BY: T. DYLON JONES
The corner of South 4th Street and Gaulbert Avenue is known to all Old Louisville residents as the tavern. Incidentally, its official name is “The Tavern.” A bar and grill near campus, The Tavern welcomes everyone one with seeming recognition, as if every new person is an old friend. The faux brick of its interior walls is just tacky enough when coupled with the warm wooden ceiling and furniture. Sports banners hang from the rafters, The Cards represented at the entrance. The bar lines one wall, with booths and tables running parallel, beckoning the hungry or propelling the full forward to the back of the room, where a pool table sits like an altar aglow in holy Bud light.
The staff is friendly and mellow, bantering with patrons. “American cheese? C’mon, jazz it up a little!” They perform culinary magic at the grill, making beautiful food with no delay. There’s no temporal need for appetizers, though they are flashy and tasty. The menu is diverse, but emphasizes the burgers. It should.
With huge Black Angus beef patties, toasty buns and myriad toppings, The Tavern’s burgers are wonderful. The signature “Knocker Burger” makes Home Run jealous, and at $9 for a drink, sandwich and home-style fries, it’s a great occasional meal that fits into the college budget.
The bartenders are attentive; there’s rarely an empty glass where there should be a full one. They’re capable of providing most preferred poisons on request (as long as it’s whisky), but beer is the drink of choice. $2 Rolling Rock during trivia nights (Tuesdays at 8:30) and $20 kegs each game day make The Tavern the perfect place for cheap, ample beer.
Almost. The Tavern’s long hours and location help and hinder. It’s easy to walk to The Tavern for anyone, so it attracts some undesirable company. Students should be wary and cautious. But what’s a good time without some depravity? The décor and decorum are deliciously sketchy. The call of beer and burgers, friends, and fries so close to droning professors and weighty, overpriced tomes is too much to resist.
Photo Courtsey of Google Images
