The Bucket at Eagle View has holes to fill
- Steven Keith
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Despite hiccups, this new restaurant on the hill is a welcome addition
Truth be told, I haven’t had the best dining experiences during my two visits to check out The Bucket at Eagle View, a new restaurant that took over where The Lookout Bar & Grill used to be at that condo community high atop the mountain overlooking Kanawha City.
I really want to love the place – just as I’ve heard others do – but they’re batting about 500 for me so far.
However, that doesn’t stop me from admiring the hard work, time and money owners Chris and Jane Adkins have put into bringing a restaurant and bar back to Eagle View, which my friends who live there say is desperately needed and appreciated. They’ve also added Happy Hour and recurring daily/weekly events and specials, which shows me they’re really trying to make a go of it up there.
And that’s something I can get behind.
This second iteration of The Bucket’s original location in Dunbar opened in November, serving a nice selection of bar apps, wings, salads, burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, flatbreads and a couple of entrees.
Known for their ridiculously decadent deep-fried pepperoni rolls and a variety of tangy, saucy, meaty wings, I can vouch that both are still outstanding at the new location. If you’re not sure what to order here, you can’t go wrong with either choice. We’ve also loved other options at the Dunbar location, including a fantastic chicken quesadilla.
The rest of what we’ve tried at Eagle View, however, has been a mixed bag – with spotty service at times as well.
The West By God Tots sounded like an amazing plate of tots smothered with bacon, jalapenos, pepper jack, cheddar and cream cheese, but those ingredients were ground up inside the tots instead.
Not bad, just not at all what I was expecting.
The recommended (and somewhat spicy) Bucket Balls were similar looking and tasting, with fire-roasted corn, pepper jack and cotija cheese fried inside a jalapeno, cilantro and lime-flavored batter, served with wing sauce on the side.
The Philly Cheesesteak tasted fine, but the amount of meat, cheese, peppers, onions and mushrooms stuffed inside wasn’t nearly as “piled high” as promised on the menu and shown on social media. (Just a heads-up that nearly everything we ordered looked much less exciting than the drool-worthy images they’re sharing on Facebook.) The onion rings I ordered with it were solid, though.
The WV Burger with bacon, sauteed mushrooms, onions and Cheese Whiz also wasn’t bad and boasted plenty of bacon. But the patty itself was much smaller than the bun it was on, and the scant amount of Cheese Whiz drizzled on the bun was a bit of a letdown. (C’mon, this is a sports bar burger. Load that baby up!)
During both visits, two different servers praised the restaurant’s Skinny Chicken, which was incredibly disappointing. What was billed as a grilled chicken breast topped with peppers, onions and mushrooms smothered in cheese was fairly tough, dry and bland. I could only manage a few bites before I gave up and ordered some wings instead.
And I know what you may be thinking: What kind of weirdo orders a “skinny” meal at a sports bar? That wasn’t my plan either, but when they kept pushing it as amazing, I felt obligated to give it a try.
Despite that disappointment, I will absolutely be going back to crush some more traditional bar food while sipping a frosty beer or three. That’s what The Bucket at Eagle View does better, and that’s enough.
IF YOU GO: The Bucket at Eagle View at 530 Silver Maple Ridge is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call (304) 935-5717 or visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, X, Instagram and Pinterest as “WV Food Guy.” He can be reached at wvfoodguy@aol.com.