Town Tavern

This is a neighborhood gem that has been revitalized by the current owner.Firstly, the place is spotless, and you can see staff attending to cleanliness regularly- sweeping, mopping and cleaning tables. A+The atmosphere is old school pub/bar/restaurant with various micro environments lol! No seriously you can feel like you're in a bar, at a sidewalk bistro or a relaxing restaurant.All the food we tried was great and generous and well priced. We took guests and everyone cleaned their plates and raved!We especially love the turkey tips and steak tips with mashies and their signature potato "flag" which is like a giant potato chip. Scoop up your potatoes with more potatoes?!?! Yes please.We also like the chicken which can be made buffalo and the dumplings, and the options for sides of basmati rice. They have a way with potatoes, and the french fries are sooooo good and perfect.Also great desserts. We loved the carrot cake and ice cream and can't wait to try the basque cheesecake next time. My friends enjoyed the salmon plate and pulled pork Sammy.My absolute fave thing about this place is their hyper responsible alcohol consumption "policy": they will not serve you more than four drinks, and if you order a third, you have to order food with it. This prevents it from being a barfly hangout and contributes to an awesome, friendly, convivial atmosphere.

Came here for dinner before a movie at the Capitol theater across the way - decent pub fare with a lot of options. The space has a clean tavern feel, with some dark pockets and TVs showing sports or the Olympics. We had the salmon tatsoi and grilled shrimp entree and found the portions to be quite generous. The salmon was a bit bland, but cooked well, and the greens and soba had a nice light ginger soy dressing , but I didn't see many veggies or mandarins. The shrimp was coated in a garlic white wine butter sauce on top of a bed of zoodles, which my friend enjoyed.The downside was the service -- the server was friendly, but very spacey and slow. She forgot our drinks twice, and never brought over water after we reminded her, so we were thirsty throughout our meal. We only ordered 2 entrees and 2 drinks and thought we would be in and out under 90 mins. We ended up being there for 2 hours and had to flag the server down to pay our bill and nearly missed our movie.Overall food was decent, but service needs work, I'm not sure I'd return.

Very pleasant place, laid back and relaxed friendly vibe. Prices aren't particularly cheap but oh well, this is Arlington so what can you expect. We shared an order of onion rings, which were a generous portion of delicious, wow-you-can-actually-taste-the-onions-not-just-the-batter ones, possibly the best we've had in a long while. My friend got the aspiring-gourmet Town Tavern burger which cost about 30% more than the Five Guys version but well worth it since it appeared like there really was 30-50% more beef, although the condiments and toppings it came with were a bit too sweet (food here seems to lean towards a sweeter palate rather than spicy or savory). Next time I will just get the "Bacon Cheddar" version with mayo and mustard, lettuce/tomatoes/pickles/onions. The big thick fresh cut fries it came with were good too. Speaking of sauces---I made the mistake of ordering the steak tips, which came with what looked and tasted like a fair bit of A-1 on top...a VERY bad sign whenever getting steak of any kind. This usually portends that the meat is not very good quality and probably neither is the cooking, hence they aren't confident enough to serve it without dousing it in sauce. And sadly, that indeed was the case: meat was flavorless and almost rubbery in texture, requiring a fair bit of elbow grease to cut into smaller more chewable chunks. I've had better steak tips in diners, FFS. Ergo, this is not a dish I would ever recommend or order again next time I come here.So we do plan to come back, namely for the pleasant environment, and the beer on tap was pretty decent (although I had to ask specifically for "your strongest IPA" because the server was sure I wouldn't like it and kept recommending the bland watered down pseudo-IPAs instead). Rest of the menu looks fairly safe, I guess we will stick to the bar food classics, i.e. the fried chicken sandwiches, pastrami, etc.---dishes simple enough so that they hopefully cannot and will not be effed up unlike those unfortunate steak tips. Fingers crossed! 3 and 1/2 stars.

Tremendous food, great and attentive service, solid beer and wine selection. We really enjoyed every part of our meals. The three of us had a Cubano sandwich, the penne with chicken, and fish and chips, all very nicely done and good sized portions. If this were in Chula Vista we would be there all the time. Comfortable seating as well and nice atmosphere. There was literally nothing about this place that disappointed.

Solid option if you are looking for bar food and a casual vibe. Food was good and service attentive.Menu had a couple of interesting options in addition to traditional pub fare. Overall we were excited to find this local spot.

Solid food but I wanted to give a shout-out to a fantastic trivia experience! Trivia can be a toss-up. I've gone to others in the Boston area where the questions were impossible (to the point where not a single person got it right) or the sound was deafeningly loud (to the point where my watch registered a dangerously high decibel level and was basically telling me to GTFO to save my hearing). The trivia set-up at Town Tavern was perfect. Three solid rounds of questions, different categories to keep things exciting, a great trivia master. For people with sensitive ears, the noise volume was perfect. I could hear everyone at my table. It was the most fun I had at trivia to date. Food-wise, you can't go wrong with the bar food. Our table split an order of onion rings (really enjoyed the sauce) and my chicken Caesar did the job of making me feel healthy-ish. Which of course I then undid by basically inhaling a slice of the basque cheesecake on my own. Loved the wedge fries here, I may get just an order of that for myself next time. Prices were pretty affordable. For a group of eight that ordered drinks and desserts, the total came out to about $183 before tax/tip.

Went here with my partner today for lunch. First time trying it out and we loved it! He got a cheeseburger & fries, and I got the penne pasta with garlic butter (it did come with sauteed chicken tenders-- I didn't really like them though; I misread the menu and thought they were crispy/fried). Other than that, the food was great! I wanted to especially highlight the french fries-- they're hand-cut in a very flat/wide shape, and they were DELICIOUS. perfectly seasoned, and very crispy. I want to come back here just for the fries-- they're THAT GOOD.My pasta was good, lunch portion was a good size. Service was great, our server was attentive and the food came out quickly. We both really want to come back on Tuesday night for trivia!!

Came here for brunch birthday drinks and apps. We sat at the area behind the bar and had a blast. The mimosas were on point and the beer was cold. I would recommend coming here and enjoying your day with great food and drinks. Pictures attached. Thanks guys for the great food, drinks and service!

The Town Tavern hosted a bereavement luncheon for us (45 people) that exceeded our expectations. First everyone ordered off the menu and the kitchen nailed it. Everything from appetizers to mains came out scratch made and delicious! Special recognition to the bacon brussels sprouts, cheese balls, fried oyster mushrooms, and wings appetizers! The mains were equally good with the salmon, beef tips, fish and chips, and Tavern burger drawing high praise. The wait staff was very attentive and made sure everyone had what they wanted quickly. Enough cannot be said about the owner, Bootsie. I approached him by long distance phone (we live in Michigan) to see if he could be to handle our meal. He said no problem, when and how many and he would handle the rest. We can't thank him enough for providing a respite in a difficult day. Arlington, you are lucky to have this neighborhood restaurant that serves up excellent scratch made food, great cocktails and beers, with friendly staff.PS My wife and I went back the next night for dinner. The food and staff were just as good. Thanks again Bootsie!

This is one of my go-to places for lunch. Attentive service and comfortable interior. Some favorites: Tavern Stir Fry; Ragin Cajun; Beer Work Tips; and the Salmon. Have loved all of their soups!