Feed the Parents: Cerar’s Barnstormer

By: Dustin Looney
Features Editor

For the first time in my Feed The Parents extravaganza, I made it to a true dine-in restaurant, Cerar’s Barnstormer Steakhouse & Lounge.

I was initially hesitant to review this restaurant because I heard meals were relatively pricey. This was not completely true, however, as Cerar’s offers a variety of sandwiches and a lunch buffet for an affordable price.

I personally chose to indulge in the lunch buffet and was not disappointed in my choice. The buffet is offered on Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

It offers an assortment of high quality homemade food; I started out with a salad and a bowl of potato soup.

The salad was nothing spectacular; it was regular iceberg lettuce with the typical toppings. The soup was delicious, and being served in a crock pot, it was obviously freshly made.

I then had two different hot pasta dishes, both of which were adequate. For the main course, I had a piece of meatloaf and a heap of mashed potatoes, both of which made me feel like I was back home eating my moms home cookin’. The mashed potatoes were perhaps the best I have ever had.

The dessert was not overwhelming, but it was sufficient. I had a couple of oatmeal cookies, some chocolate moose and tapioca pudding.

The lunch buffet was $7.50 and after tax and tip it set me back about $10.

According to Kevin Cerar, general manager, the homemade food is one thing they take pride in.

“We know that people from the Midwest know the difference between homemade food and food popped from the freezer,” Cerar said. “They expect the best and we deliver.”

Cerar’s Barnstormer Steakhouse & Lounge has been open since 1986 and their mission was to personally greet everybody as they entered and left the restaurant.

Their mission obviously remains the same today, as every customer was welcomed with warm greetings when I was there.

The restaurant is known for its high quality steaks and is generally assumed to be a fancy restaurant. Cerar clarified that although they are a fancy restaurant, somebody can also come in with blue jeans and grab a quick sandwich.

On the walls of Cerar’s was an interesting décor; there were many photos and old newspaper articles of planes dating back to the early 1900s.

On the dinner menu of Cerar’s, no buffet is offered, but there is a wide variety of intriguing dishes.

There is obviously an assortment of steaks, which range in price from $15 to $28. Steaks are what they are known for, and Cerar said he personally recommends the Filet Mignon.

Also on the dinner menu is a large seafood section, with items ranging in price from $14 to $31.

There is also a chicken section, and another one of Cerar’s personal recommendations was the Honey Pecan Chicken dish. Every chicken item is $15.

For people looking for a cheaper item, there is also a sandwich section on the menu, which includes beef Monterey dip, Reuben, pork tenderloin and butterfly pork chop sandwiches, among others. The beef Monterey dip sandwich costs $10 and all the rest cost $9.

The final section on the dinner menu is the salad section, which has chicken Caesar salad, Asian chicken salad and sirloin steak salad, among others. All salads are $9.

Overall, I was impressed with my experience at Cerar’s Barnstormer Steakhouse & Lounge. Although some of the prices are a little out of the range of college student’s low budget, the quality certainly was high.

Cerar’s is open seven nights per week and it is located at the intersection of West Broadway and Route 34 right across the street from Monmouth Inn & Suites. It is a little over one mile away from Monmouth College.