Town Tavern

For Chef/Owner, Bootsy Mullan, service means everything. 

"Our motto is terar dum prosim, which is Latin. That means 'may we be consumed in service'.  We want you to walk in the door. We want you to want to come back the next day.We're scratch casual so...you order something we make it to order the way you like it it doesn't matter to me.  We give the guests whatever they want. We do have a base menu....we rewrite it constantly. But whatever the guest asked for we get. That's terar dum prosim. That's service."

And you'll get all of that service and more, when you go to the Town Tavern.

Located on Mass Ave in Arlington, The Town Tavern is a local hangout with a passionate chef behind it all.

"There's nothing better than coming out into a full dining room. Happy people.....but half of them strangers, and that actually excites me even more like making people happy. You don't even know.  It's just amazing to me. It's like that's why I'll never I'll be in this business for the rest of my life."

So, Bootsy created a space with four different dining options, whether you're out for a night on the town with your friends, a date night, or just a quiet meal with your family.   

"We have the Town Hall, which we use for parties and people go in there to play darts....We're in the tavern room right here, which is adjacent to the bar which is always the busiest room.  We have Capital Square right behind you. And then we have the Theater Room which doesn't have any TVs or anything.  When I was a kid. I used to go to The Hilltop- Kansas City, Sioux City, all that. And I just kind of riffed off that, except the much smaller version."

And the menu he's executing back in the kitchen is way beyond your typical tavern fare.  So Phantom bellied up to the bar and tasted it all in search of THE PERFECT MEAL. 

Appetizers range from addictive crispy wings fried to order and smothered in a honey bbq glaze....

To fried Royal Oyster Mushrooms served alongside a sriracha mayo....

The shrimp poppers are definitely an original, featuring feature shishito peppers stuffed with shrimp and cheese and served with a zippy citrus aioli.

"When I was a kid, I love those breaded jalapenos with the cheese in the middle.... So I just use shishito peppers, fresh, split it, saute up some shrimp, roast it off in the oven with some minenito cheese, which is like a nice mascarpone Mexican cheese.  And we put it over a citrus aioli. It's delicious."

But the must try app at The Town Tavern has to be the handmade Mass Ave Dumplings.  

"So the Mass Ave Dumplings are a three pork blend and I served in a crock with a....a bacon dashi.  So when you get it, you pick it up and you get that steam and you get that...smell. And it's just it's just been a  hit."

The handheld options at Town Tavern are impressive.

Check out the beautiful Black Pastrami sandwich with tangy Russian Dressing, Gruyere Cheese and slaw presented on crunchy ciabatta....

There's a unique Asian spin on a French Dip sandwich with braised steak and veggies served on steamed buns served alongside some jus for dipping.

And a juicy half pound burger smothered in a whiskey glaze and piled up with smokey bacon and sauteed mushrooms on buttery brioche. 

But nothing is more eye-popping and heart-stopping than the Crunchy Fried Chicken Sandwich.   

"It's a heart attack is what it is. It's not even sure it's illegal.

We flour the chicken.   Buttermilk.   Back into the flour and then god help us deep fry.  Next thing you know it's on a griddle brioche bun and then we hit it with Mornet sauce bacon, scallions, tomato it's a heart attack, but but nobody's died and everybody keeps coming back in order and more so."

Moving onto entrees, customers can go for something healthy and opt for the Seared Salmon served over Basmati Rice with grilled Kale.

Or, something not-so-healthy like the beer battered Fish and Chips....

But The Town Cut Sirloin is not only tasty, at under $20, it's a great value too.

"So it's culotte.. ....it's a simple marinate. We don't want to overwhelm it. ...We cook it up to temp, and then we slice it over saute broccolini, and we do a little corn poblano salsa. Really simple, really good.Very tasty. It's probably a signature entree."

When dessert rolls around, the Warm Brownie Sundae is always a winner. And if bananas are your thing, try the TBCP.

"The TBCP is vanilla cream in a gorgeous chocolate tart. And then we can carmelize the bananas on top.   It's the perfect blend of vanilla and chocolate, The tart is like oh is like god dusty chocolate.  The pudding is a nice, sweet vanilla and the caramelized bananas just top it all off."

Mass Ave Dumplings...

A Crunchy Fried Chicken Sandwich

The Town Cut Sirloin

and the TBCP make for THE PERFECT MEAL at The Town Tavern.