Tavern — Restaurant in Coronado

I have never been chased down the street by a restaurant worker before. My mom, brother, and I had just finished a long work day and didn’t want to leave the island to have dinner. When we arrived at The Tavern the hostess was very nice, but was wary about seating us inside because of several supposed reservations and asked if she did seat us if we’d be done in an hour. We said probably not, so she offered an outdoor, above level table that we could sit at. Also, I say “supposed” because since we were sat at the entrance we saw every group of people that went inside and nobody left without being sat inside. Most were likely reservations, but there was at least one group of 5-6 people who looked at the menu outside and said “how about this place? Look good?” and was sat right away without an issue. Who I imagined was the owner took our drink order and we also ordered an appetizer that never came so when we got our entrees we asked it to be taken off the bill. Then the owner comes back and says oh I forgot to put it in, but it’s coming right out and I’ll take it off the bill. At this point we’re literally already eating our dinner, but sure. My brother asked for ranch for his fries and it wasn’t brought to him until after he had finished his burger. Once we had literally finished eating, the appetizer comes out. Everything else tasted pretty basic, but I will admit the pork belly tostadas were tasty. Gotta give credit where it’s due. Refills were never offered, I had to ask. Service was slow so by the time someone came to grab our empty plates I asked to be brought the bill so we could leave. We pay, but didn’t feel like giving an additional tip on top of the $75 bill this time because of the service. We leave and as we’re walking down the street we hear the owner calling out to us and asks if the service was not good because we didn’t leave the tip. We said no because of all the reasons I’ve mentioned and all he could come back with was that he comped the appetizer. Then proceeded to say that “you probably shouldn’t go out then” and that now he has to cover all of his servers. I don’t think it’s our responsibility to cover his likely underpaid servers because of his own bad service. He acted like we dined and dashed! All of this in front of the wide open window where all of his customers were watching him. How embarrassing, as a business owner to...

I came to Coronado to visit a friend and we decided to go to dinner here at The Tavern. We had heard from other recommendations that we should give them a try.

The parking in the area can be tricky. There are numerous street-parking opportunities nearby and it's important to be mindful of the ones that have a 2-hour parking limit and which ones are unlimited. I parked about 3.5 blocks down by the beach and it was a short walk.

The interior of The Tavern is very reminiscent of an old Irish Pub of sorts. Mostly all wooden, homey decor, kind of an earthy overtone and I could appreciate the vibes.

Service was superb, friendly & super-attentive 🙂 I chose seating at a window booth, instead of a high-table. One thing to note is that depending on the season & weather, although you're indoors, it can get a bit chilly and you may still want a sweater. Oh and their bathroom was super-clean and that's always a plus and speaks to the cleanliness & organization of an establishment.

I ordered the pork belly tostadas (street tacos) that come a gooseberry demi-glaze for starters and their "fish and chips".

The tostadas were freakin amazing! Meat was cooked to perfection, tender and the gooseberry sauce lended a subtle sweetness to the flavors. The tostada was crispy & not soggy and complimented the tender meat.

The fish and chips were disappointing however. Their size was smaller than I anticipated, the texture of the first one was crispy and the other two tended to be soggy on the underside (indicative of too much oil). The flavor was as expected & good and the tartar sauce was basic, but worked to boost the flavor profile. Unfortunately, the last two fish pieces were so soft that they crumbled when trying to dip them. The only big win is that I was told that they use fresh local fish and that's why I ordered them (support local fishermen). I just think that $21 was a bit steep for this experience.

For dessert, I ordered the churros & hot chocolate dip and got a side of vanilla icecream. This was the perfect sweet treat! I got 3 long churros warm, a bowl of hot chocolate sauce to dip them in and the cool icecream complemented the entire experience 😊

Overall, I really liked my experience at The Tavern. Other than the overpriced fish & chips, my dining went well and the vibes inside are great for a date night or just socializing...

What a delightful place!!! Randomly decided to pop over to the Coronado downtown for dinner and to our dismay many places had an hour plus wait. I called the Tavern and they said they could immediately accommodate my partner and I. We walked right in and the place was very busy and bustling but still had many tables available. The ambiance and decor is so lovely with big open windows but still having a underground grotto feel when inside. The food is delicious!! We started with the Filet mignon tacos and ordered two drinks, I LOVED my Sage and Ginger drink and both our drinks had this Tiki vibe taste with some class to them. Afterwards we ordered the tomato soup and wow it was amazing. You could tell they used an emulsifier on the suit because the consistency was just perfect and the cream on top was phenomenal. After that we decided to order the charcuterie tray, order again because it had a bit too much bread and I wish they had more meat and more cheese. Still delicious. After that I ordered the old fashioned and we also ordered the chicken pot pie which was phenomenal I had a huge piece of puff pastry on top that was perfectly cooked it was just filled to the BRIM with chicken and vegis! After 6 drinks and 4 plates the total came out to 130. The service was also phenomenal I love how this evening a lot of the chefs were bringing out the food it was super cool to see the white coats bringing out...