1831Tavern

I’m pretty sure this place is closed for good. I just drove by and the place is locked up tight and the sign is painted over black. I can understand why it closed. I work nearby and it was never busy. Food was mediocre at best.

This place hit the spot! The beef meatballs were the best I’ve ever had. The hospitality was amazing.

Review Update:
This place is improving everyday and I now recommend it to people. I have since been back a few times from my first review and introduced others. I have tried new things and as a whole it is way better than the first time. The food isn’t spectacular and I think there is room for improvement, but it is still good. The service is 1,000% better than my first experience. They are attentive and the new bartender is very personable. I will keep coming back to support this local business!

This place is great! All of the staff was very engaging and pleasant. I was down for jury duty and decided to try something different. The Midwest bowl was delicious. I think next time, which there will be a next time, I’ll go for a more traditional pasta dish.

It takes a lot of cojones to build a menu around balls.
In a world of never-​ending new restaurants with industrial, cement, exposed pipes and metal table décor, it was refreshing to walk into 1831 and see few modifications to the old wood floors, tables and bar.
The place was fairly dead for a Tuesday night, which made service fantastic and the food came out lickety split, or balls fast. Wanting to «try it all», I opted for 4 sliders — one of each type of ball and one of each sauce (except the alfredo — 4 balls and 5 sauces means someone goes home alone). I think the sliders could’ve benefitted from different bread — the ciabatta rolls somewhat deadened the flavor of the balls. The regular ball with marinara was solid. The sausage ball with the spicy sauce was very good. The chicken ball with the mushroom sauce was, hands down, my fave. Finally, the poor veggie ball with pesto…what to say? The veggie ball does not make for a good slider from a consistency standpoint — just mush. The pesto was very flavorful, but don’t plan on being in anyone’s personal space after trying it. The world’s strongest altoid couldn’t put a dent in the ensuing pesto breath.
Bottom line — love the location and atmosphere, but the menu is somewhat limited. If you like balls, give it a try. Did I say balls enough?

I was with a party of four and we first walked in we noticed that it looked just like the Jury room. My thought is who cares, the Jury room had nice décor so if it was not broken why fix it. I am here for the food and the service not what is on the wall. Both were excellent.
The service was fast, informative (it was our first time there), and very friendly. The waitress was able to guide us on the menu and make recommendations. She was attentive to our needs.
The drinks were good, we all had the Italian Mule. Price wise it is hard to say that it was priced right since I think that all drinks at restaurants are overpriced these days.
We each ordered something slightly different and sampled each others. I did not have anything that I did not like. I was really happy that I had the spaghetti and chicken meatballs with the marinara sauce. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the sauce was flavorful. The midwest bowl was heavy with mushrooms and light on the broccoli so make sure you like mushrooms.
For desert the cannoli were small but only $ 1.00 and just the right size to tame the after meal sweet tooth. We all said that we would definitely be back.
The down side is that it did seem to be a little over priced for spaghetti and meatballs.

I’ve been wanting to try this place since it opened and finally got to pop in with some friends last night. As we were seated one friend commented that he felt like he had been there before, because it basically looks exactly like it’s former glory as The Jury Room. That means the décor is still nice and comfortable.
The menu is fairly easy to figure out, basically you pick the type of meatball you want with the type of sauce you want and then choose what it will lay on. If you don’t wish to bother figuring that out they also offer sandwich style and pre-​determined bowls — which is what I did. I had the Midwestern bowl. It came with several classic meatballs, which were a generous size, over roasted potato wedges and broccoli smothered in a mushroom gravy. WOW — it was delicious and filling.
Cocktails are on the pricey side, however, I had the Italian Mule and it was well worth it. It is served in a traditional mule cup and was the perfect combination of Vodka, lime juice and ginger beer. It also had several raspberries which added some color and tasted great.
I was not going to have dessert but they have the perfect compliment after a heavy meal: a mini-​cannolo for only $ 1. They make their cannoli on-​site and you could tell, one of the best I have had in awhile. The ricotta filling was perfectly sweet and creamy.
Our waitress was friendly and very helpful with us newbies as well.

Mmmm, balls! So yeah, I like this place. It is no Jury Room, but it is what it is. I totally dig the menu concept because for someone like me who is pretty picky, I get to pick and choose what I want. I love that! So the menu is almost all meatball options and there’s quite a bit to choose from in my opinion.
The first time I was there was after dinner with friends and we were doing a late night run for more drinks and snacks. We sampled a few different balls and drinks. I’m not a huge fan of their specialty drink menu, but I’m also not a big drinker. All the balls we sampled that night were pretty tasty and brought us back for more.
The second time I was here was last weekend with family for a real dinner. I ordered the classic meatballs with classic sauce on roasted potatos and it was delicious. I think everyone at the table enjoyed their meal as I heard no complaining. I did hear that it wasn’t enough food to fill up on, but I disagree. I think it was the combination they ordered. The staff is friendly, but on this night service was kind of slow for not being too busy.
All in all, I like the location, the ambiance, the menu, the pricing and the staff so I’ll continue to support this business and recommend it to others.

Imagine that one appetizer on any menu that is fine– take it or leave it fine. Now take that appetizer, erase all of your creative faculties and write a menu. Voila, you have 1831 Tavern. I was skeptical from the start of their conceptual focus on meatballs. I figured that whoever came up with that must have the passion to deliver. Every dish we tried was boring. The meatballs were pedantic to the point of being unnecessary. I doubt it will be around long as it was completely empty at 9:30 on a Saturday.

Stopped in a Saturday night. We had 4-​balls. One with risotto 1 with spinach, both with arabiatta sauce. Very good. Classic meatballs were terrific. Looking forward to going back and trying more things on the menu. I read people disappointed that the new owners haven’t changed anything from The Jury Room. No big deal to me. I think this can be a warm comfortable spot.

I like this place. Met the owners and they were warm and welcoming; I liked them a lot.
The food is good and if you get the calamari salad take note: it’s pretty spicy.
I never made it here when it was The Jury room but I sure like this place. Warm, welcoming and good food. I had the classic meatball with spaghetti… a perfect choice for a rainy night. There’s so much more I’d like to try out so I will be back.
My only complaint was I’d prefer some Italian wines on the menu to compliment their delish food but it sounded like that was in the works as they tried out a chianti to sell that day!

I have eaten here twice already and the food is delicious. The owners are wonderful and care about the guest experience. The polenta is delicious. I will be back.

BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS!
*Pardon Me* I just couldn’t help myself.
This is a fun place, but I’d just come here for the meatballs. A wise man made the right moves. In order to try every flavor, he got a single bun-​less slider with each sauce. It’s the best price and gives you the best variety. There’s also a hidden flavor… THE BUTTERBALL!
I enjoyed the new experience, but I felt like this place was lacking. They left everything from Jury Room, except they added TVs and took everything off of the walls. It just seems empty now.
The drinks are wayyyyyy over-​priced, even for happy hour and they have no signature drink. Maybe I have to much of a Jury Room crutch, but I was hoping for more.
The waitress was super friendly and made the experience so much better.
Overall, I’d at least give it a visit. I’m open to trying it again.

***3.5 stars***
BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS BALLS.
Okay, I think I have it out of my system enough to write a review. BALLLLLSSSSS. Sorry, I had one more in me.
Yep, when I heard the original name of the 1831 Tavern was Balls, I pretty much became a 13 year-​old boy again. My Facebook feed also exploded into anatomical inappropriateness. Luckily, the word ‘balls’ has been reduced to a sub-​heading, and the name now reflects how long the building has been in existence.
The Mister and I stopped by on a rainy weeknight, and 1831 was pretty quiet and calm. When I first walked in, there was this odd sense of «I’ve been here before… and it looks the same… but it’s not the same.» The interior is much the same as Jury Room, but for a lack of better wording – all that shit has been removed. So for the first time, I could actually SEE how beautiful the space really is: the dark wood, the vintage wallpaper, the gorgeous bar, the lovely chandeliers, etc.
Our server was really lovely. He wasn’t super talkative (which is fine by me), but he was fast, friendly, and really helpful with the menu. I have this wheat thing, and he helped me navigate the menu with ease and without any worries. (For the record, the GF items at 1831 include: sausage balls, all the sauces except mushroom, brussels sprouts, polenta, and several other sides and salads… just ask.)
The menu is meatball-​driven, and I think that’s kind of weird and quirky (in a good way). Once you get past the hilarity of the name Balls, you can understand where they were going with that. If you’re not a fan of balls, there are plenty of other Italian options for you. As for me, I love balls. If you like balls too, there’s a myriad of places where you can put them – over pasta, on a roll, on a bed of creamy polenta, etc. At 1831, they’ll put their balls anywhere you want them.
Our food came out rather quickly, and it was good comfort food. I had 4 sausage balls over polenta with arrabiata sauce. It was tasty! The sauce is really spicy, so if that’s not your jam, maybe go with another choice. The sausage was tender and flavorful, and the polenta had a smooth and creamy consistency.
I definitely teetered between 3 and 4 stars, but here are the reasons why I bumped it up to 4:
+It’s easy to get in and out – especially for the downtown scene.
+The owner, Joe, actually took the time to respond to a Unilocal message where I had asked him if they had any GF options.
+The staff is really friendly and helpful.
+The food is fast and tasty.
+Gold star for actually HAVING plenty of GF choices!
I know 1831 has a bit of an uphill battle because it’s not the Jury Room. Some people will rate it for what it’s not – not what it is. For fast, comfort food, I’ll give it 4 stars.
TL;DR: 1831 Tavern is a meatball-​focused restaurant that’s casual, fast, and friendly. Their name used to be Balls, but now it’s not. It’s still funny as hell though.

We met another couple here on Saturday at about 5:30pm. When we arrived, we were the only people in the restaurant. It did pick up a bit later, but that was mostly due to one large party that came in together. We left at around 8pm and by then it seemed busy.
The bad (to get it out of the way): Unimpressive cocktails. I love mules, but the one on the menu was not good at all. We tried a few other cocktails and honestly none were great. Each one was missing something the menu said it should come with (a fruit garnish, a sugar rim, etc). That’s a bad sign when we’re the only customers.
The good: the staff was really friendly. The interior is nicer than it was (it’s just the Jury Room with all the kitschy junk removed). Good beer selection on tap. Good prices. The food was pretty good. Everyone was happy with what they ordered. Our party had the chicken balls with alfredo, the beef with arrabiata, the beef with arrabiata over polenta, and the sausage balls with penne. I really liked the option of getting 4 balls with sauce and a crusty roll. We used to come to this location for some drinks and a snack, not really a meal, so this is a better option than some deep fried appetizer. We will definitely become regulars.

I’ve been back a couple of time since my first visit, and wanted to update. First, the lasagne is really good. It’s tastes homemade — and I assume it is. Second, I think my favorite meatball is the veggie — which may seem strange, but it’s really good if I’m being honest.
At any rate, still a great food place a few weeks later, with unbeatable happy hour drink prices.

Dinky cool retro-​raunt… See what I did there?
This place was a fun try. It’s basically Italian food! The concept is that you order the ball of meat, then you decide what kind of pasta you want under it. I ended up with spaghetti and the spicy arrabiata sauce. It was güd.
If I ever make it back there again, I’ll try to risotto. I tasted a bit of someone’s at the table and it was quite delicious.

So my friend and I were looking for somewhere to eat before the ballet on Friday, and we decided to try 1831 Tavern. We had been intrigued by the concept since we heard about it months ago, you know, back when it was going to be called Balls.
It was pretty crowded, but we were able to find the last two top. It was very noisy in the dining room, which made it hard to hear my friend, but easy to hear people talking by the windows. We realized that maybe this was why we always liked to sit outside when this was the Jury Room. I’m not sure this is the kind of fare I’d enjoy eating on a hot summer day on the patio.
Our waitress, who was very nice, came over shortly, and we decided on wine while we perused the menu. The menu does concentrate on various balls, meat and vegetarian, but not enough for the old name to have really been descriptive. I ordered two sliders, one with the classic beef/​pork meatball and the arrabbiata sauce and the other with a chicken meatball and a mushroom sauce. My friend ordered a classic meatball sandwich with a salad. We also ordered fried dough medallions. Our food arrived quickly, and the fried dough was very hot, but everything else was a little cold. My classic meatball and arrabbiata slider had very little sauce, in fact, it it barely colored the top of the slider red. The chicken and mushroom slider was a little better, and it certainly did have more sauce. Both were okay, but nothing I’d recommend. My friend’s sandwich was about the same, but his salad was terrible. It was like they washed the greens and then added a watery ranch dressing without drying the greens first. The fried dough medallions were the best thing we ordered, but we didn’t even finish those. Finally, my friend ordered another glass of wine, and it came out smelling like a household cleaner.
Like I said, this is a very new restaurant, and maybe some of these kinks will work themselves out over time. Unfortunately, I just don’t think I’m a big fan. Even if the food had been hot and my friend’s second glass of wine had been better, I still don’t think I would be clamoring for more. The service was friendly and attentive, and the food was mostly fine, but in my opinion, there are many other, better options downtown.