Review #58
I have just come back from a short vacay to New Orleans- the culinary capital of our country. Creamy sweet potato bisque, freshly shucked oysters, fried artichoke hearts with hollandaise, and caramelized bananas over vanilla bean ice cream. Done. Just DONE. Coming back to SD for “tavern food” wasn’t really something I was dying for. I have just experienced three days of NOLA food bliss and the powdered sugar from Cafe Du Monde has just barely left my lips.
But an American Tavern was on tonight’s agenda, and I was going to give it a fair go. For a Sunday night the place wasn’t exactly crowded. Some might even call it a ghost town.
In fact, it was ghoulishly empty.
On a night with sports, The Lumberyard Tavern would be packed. This place is prepared, with tv’s everywhere. I didn’t know we just missed the National League playoffs. Lucky for this sports-hater! We practically had the place to ourselves.
Or maybe it was the shady clientele that scared off the regular paying customers this night.
Our server, Craig, was very nice and aimed to please. He told us he was the only one working the floor so if we needed anything, just holler. I took this advice literally.
The menu didn’t have as many choices as some other sports bars we’ve been to, but that’s not a bad thing. They offered typical burgers, sandwiches and salads, with a few surprises as well. We placed our orders and started with the roasted Brussel Sprouts that called to all of us.
They were not greasy and very delicious. (Do squeeze the lemon over them, it makes a difference.)
Soon, my eldest and his friend arrived and needed to order quickly to catch up. But where was Craig? “Craig!” I yelled. Even though more people had arrived. In fact, the tavern was actually filling up. “Craig!!” I tried louder. “The menus! We need more!” I suddenly felt like Chazz in the movie “Wedding Crashers” with his mom and the meatloaf. Well he did say to holler if we needed something! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bMs04JK0BQ
We ordered a variety of menu items, which everyone enjoyed. Nothing spectacular, but no complaints from anyone either.
I noticed a gentleman at another table trying to get Craig’s attention for his check by waiving a napkin in the air. But Craig was now busy helping other customers at the other end of the room and didn’t notice. “Craig!!!” I yelled really loud. “THE GUY OVER THERE NEEDS HIS CHECK. CRAIG! THE CHECK!!”
Bottom Line:
All of the food at The Lumberyard Tavern was good. Above average. The menu wasn’t pretentious, and delivered better than I expected. After my recent breakfast at Brennan’s in N’awlins, I just can’t do The Tavern weekend brunch though. It would just be sad. But I will be coming back with my cheatin’ trivia buddy, Tracy, for some Wednesday night fun for sure! When you come, order the Brussel Sprouts, they were the best thing I tried. If you can’t find a server to help you, I told you what to do. Just holler across the room for Craig. If you’re a parent like me, you won’t have any trouble with this.
Join us next week, Sunday, October 28th at 6pm at
Blue Ribbon Pizza
https://www.blueribbonpizzeria.com/
Dining on the 101 