Bison County Smokehouse And Grill

n0rmann

Massachusetts

3.23/5  rDev -15.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 2.5 | $$

For a restaurant, there's a good beer selection here. When I'm in Waltham, I'm more likely to go there for a beer or two rather than to eat.

The last time I was there, they had a couple of different Victorys, as well as Abita, Magic Hats, and several other beers from good breweries such as Harpoon, Sam Adams and Wachusett.

I've eaten there twice. The first time, I got catfish, and it was ok. The next time, I got a chicken Ceasar salad and it was terrible.

I'll go there again. It's a pretty good place to sit at the bar, have a couple of brews and catch the games on a couple of the televisions they have.

09-30-2006 13:44:40 | More by n0rmann

RoterTeufel

Massachusetts

3.25/5  rDev -14.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Waltham's Beer Friendly Atmosphere:
Bison is a smoke house - its the first thing you notice when walking through the door as you take in a whif of that burning wood & cooking barbecue smell. Now remember that! It's not a place I'd take a first date.
Food is good, if not great; I've had amazing barbecue - and it's hard to come by in these parts. Bison does a good job - I recommend the Arizona Egg Rolls & the Pulled pork, not the brisket - a bit dry (but so is most brisket in the northeast).
Service is hit or miss - sit at the bar if you want attention & your drink always full.
You have a good selection of BEER & bar-b at reasonable prices, and quite a few quality brews on tap & bottle.

I might have to consider Bison my neighborhood bar & first or second choice every time; I'd grade them with a "B" - not to put them down, but there are improvements to be made.
I go there about every other week - folks there are friendly & will help you with your selection if you are unsure.

Also, they tend to close before their posted closing time - has happened to me more than once.

12-16-2005 21:13:00 | More by RoterTeufel

MichaelinFishers

Indiana

3.29/5  rDev -13.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | $$

Visited 8/25/2010 for just beers. Bartender was Hillary.

Decent tap selection, but not huge. Bottle selection looked like it might have been better, and the sign out front touted that it was recently increased, but there was no bottle list and Hillary didn't know all of them. She did pull some of the newer ones out for me to look at.

Looks like it could be a hoppin' place at dinner time or on another night. As it was, it was moderately busy with a couple tables drinking after dinner and a handful of us at the bar.

Hillary was very attentive and responsive, but as mentioned above, wasn't extremely knowledgeable about the beer. In addition to not knowing the bottle list very well, she didn't know exactly which Palm beer they had on tap, only that it was Belgian.

They had just tapped a new keg of Berkshire Steel Rails. My sample had a very off smell and taste (a friend concurred). When I mentioned it to Hillary, she smelled and tasted and said it couldn't be right. She poured and dumped a pint or two, then pulled another sample that was much better. Not sure what the problem was, thinking it was something in the lines. So she gains points for this, but still disappointed a bit on her overall beer knowledge.

I'm out here for business frequently. I'd like to come back for the food some time and update my review. Maybe they'll have a bottle list.

08-26-2010 05:29:14 | More by MichaelinFishers

carln26

Missouri

3.4/5  rDev -10.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4

I live just down the block from Bison County, but I've not had much oppoirtunity to eat there. Coming home this evening, I realized I didn't have anything in the fridge, so I walked over for a quick bite and a few beers. The atmosphere is "southern BBQ" Lot's of wood, old southern license plates hanging on the wall, and a few other momentos of the south to spice it up.

Nice beer selection. They always have Victory Hop Devil, and something from Brooklyn (Brown Ale this time). Usually something from Concord (Rapscalion) on the tap as well as 9 - 10 others. A nice 20 bottle selection to go along. The drafts always seem fresh, I had fresh tastes of Spaten Oktoberfest, Post Road Pumpkin, and Rapscallion.

The staff seems friendly, they could attend a little better.

Food is good. I had a brisket sandwich which was quite good, a small salad, and some sweet potato fries. Last time I was here, the BBQ was a little dry. It was better this time. Sauce on the side would be nice.

Overall nice place. I do recomend the food, It's not Redbones from a food or beer level, but not bad.

09-02-2004 23:32:58 | More by carln26

Truh

New Hampshire

3.5/5  rDev -8.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

“I’ll see you guys in there,” Jim said and took a hard right into the Lifestyles video center. “I’ve got some business I need to take care of.

Kumar shook his head and we continued to Bison County. Moody St. was awash in the flotsam and jetsam of Waltham; locals, students, and young professionals mixing in a great sea of just hidden rage and desire. The same could be said of the interior of Bison County; the place was an absolute meat market. Somehow, we managed to find a few seats at the bar, a jagged cut on the left as we entered, with about sixteen free-standing tall-backed chairs. The rest of the bar area proper had about nine tall tables of four, while the back dining area had low tables and booths with an open kitchen serving as a backdrop to the whole scene. Off to the right there seemed to be some kind of function room with a private shindig taking place in it.

“What do you think he’s doing in there,” Kumar asked as we scanned the tap handles.

“I don’t even want to know,” I said and ordered a Victory Hop Devil. They had about fourteen draughts, among them Brooklyn Brown, Red Tail Ale, Smutty Shoals, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, and Wachusetts Blueberry. They also had a hefty amount of bottles, over twenty, but I was more interested in grabbing another bite to eat as it had been a long day of swilling. The bartender had possessed the foresight to give us some menus when he took our drinks order; a nice change of pace from the Skellig. The menu was Tex-Mex themed and I immediately decided on the beef brisket, while Kumar hemmed and hawed for a bit before deciding on the boneless buffalo wings.

“Hey,” Kumar grabbed my arm, turning me, “isn’t that Dennis Leary?” Kumar was always thinking he saw some kind of celebrity when in reality it was just some poor schmuck who would end up having to deal with his inanity. This guy, though similar in look, was clearly not the comic actor.

“Huh, yeah,” I said, “I think it is.”

“Keep an eye on my beer,” Kumar said and slid off his stool. “I’m going to go get his autograph,” and with that he disappeared into the crowd. I surveyed the rest of the place, content to have a moment’s respite from both of my friends. The whole place was done up in wood, from floor to ceiling. Steer skulls and horns jutted out of the bar’s wall, which was festooned with license plates from across the country. A huge American flag was painted on the wall next to the windows that fronted on Moody St. I wondered if that had been put up after 9/11. There was some breweriana here and there, but not overly done. With the REM and Hootie and the Blowfish playing over the PA via the bartender’s iPod, the affair had a jazzed up roadhouse feel to it. The one thing that stood out the most to me though was how deathly frigging cold the place was. Despite how crowded the place was, I found myself blowing on my hands after every swig from my pint.

“You-ess-of-fucking-ay,” Jim yelled and pointed to the flag on the wall, clapping me on the shoulder. Somehow, Jim already had a pint in his hand. Just then the bartender served up our food. I dug into my brisket, which was quite good, while Jim didn’t hesitate to sit down and start sampling Kumar’s buffalo wings. I grabbed one too for good measure and found them to be some of the best I’d had in a while. We finished our pints with the food and ordered another round, with Jim insisting on Lemon Drop chasers. Drinking that would surely prove to be a bad idea, but I quietly acquiesced, knowing I could somehow get rid of it without Jim’s knowledge. There was no way I was going to drink that sickeningly sweet stuff.

“Where’d Kumar go,” Jim asked wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his torn UNH sweatshirt. The wings were gone, only a few desultory sticks of celery left. “He’d better not be off whoring around, if he knows what’s good for him,” he said scanning the crowd like a hawk. Kumar appeared out of the mass and rejoined us at the bar.

“Fucking guy wasn’t Dennis Leary,” Kumar grimaced. “I could have sworn it was him.” Kumar scanned the bar top, taking in the refuse that was left over from our gustatory attack. He looked slowly from me to Jim, and repeated the process one more time, before his gaze settled on the smear of hot sauce Jim had missed on his stubbly jaw.

“All right, jerkuleeze, you’re buying me another order of boneless wings,” Kumar commanded.

“What did you just call me, a jerkuleeze? In your fucking dreams,” Jim laughed and sauntered off in to the crowd towards the function room. “I’m going to go check out this party.”

Kumar stared at Jim, eyes wide with rage, hands clenched by his sides. “That’s the last time he…” Kumar said and strode off after Jim. A few seconds later I could hear some yelling and things crashing about in the side room. What the hell, I figured, and threw back my Lemon Drop. It was turning in to one of those nights.

11-02-2006 02:00:15 | More by Truh

BeerGood

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4 | $$

calling bison county a beer bar, in my opinion, is a bit of a stretch. i really do like this place, but it seems like the last three times i've been in there i stared at the tap list for five minutes, and ended up ordering a hop devil each time. and last time i was there pretty much everyone around me was drinking bud and coors light. they do have a nice selection of bottles and that includes your standard belgians, but my philosophy is draft when out - bottles at home. all the bbq i've had has been decent, good sized portions for the cost. sides are some-what predictable and unexciting. i've never tried any of the tex-mex because there are much better options in the neighborhood. apps seem to be the most consistent - catfish nuggets, buffalo shrimp, arizona egg rolls are my faves. great place to sit at the bar and watch a game while enjoying a beer and an appetizer. hope to see more of a draft selection in the future.

06-15-2010 19:39:24 | More by BeerGood

John

New York

3.83/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4

This place is borderline for the beer bar category, so conservatively, I think bar/pub is the best classification. Bison County has a respectable selection of good brews on tap. 18 or so taps with notables being Victory HopDevil, Belhaven Scottish Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale and Brooklyn Brown. The usual suspects round out the remainder Guinness, Bass, Sam, Blue Moon, other macros, etc. Noteworthy bottles – Anchor, Magic Hat, Flying Dog. Casual atmosphere and good service. I had some of the tastiest wings ever here…be sure to try the smoked wings (I had the “crazy hot” Fire Wings, which were not all that hot). A couple pints of fresh HopDevil washed them down effectively. They offer some other very good menu selections including, you guessed right, Bison. If that’s not your thing don’t worry there’s also beef, pork and chicken. Definitely worth a try.

09-08-2003 16:06:36 | More by John

morebeergood

Massachusetts

3.91/5  rDev +2.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

This was the last stop on our Moody Street pubcrawl on Saturday 6/30/07. I haven't been in here for about 3 years (love the food), and I was disappointed to see they've closed half of the restaurant (the seating area) and have just the bar area and the tables near the kitchen. The place just seemed a lot smaller. There was only a few people in here, so we grabbed some seats at the bar. The selection of beers was a pretty good for a bbq joint, with a good variety of beers on tap such as Smuttynose, two Berkshires, Wachusett, Victory, and Old Speckled Hen. The most fun part of our visit was the bartender, who we nicknamed El Pelon. The place was dead and he just wanted to chat with people. We talked with him for a while and he turned out be a really cool guy. Nice way to end the night, with a couple of BBC pints and some good conversation.

07-02-2007 17:59:24 | More by morebeergood

YonderWanderer

Colorado

3.95/5  rDev +3.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Walking into Bison County, you're greeted by a good sized bar, several large TVs, and a giant bison head on the wall, along with multiple beer signs. Sitting down at the bar, you'll find about 10-12 different taps, some macros, but more craft brews. Victory, Berkshire Brewing Company, and Old Speckled Hen to name a few. They have a good selection of bottles as well, including Chimay, Abita, Boulder Brewing, and several more. The food is also quite good, and price-wise, it's fair for Moody St. Overall a good place to go drink, have a bite to eat, and watch the game.

09-02-2007 21:35:33 | More by YonderWanderer

gwood

California

3.95/5  rDev +3.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

The BBQ smell was in the air and the bar was almost empty when I showed up but by the time I was halfway through my meal the bar was full (the Celtics were on). This place has an intimate feel that suits it well, license plates on the wall, old beer add signs, and a generally agreeable vibe.

The food is a mix of grill and smoke as the name denotes. Qaulity is good if not a bit on the spendy side. I had the Cowboy and Indians which is a mix of ant two smoked meets. The pulled pork was quite moist and came with a good texas style sauce and the brisket was strips with a South Carolina sauce, also very tender and properly smoked. The sauce is the only thing that didnt put thr food over the edge for me.

Beer selection was better than I expected with a good fourty or so bottles and fifteen or so additional beers on tap. I started with a Smutty pale, then a Victory Hop Wallop, and finished with a Brooklyn Brown.

Good service (by the owner). He was very helpful, answer any questions honestly and in good detail. All in all a good place, I'll be coming back.

EDIT: Made a mistake on the selection score. Corrected.

03-13-2008 01:52:17 | More by gwood