Caston & Main Brew Yard rustic spot for dinner across from Nimisila Reservoir | Local Flavor

A friend recommended we try the casually cool Caston & Main Brew Yard restaurant in the Portage Lakes area, where I recently dined on a delicious steak with my husband and daughter.

It was a bit of a circuitous route getting to that entree choice, considering my daughter and I first ordered the Korean BBQ short ribs, which sounded perfect to us. They're brined and seared and served with a side of ginger, garlic, and soy-seared broccoli and sweet potatoes.

About 10 minutes after we ordered our entrees on a recent Saturday night, our server returned to tell us the restaurant was out of the short ribs. Neither of us was in the mood for a hand-held sandwich, burger or taco that night, so we ended up again ordering the same entree: DemKota steak and potatoes. This steak was a hit with both of us.

But I digress. Caston & Main Brew Yard, located at Caston Road and Main Street, has a property that straddles both Green and New Franklin. Ron and Sharon Robinson bought the original bar there in 2014 and opened it in 2016.

After a major renovation in 2018, the couple reopened the restaurant with a new bourbon room and two outdoor patios, which feature fire pits and an outdoor stage fashioned from a silo.

Inside, Caston & Main has rustic, barnlike decor featuring two sliding barn doors between the dining room and bourbon room, a simple gray palette, lots of wood, and tables created from bourbon barrels.

My daughter Anna dubbed the place "barndustrial," taking into account the gray-painted exposed ductwork above us in the dining room. One of my favorite parts of the decor is the two-sided stone fireplace between the dining room and bourbon room.

Starters impress at Caston & Main

To start off our evening, Steve enjoyed a Chocolate Cherry Bomb imperial stout ($8) on draft from Ellicottville Brewing Co. in New York, and Anna sipped on a strawberry dragon fruit mojito ($11). Caston & Main offers an impressive number of beers on tap with 40 different options. It also offers a cocktail menu that includes margarita flights and a large bourbon, whiskey and scotch menu.

We started our early-evening dinner with appetizers, ordering salmon cakes and Brew Yard Balls. Alas, our waiter came back to tell us the restaurant was out of the southwest-style salmon cakes.

We chose fried pickles ($11.99) as our backup and were glad we did. All three of us were digging the crispy dill pickle chips fried in panko, which we dipped in a tasty house-made chipotle ranch dressing.

We're glad we sampled two appetizers. The Brew Yard Balls ($10.99), featuring chorizo, risotto, white cheddar, lime crema and queso fresco, were too subtle for our taste. I wanted a bigger chorizo taste, which was hard to detect, and Anna said "the cheese could be cheesier."

Steak, shrimp and grits serve as delicious entrees

Back to the steak. The 8-ounce DemKota sirloin steaks, sourced from a ranch in South Dakota, were beautifully cooked medium rare and were the perfect size. Both Anna and I loved the creamy deliciousness of the compound butter dollop on top of our steaks.

Our sautéed broccoli was yummy, but the confit redskin potatoes tasted bland and not well seasoned.

Steve's entree was a winner, too, presented beautifully in a deep white bowl. His shrimp and grits featured creamy grits flavored with white cheddar, nice-sized shrimp and a medley of vegetables, all in a white wine sauce. It was a rich and flavorful dish.

We didn't have any room left for dessert, but the eatery offers New York-style cheesecake, a boozy bourbon brownie and a berries and cream waffle. The restaurant serves lunch, dinner and brunch, the latter running from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Cocktails and mocktails aplenty at Brew Yard

I'm having a dry January after all our holiday festivities, so it was fun when a bartender just happened to be circulating the dining room to give customers a sample of four mocktails the restaurant is working on.

She showed us how to do the "straw test," drawing a taste of each drink from each cocktail without putting your mouth on the straw. I was happy to try a jalapeno drink reminiscent of a spicy margarita and a drink similar to a blackberry mule.

Before we arrived, we had talked about hanging out in the bourbon room after dinner, but it wasn't operational because its bartender wasn't working. We could still order bourbon from the restaurant's main bar, however, and we made sure to take a peek inside the posh-looking bourbon room for future reference.

The restaurant offers happy hour Tuesday through Sunday and Wine Down Wednesdays, featuring half-off bottles of house wine.

When warm weather returns, we want to experience Caston & Main on its outdoor patios, with live entertainment, situated across from Nimisila Reservoir. We'll also be sure to check out that bourbon room in the future.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Restaurant: Caston & Main Brew Yard

Address: 5010 S. Main St., Green

Hours: 4 to 11 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4 p.m. to midnight Friday, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday

Information: castonbrewyard.com or 330-882-2275

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Caston & Main Brew Yard menu: Delicious steak, shrimp and grits