Comments on: Restaurant review: Beamer’s 25

By: Lindsey Nair

Lindsey Nair — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:49:51 +0000

Thanks for all of the reports, folks.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:17:12 +0000

Went there for the first time this past Saturday night with friends and son in tow. Overall, I was disappointed. We shared appetizers of fried pickles (I’m not a fan, no matter the locale) and onion rings. The rings were ok. I had the Smokey burger, and it sure didn’t come as loaded with toppings as the picture. The “onion straws” were hard to find. Also, the sauce was far too sweet and there was far too much of it on the burger. The meat was ok and the bun was good, but overall, a disappointment. Son had the Soprano and liked it. He also had the potato wedges as a side. He labeled them “bland”, others at the table said the same. Some had the mixed veggies as a side (again, labeled “bland” and “nothing special”). Surprisingly, the person who seated us was rather rude. He complained about our party size (we were 13 and took up 2 tables) and kept telling us the restaurant was going to be “full soon”. We thought he was trying to hurry us along. (We went early at 5). The restaurant wasn’t full until around 7 when we left, so I don’t know what his problem was. We all shared fried oreos for dessert (my first time). They were good, but one out of the four in the bowl was enough for me. Overall, the vote of the group was great place to have a beer (those who partook gave it two thumbs up) but none would go out of their way to return for a meal. The sentiment was there are many better restaurant offerings in downtown Roanoke. Nevertheless, I wish them success. Based upon the crowd at the bar waiting for a table when we left, they should be ok.

By: Babs

Babs — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:22:25 +0000

I agree that the burgers are excellent… and that drink refills take way too long. I’ve been a few times and will continue to go back!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:53:40 +0000

Thanks, Kristen. I look forward to checking it out!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 03:22:53 +0000

Kevin, we were there again tonight with friends and it was rocking. I wasn’t here for that other Beamers but everyone else was, and they all agreed this new iteration was far better. I really recommend it, and lately I haven’t recommended much. I hope it does well.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:44:34 +0000

Kristen, Sounds great! I was curious if you ever ate at the former Beamer’s, which is where Thelma’s is now on the market? I know Beamer’s 25 is not necessarily related to the old Beamer’s, but I was curious how the food at the two might compare. I ate at the old Beamer’s for lunch quite a bit when I worked downtown and was sad to see it go. I am looking forward to trying Beamer’s 25.

By: Edward

Edward — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:06:03 +0000

I just recently discovered Beamer’s 25 a few weeks ago and have eaten there twice. I had the reuben burger on my first visit and the chili burger on the second visit. Both burgers were cooked exactly to order and were really good. The chili burger comes with sauteed onions, which I normally like, but for some reason I just didn’t care for them with this burger. I had to re-live my childhood and get the tater tots both times, they were great. The beer selection is wonderful. I tried a flight of four and really enjoyed the variety. My first visit was on a Friday night and it got really busy and the service slowed down quite a bit. Sat with empty glasses a few times and the food took quite a while to come out. My second visit was on a Tuesday night, not nearly as crowded and the service was very prompt. Overall I really enjoyed it and look forward to trying more of their eclectic selection of burgers.

By: crooked road

crooked road — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:28:52 +0000

It sounds as if the latest iteration of a Beamer-labeled restaurant might have finally found its’ proper level of cuisine. Strip away pretension, and be straightforward. Good luck to them in a tough economic climate. If any type of non-franchise restaurant can survive in RoVa, this would probably be the one.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:18:49 +0000

I wonder if this Beamer’s will last longer than the Beamer’s Restaurant in the dumpy shopping center in Christiansburg. Or worse, First and Main in Blacksburg where I don’t know if they ever even opened.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:16:49 +0000

We ate dinner there last night, so I was interested to read this this morning.
We started with the fried pickles (which I’d been craving after the thread here) then had a couple Shroom burgers, a Soprano, and New Yorker. I asked for mine medium rare, and it was perfectly cooked. At one point we sat with empty beer glasses for almost 20 minutes, which was annoying, but otherwise it was a great experience. I’m not normally a big burger person, but I enjoyed mine a lot…we all did.