Tavern Nashville

I think, technically, the place is called Tavern, but holy crap this place was difficult to Internet. Do you know what came up when I searched for Tavern and Nashville on Google? Pretty much nothing. Granted, they just opened for business last week. However, I thought the Nashville Hype Train would be running at full speed (or at least enough to register some hits on the Internet) well before opening, given that this place is from the same group that owns Whiskey Kitchen and Virago. Meh. Anyway, I think I was privy to the place only because they are located a block away from my apartment. Just knowing that this place was a concept similar to Whiskey Kitchen was enough to draw me in that first week. Countless pitchers of whiskey sour have been downed in the past. Unfortunately, there are no cocktail pitchers at Tavern. It’s a shame. But the menu is one of the most exciting I’ve seen in Nashville. To be honest, though, I think any menu that forgoes pork chops and shrimp and grits is pretty brave amongst this city’s somewhat homogeneous menus. Culinary director Robbie Wilson incorporates some of his upbringing into the menu, which includes such exotic delicacies as loco moco. YEAH BRAH. I haven’t had Hawaiian food in 4 years, there on the menu was a plate lunch! It was pricey at 12 (now 13 dollars I think), but I’m a sucker for comfort food.

Although they advertise themselves as a gastropub, they have a decent list of cocktails gleamed from the bars of NY and Nashville. Ordered a 1920 (gin, basil, ginger) which was not too sweet, fragrant, and had enough alcohol to get me buzzing for my food.

The presentation of their loco moco deviates somewhat from the traditional three-compartment take-out boxes I usually devour them from, but it made me a little concerned when I didn’t see any macaroni salad on my plate. After pointing out the small but critical omission, a small plate of mac salad was brought out. Homemade, but a little too al dente for my taste. The hamburger steak was thick, a little dry, but the savory gravy helped with the toughness. The egg on top was excellently prepared, with just enough heat to solidify the egg proteins, but not enough to prevent egg yolk from spilling over onto the rice and beef, creating the most gnarly taste combo this side of the Cumberland. This is how eggs are cooked. All in all, I think I picked a winner. My other compatriots, however, suffered from what I call price-portion disproportion, meaning they ordered dishes priced like they were dinners, but served in appetizer portions. Two tiny tacos for $8 is a blasphemy; I don’t care if they’re sprinkled with diamonds and gold. I hope they are still working out the kinks in pricing and portion, as they were still less than a week out at the time of this dinner service.

Overall, there’s a lot of potential in this place. Kinda sad to see Lime go since it was the only thing different–now ALL of Broadway/Midtown is one giant dive bar–but as long as they keep serving Hawaiian food, I’ll be back to try more.

Tavern

Midtown/Broadway

Nashville