It would be very easy to round this place up to five stars--there were a couple of little things off with our meal yesterday, and they fixed them right away.
Bottom line, it's a newer place that's hitting fully on all cylinders. The setting is great, service is friendly and attentive, the kitchen has grand plans and executes on them, and the cocktails are excellent.
We showed up mid-afternoon on a pretty winter Sunday. It was packed. We got a table inside, but the bar was full, and so was the patio out back. They've made a very welcoming space out of an older building, and people seem to flock here for it. It's one big room when you walk in, with a huge long bar, plenty of banquette tables, and highboys in back. The materials are not overdone at all, but everything's clean and nice and freshly painted. It feels new, but already lived in.
Calling it the "Office Tavern" seems doubly ironic, since there is no office space around here, so no one thinks you're going to work in this area if you say you're going to the office. And it looks like a bistro all the way, not a tavern.
We got menus right away, and water as soon as we asked for it. The place was truly bustling, with only a couple empty seats anywhere, and servers in constant motion at all times. The menus were all very promising--two pages of wine, two pages of cocktails, two pages of food. The food has lots of nice ingredients, and you can tell even on paper that the recipes have lots of thought behind them and they're aimed at big flavors. Lots of creative touches in the cocktail list, too, with plenty of in-house creations.
We ordered two entrees with side salads, plus tea and a cocktail. The shrimp tostada came out first; the kitchen was a bit overwhelmed, and this is no big deal. This a great dish, though next time I will ask for just half as much salsa negra--there was so much of it that the dish was out of balance with salt and heavy flavor. We gobbled it down though.
The Office burger came out next. Ordered medium, served extra well done, with underdone bacon. Took it off the bill immediately. Our server was an absolutely lovely human being, and even as busy as she was, she took the time to hear me out on the burger and was totally cheerful about the whole thing. She seemed kinda mortified when she saw how overdone the patty was. This is no doubt a good burger when the kitchen can focus, though adding avocado as I did made it supremely messy.
I replaced it with the Cubano, which was tasty, hot, well-made, full of flavor. Great sandwich. The caesar alongside it was fine. The wedge salad across the table was a big hit.
The beer list here looks fine, and the wine list was decent enough--nothing fancy. The cocktails, though, are priced beautifully and very creative, very well done. The Cadillac Maui and the Pussy Galore were both balanced, not oversweet, flavorful, and served beautifully.
Out the door, we had two entrees, two salads, 5 drinks, and tea for about $100 plus tip. Very good value, and we'll happily come back. read more