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| - What brought us to the Tavern of Solon? One word, Groupon. What will bring us back? One more word, nothing.
We arrived on a Saturday evening around 6pm and the restaurant was empty. Located in a strip mall where the now rotting carcass of what was once Earth Fare sets, empty and silent, the Tavern of Solon is a restaurant in search of an identity. Are they a live music venue? Biker bar? BBQ joint? Casual eatery? The unsmiling hostess that greeted us set the tone for our visit.
Ceilings painted black, walls painted brick red, black upholstery on the booths and chairs. The front of the space has tables and booths and the rest is inhabited by a long bar that stretches to the rear. It didn't feel comfortable and it didn't encourage us to remain any longer than necessary. There's also a postage stamp sized stage apparently meant to host the various live music acts they feature here. I can only imagine how ear-bleedingly loud this venue would get.
Our server was the one saving grace during our experience. She was friendly, attentive and kept vigilant watch over our water glasses and iced tea making sure they were never empty.
The beer list reads like something out of a college dorm room refrigerator - essentially all macro brews. There were two points of light, Columbus IPA and Great Lakes Dortmunder, but given their regular clientele I imagine they've been setting around for awhile. It's rare that I don't get a beer with my dinner. This was one of those rare occasions.
The menu is inordinately large. There are burgers, wraps, sandwiches, salads, BBQ and even pizza. I believe this is a perfect example of a restaurant trying to be everything to everyone. Obviously I can't speak to the quality of every menu item, suffice it to say that pure speculation would lead me to believe that none of them can be all that good. I believe a restaurant should focus, find its niche and do it well.
To start we had the soft pretzels. I should have known better. Once you've had the best soft pretzel in the city (Fat Head's Brewery Tap House) you simply shouldn't stray. These were as middle of the road, average as you can get and the processed cheese sauce that came with them reminded me of the nachos I used to get at the roller rink when I was in junior high.
For our main courses we opted for the BBQ, a risk that didn't pay off. I had the smoked turkey platter with a side salad and "fair fries" as my sides. My wife had the half slab of ribs with cole slaw and baked beans. Both came with a cornbread muffin.
It states on the menu that all BBQ dinners are served with a choice of seven different sauces. We weren't given a choice. Both dinners were served with the same relatively bland BBQ sauce that tasted like a combination of ketchup and extra vinegar. First, the meats. The smoked turkey came sliced and topped with sauce. It was OK as far as sliced turkey goes. The ribs were definitely fall-off-the-bone tender but lacked seasoning and were a bit dry.
The sides were all pretty lackluster as well. The cornbread muffins were cold and very dry. I'm not sure why they call them "fair fries" as I remember fries at the fair as the skinny shoestring variety, these were thick-cut and a bit soggy. The salads, served without the croutons, were fresh and crisp but the raspberry vinaigrette was a disaster. It had the consistency of slime and was ridiculously sweet. I thought the cole slaw was tasty, though.
The Tavern of Solon is exactly what the middle of the bell curve tastes like. No surprises, nothing memorable and certainly nothing that would have us coming back. One and done list, here we come.
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