Wednesday, Jan. 04, 2012

Cheap food, cold beer at White Oak

Rhett Turner was shooting pool at his uncle's bar just outside of Garner one night in 1997. On his way home, a rear tire blew out and the wreck left Turner with a broken back.

The wheelchair put an end to Turner's days of hanging drywall for a living. In 2009, he bought the bar, White Oak Grill & Lounge.

Now Turner, 42, slings beer and greets customers as they walk in.

He said he tries to keep a positive outlook.

"There's only a couple different attitudes you can have," he said.

"You can either keep going and doing what you need to do, or you can give up."

The small eatery and bar on White Oak Road hasn't changed much since Turner's uncle bought it in 1992 and it switched hands within the family. Turner added a second pool table and an outdoor area.

Food is still cheap, and beer still rules.

"It's really what it is," Turner said. "It really could never be anything else."

The building itself has had a varied past, though. Turner said the spot has been a butcher shop, a convenience store and an auto-repair place.

Location: 7901 White Oak Road, Garner.

The food: Breakfast is available all day. Omelets, pancakes, sausage and gravy - all the home-cooked items customers can think of.

Lunch and dinner mostly include sandwiches and burgers. Options include BLTs and fish sandwiches.

Most popular: Customers seem to really enjoy the pizza and steak and cheese subs, Turner said. "And beer," he said. "Beer's probably the most popular thing we have."

The regulars : Turner knows many of his customers by name. They sit around the bar in the afternoons and chat.

"Usually if you come in once or twice, you're a regular after that," he said.

Keep it simple: There's nothing fancy about White Oak Grill & Lounge. Once, Turner said, a customer came in and asked to see an appetizer menu and a wine list.

"I just laughed and I said, 'There's the munchies up there - we have jalapeno poppers and cheese sticks. The wine list consists of Budweiser and Bud Light.' I haven't seem him since."

Competition: Turner said his place draws a good lunch crowd. But it struggles at night, likely because of the chain restaurants at nearby White Oak Crossing.

It's hard to compete with the shopping plaza, Turner said. So he keeps an active Facebook page for the bar and tries to maintain a fun atmosphere.

"Back when my uncle had this place, there was nothing else," he said.

More than beer: Karaoke nights are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Poker is Tuesdays. And open-mic night is Thursday.

One customer's review: Herb Larson, 46, of Garner said he goes to the White Oak Grill & Lounge a few times a week. He loves the fresh-made pizza.

"Where else can you get a pancake and a beer at 8 o'clock in the morning?"