Tavern 135

We enjoyed a nice evening at Tavern 135. The service was excellent. The food was very good. The only detractor was the risotto which was really just rice. No creaminess to it at all. We definitely will come back to try it again we are looking forward to sitting outside in the courtyard when the weather is nice. It looked very pretty all snow covered and twinkling with lights.

Friday night was greeted with a cocktail and pianist at Tavern135 before our dinner reservation. We started the meal with the Tavern Chips. Homemade tortilla chips were delicious, but the spinach and artichoke sauce was overwhelming. The bread basket was accompanied by an array of tapenade and honey butter. I chose the special, Gorgonzola stuffed pork loin with a potato hash cake and white balsamic Brussels sprouts. The entire meal was incredible. My dining partner ordered the chicken and sausage cavatelli, a delicious combo topped with a light sundried tomato broth. Service was accommodating, efficient, and friendly. Cheers!

My friend plays in the trio there so that’s the only reason for going. I ordered the filet and it was not cooked to my specifications, medium-​well. It was rare and the potatoes cold. My friend ordered the beef stew and no beef and it was cold as well. They took that off his bill. I didn’t complain because I didn’t want it to be ruined had I sent it back and it be overcooked. You have some work to do!

The atmosphere was really nice and the service was excellent. The dining area quite for such a big place. I had the seafood platter and my GF had the Sirloin Steak. She said it was really good. My seafood platter was good except I thought the lobster tail was a little dry. Overall, I would recommend this place.

Having been A Tavern 58 fan for a number of years I was truly looking forward to Tavern pulling the old Bistro 135 out of the ashes. Bistro 135 died just as it should with how it was presented on its last legs and you’d have thought The Tavern powers that be would have done more to breath life into this restaurant. Dinner on 10/​30/​2015 was as disappointing as the last we had in the Old Bistro, the food came out luke warm, The Bison strip fatty and grisled, while the Chicken dish was slightly over done. While the food menu is uninteresting, the server Adam was very good and the Wine selections were well choosen by the restaurant, but not enough to over come the meal and the scent of the Glade plug in de-​oderizers that filled the air to ruin the Good wine and the so-​so food we ordered. At this point we’ll choose other Rochester restaurants that show better.

We eat out A LOT and we’ve grown pretty particular. Ive learned to avoid the trendy places because theyre usually beautifully decorated and packed with pretty people, and thats all you get. Usually the waitresses are not well trained, leaving me frustrated.
Here’s a welcome exception. I just got home from Tavern 135. They got it *down*. Ok, maybe its not as young and ‘sassy’ as, say, Tratta, City Grill or Lapel 7 but –Everything was perfect. Our table was ready when we walked in. Everyone was smiling and anticipated what we might need and want. The food came out in order, one thing at a time at just the right pace. Ambiance was absolutely perfect. Everything from real candlelight to piano player, to noise levels, just perfect. The menu had so many great things, it was a challenge making a choice. I chose the special — German stew, pork belly with roasted root vegies, and wonderful choc torte all for $ 25. The waitress explained that there was another special, which also sounded great. Unlike Tony d’s, she also told us the price for that other special, just so we wouldn’t be blindsided. Your menu choices range from burgers to seafood, to steak, prepared in various unique ways. The owner paid a quick visit to see to it everything was good and to ensure the waitress was treating us well. My guest got a properly poured Guiness, and my wine was great. The tables are adequately spaced. Judging by the ladies room, the place is kept clean, which is always a plus. I would say Tavern 135 rates as one of my best dining experiences of 2015. Yes. It was that good. Check it out.

We dined at Tavern 135 last night. As usual for my reviews, I like to break the dining experience into what I think are 3 logical divisions, food, service, and value. I think these comprise the 3 legged stool of helpful restaurant reviews. I suppose you could add an environment section to cover the ambience, atmosphere, restaurant location, cleanliness of the restrooms, and so on. For the latter (restrooms), if I ever feel the need to comment about them, then you can be relatively assured something in the toilet area didn’t go well and I won’t be back…
Anyway, starting with service. We were greeted and seated politely and promptly wherever we wanted. The restaurant is new and, as such, has that new restaurant sheen. We were promptly watered by the water boy (man), who later offered fresh ground pepper and delivered some dishes. He worked very nicely with our waitress, who was knowledgeable, helpful, and non-​obtrusive, nor pushy about drinks. 5 stars for service all around.
Now, on to the food. My wife and I ordered soup and two entrees off the a la carte menu. The soup, a sweet onion soup (Vidalia onion) was delicious, and just right to split as our appetizer. My wife had the Grilled Sea Scallops Panzanella as her entrée. The scallops were tossed with crispy polenta, sundried tomatoes, asparagus, goat cheese and mushrooms in a smoked tomato vinaigrette. It was wonderful the way these disparate elements harmonized in this dish. The bite I had was out-​of-​this world delicious. The portion size was more than ample for my wife and she has already decided to return to sample other menu items of interest to her as a result. Good on her.
I was disappointed by my entrée: Beef Short Rib & Bratwurst Sauerbraten over weinkraut and fresh spaetzle, with a ginger snap gravy. I don’t know why I bother trying to get good sauerbraten from any place other than a bona fide German restaurant (and as you can see in another of my reviews, that isn’t even guaranteed), but hope springs eternal. As far as I am concerned, the term ‘sauerbraten’ refers to the preparation of a piece of meat, usually bottom round, in a certain manner, over a certain period of time. It is NOT ‘sauerbraten style’. A meal is not made into sauerbraten by the inclusion of the traditional gravy, by sour cabbage, by spaetzle or any way other than by serving specifically prepared meat. Sauerbraten means, literally, ‘sour roast’. For this meal, I was very excited about trying beef short rib prepared as sauerbraten, substituting for bottom roast. The execution of what was a very interesting idea was a complete failure. The beef rib was not only a little tough, but completely lacked any taste whatsoever of traditional sauerbraten flavor. I was disappointed because I think short rib, as a meat, lends itself to a variety of different and interesting preparations, including sauerbraten. Its high fat content ensures a comforting mouth feel, and being on the bone ensures added flavor to the meat when cooked. Sadly, this was just tough short rib with none of the promised flavor. The spaetzle and cabbage were very tasty and the house-​made bratwurst was superb. This disappointment is what leads me to give this place one star less than perfection.
The dessert we tried was absolutely fantastic. It was cheesecake prepared three ways. Three little cheesecakes, beautifully prepared, arrived for our dining pleasure. One was a chocolate ganache cheesecake (what!!!), the next was a vanilla cheesecake prepared with blueberry bourbon sauce (inspired!), and hell, I can’t remember what the third was, because the first one was so rich, we ran out of room and had to take the rest home. The other desserts looked really tempting as well. I think this part of the meal sealed the deal for my wife on her plans to return. Nice job, whoever is in charge of this. Now make some proper sauerbraten, damn it!
On to value. Well, I think Unilocal incorrectly rates this place as two dollar signs. We spent 102 for dinner for two with one app and two drinks. I would categorize that as three dollar sign level, with entrees in the 24 – 30.00 range, but I would have to concede that you can get the bar type food for a few fewer dollars. It’s not cheap eats, although it is pretty good eats.
We’ll be back, which, I guess, is the best endorsement of a place. I will try their other offerings and hope they meet the expectations offered by their names.

An amazing evening with my son. The food was superb. The service was impeccable. The app we got was the homemade pretzels. Great. And plenty of them.
My salad was to die for! Very good size.
My son ordered the tenderloin medallions. I have never seen such a happy face. He loved it! I had the chicken florentine with risotto and wild mushrooms. Again. They did it. It was awesome!
This will be my first choice for a wonderful meal, or just a spot for a drink.
Thank you for coming to East Rochester!

We decided to try the new 135 tavern on a Saturday night, we dined at the old 135 bistro many times and hoped it would be comparable, we really enjoyed it,
I had the special spicy shrimp and sausage which was excellent my beautiful gf had the ceased salad which she usually orders when we go out, she said it was excellent and also the mussels, we highly recommended this new place

This place just opened, but the food is wonderful and the staff is too. Another reviewer commented on the «scruffy kitchen staff» at the bar, but I personally loved that the kitchen employees, including the chef, were socializing with their guests in an effort to get to know the customers in their neighborhood. I found it to be a very nice touch. People should do their research next time, like I did. If they did, they would know that the «scruffy kitchen employees» they describe may have very well been the chef, who is the OWNER of the restaurant and introduced himself to us. I would guess he is always dressed as a «kitchen employee.» He was also friendly and very cool.
My friend and I ate on the patio, which was super cute. As appetizers we tried both the sliders and the lettuce wraps. The sliders were perfectly cooked, which is hard to do with sliders, and they were amazing. The lettuce wraps were similar to PF Changs, but more upscale and were excellent. For dinner I had the tenderloin medallions, and I was able to substitute the polenta with this dish because I was dying to try it. They did this for me, no problem, and it was delicious. My friend had the skirt steak and I didn’t try any, but she loved her dish as well. Our service was spot on and the manager and the chef were both walking around and talking to everyone.
There was a huge piano in the main dining room with a piano player while we were there and a good bar crowd. Very nice place, great staff, good food and super cute patio. I will definitely be back!

Great atmosphere and amazing staff! Food upscale but very reasonably priced. Be back in a heartbeat!

Tavern has just opened recently in the old Bistro 135 location. They’ve kept much of the Bistro interior but have cleaned it up a bit. They kept the wonderful back courtyard thankfully!
The food Menu is a bit of a mix from Tavern foods to slightly more upscale creations. The cocktail menu seemed a bit more targeted with some lovely Mojitos, of which I tried two and enjoyed them both thoroughly. The also had just added a Bourbon Cream Soda to the cocktail menu which was sweet but well balanced and very tasty.
With a newly opened restaurant I expect a little bit of confusion with service, POS systems, menu etc. Service was a little slow but our waiter was friendly, knowledgeable, and had very interactive.
The Carnitas appetizer was decent, with tender pork and a lovely salsa. I was ready to give them 3 stars but then our entrees started coming out. The quesadilla had no cheese. The panko chicken was wonderfully crispy on the outside and tender inside but had absolutely zero flavor (even salt and pepper would have helped). The risotto was just rice, seriously I kid you not, rice with a few bits of lobster tossed in. Not flavorful, not creamy, just rice. Coming after Bistro’s often good Lobster risotto it was especially disappointing. The sirloin was good, and cooked to my desired temperature. It was our only doggy bag.
I decided to inquire about the restaurant, new owners, etc and found out that these are the same people who opened Tavern at Clover and it made perfect sense. The food there was attempting to be upscale in quality, and price and if you read my, or other, reviews from there you’ll find them similar. I like very much that they’re trying to make this a more accessible gastropub-​like venue but they need some help.
Perhaps the bar/​tavern parts of the menu are better. I do want to try the duck sliders and some of those options. The cocktails were very very good.
With a bit of work I think this could be a wonderful addition to the neighborhood, and I hope they make it.

From the moment we walked in the door, they made us feel special. Cocktails at the bar first, served by a lovely bartender, who was gracious and attentive. Our meal was delicious. Soup, salad and entrée. Great. A couple of glasses of complimentary champagne because of our anniversary was an unexpected gesture. An all around great evening. Great job Tavern 135, we’ll be back. (with friends)

Love the new ownership and menu. Fresh, products, made on site, flexible dietary options. Thank you, so very much for creating a cool, finer-​dining experience with healthy offerings, and an o so creative menu! The courtyard is a major plus, too.