BOWLING GREEN -- Who cares if there is no Web site or takeout menu, or if its Facebook page is bare bones?

What Trotters Tavern does have is one of the more unusual dishes in northwest Ohio: the Brown Jug Steak Dinner.

Named after the annual Little Brown Jug harness race in Delaware, Ohio, the center-cut portion of certified Angus beef top sirloin steak dinner is available as a 10-ounce ($16.99) or 16-ounce ($23.99) cut. It is marinated and served in the tavern's special brown sauce on a hot skillet. It looks like a little volcano floating in a brown sea of briny goodness.

It was hard to believe because of the steak's unique shape -- almost like a mini roast -- but it was cooked to medium perfection and tasted very good. It proved to be almost worth the wait: Granted, we were there on a very busy week night, but it took an hour and a half from the time we walked in the door until we got our dinner salads (the caprese and house were both fresh and tasty). We hope that was because of the holidays and it's not the norm.

The Brown Jug Chicken Dinner ($14.99) was cooked nicely and was tender. It also was served in Trotters' special sauce, but with this dish it proved to be too much salt to bear. The fries tasted truly homemade and the soft bread was great for "mopping up" the sauce.

We also ordered Scotch eggs ($7.99) as an appetizer but didn't get them until our dinner arrived after several reminders to our wait staff -- again we think it had more to do with the busy evening than the service itself. When the appetizer -- two eggs cooked inside of sausage -- did arrive, they were quite good, but the sausage was a little overdone.

On a separate occasion, we went with the Italian Marina Chicken Dinner ($12.99), the Cubano sandwich ($7.99), and the Trotters steak sandwich ($7.59).

The Italian-style chicken dinner is a grilled version of a chicken parmesan, which works better than heavy breading. A light touch of tomato sauce and melted mozzarella was a nice option.

The Cubano -- ham, turkey, Swiss Cheese, pickles, and mustard served on a grilled Cuban bun-- tasted better than your ordinary bar sandwich.

The steak sandwich came with an au jus that was reminiscent of the brown sauce served with the steak dinner. It allowed the scrumptious sandwich to just about melt in my mouth.

The bar had a nice variety of beers on tap, including Boddingtons Pub Ale, and the martinis were strong.

We would be remiss if we didn't mention the size of Trotters Tavern. Some patrons might call it cozy; others tiny. A sign on the bar mirror reads: maximum occupancy 58. That likely is a generous notion by about a dozen.

On our first visit, we probably would have left if we weren't there to review the restaurant. It seems like a good problem to have for the establishment's owner, but it was a comfort issue for us.

Most of the patrons, however, were there for the Brown Jug Steak Dinner, and who could blame them?

TROTTERS TAVERN

Address: 119 N. Main St., Bowling Green.

Phone: 419-352-5895.

Category: Casual.

Menu: American.

Hours: 5 p.m. to midnight Monday through Wednesday; 5 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Wheelchair access: Yes, but very tight quarters (not recommended).

Credit cards: AE, D, MC, V.

Web site: Facebook page.

Ratings: ***** Outstanding; **** Very Good; *** Good; ** Fair; * Poor.

Contact Bill of Fare at fare@theblade.com.

First Published December 29, 2011, 2:49 a.m.