The Rail offers beef, brew and a good time

If you don’t mind getting a little something on your face, The Rail in Fairlawn, Ohio is a wonderful choice for an evening out with that guy or gal you’ve been pining over.

As you walk into The Rail, you can instantly see the minimalistic barn décor spread throughout the building. Wooden dining booths line the left wall while a bar the length of the building lines the right. Wagon wheel chandeliers illuminate the long corridor-shaped dining area. Three bare light bulbs suspended by a metal cord hang every three feet along the bar side giving you that elusive “I’m drunk in a barn” feel.

A cold Cardinal Ale from the Ohio Brewing Company made the 20-minute wait feel like 5 minutes. The Rail’s bar features your usual domestic choices, bottled or draft, along with several local beers from breweries such as Thirsty Dog (Akron), Cellar Rats Brewery (Madison) and Lagerheads Brewing Company (Medina). The local selection of brews coupled with a variety of daily specials makes The Rail a suitable watering hole for those looking to ensure their dollars stay in the community.

Vegetarians beware; The Rail logo, an upside cow, makes the restaurant’s focus clear—it’s all about the beef. Each burger uses grass-fed beef from Apple Creek, a small village located in Wayne County. The buns for the burgers come from Orlando Bakery, an Italian bakery established in 1904 in Cleveland. The chef’s choice to create a burger tall rather than wide creates a tower of flavor as your mouth pierces through each ingredient. The “Crouching Burger, Hidden Bacon” burger juxtaposed the crunchiness of crispy won ton and bacon with the tenderness of pork shoulder and medium-rare beef. The result is a rewarding explosion of flavor and texture in your mouth. Along with booze and burgers, The Rail features unique hand spun milkshakes such as the Nutella Crunch, provided you have the room. This milkshake features the delectable hazelnut mocha spread, Nutella, along with a vanilla wafer lodged into the top. Smooth and light, the Nutella Crunch milkshake finished the meal on a sweet, happy note.