Out to eat: Silver Spring House

The iconic Silver Spring House in Symmes Township features lots of chicken and a quaint atmosphere built around photographs of patrons. (Credit: Michael E. Keating | Metromix)

Named after the Silver Spring Drive-Inn, a roadhouse that operated at the same location in the 1940s and 1950s, owners Joe Kendall and Joe Smith have incorporated old and new with comfortable and cozy at their “Chicken Joint” in Symmes Township since 1988.

The atmosphere: The Silver Spring House Café is always hopping on the weekends. The decor includes pastel paintings of pink and white flamingos around two bars including the heated patio and comfortable booths and tables. The walls are filled with numerous pictures of customers.

On a recent Saturday we arrived around 6:30 p.m. and a hostess told us the wait would be about 25 minutes and directed us to the bar. Happy hour prices were still in effect (and there are endless popcorn and peanuts) and our wait ended up being only 15 minutes.

The food: The Silver Spring House is known as “The Chicken Joint” with specialities such as the half-chicken dinner, with white or dark meat in a number of varieties. Don’t expect fried chicken – you can only get that on salads.

For appetizers we ordered the Road House Skins, a basket of large cut potato wedges topped with Monterrey Jack, ranch, cheddar cheese and bacon ($9.79). The wedges arrived quite promptly and were piping hot, plenty for three of us to share.

As for entrees my fiancé decided to try the Pork Shanks with his two sides of a house salad (that evening it was a goat cheese, cranberry and almond salad) with blue cheese dressing and onion rings and a side of spicy coleslaw was also included ($13.99). The slaw was spicy, creamy and just the right amount of tang. The Pork Shanks had a dark barbecued flavor yet fell right off of the bone.

Our guest decided to try the highly spoken of chicken and went with the Springhouse Chicken, the house specialty of white and dark meat ($15.99). The Springhouse chicken is marinated in tender juices and then grilled and comes with a breast, wing and two thighs. It also came with two sides, fresh green beans and Saratoga Chips. The chicken was tender, moist and had great flavor, you could definitely tell why they call the place “The Chicken Joint”.

I decided to have the Fish N Chips with a side of slaw and Saratoga Chips for $12.99. The fish was crispy and tender and I had just enough to take home with me.

My fiancé and I decided that we still had room for dessert and shared the Caramel Apple Pie ($4.95 with a side of ice cream).

The drinks: My guests decided to have large Yuenglings on draft, $4 each, while I opted for a Vodka and Cranberry Juice, $4.50

If you’re in the mood for martinis stop in on Tuesdays for ½ off Red Russian Martinis from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., all other martinis are half price as well.

The verdict: The wait isn’t long and the heated patio has TVs for you to catch the latest sporting event and have a drink while you are waiting for your table. The food and service is definitely worth the wait.