more tables and chairs. The lounge and billiards region has seven pool tables and a 9-foot professional competition table, and the restaurant's newest addition, an outdoor patio, has a seating capacity of 45.

THE MENU

The menu features a wide selection of appetizers ($3.99-$8.99), soups ($4.49-$4.99), salads ($7.99-$9.99), "Bulls" (beef, $12.99-$19.99), "Bones" (pork, $12.59-$13.99), "No Bones About It" (pasta, $10.99-$15.99), "Feathers and Fins" (chicken and fish, $10.99-$17.99), barbecue ($8.49), burgers and sandwiches ($8.59-$10.59), lunch specials ($8.59), 10 side dishes and five desserts ($4.99), all in addition to the house-made brews and signature drinks. If you'd like to taste six of their beers, the restaurant offers a Bull & Bones brewery sampler appetizer for $5.99.

WHAT WE ATE

I made two visits to the restaurant, and my experiences were as different as night and day.

My first visit was for dinner with my husband, Jim, in March. Our expectations for traditional course service and tasty food were shattered by the performance of our server. Jim ordered an appetizer of potato soup, and I decided on the chili and salad combo.

For entrees, I selected the crab cake dinner ($17.99) with a side of coleslaw, and Jim wanted the Pub Burger ($8.99), a chargrilled burger of Angus beef on a Kaiser roll topped with tomatoes and mayo. The server told him, "Our burgers are small, they're not good; better order something else." Thinking she had done him a favor, Jim opted for the grilled salmon ($14.99). He specified, "Please have it cooked well done," and she assured him it would be.

Within 15 minutes, the server arrived with all of our food for the entire meal. We wanted to know why our dinner wasn't served in separate courses and our server replied, "Some people like it this way."

"Well, we don't like it this way, and we didn't ask for it this way," Jim said, as the server placed everything on the table with a "sorry."

Only the potato soup had good flavor and consistency. The salmon looked beautiful and crusty but had a raw center, and the side of exotic grains lacked flavor. I couldn't eat more than a forkful of one of the three small crab cakes because of an unpleasant odor and acrid flavor. A piece of dry, crumbly cheesecake with a dark-brown top crust, an indicator of overbaking, completed the meal.

Two weeks later, we tried Bull & Bones again, and this time, we felt the staff and food were beginning to hit their stride. Both of our meals met our expectations.

I enjoyed a glass of their light, hop-intense Lunch Pale Ale ($3.50) with a tender, grilled chicken dinner accompanied by a side of coleslaw, while Jim relished every bite of his thick, beefy burger. The luxurious creamy consistency of Ann's New York-style cheesecake (minus the sauce), with its proper balance of tart and sweet, could be the best cheesecake I've had in Virginia -- ever.

THE BOTTOM LINE

I salute the owners of this restaurant, and I'm glad we made a second trip to their place. This undertaking fulfills their aspirations, even during these tough economic times. I give thumbs up for the reasonably priced, straightforward, generously portioned food and the handcrafted beer and drinks. And I'd make a trip there any day for Ann's cheesecake.