OMFG. Â Look. Â Everything is crazy cheap. Â And you get a lot. Â $10 lobster? Â Yes. Â $1 burger? Â Yes! Â (even comes with chips). Â You can legit have a meal and a beer for like $5 all in with tip if you want to.
The peel and eat shrimp were over cooked and a little dry (I tried one when someone else ordered it). Â Why the EFF are you ordering that here anyway??
Heh. Â But they were cheap too. Â Everything fried is amazing. Â Like. Â Everything.
There is not a single reason to not go here unless you're no fun and too rich for your own good.
Things they are a changing ... Tara's has been a community staple for over 30 years. Not fancy, but you could always expect the best meal or bang for your buck!. We LOVED the Chili!!! Â We hurried to Port Jefferson around 12:45 because already, and based on lunch time history, we may not only not find seating in the dining room, but have to wait on a long line for lunch. Once inside, we should have noticed the blatant red flag; namely, there were only three tables of customers, and that included ours. We ordered our lunch; my husband fried scallops and myself fried flounder. Both lunches came with french fries, salad, and a choice of soup or chili. We ordered the chili. Enough said that the portions, formerly modest but who cared because the prices were accommodating and the food quality was exceptional, were minuscule, it would not have been an issue if the quality had not been compromised. The chili tasted like it was made with ketchup, and the cocktail sauce was purely ketchup. The scallops were overcooked and over breaded. The founder was probably frozen because it tasted like breaded and fried cardboard. The dressing (we ordered blue cheese) was awful, as we've had better store bought. Â The service was excellent; however; unfortunately it's not enough to carry the negatives. Â Too bad. Very, very disappointing.
Review Source:This place is gross. Went there on a Saturday night and every surface was sticky. Look, I'm a college student so I value a dive bar as much as the next guy. But you can do better. I think most people are blinded by the nostalgia of this place and don't see how run down it really is. The cheap food is actually pretty good (from what I hear) but they make up for it with the cost of drinks. I think I paid $7 for a bottled beer. They have one pool table which is always occupied and a minimal amount of seating. Clientele are typically biker dudes or overly tanned cougars chain smoking outside. Eat your $1 bologna sandwich here and then go somewhere more respectable for drinks.
Review Source:I've been coming into Tara's for quite awhile. Â If you stop in & can find a seat, get a cold beer & order yourself a smorgasbord of simple, tasty bar foods. Â I suggest the pierogies, they're deep fried till crispy on the outside but light & fluffy inside. Â You can't go wrong with a Kate's roast beef sandwhich for $0.99!! Tara burger for a buck, or a ribeye with shrimp, soup & salad for $10! Add on dollar beers or their famous happy hour & you've got one of Port Jefferson's greatest treasures.
Review Source:Tara's is brilliant during Happy Hours. Basically, the way it works is like this. During Happy Hours (from 4 to 8 everyday), whenever you buy a drink, you are asked to choose a number from 1 to 5. 2 of these numbers correspond to half priced alcohol, 2 correspond to full price and 1 number corresponds to 10 cents for your drink. On one lucky day, I paid 50cents for 5 pitchers of beer, worth about 95 dollars.
Food is really cheap too.
These guys accept cash only. There is an ATM inside but it charges for withdrawals.
It is one of the best places ti go to when you want to have fun on a tight budget.
Picture that local dive bar that makes you feel at home while you drink fresh tap beer and eat deliciously cheap bar food. Â Now picture fantastic bartenders who make you feel like family when you walk in the door and great drink specials, including the pull tab happy hour (you could pay 10 cents for an entire round if you're that lucky!)...this place is Tara's. Â A local watering hole that will never disappoint but that might keep you there til closing time.
Review Source:Better check out all these reviews. One lady said your lobsters went up to $17..99. WRONG, still $10.99 Had one yesterday. Hey what  happened in the bathroom? The walls were bare. Was always interesting to read the newspaper on the wall. Can't beat the prices....dollar for a good hamburger with chips and a dollar for a roastbeef sandwhich and chips.
Review Source:Fantastic prices and good food. Happy Hour is 4-8pm every day. We bought 2 waters and a Sam Adams on tap. I picked a # from 1 - 5 and ended up getting the drinks for 10cents each. Score! It is VERY casual and cash only. It felt good eating 2 decent meals (a lobster dinner and a cheeseburger dinner) and getting those drinks and walking out with change from a $20 bill.
Review Source:Good food that is inexpensive too. Happy hour deals are worth going for. Started going about 5 years ago after class and they used to have free food on Fridays during happy hour. While I miss that, this place is still great. Stop by on St. Pattys day for free corn beef. Burgers are cheap and tasty. I hate ordering a burger anywhere else because it won't be much better than Tara's and it will cost a lot more
Review Source:This place is ridiculously inexpensive, and pretty satisfying. I went with my boyfriend and he ordered a crab cake sandwich and a fish sandwich that came with soup and salad, and I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and everything came out to around $15. Looks like a good place to have a few beers. They seem to have a good deal on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights for 10 cent wings and dollar drafts, but I haven't gone for those yet. The clam chowder is homemade and delicious! Very casual, laid back place to unwind!
Review Source:I was in a business trip to see my accounting in LI...While I waiting for the LIRR to the city; I went to tara.
Good place for bikers; the menu is very cheap..dollar burger and sometimes you get free drink if u are lucky while picking upo numbers they gave you.
Good place for your bucks...
You know the economy is in the dumps when the prices at Tara's go up! The 1 pound lobster that used to be $9.99 is now $17.99 (although you get a 1.5 lobster now). The skirt steak is now $6.99, used to be $4.99. Thankfully, the bartender assured us that the 'stimulus menu' is forever-- so burgers will always be $1.
Happy hours here are 4-8 EVERY DAY. Cash only.
Sandwiches are thick and fat with meat-- burgers are the bomb-- steak is awesome.
Normally, this is a solid 4 star establishment. HOWEVER, something so dumb happened here yesterday that boggled my mind and made me wonder if I'll ever be back.
I rolled into Tara's with 3 friends for some cheap eats on a Sunday around 6:30pm. It was unexpectedly crowded for a rainy evening with bar-goers as well as FAMILIES. We walked past the bar, over to the table/dining area... and were immediately asked to show ID? Huh?
One of our friends isn't 21 yet, and we were told by the douchebag bouncer that we couldn't stay if not everyone was over 21. WHAT?? We weren't going to drink! We weren't even sitting at the bar! It was 6:30pm on a Sunday!! Why were there even bouncers there?!
My friend looked confusedly over to the 5-year olds next to us that were JUMPING ON TOP of the pinball machine and asked, "So... where are their IDs?" DB-bouncer said, "It's ok. They're with their parents." Ummm... okay.
So a group of 20-25 year olds isn't allowed to sit down and enjoy food here, but toddlers are allowed to run rampant through the bar. Good to know. Keep your stupid $1.00 burgers because I hate you now, Tara Inn.
Here's another positive review for Tara...
It's a low key bar with chill people. I think it's kind of amusing that it attracts a lot of families. Grandparents and little babies under a year old... It seems too grungy for that, yet it has a down to earth family vibe.
Food - GREAT! Beer - GREAT! Cost - AWESOME!
What is there not to like about this place? Â This is about the only place in PJ that's not overpriced! Â $1 burgers are good and come with chips, and they are not the flat, small dollar burgers you get at mcds or burger king. Â Fish sandwich for 1.25 and also taste fine... nobody should go hungry with prices like these.
Review Source:Here is yet another place I wish was closer to me. We went to this place to use the bathroom but I just couldn't go into a bar without getting a drink (it would seem criminal!). Well, one drink turned into me buying a pitcher of Blue Point Toasted Lager for all of us, and I was amazed at the insanely cheap deals they had on the walls. The place is adorned with chalkboards and paper plates, all listing these cheap deals that are too good to believe. I had already eaten so I couldn't indulge in a cheap cheeseburger, but I would if I ever came back here! Perfectly dive-y!
Review Source:Tara's is a dive bar and rather cramped, but it has a pricing structure unlike other drinking establishments.
The food here is dirt cheap, yet not bad. The place makes it's money on drinks.
Instead of buying a $2 soft drink and getting free refills for the duration, you'll pay for each can they give you. The burger and fries it's washing down though, might just be a few bucks.
As I can remember steaks were like $9.99 and Tara's also serves lobster.
This place has been an icon in PJ Station for a very long time. Maybe that's why food prices could be kept so low.
Still, if people go to bars to drink, why not give them the food for cheap  so that they have a reason to purchase more beverages?
Other dive bars should follow their lead.
I've got to weigh in again. Â Five stars. Beer battered and peel and eat shrimp are a safe bet, as are the lobsters and king crab legs. Â Throw a burger onto whatever you're ordering, and stay away from the wings. Â Wash it down with two or three pitchers and enjoy the ambiance. Â They recently cleaned this place up a bit, but you still can't beat the Tara Inn: I agree with the other reviewer, who said "anyone who knocks it is an ass."
Review Source:Ok -- I accept that the Tara Inn is a local institution , I accept that the staff is friendly. I will even confess to being a fan of  "dive" food but do not go here  for the food. Long Islanders are entitled to the icons that they pick.
   Go to the Tara for the drinks and the friendly bar mates  nor for the food .  Oh yeah -- I may go back to take a picture of the 1950's vinatge shuffle board
Anyone who knocks this place needs to leave Long Island. This place has been here longer than I can remember and I'm half way to 90!
Here's the deal, they sell an AWESOME burger. During lunch time, it reminds me of Tampa. All of the blue hairs are here eating a cheap meal. And why not? The burger with a pickle is great!
So what if its served on a paper plate? Its fresh food that cost $1.25!!! (shhhhh)
If you want to sit down with linen tableclothes and spend $15 on a burger, go to Paces down the hill.
As a matter of fact, I'm a Yelp Elite too. Get your fa-king ass out of my town beeyach!
Usually I don't pull a Jonathan G. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=3b2q_BzCDB62LsnUznC49g">http://www.yelp.com/user…</a> and update a review to answer another Yelper, but a tool has escaped the box.
I am also an "Elite" but I didn't get the memo that "I have to be critical of everything." Â What do you expect though from a guy who spells "emporium" starting with an "i"?
Tara's is total rock and roll and cheap as hell, and anyone who knocks it is an ass. Â A Long Island institution and great spot.
I didn't think much of this place at all, I know everyone else loves it but I'm an Elite, I have to be critical of everything.
What I had:
I had a $1 burger, $1 salad & $1 chili.
The burger was way over cooked, no flavor at all, the chips served with it were stale, the salad didn't come with the Russian dressing I ordered (they gave me french instead), the chili was nasty, it was like eating lacquer, completely disgusting.
I didn't expect any of this to be exceptional for $1 but jesus christ, can you people at least try to make one dish that's on the "Stimulus menu" flavor-worthy?
I'm not asking for the world here guys. I know when you're drunk you can't taste what the food is like but for those that actually ARE interested, attempt to put a little effort in from now on. Thank you.
Cheap drinks, super friendly waitresses and bartenders, a crowd of regulars that makes you feel good inside.. and the cheapest bar food I've ever seen before. $1 burgers, deli sandwiches, cups of fresh black bean soup? $8.99 Prime Rib (with soup, salad and a big ole baked potato)?!?! Â Amazing.
There are plenty of TVs for all your sport spectator needs. They even have that basketball shooting game and table bowling (I'm a dork. I love table bowling)..
Truly a gem in the area.
Even though I spent 4yrs as a college student in the area, I've only been to Tara's twice. Apparently the food here is cheap and tasty though I've never tried it, but you can't really complain about $6 pitchers of something other than Bud/Coors light (even if it is Rolling Rock)! Tara's is a pretty loud place, frequented by an oddball crowd of college students, bikers, and creepy old dudes or chicks looking to get laid! It's the ideal place to drop by at the end of a long night of drinking for some fried food!
Review Source:Pull tabs during happy hour are perfect, you could pay 10 cents for a pitcher of beer (or full price and your friend will tell you to have picked a more lucky number "5"). Â Â The place has stayed true to its motorcycle accessible parking in the front, and for many years has sold the most Budweiser bottled beer on Long Island. Â
Prices for all food vary and are fair market value, they are written on paper plates posted to the walls  - I recommend the peal-n' eat shrimp and the "Tara Burger Special" for $1.
If you play the modern day jukebox feel free to pick some Billy Joel or Journey (it always comes on)  and put your name on the waiting list to play some  pool.
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