Bearly’s House of Blues and Ribs

Far, Far, Cry from the once proud Ace Burger! Chicken Burger. Poutine. Gravy was highlight of meal. That tells you a lot. Price was good. I know why.

It’s Sunday and I get it. Friday and Saturday are probably your big nights. However
1) Don’t list you’re open at 11:30 and not unlock the doors at 12:15
2) I was looking forward to hot poutine. I got warm fries, Luke warm gravy and cold curds. That I could only get one or two bite of before I gave up
3) The bar should be clear, don’t have your bar stacked with beer boxes, soda cans and inventory for the day.
4) The bar keep can’t focus on the customer if she’s doing the daily prep.
5) You entrance says a lot, cluttered, mop bucket left there. Dust pan leaning.
Lastly, I think the wings were from last night and just nuked.
Their food and lack of being customer ready. Gave me the blues.

Old school tavern bar with live music from random musicians. I’ve seen people dance, play pool, just eat burgers, sit at the bar, get wasted ect. Good and low price.

Great bar. Good beer deals. Olands or Keiths on tap for $ 4.00−4.50 most nights, can’t remember exact price.
Shout out to the bartender, Mimi I believe is name is, extremely friendly and efficient. A pleasure to talk with while having a few beers.

This may be considered a «dive» but I loved it! That being said, I am a fan of nice dive bars. If that even makes sense… Anyhow, it did seem like many of the customers were probably regulars but they were nice and everything had a fun overall vibe. The service was really good and very fast. I happened to be there during a time where there was not live music but a baseball game was on so at least there was entertainment. I do think a band was performing later but I was only there for an hour or so. The menu isn’t super large but there are good choices and the price for everything was very reasonable. The sandwich I had was really good as well as the accompanying fries. The drinks are also well priced and the have an alright selection.

I stayed away from Bearly’s for a long time. I thought it was just an old man’s regular hang out spot. What initially pulled me in was the patio in the summer, that and Ace Burger. The burger was fantastic, so I went back and had a burger on the inside. Soon I was just going in for beers. Maybe I turned into one of those old man regulars? So I didn’t noticed. Anyways, the inside is pure dive bar. I see the charm though, I like it. I like the different levels of seating. I like the different events they put on and the jazz nights. Its dark and dank in a good way. The food is good, the service is friendly, and they serve local beers. What more do you want? I’m easy to please.

Great food, cool atmosphere, great comedy show every Wednesday night followed by Karaōke. Can’t beat combo on a weekday

I’m not typically one for writing review updates. I already put in my time writing a long-​winded review once and that’s usually enough for me. However, this situation certainly warrants it given the horrible burger I had at Bearly’s pre-​Ace Burger taking over the kitchen, and the experiences I have had since.
Making their Bearly’s debut during Burger Week, Ace certainly seems to have an interesting business MO of taking over mediocre-​at-​best kitchens in dive bars known for their live music. A pretty niche field. Any likely candidates over on the Dark Side anyone can think of? Anyway, with the bigger kitchen at Bearly’s they’ve had more burgers than the original Gus’ location since the start (8 – 10 depending on specials) and they have recently added their drool-​inducing diner menu. It’s compact with about a dozen items plus daily specials, but I want it all. Cracklin’ (fried pork skin), donair «Hot Pockets», fried chicken, ribs (of course), a meatloaf sandwich, fried pork chop… I could go on and on, but just give it a look and then a try for yourself.
I can confirm that the deluxe burger here is just as good as from their sister location. The rib burger is far superior pork sandwich compared to the Big Bad Wolf, with juicy hunks of tender rib meat in a very good BBQ sauce that isn’t at all cloyingly sweet like most are.
On my last visit, I was laser focused on trying out the diner menu. Unfortunately I was by myself and couldn’t sample as much as if I had my usual partner in crime with me, so I went the gluttonous route and got an app and entrée. After much internal hemming and hawing, I settled on the donair Hot Pockets and the Monday special, the «Hot Mess» meatloaf sandwich.
With house-​made donair meat and sauce in pastry dough, I wasn’t sure quite what to expect. What arrived were three golden brown balls topped with a generous drizzle of donair sauce and diced tomato, red and green onion. Much more eye-​pleasing than their commercial namesake when they exit the microwave soggy and shameful. Much more. Somewhere in between the size of a golf ball and baseball, you could knife and fork these or you could go the route that I did, just accepting that this is a donair and it’s gonna get a little messy. I’ve had hit or miss encounters with donair-​ed versions of other foods (donair egg rolls: thumbs up; donair steam buns: thumbs down), but I wasn’t letting my hopes get too high before that initial bite, but when I did take it, my teeth sank into deliciousness. The outside of the pockets were lightly crispy, while the inside of the dough was pleasingly soft and doughy, not unlike a donair sauce-​soaked pita. Jam packed with moist and tasty meat, they hit the flavour profile of a good donair right on the mark. With a wonderful balance of spice and earthiness, this is the taste that carnivorous Haligonians love. The donair sauce had a nice and thick consistency, and was spot on flavour-​wise as well — lightly garlicky, not too sweet and just a bit of tanginess. The diced veggies completed the donair experience, as did the multiple napkins I had to use. At $ 7, this is a very solid appetizer and left me worried how much room I’d have left for my meatloaf sandwich.
Said sandwich arrived with perfect timing right after I’d finished my DHPs, and I began to hope that my belly would be able to literally step up to the plate. A nearly two-​inch thick slab of meatloaf sat open-​faced atop a slice of bread, itself topped with mashed potatoes, sauteed onions and gravy. Oh, and a couple sauteed snow peas to get some green on the plate. Open-​faced is the only way this sandwich could be served as there is no bread known to man that could properly envelope this and itself still be edible. After staring at this mound of carbs and meat, I sliced off a corner and dug in. The meatloaf was quite good, moist and had a good texture — not so dense that it was sausage-​like, nor was it so loose that it didn’t hold together. The mashed potatoes were likely technically whipped as there is no human alive who could hand mash potatoes as smooth as these were. The mushroom gravy was rich and just salty enough to nicely complement the potatoes and meatloaf. Oh, and those snow peas reminded me that yes, vegetables are a thing.
Such a turn around in kitchens rarely occurs, but Bearly’s and Ace pulled it off, and then some. And luckily for me the Wired Monk was right around the corner for me to get my caffeine fix before an afternoon long meeting.

The beef brisket or «rib» burger was awesome. This was my first time at Bearly’s since Ace moved in and I enjoyed myself. The same friendly staff, locals, and musical talent with a fresh menu. The brisket burger has three huge chuncks of tender beef with housemade coleslaw and onion ring… I wouldn’t mind a whole side of these rings! A huge pile and fries and $ 6 Keith’s draft filled up my belly while a two-​piece blues band played.

Bearly’s was the first bar I went to when I moved to Halifax. I went with a coworker who was a groupie for a bluegrass band performing there; but that’s a story better suited to my blog than a Unilocal review.
Bearly’s itself is a really nice place that has the atmosphere you’d expect from a blues bar. Though they can no longer be called The House of Ribs and Blues (now the House of Burgers and Blues), they still hold on the blues part of their tradition strongly.
With live music almost every evening, you will almost certainly have a good time, dancing, listening, or just drinking. They’ve got local talent, karaōke, blues, bluegrass. Everything you could want.
Ace Burger Co. has also taken up residence in Bearly’s. I’m already a huge fan if Ace (see my Gus’ Pub Ace review), and that still holds true here. Just don’t order the rib burger. It’s a poor attempt to hold on to their rib heritage.

I like Bearly’s. My fiancé and I went here for our first date and we have been back many times since.
Sometimes we go to have a few drinks, but more frequently we have gone for a bite to eat. On different occasions I’ve had burgers, spinach salad, wings and a turkey dinner. The turkey dinner was not their forte, but I’ve enjoyed everything else I’ve had here. I’ve not tried the ribs, but my fiancé has. He did not enjoy them. He is a connoisseur of all things meat, so I am going to trust him on this one.
I like the atmosphere, it is the perfect setting to listen to some fantastic blues music. The staff are friendly, and the price is right. Bearly’s is a casual, unpretentious spot to throw back a few beer, grab some tasty, simple grub, and listen to some great music.

Now that Ace has moved in I visited bearly’s for the first time. Good music and of course good food with ace in the house.