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Barnaby's of America: Hearty Grub For The Whole Family

This week Patch reviews Barnaby's of America in Havertown.

Sports bars are a distinctly American enterprise. Not to say there aren't sports bars in countries outside of the U.S., but when there are, they are usually trying to be an American sports bar. is a chain sports bar with an outpost in Havertown. I grabbed two girlfriends and headed there for dinner.

As soon as you enter Barnaby's it's as though "two roads diverged in a wood." There is the path to the large bar area and the path to the dining room. We chose the path less taken and headed for the dining room.

The menu is quite extensive and no group, no matter how large, should have difficulty finding something to eat.

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We ordered a bunch of starters including chicken wings ($6.99), potato skins ($6.99) and spinach and artichoke dip ($7.99). The chicken wings were pretty good. Here's a tip for you home cooks out there, most places use Frank's hot sauce and butter for their wing sauce.

The potato skins were loaded up with bacon and jack cheese but tasted even better with a healthy dollop of the "cool ranch" sour cream.  The spinach and artichoke dip was very heavy and creamy. We actually preferred using the bread instead of the Old Bay pita chips for dipping. The macho nacho and quesadilla grande are also available for $7.99. Interesting plays on the traditional eggroll appear as buffalo wing and cheesesteak egg rolls (both $7.99).

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While the starters gear more towards the calorie and fat-laden, the soups and salads section offers healthier alternatives including numerous grilled chicken salads (cajun chicken, fajita and teriyaki chicken salads, all $10.99). A small house salad is available for $2.99 with your choice of dressing (blue cheese, honey mustard, russian, lite french, italian vinaigrette, ranch, raspberry vinaigrette, balsamic vinaigrette and wasabi ranch). The soups include french onion, baked potato and the changing soup of the day ($3.49-$3.99).

The entrees showcase the ribs ($13.99/half rack; $19.99/full rack), steak ($15.99) and famous crab cakes ($18.99). These can be ordered a la carte or in some combination plate. We had the Chesapeake chicken breast (grilled or breaded chicken breast with creamy crab imperial crisp bacon and jack cheese,$14.99). This came with your choice of coleslaw, garlic smashed potatoes, french fries, baked potato, sauteed vegetables or spaghetti marinara. It was quite rich and not for the faint of heart.

Sandwiches abound at this place. Classics like French dip ($7.99) and turkey club ($8.99) appear on the menu as do Philly faves like Barnaby's cheesesteak ($7.99) and a roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe and provolone ($9.99). Curious about the crab cakes, we ordered the crab cake sandwich ($9.99) so we could have a taste. It was smaller than we imagined it would be but the fries were crisp. 

There are also pasta offerings (broccoli and parmesan alfredo, $11.99; Barnaby's famous blue crab spaghetti, $14.99 and chicken and shrimp carbonara, $14.99 to name a few) but even these seem to be on the heavier side.

The 11 burgers come in all shapes and sizes ranging from the grilled veggie patty ($6.99) to Barnaby's Best (burger with creamy cheddar cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms, $8.49). Toppings include guacamole, bacon, American cheese, mozzarella cheese, BBQ sauce, horseradish sauce and all burgers come with fries. If you're not in the mood for red meat, there is a grilled chicken version as well ($7.99).

Despite our big dinner we opted to have dessert. Sports bars always have really decadent, oh-so-bad-but-they-taste-so-good desserts and our chocolate peanut butter bombe ($6.00) was no exception. Sweet, salty, rich and creamy. It totally hit the spot. 

The food was what one would expect at a sports bar. Much of it was fried, most was on the heavier side and no one left feeling hungry. Wash it all down with a cold beer or Coke. Service was excellent. Our server was one of the friendliest and most sincere people I have encountered in a while.

There is a kids menu and money saving specials available during the week (kids eat free on Wednesdays, pasta and drink specials, etc.) which is something to consider in this economic climate. I can certainly attest to the fact that even without specials, you get your money's worth as the portions are generous and the plates arrive full (well, except for the crab cake sandwich).

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