The last time I ate a meal at Abbey’s Restaurant & Lounge, it was prior to Homecoming my freshman year of high school.
I don’t want to completely date myself, but let’s just say this occurred during the 1990s. So, it’s been awhile.
But Friday night was kind of a special night, so I decided we needed somewhere different to have dinner. Given how many people outright rave about their experiences at Abbeys on the Ohio Valley Food Fanatics Facebook page, I figured I’d try it again. The food was excellent the last time as I recall.
We arrived a bit before 8 p.m., and naturally the place was packed. Still, we waited maybe five minutes before a booth was ready.
The menu is fairly extensive and had quite a number of tasty options.
Looking for an appetizer, we quickly spotted the Mediterranean wings. “Rolled in tomatoes, black olives, fresh parsley, and onion. Finished in white wine garlic butter sauce and topped with feta cheese.”
That’s a far different description from the usual wings I ingest, but it sounded intriguing and, given my recent discovery of my part Greek heritage, I figured it was worth a shot to sample.
She opted to keep things simple for her main course, selecting the chicken finger basket and fries. I debated back and forth over a couple of options but finally decided on one of the house specialties—the rotisserie ribs (half a slab).
A soda for her, an IPA for me, and we were on our way.
The Food
She’s more of a boneless wing person than bone-in, so instead of the traditional version of the Med wings, we had them made with chicken tenders instead.
Before I dive into these “wings” I have to remark on how tasty Abbeys’ tenders are in general. She remarked if these are the tenders they used for her main meal, it was going to be good. And it was.
But back to the Med wings. I’m ashamed to admit I’m not a fan of black olives in general, so I scraped a wee bit of it off the tenders whilst leaving enough behind for flavor purposes. But these were, in fact, incredibly tasty. I may return just to get an order in regular bone-in style myself to get a true taste.
For an appetizer though? The small basket was an excellent choice.
My meal came with a side salad, and a side of fries. I’ve stated before not I’m not a big veggie guy, but the creamy Italian dressing makes anything taste better.
As she predicted, her chicken fingers were an excellent quality. She really enjoyed them.
As for my ribs, the rotisserie style at Abbey’s are dry-rubbed pork ribs with rosemary and special seasonings. These aren’t your usual slathered in BBQ sauce ribs.
It was a different flavor profile which I really enjoyed. I got about halfway through before noticing the container of sauce to dunk the ribs in on my plate. It was a tangy sauce, and kind of reminded me of the taste of stuffed peppers if I’m being honest. But the ribs were good, with or without the sauce.
Overall, a fine meal.
The Service
I’d be remiss without complimenting the excellent service we received at Abbey’s, from the moment we walked in the door until we exited.
As stated, you could tell the restaurant was busy even before entering the front door. But we quickly were given a booth near the door. We waited in the lobby, at most, five minutes.
Our server was attentive and friendly, making multiple passes throughout the evening to ensure we were satisfied and to inquire if anything else was needed.
Not only that, but I’m not sure if you’d call her an assistant or what, but another server was quick to remove any plates no longer in use to or refill drinks. It seemed a tag-team effort, and both were on their game and polite.
Never mind the food (which was great) but the service alone is enough to get us to return at some point. We didn’t feel rushed in getting to the bill, nor after it was paid.
Abbeys Restaurant and Lounge is located on Wheeling Island at 145 Zane St. You can find it on online and on Facebook.
