Don’t think boy’s night out with wings and brews can double as a romantic night with your girlfriend? Well, the Gainesville Ale House will throw a wrench in that routine.

It’s a far cry from the smoky diner covered in peanut shells that smells like last night’s drink special. Rather, it offers sophisticated entrees and attentive service paired with a laid-back atmosphere and every game you’d care to catch. It’s man food done right—the kind that pleases everyone so the most important one is left happy: You.

By:  Jennette Holzworth Photos: Laura Foreman

Meat: It’s What’s for Dinner.
You can’t go wrong with a tender fillet, whether you’re watching the game or wooing an attractive coed, and Gainesville Ale House has plenty of options. We started with their Chicken Nachos ($10), a mountain of lettuce, sour cream, salsa and jalapenos covering a bed of nachos mixed with melted cheese and shredded chicken.
For the entrees, we devoured three dishes. The signature Ossobuco ($13) lived up to its reputation of being sweet and succulent. The marinated pork shank was slow-cooked so long, we cut it with a fork. The Zinger Mountain Melt ($11) was a delicious heap of Medium Garlic Zingers piled over crispy fries and smothered with melted cheese, bacon and scallions. We also tried the grilled Wahoo ($13) from their brand-new seafood promotion. The fastest fish in the ocean lived up to its name by racing to our bellies. We topped it with their Shrimp & Lobster Sauce for a seafood explosion of flavor.

Game Time
Whatever your game is, Gainesville Ale House has it. Whether it’s on DirecTV, HBO or annother cable sports network, you can catch it at the bar, a high top or an extra-large booth with whomever you choose. They have more than 60 high-definition flat screens and full audio surround sound for various games. You can catch the entire schedule on their website.

Buckets of Fun
The list of drink specials is so long they have two. Ale House has bucket specials just about every day of the week, which makes any day a great choice to stop in for beers with your buds. They have trivia night on Tuesday and Ladies’ Night on Wednesday, as well as daily food and drink specials.
Lunch specials change weekly and their dinner specials change monthly. Featured specials range from $2.25 beers to $7 Cuervo Margaritas. Other options include pints, bottles, mixed drinks and shots.

Sweet Somethings
If you’ve never tried Captain Jack’s Buried Treasure ($5), you’ve yet to complete the Ale House experience. It’s an ice cream cake with Oreo cookie crust, caramel, chocolate fudge and Heath Bar crunch. Since we had all previously sampled what Jack had to offer, our server David suggested we go with his pick: a new addition to the menu, the Chocolate Lava Cake ($5). It’s a heated lava cake topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and a raspberry sauce, which David used to decorate the plate especially for us. (He does this for all his customers.) We didn’t think we could do it, but the plate was all but licked clean.

Fast Facts

Phone number: 352-371-0818

Web site: millersalehouse.com

Address: 3950 SW Archer Road

Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-2am (kitchen closes at midnight); Sunday 11am to 11pm.

Signature dish: Ossobuco ($13)

Price $$ to $$$ (our of $$$$)

Dress Code: Casual

Take-out and outdoor seating: Yes.

Reservations: No, but call-ahead seating is offered.