J Timothy's Taverne — Restaurant in Plainville

Late February 2022, J Timothy's still delivered the wings customers come here for on a regular basis. Operating for 40 years as of 2020, people still pack the house. Our table of four was content with ordering the bucket of wings, about 5 lbs. after cooking, but after a few, I wanted something else. The French Dip sandwich with hot roast beef and cheddar on a garlic baguette with au jus, made it a meal. I split this with my partner. One of the better ones I've had in terms of flavor, portion size and bread choice. Beer enthusiasts will love the local selection of microbrews on tap. It changes due to supply, but there will always be something choice for purists.

Updating this review, I'll change my original two star review to four after eating their wings. This has always been a popular place under different names over decades. It is best to make a reservation.

In Connecticut, COVID restrictions were lifted this weekend so restaurants could open to full capacity and it appeared everyone wanted to go out. There are still plexiglass dividers and fewer tables, as the manager explained they had to redesign their interior for required social distancing space requirements. Parking was full, but fortunately J. Timothy's does have ample spaces.

A friend of ours drives almost an hour from the eastern side of the state to eat the wings this establishment is well renowned for and have even created an extra dry rub version called "dirt wings." This visit, he suggested the bucket, 6.5 pounds before cooking, which gives diners about 40 wings with his favorite mix of two sauces, buffalo and barbecue. The five flavor choices all come with blue cheese dressing, celery and carrots.

When served, the wings are hot, crispy, wet and meaty. Leftovers reheat well in an oven but will be more baked and not as wet.

Not a wing person? J. Timothy's makes great burgers, sandwiches and alternative starters. They also have a fine tavern entrée menu which includes weekend prime rib, as well as soup, salads and desserts. A large variety of beers on tap and in bottles, including wine and special cocktails are on their drinks menu. Hours are basically 11:30 to 8 or 9PM Thursday-Sunday. Less hours T&W. Closed Mondays.

Really can't comment since a table for two at a packed restaurant at 8:45 on Saturday night was going to take fifty minutes. Passed. Dressed down crowd hanging around. Someone did tell me they had a great burger there over a year ago. I remember it as Cook's Tavern when it was a different experience. On an off night, it might be...

We met friends for dinner and it was my first time here. The restaurant is located in a large building designed to suggest an old time tavern with lots of warm wood and exposed beams. Approaching the front door from the outside is a room set to side called the Carriage House, as if you can stable the horses while you sup (in reality, it appeared to be a room available for rent for events.)

Although there was a large crowd and our friends hadn't arrived yet, we were seated with no wait. Our server got our drinks and we set about deciding what we wanted from the menu.

There were three menus we could choose from: the daily specials, the regular menu and the cocktails. We decided on items on items from the regular menu.

We ordered the dirty wings as an appetizer. The wings are smothered in BBQ sauce, deep fried, smothered again and refried. The result is reminiscent of the shell of a candy apple, but not as hard to eat. The BBQ flavor is intense and very addictive!

My fiancé and one of our friends also ordered the French onion soup, which was very well done and the portions were almost extravagant. My one taste of it made me a fan of the soup, which is not always made well in other restaurants.

I ordered the double barreled burger with onion straws as a side. It was a burger, done medium well, with tomato and bourbon, bacon and onion jam. It was a great burger! The onion straws were also delicious - very thinly cut onions cooked like onion rings. I even dipped some of them in the house made bleu cheese dressing that came with the wings, which turned out to be a very delicious experiment! Both portions were very generous and we ended up bringing about half of our entrees home.

Our server was a very friendly woman. I wish I could remember her name! One of our friends commented that she seemed like a "community mom" - and that was high praise! She was indeed very attentive and we were wanting for nothing, despite her having quite a few tables to attend.

In the end, our bill worked out to be a little over $30 a person for the two of us, which, considering, is not bad at all. As my fiancé said when we headed home, he has paid much more for much less in both quality and quantity.

All in all, J. Timothy's was a very...

You can’t visit the states and miss on having a good portion of tasty flavored chicken wings. -We’re going for one of the worst wings - my friend said while giving me a devilish smile. - before I have them, I wasn’t really into wings, but now I get mouthwatering when I think of J Timothy’s wings. I might be exaggerating a bit on what he said about them, but this definitely catch my foodie attention and arose the desire to try them out. The taverne’s being around for nearly 200 years, but the wings they win every heart with came along with a great story way later. The “Dirt style” buffalo sauce wings are the way they will be served to Barry “the Dirt” ( the “old as dirt” charming player of their softball team). Fried and dipped in the medium spicy buffalo sauce, they would have never get to Barry warm due to his socializing personality, so he would just request the cook to re-fry them. This causes a caramelization and makes them crispy and juicy glacéd with a second dip of the rich sauce. What a brilliant- I would say! Crispy and glossy on the outside and juicy, tender and falling apart on the inside. Served with a side of fresh greens like celery and carrots is a good diversification for the stomach and definitely helps to ease the digestion. They also come with additional blue cheese sauce (again well-balanced and not overpowering the taste of the wings but just complimenting them and giving a nice flavor to the vegetables. Unfortunately you cannot get a mixed batch of the wings in the dirt style, which would be a great option if you are doing a one time visit. The wings come in 4 different sizes - mini, single, double and a bucket - we got the double which was enough to feed us two grownups, but I believe this is a strongly subjective on the amount of food people consume.

Dull bar lights, cosy atmosphere, relaxing music and the feeling of being welcomed. The surrounding was all you could ask for to get yourself for the mood of the food. I would definitely rate the place 5/5 - the story, the atmosphere, the food, the services - everything was done very well and with an attention to details. I could shamelessly tell that they were the best wings...