The Ashland Ale House’s high energy and friendly staff makes it the perfect place to go for a fun dining experience.

This restaurant on Pond Street in Ashland is advertised as your typical American  pub-style dining, but exceeded my expectations with an extensive menu of sandwiches, burgers, pizza, pasta, and seafood.  

This restaurant is not the best place for an intimate dinner because of the bustling atmosphere with loud music and lots of people. It is better for someone who is looking to watch a sports game on one of their many televisions.  

Every inch of each wall is covered with decorations which include movie covers, music albums, and pictures of different sports figures. Although the lighting is low, they have spotlights shining towards the walls to emphasize their creative decor.

On weekends, the restaurant can get pretty crowded and their limited number of tables can make the wait  upward of an hour. The hostesses work hard to accommodate all parties as quickly as they can, and the wait is never as long as they say it will be.

The prices are slightly high for a pub-like restaurant, but the food is of good quality.

I ordered barbecue boneless wings for $9.99. Smothered with a perfectly concocted barbecue sauce, the chicken was juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Known for being a fan favorite, the Pistol Pete’s Smoke Stack Burger with a price of $11.99 also stood to me. This burger has cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, barbecue sauce, and comes with a heaping pile of homemade onion rings. It is all piled on top of a juicy burger that reaches multiple inches high, begging the question of how someone can fit a bite in their mouth.

I would rate this restaurant a four out of five. There can be a long wait at times, but the quality of food and service makes it somewhere I would like to return in the future.