Highland Tavern

Great sandwich and ping pong table.  The only bad things were the highly touted tater tots!!! I know, I know, it's sacrilegious, but they were very salty, like someone went to salt them just a little bit but some other devious person untwisted the cap as a prank and the salt spilled all over my tots! Don't worry, I'll give them another try.

I love this place.  The tots are awesome and I typically get them.  I have had friends order everything from The Bombshell and burgers to the ribs and pork rinds.  No one has ever had anything other than "yum" to describe their food.  They have pretty cool bartenders too.

We came here on the suggestion of a friend who saw the place featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."  We never saw that episode, but they wanted to try it, so we went, too.

We planned to meet at 4:00 in the afternoon on a Sunday, and, when we got there, they were already there.  We noticed the place has a number of good "Happy Hour" specials, including $2.50 domestics from 4 to 7.  I liked that.  Two of our friends were already waiting for us when we arrived right on time, and were waiting in a booth, but had not been served.  We waited around another fifteen or twenty minutes while waitress after waitress just walked on by as if we were invisible, or had somehow fallen into a warp in the space/time continuum.  It was a little unnerving.  We also noticed that the place was a bit small - maybe five tables and six booths?  There is, of course, the bar since it is a bar, and a secondary counter for seating between the bar and the tables, but it was just a bit compact and "crowded."  Sitting in the booth, the table was right up against my stomach.  I wouldn't get anything in my lap, but it was uncomfortable, and I'm sure people bigger than I would not even be able to use the booths.  As for the tables, most of the seating in the place is for four or fewer, but they can push tables together for larger parties.  They're in real trouble if they happen to get larger parties than that, or more than one large party shows at the same time.  Anyway, I digress.

There's not much for vegetarians to eat, but they do offer a few options, and only salads if you want to go low fat, or grease-free.  One of the greasy options was the "Tavern Tots."  People rave about these, (probably what Guy Fieri came for on DDD), and they are correct.  The Tavern Tots are absolutely, without question, incredible.  The best tots I've ever had anywhere.  They are crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, and seasoned to perfection.  They are served with both ranch and blue cheese dressing, and the blue cheese dressing is great.  

We also had the grilled cheese sandwich, which was excellent, too, but not much of a bargain at $8.00 - fair, but not great.  I got mine with the french fries because I hadn't tried the tots before.  The fries had a good flavor, and the weren't greasy, but they reminded me more of Kobey's shoestring potatoes than french fries.  In other words, they're "skinny," very skinny.  I would like to mention that the food was prepared perfectly, and way above standards for a pub.  

For the most part, this is a pretty average pub.  The walls echo sounds so that even with a few people, it sounds very loud, and it is difficult to have a conversation.  The waitstaff were nice enough, but I'm still wondering about that glitch at the beginning, what's up with that?  And, even though the place is in an up and coming neighborhood, it is still in an area of town I would not want to be in after dark.  When you are sitting there, look across the street at the houses with barred windows, six foot fences, and, just down the street, the sign warning passersby that the property is protected by guard dogs.  The neighborhood still has a way to go to escape its recent image.  I only graded this place up from average to very good based on the food.  It's not really inexpensive, but it is really, really good - especially the tots.  If you go there, you have to try the tots.