Tavern Grille Is A Hot Spot for Locals
By Tony Reverditto
Tavern Grille can be described as a Bar & Grill, Sports Bar and American Restaurant. But for me, I would best describe it as a pub . . .
Webster’s definition of Pub: A pub is a bar or tavern that serves food and often acts as a community gathering place. People visit pubs to eat lunch, to drink beer, or to play darts with their friends.
Pub is a shortened form of public house that dates from 1859. In the sixteenth century, a public house was first "any building open to the public," and then "an inn that sells food and drink." Today, the word pub is more or less synonymous with tavern — both are primarily places to drink beer, wine, or spirits, though a pub (especially in Great Britain) is seen as vital to its neighborhood, a cozy place to gather.
Tavern Grille is all of those things and I was excited to find out first hand if it lived up to all of the excellent things that I had heard about it and it did.
Before I go into the food, I spoke with the 4 owners because I am always interested in learning how restaurants get their start. Mark Lazenby was the original owner when Tavern Grille opened in October 2010. He was a regular at Bogie’s before they closed, so he wanted to open a new local place with the same kind of feel for locals to have fun. The site was originally a blockbuster video and with the help of his wife and two investor’s they were able to undertake the huge transformation of the space.
After about 6 months, Craig May, a longtime colleague of Lazenby of 25 years at Albertsons bought out one of the investors. The first couple of years in the restaurant business are pretty tough, the two worked tirelessly to keep it going. Just under two years into it, they made another smart move to grow the business by bringing in two more partners, Dave Shea and Mark Hogan and today the restaurant is a smashing success. I was there on a Monday at 4pm and the place was buzzing, I can only imagine evenings and the weekend. Goes to show hard work always pays off.
On the day that my guest, John and I went for a visit, it was about 105 degrees. It was just a couple of minute before our friendly server Aaron Johnson made sure that I had an ice cold draft beer in my hand, Pale Ale 394 brewed in San Diego and John a nice full glass of William Hill Chardonnay. Aaron, studying to be a Chemistry Teacher started as a sign twirler and worked his way up to server over his 5 years with the company. He handed us a digital menu and it is a very hip feature as you can maneuver through the different categories including the weekly scheduled entertainment.
As we settled in, we really enjoyed the décor, a very eclectic conglomeration of things that all seemed to fit together. Come to find out that most of the wall hangings were donated by friends, customers and beer vendors. It is fun to check out all of the interesting pieces each with their own history.
Now on to the food, delicious thoughtful comfort food and not too large of a menu. They serve dishes that are staples in the American Pub scene. For starters, we ordered the Wings, spicy hot wings tossed in buffalo sauce with celery sticks and choice of dressing, we opted for homemade Ranch dressing. They were awesome; slightly crispy outside with a contrasting tender inside with just the right amount of heat and were truly “finger lickin’ good”. The Tower of Onion Rings were unique as they had a Guinness Stout Dark Ale batter that complimented the onion so well. You can’t go to a pub without trying the Soft Baked Pretzel, served with dark ale mustard and gooey cheese dipping sauce. Other options include, Chicken Tenders, Fried Green Beans, Southwestern Egg Rolls and Microbrew Fries.
For those who enjoy a soup or salad, they offer Soup of the Day, Chili, Caesar or Garden Salad with the option of adding Chicken. We surpassed these options and moved on to selecting some sandwiches to sample in order to share how they taste and are presented, it’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. It was my civic duty to try the House Burger, stacked with bacon, caramelized onions, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles on a toasted bun with a huge side of tater tots. The burger was huge, juicy and highly recommended. My guest tries to be a Vegan and had the Beyond Burger (not listed on the menu) with the same toppings and a dinner salad and loved it, expressing that it tasted just liked a regular burger.
So many great sandwiches to choose from, including Tuna, Ham & Swiss, Pastrami, Beef Dip, Turkey, a Club, Chicken Ciabatta, and a Grilled Cheese or Veggie Sandwich. The entrées include Flat Iron Steak with veggies and Bow Tie Pasta with a cream sauce and veggies. We sampled the phenomenal Mac-n-Cheese that clearly had several cheeses topped with chopped bacon and red bell pepper and no pub experience would be complete with trying the Fish and Chips, made with wild caught cod fish and served with the pub fries. Crisp and wonderful especially when drizzled with Malt Vinegar and fresh squeezed lemon.
As you can tell from the description, the food is excellent and that is because they have two Cordon Bleu Chefs at the helm. Jimmy Pierce is the Executive Chef and Juan Garcia is the Sous Chef and they have trained the rest of the cooking team beautifully. Joel, the Mixologist, has been with the team since the beginning and was another recruit from the Albertson’s connection. I had a Don Julio Cadillac Margarita and this guy nailed it, it had just enough bite, but also a hint of sweetness and tartness, the perfect balance. In addition to the beer and wine menu, they have a full bar. All and all, this is just a great local place to hang out.
October 6th will be their 10 years anniversary and they promise to have a fun-filled celebration to honor their loyal patrons on this milestone day.
Taco Tuesday and Tom the Guitar Guy from 7 pm to 10pm.
Live Music every Wednesday night 7pm to 10pm.
Every Saturday is Karaoke night from 9pm to 1am.
*They offer a lunch special for $7.95 which is a half sandwich, either turkey, ham, BLT, or tuna with a garden or Caesar side salad from 11am to 3pm.
Tavern Grille, 28039 Scott Rd, Suite K Murrieta, California 92563
Reservations and Information at 951.723.8004