The Olde Towne Tavern (Facebook / @TavernOldeTowne / Instagram: @tavernoldetowne)
889 Oak St. (map it!)
Columbus, OH 43205
(614) 252-2955
Open Mon-Sat, 11a-2a; Sun, 12p-2a (brunch served until 3p Sat & Sun)
Accepts cash & debit/credit
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free? Y/N/N
Kid-friendly? Y
Out on brunch assignment for the Dispatch last month, we visited The Tavern in Olde Towne East. You can read about the experience on the Crave site here, and then read on to see our impressions of it!
Mrs. Bfast w/Nick had been to The Tavern before for dinner and drinks, but this was my first time there ever. The building once served as a pharmacy, and there’s still an older feel to it, like an old-timey pub accented with lots of dark wood.
As it was a nice day, we asked to be seated outside, and I was surprised at the size of the patio. It’s big, enclosed, sunny, and has a fire pit in the middle.
I couldn’t find the brunch menu online, so we were walking in blind, so to speak. But we needn’t have worried. The regular menu is available, too, but during brunch hours there’s this small menu of nine items and three drinks.
The most unique drink on the menu is the Juan Pablo’s Seeing Eye Dog, a pretty refreshing drink with ginger beer, carrot juice, orange juice, and nice amount of bourbon.
Naturally, I sampled from their beer menu. Very nice draft list.
On the recommendation of our server, we started with the chips and queso, loaded with peppers.
One of our boys picked the French toast from the menu – four slices of slightly floppy but still nice custardy texture.
Very nice plate of thin but fluffy blueberry pancakes.
The most interesting item on the menu is the Breakfast Bowl, with a base of mashed potatoes, caramelized onions and peppers, breakfast sausage (which tasted great but I didn’t catch the strawberry in it), then a fried egg and melted cheese. Overall, a fun dish, although I’d prefer the cheese melted all over it and not just stuck on top of the egg.
And then there’s chicken and waffles. The Tavern bakes their chicken instead of frying it, then serves it with a decent Belgian waffle, maple syrup, and a big bowl of buffalo sauce. With the baked chicken, it’s one of the healthier variations of chicken and waffles around town, and like the rest of the brunch, it’s well worth checking out.
This meal was covered by the Dispatch as part of a review. Photos and opinions here are my own.