Keystone Bar & Grill: Casual Dining in Covington, Kentucky

My husband and I really like to eat out whenever we can, and we love finding restaurants that are not a big chain because most of the time, the food is a little bit better, the service is always top quality, and the prices are generally pretty budget friendly. We recently tried out the Keystone Bar & Grill, located at 313 Greenup Street, in Covington, Kentucky, and we were not at all disappointed!

Website (http://www.keystonebar.com/)

Before going to any restaurant, I generally look them up on the web. Being a web designer, I usually judge a place first on their website design and by how much pertinent information you can gather. And I am usually annoyed with places that do not have a website at all! Well, Keystone Bar & Grill's website is one of the most impressive restaurant websites I have ever seen. It appears to be done in Flash, and when you click on the different links around the sit to move to various pages, the images move as if you are moving through the restaurant itself.

Lots of very relative information about Keystone Bar & Grill can also be found on the site. You can check its location and get directions and see a map if you need to. You can view their hours (Monday-Friday 11a.m.-2:30a.m.; Saturday-Sunday 10:30a.m.-2:30a.m.), as well as any specials, including any happy hour deals.

Most importantly, in my opinion, you can view their menu and prices. My husband and I often will base our decisions on where to eat based on the price of the food, and so I appreciate when a website has this information available.

Atmosphere

Upon entering the restaurant, I really did not know what to expect because you walk straight into the bar, which was loud and smoky, and with a toddler in tow, it was a little off-putting. There were several tables outside, which was actually very eye-appealing because it was such a beautiful evening and was very well-shaded.

My husband then asked the hostess if they had non-smoking seating other than outside. (We were not sure how our son would do eating outdoors right on the street like that.) They actually had several other rooms with seating that were all non-smoking, so we decided to eat inside, where we ended up having entire room all to ourselves, which was very nice and cozy.

The décor and general feel of Keystone Bar & Grill was very rustic. The older-style brick building, creaky hardwood floors throughout, old-style doors and entryways made it feel as though Keystone Bar & Grill had been there for a long time serving the city of Covington, which is generally a good sign that they know what they are doing.

The walls were all decorated with contemporary art pieces done by local artists and each painting we saw was for sale. The wooden tables were without tablecloths, but were all simply decorated with 3-inch white flowers in plain white vases, and each place setting had its own silverware wrapped in white cloth napkins. Keystone Bar & Grill was very laid back and casual, yet with a very simple elegance.

Service

Our service at Keystone Bar & Grill was very good. When we first walked into the restaurant, the hostess greeted us right away, and took us straight to a table. Then our server came very quickly and took our drink order while we looked over our menus. When the server brought our drinks, we ordered our food, and it arrived at our table only about ten minutes after placing the order. Our server was also very good at keeping our drinks full throughout our entire meal.

Food

Keystone Bar & Grill has a lot of menu choices to select from. They have many appetizers, a few soups and chili, several different salads, sandwiches, and entrees. The burgers and sandwiches all included their homemade keystone chips served with BBQ sauce, which was just delicious. The soup of the day when we went was chicken & rice, and the vegetable of the day was steamed broccoli. I also liked that they had a turkey burger and a veggie burger on the menu, which most places do not offer those things. There seemed to be plenty of options for everyone, for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike.

Price

My husband and I thought the prices were very reasonable, especially considering the amount of food that came with each meal. He ordered the fish sandwich, which was a breaded and deep-fried fish filet. It was served on marble rye bread, and had a slice of cheese (my husband said he could have done without the cheese, but it did not ruin the sandwich at all). I had the veggie burger and exchanged the keystone chips for the steamed broccoli, and I also drank iced tea. The veggie burger was served on a whole wheat bun, with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and a big pickle. I thought the broccoli was perfectly steamed to the exact texture that I like vegetables cooked. Our entire meal then cost just under $23.

Overall

We loved Keystone Bar & Grill, and we will definitely go back to this place again, and we would also recommend it to anyone looking for a great place to eat in Covington, Kentucky.