I like to compare East Burn to the Green Dragon. Both have better-than-pub-grub menus, a split bar/restaurant layout, and 20 rotating taps.

The Green Dragon's ideal of pouring beers rarely seen elsewhere often resulted in a taplist clogged with lame beers and expensive beers -- anything good and reasonably priced quickly got drained. It didn't help that Rogue bought the place and raised beer prices by 20%.

It seems to me that East Burn has chosen the right path with their selection and pricing. The taplist always has a couple off-the-wall choices, but there's always a safe choice available. The prices are more in line with reality, and even go a little bit retro on Tuesdays with $2 pints.

The atmosphere isn't as funky as the Dragon, though they have some nice touches in the restaurant area like the wicker-swing seats and the porch-swing seats on the smokers' patio. The basement bar area can get loud, what with the skee-ball and numerous pinball machines. If you're feeling old, you might want to stick to the restaurant area.

Service can be a little slow and/or surly. But did I mention $2 pints?

reviewed on: 2009-04-05 10:57:56