Backbone Tavern

Where to start? As soon as you walk in you are greeted with warmth and smiles like you are that family member that someone genuinely misses. The owner Geoff walked me through the flavor profiles of all of the many wing sauces. His recommendations were spot on (they let me try 6 different sauces!). Fire in the Hole is exactly what it sounds like but it does have beautiful flavor- give it a shot! The duck wings were easily my favorite with the Smoke on the Mountain sauce ( I did take a bite before the photo). Super unique and delicious. I loved hearing the pork rinds still crackling when our server sat them down in the table. The fried pickles were really good. My wife loved the brisket sandwich. This will be our go-to place when we come back to Deep Creek Lake.

Stopped by for a Tuesday night dinner. It was located about 25 minutes from where were staying in Oakland, Maryland. It is on route 50 and appears to be in the middle of nowhere. It was fairly busy and has bar seating area, high top tables, some family style tables which seat 8-10 people, and a small stage area for a band. It had quite a bit of parking as well. There was one waitress/bartender caring for the who place and she was very efficient. We were not sure if we would ever be in the area again so we tried a few different things: Butter Garlic Wings, Steak and Cheese Tortilla chips, Backbone pepperoni sandwich, Backbone hot dog with chili sauce. Butter Garlic Wings (15.45/dozen): These were well cooked without any breading. We wanted the Triple B Honey Garlic flavor but they were out so we opted for the Butter Garlic. The sauce was exactly what it sounded like, melted butter with garlic bits in it. They tasted fine but wished we had gotten a different flavor. Steak and Cheese Tortilla chips ($9.95): They fry their own tortilla chips for this dish. The chip is thick and has a good taste. Toppings on this are basically what you might find on a Philly steak sandwich with mozzarella cheese on top. This was a pretty good dish with good taste. It was also good size. Backbone Pepperoni Sandwich ($6.95): When I saw this on the menu, I thought of another place I have eaten from who serves something called a PLT (Pepperoni, lettuce, tomato sandwich). Therefore, I had certain expectations. I was expecting crispy pepperoni as they serve pepperoni chips as an appetizer. Unfortunately, the pepperoni on this sandwich was not crispy and there wasn’t much pepperoni on it to begin with. Overall, the sandwich didn’t really have much flavor. This is not something I can recommend. Backbone Hot Dog ($2.95): We paid the extra 50 cents and got the chili sauce on it. The hot dog was okay but the sauce was sweet with a different flavor which I couldn’t quite figure out. It was okay but nothing I would recommend. We spent about an hour here. Final bill was around $38 w/tax. Would I go again? Yes. How long would I travel to get there? 30 minutes. They do offer a discount to first responders on Tuesday as well. Thought that was nice of them.

Nice tavern on Backbone Mountain. We went on a Tuesday evening in June when it was not too busy. My cheesesteak sandwich was yummy and my wife’s salad consisted of generous portions of crispy chicken, vegetables and croutons. We ordered some fresh made pork rinds with a side of mesquite bbq seasoning. They came out cracking and consisted of a very generous serving. They were delicious. Our waitress was also very attentive and friendly. We hope to return at a later date when they have live music.