We spent a happily unproductive afternoon at the Field House sports bar in Canton last week at the Field House, which is tucked between Langermann’s and the Austin Grill on the west side of the Can Company. It is an upscale but comfortable sports bar. It has all the usual bar snacks—wings, pizza, nachos, chicken tenders, hot dogs—but they are all a little different, that is amplified and modernized, than the bar snacks most of us are used to.
For instance the nachos ($8 for a tall mound) are held together with cheese and chili as usual, but the cheese sauce is seasoned with smoky chipotle, the chili has chunks of steak in it, and the jalapeno chiles are fresh, crisp and peppery, having never seen the inside of a can. There is also a sprinkling of Old Bay for local color. It was an excellent dish with beer, wine or soda, and better still, available for a happy-hour price of $5, so we polished off one and ordered another.
While chipping away at the nachos we looked at some of the dozen-or-so television screens in the room, each tuned to a different channel. There was hockey, basketball, several baseball games, sports news, a leadup to Red Sox v. Yankees, and Jim Cramer shouting about stocks on “Mad Money.” The action on the televisions really begins at 7:30 or 8 p.m., when various games around the country get going, and I think that’s when the Field House really comes into its own, with the enormous projection screen in the middle of the room playing the game of the week in whatever sport’s current, and the other screens playing lesser games and other sports.
There are 20 seats at the bar, which is wide enough to eat and drink at comfortably, some standup tables in the center of the room and booths around the perimeter, and there’s a mezzanine with a marvelous view of the projection screen, to boot.
We also loved the patio, which lacks televisions but has a lagoon, tables with umbrellas and lovely sprung-steel lawn chairs, and is wonderful for sitting, sipping, sampling and chatting.
Among our samplings were some very good corn dogs (we bet you never knew there was such a thing) with a bourbon-honey-mustard dipping sauce, emphasis on the bourbon. Delightful. The dogs did not have that impermeable coating that you see at the state fair; they were dipped in a beer batter and fried.
We also passed around a Cobb salad with plenty of grilled chicken and bacon, tomatoes and romaine lettuce, and not quite enough Thousand Island dressing. You might want to order salad dressings on the side.
The chicken tenders also came with the versatile bourbon-honey-mustard sauce, which who knows, might also be good on ice cream. The tenders were batter-dipped and fried crisp.
The Field House burger is a half-pound of juicy ground beef, grilled to order with two slices of cheeese, grilled onions, mushrooms and bacon. It is a mouthful for $12. The fries come crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, just as they should be.
Fries are also available as a snack, slathered in various toppings. Try the Cheesesteak fries ($10) with shaved ribeye steak, grilled onions and Cheese Whiz, or the Spanish fries served with chorizo, pico de gallo and pepper jack cheese ($9)
The Field House also serves steaks, crabcakes, pasta, seafood and other standards. We tried a fish taco special ($9), which was blackened tilapia served with the usual taco fillings of tomato, lettuce, avocado and pico de gallo. The fish was perfectly cooked and mildly spicy.
As an introduction to the market, the Field House is running contests for a free happy hour. As far as we can tell it’s pretty easy to win, since we won ours on the very first try. The prize happy hour, which runs from 7-8 p.m. or 10-11 p.m. on Fridays, offers free beer, wine and rail cocktails, and the bartenders have a generous hand.
The Field House starts to fill up as the games get going, so for a quiet dinner or drinks and chat, go early; if you like the crowds and an active vibe, go late.
The Field House
The Can Company, 2400 Boston Street
410-800-4004
Open daily for lunch, dinner and late night
Entree prices $17-$23; snacks and starters $5-$12
—by Jacqueline Watts
editor@baltimoreguide.com
