Local Love: Village Tavern

Last week I had the opportunity to spend an evening with the wonderful folks over at Village Tavern! I’ve eaten there many times and have always had a great experience, but it was fun to chat with the owners and chefs and learn a little bit more about the history of these restaurants!

The evening consisted of champagne and little stations set up at some booths near our table, one for each of us. The chefs came around, told us a little bit about the appetizers we’d be making, and then we actually got to make them right there! Typically I am not a quac person (Gasp! I know!), but I really enjoyed this. I think something about preparing food yourself gives you a much better appreciation for it. We also made some pimiento cheese dip, deviled eggs, and brown sugar bacon. (#praisehandsemoji)

An interesting thing I learned about Village Tavern is that they have fabulous deals on Wine Down Wednesday (half priced wine by the glass!), which I can assure you my coworkers and I will be taking advantage of since our office is just a few minutes away. We’ve been talking about getting wine after work, and now we really have  no excuse!

Village Tavern has received awards for their diverse and creative wine list, and I loved sampling different wines with each course. Prosecco, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet, and my favorite thing ever, a nice and sweet Riesling. Whew! I’m not really a red wine person, but I even found one that I like!

One of my favorite parts of the evening was chatting with Executive Chef, Mary Grace, who was just the happiest and most joyful person! She was so sweet, passionate about creating fantastic food, and the families who visit the restaurant. Village Tavern makes everything from scratch—you won’t find anything from a box or pre-cooked or frozen. It’s all made right there in the kitchen.

Some of my favorite appetizers were the Mexican Street Corn, Thai Chicken Nachos, and Hot Crab Dip! Honestly, I could have eaten all the nachos myself. For the small plates, my favorite was hands down the Tavern Flatbread. Below is a photo of a *grilled* meatloaf, and as a person who has never been a fan of meat in loaf form, I was really surprised how much I liked it! Just goes to show that grilled food is better. 😉

As you can probably expect, I about lost it when they brought the desserts out. There was fluffy Butter Cake, a fudgy Chocolate Torte, a creamy Key Lime Pie, perfect Creme Brulee, and probably my favorite out of all of them, a DOUBLE DECKER CHEESECAKE. Two layers! I may have swooned.

All in all, it was just the loveliest evening, and we chatted and there was live music at the bar and everyone was so nice. Village Tavern is just one of those restaurants that has something for everyone on the menu. You can come in your jeans or your work clothes. You can have a sit down dinner or apps and wine at the bar. It covers everything and just really hits the spot.

Village Tavern has 10 locations in the US, and one location in the Philippines! Check out the Village Tavern website to see if there’s a location near you! You can also check out their social media handles (Twitter! Facebook! Instagram!) and don’t forget to use their hashtags if you post any pics! #VillageTavern #VTDateNight #ScratchKitchen