Tavern of Independence — Restaurant in Independence

Our group had just finished up a showing at valley view Cinemark and someone in our group suggested Tavern of independence. A few of us had never been so we decided to give it a shot.

It was a very quick drive from the theater, when we arrived, parking proved to be slightly challenging for the group as they seem to have closed off a good chunk of the parking lot that serves the restaurant. Once inside the restaurant, we found that we could seat ourselves so we found a group of tables we could combine for our party (after checking with staff that was okay to do)

Our waitress stopped by and got our drink order immediately and made sure she was available if we had any questions about the menu. As an aside, the folds on the menu are quite aggressive and springy and we kept laughing that it required some effort to keep the menu open as you reviewed its contents.

Our group placed our order and our appetizers came out pretty quickly. I ordered the Bavarian pretzel with cinnamon butter and nacho cheese. We also ordered the Reuben bites. Both of these were excellent! The cinnamon butter with the pretzel really hit the spot and was a great blend of flavor. The Reuben bites were essentially stuffed large tater tots, when combined with the dipping sauce, great stuff.

For my main meal, I ordered the apple crunch salad with added chicken breast. The salad was a great portion size and well plated. My only complaint would have been that the apple was cut into some pretty large slices, nothing some quick work with a butter knife could not fix, but it took some effort to make the apples easier to consume in this salad format. Chicken was cooked well and everything paired well with the raspberry vinaigrette I chose.

Overall, our group was very happy with the food and level of service we received. Our waitress topped up beverages quickly and cleared the table of plates and trash often to keep things tidy on the table. It is definitely a place we will come after movie visits in the future for...

They did have a huge sign on the front that said "Now Hiring All Positions", so we should have taken that sign more seriously. It is unfortunate that so many restaurants are so understaffed now. We arrived at a few minutes before 5pm on a Friday and sat on the patio. The patio was full at that time but the inside was mostly empty. We got drinks after a little wait and we wanted to order meals but our server did not come back for a long time Our server took our food order at 6pm and i thought she said there were only 2 people working that night. She brought our food out at about 7pm, so we had been there 2 hours. By this time they were much busier inside. My wrap was just ok and the tater tots were so salty I could not finish them. Another person in our party could not eat her fish because it was so overcooked. They did take that fish off the bill though. I still left a generous tip because I did not think it was the servers fault. Also, the music was playing so extremely loud the entire time that we were there that it was difficult to converse and we had to shout. Then at about a few minutes to 8pm, there was an overwhelming stench of rotting garbage outside on the patio. The smell was so strong that we left. I looked around the outside of the building as I drove out of the parking lot and I did not see any open dumpsters, so we were unable to determine the source of the odor. I...

A nice upgrade from the former Panini's and doomed "Pub 21". Bar was pretty packed on a recent Friday early evening and not well staffed at all. One bartender was serving the entire bar and also handling take out-which I had. Had to wait a good 10 minutes for her to ring me out after she spotted me. I usually tip a little even for pick up, but did not in this case as the bartender basically ignored me for more likely tips from those ordering drinks. Service aside, the food was very good. The menu is limited, but that I find is usually a positive as the kitchen can focus a little more. Had the BLET on thick Texas Toast. A great sandwich with lots of thick cut, smokey bacon. I would definitely come here for lunch but until they get more help, skip the take out and pack lot of patience if you are at the bar.

I do have one question though. why do these new, starred "LOCAL GUIDES" always give five start reviews? Are they paid shills for the establishments they post on? It would...