Club Tavern

In a word: Family dining for families consisting of grown-ups only.

The specs: #0090
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at In Search Of..., Madison Fish Fry, collected at del.icio.us; Club Tavern web site;

Latest Club Tavern news and reviews

JM ate the Chicken Mick Moose sandwich.
Kayla ate the fish fry.
Nichole ate the mushroom swiss burger and a salad.
The bill was $23, or $7.67/person, plus tip.
JM and Nichole gave Club Tavern a B+; Kayla gave Club Tavern a B (see our grading rubric).

Club Tavern has a lot of character. There's a good deal of history in that old building, yet the atmosphere is casual and warm. The service was friendly and familar. The lengthy menu featured the most creative phrasing of a challenging culinary idea yet: "and a side of au jus."

JM liked his Chicken Mick Moose. It seemed a little dry but was easily consumed. The bun had had some sort of accident on the way to plate, making it a tougher sammich to eat than most, however. He also noted that the fries were again coated, which is OK but makes him yearn for the basic french fry as a side dish.

The salads were refreshingly above average. The tomatoes were the best yet. After eating enough pink styrofoam, one gets to appreciate how important real ripe tomatoes are.

As for the burger (thanks again to Kate):

• Bun: toasted sesame. Held up well to mandatory squishing.
• Meat: above average; grilled.
• Bun/meat ratio: 7/9 (could stand a little more bun.)
• Cheese: Swiss & proud of it.
• Misc.: Not sure if the mushrooms were canned or fresh, but they were very juicy. About a 8.5 of 10 overall.

Kayla found the fish fry to be too bready, but the long, thin pieces gave a healthy impression of real fish.

Best of all, they offer a dish of Hershey's miniatures in lieu of Starlite after-dinner mints. Nice touch.

Update 4/17/06: Adam Keys at the UT iSchool found another sublime use for the Club Tavern mushroom swiss burger:

...not to mention Creative Commons and animated .gifs - yeah, that's what we're talking about! Awesome.