The Tavern (also on Facebook) is a standalone, nondescript building in the Lee's Hill shopping center. Once inside we found a comfortable pub atmosphere with dark wood and a large stone fireplace. There's a small seating area with tables and a bar area separated by a windowed wall. There is also a small outdoor seating area. The beer menu on the table listed 15 selections, and the waitress named off a couple more that I don't recall. They had the usual factory beers, and the expected Irish selections of Guinness and Smithwick's. There were some good craft selections such as Blue & Gray Fred Red, Fat Tire and Yeungling. In a surprising twist, the draft selection also included Goose Island IPA and Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning. I was especially surprised to see the "Über Pils" from Heavy Seas on draft. That's an off-the-wall selection for a non-specialty pub.
I opted for the Small Craft Warning to enjoy with our Tavern Sampler appetizer, which consisted of buffalo wings, fried shrimp, mozzarella sticks and jalapeño poppers — a fried pub food delight. The wings were the best part of the platter and we'll definitely be ordering more of those in the future. Small Craft Warning is a malt-rich, sweet and toasted brew with some piney hops to balance. For our meal, our group all opted for burgers. The burgers are hand-formed, juicy, and surely check in around 1/2 pound. Ordered cooked "medium," the centers were hot but still bright pink. These are indeed multiple napkin meals. Add thick streak fries drenched in malt vinegar and you have a robust and tasty meal. I selected a Goose Island IPA to enjoy with my "Lee's Hill Burger" topped with green peppers, onions, mushrooms and provolone. The IPA was a malty English IPA with a rich dose of citrus hops mixed in.
I admit to being ignorant of the existence of The Tavern until very recently. It's not a new place, they celebrated 7 years in business earlier this year. The food was good, the beer selection interesting, and the service excellent. I understand the spicy tavern shrimp are quite popular. I expect we'll be back to try them out, along with more of those wings.
I opted for the Small Craft Warning to enjoy with our Tavern Sampler appetizer, which consisted of buffalo wings, fried shrimp, mozzarella sticks and jalapeño poppers — a fried pub food delight. The wings were the best part of the platter and we'll definitely be ordering more of those in the future. Small Craft Warning is a malt-rich, sweet and toasted brew with some piney hops to balance. For our meal, our group all opted for burgers. The burgers are hand-formed, juicy, and surely check in around 1/2 pound. Ordered cooked "medium," the centers were hot but still bright pink. These are indeed multiple napkin meals. Add thick streak fries drenched in malt vinegar and you have a robust and tasty meal. I selected a Goose Island IPA to enjoy with my "Lee's Hill Burger" topped with green peppers, onions, mushrooms and provolone. The IPA was a malty English IPA with a rich dose of citrus hops mixed in.
I admit to being ignorant of the existence of The Tavern until very recently. It's not a new place, they celebrated 7 years in business earlier this year. The food was good, the beer selection interesting, and the service excellent. I understand the spicy tavern shrimp are quite popular. I expect we'll be back to try them out, along with more of those wings.
Interesting...can't say why, but interesting...lol
ReplyDeleteOkay, be vague. :-)
DeleteHeavy Seas Small Craft Warning?
ReplyDeleteI have got to find some of that!
Fried shrimp is good, but what you need to go with a beer named such are what we call "crickets".
Jalepeno' pepper sliced once, seeds removed, stuffed with a shrimp (and perhaps a bit of cream cheese if you need some extra fatty goodness) rolled in a strip of bacon and cooked on the grill.
Don't get me wrong, I love good'n hot chicken wings, but nothing highlights a good beer like the burn from a jalepeno'
kx, I'm a spicy food fan too. Love jalapeño poppers, but can't say I've had them wrapped in bacon and grilled. Sounds great.
DeleteThe Range, The Tavern, The Pub, When you list them off like that, we sound like a bunch of geniuses around here. :)
ReplyDeleteNow I'm thinking of opening a new business, The Gun Store maybe?
How about The Dry Cleaners? or better yet, The Burger Joint.
MSgt, not simple, just concise and to the point. :-)
DeleteAs an aside, when the place now known as "Park Lane Tavern" first showed up here, they were to be also called "The Pub." But the other "The Pub" objected, so they changed their official name to "The Fredericksburg Pub." No less confusing. Now we tell folks "Let's meet at Park Lane, the one that used to be called Fredericksburg Pub, which is the one by the mall, not the one called The Pub that's near the ABC Store." Aw, heck, let's just go to Blue & Gray.