Tavern On The Avenue

I mentioned I wanted some BROASTED chicken and my daughter said I know just the place. How in the hell did I not know about Tav on the Ave when I lived in St. Paul??? Too many bars and so little time I guess. This is a typical divey type bar and that is a good thing. The prices are fair the portions are large and you can get some fire water to splash it all down with. I did not get hassled or feel weird by any of the wild and rowdy regulars and I enjoyed being DJ for a bit and spinning some sound on the touch tunes Juke.

We rented the loft space and brought in a band to celebrate my husband’s birthday. The event planning staff was very helpful in planning a custom menu and setting up the space perfectly. The day of the party, the servers and kitchen staff were all friendly, professional and did everything they could to make sure our event and guests were well taken care of. Thanks to the TOA crew for making it such a fun night!

Everything I said in my previous review of this place… I still mean it.
Except for one thing; the Jameson sauce.
Shortly after I wrote my review saying the Jameson sauce tasted like dick and bbq, the owner messaged me. He didn’t threaten my life or call me names that I like to save for snuggly time. Instead, he told me that my review inspired them to change the sauce and encouraged me to give it another try.
That being said. I wasn’t going to announce myself in some grand entrance declaring «I’m the chick who said the sauce tastes like dick! Bestow upon me the new dick sauce!» Because, chances are I would have actually received some dick sauce and I wasn’t even sitting at the bar.
I waited months and months but finally did try the new sauce and I can honestly say; I now thoroughly enjoy everything I order here. It’s actually pretty damn tasty and I’m glad I get to give them the credit they deserve… Both for general awesomeness and for not tearing me apart when I made an admittedly rude remark about some of their food.
I can’t help it. Sam and I just love this place and we always look forward to going back.
(Now about that salty chicken…)

Visited here briefly because my partner had a work event.
This place is big! Seems like they have a lot of space for events and dancing. Pool tables, an upstairs, patio and a very small arcade (which I was disappointed in the selection but hey, you can’t have everything).
I wasn’t able to get any food while I was here but I did have a few Tijuana Sweet Heat Margarita’s which were mighty tasty and refreshing. Service was just fine. Our drinks were kept coming and kept full so I have nothing to complain about!
I am definitely interested in visiting again to get a better feel for this place.

Wanted to try this for awhile so I picked a Friday for all you can eat fish fry. Where do I start? First we had a very obnoxious waitress who thought she was a comedian. She was not. She did how ever save me 2 dollars by telling me to just order the fish dinner and see if I wanted more. I did not as the fish was very greasy and not very good. The fries were also greasy. My son got a chicken sandwich that was dry. Sorry to say I will not be back.

Lessons I learned last night at Tav on the Ave:
1. BAD SERVICE ISN’T GOOD — Ehhh, it happens. I can excuse semi-​absent servers, flighty hosts, even aloof bartenders. But when your server is rude to people and ignores some for no apparent reason — that’s so not cool. I get extremely protective of my friends and dismissive of people who are rude to them so it left a really bad taste. So much so that we overturned our tips and hopefully sent a message that she could, quite simply, do better next time.
2. GOOD SERVICE CAN OVER RULE SHITTY SERVICE — Even with our rude server, good management can step in and overrule all of that. Tav on the Ave, you’ve got a gem in Kamal. He made an effort to understand where we were coming from and right the wrongs from our server. He turned what could have been a bad experience into a really good one in the right way. Owners TAKE NOTE.
3. BROASTED CHICKEN — the broasted chicken is delicious and I want to eat it every day of my life. Dita wasn’t kidding when she said that it was 4 meals in one. I’ll be eating it until the cows come home. And in case you are wondering, Kara told me that broasted chicken is fried chicken in a pressure cooker. So it’s deliciously deceptive that it’s fried, yet and not greasy. Do you believe in magic, ’cause i hope you do.
4. PICKLE BACKS — there is a thing called a pickle back and it apparently helps whiskey shots go down the hatch. Who knew?
5. ST. PAUL ISN’T ALL BAD! — Tav on the Ave, you’re a cool place after all.
6. PATIOS + FRIENDS = HEAVEN — enough said.

Once in awhile, my friends and I had this osmosis or just spontaneous combustion that yielded to someone screaming, «Tav on Ave» or «Broasted Chicken.»
So we found ourselves there yesterday, watered up all day for some broasted chicken. I had my share of fried chicken last week during my DC trip. I told myself I would try something else. Found my friends at the patio with drinks at hand already. It was such a nice evening. The sun was shining so bright and I happened to face it. I hope my SPF 50 moisturizer protected me from any looming freckles or sun damage. But if I get some freckles out of this, I’d name them Jenny, Kara, Suzanne, Sam, Heather, and Dita. Maybe I should name it dicksauce instead.
It was happy hour so we ordered bunch of appetizers: mac and cheese bites, soft pretzel, cheese curds, and Thai Chili boneless wings. They were all $ 4. Drinks were $ 1 off regular prize. We chowed down and had a fantastic time as usual with lots and lots expletives and laughters. There was an older couple that worked so hard to get to the patio on his walker. It took him forever. I believe he couldn’t stand hearing our obnoxious fun group that he made his wife moved him all the way back in. Come on now… we weren’t that loud. We’re angels.
Anyway, food was tasty. I love Kara’s fish fingers a lot. I went with broasted chicken though I said I wouldn’t. Well, I lied. I went for it. Though the chicken was a tad salty tonight. But overall, still love the food here.
Our server seemed to be fun at the beginning. She had this care free attitude that at the start was intriguing and funny. I thought she had moxy. However, she graduated from moxy to maxy attitudy. Maybe she thought she worked at Ed Debevic where it was okay to treat your customers with shitty attitude. It wasn’t funny anymore when I asked for another drink and she told me as she walked away that she had to take the other table’s order first and later said to me acknowledging that she heard me all along. She could have just said «Got it.» And it continued. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when Kara asked for her to take picture, she said later as she had some stuff to do first. What??? LOL. You funny you! *asian accent*
The manager saved the day after Dita talked to him. He took our pics and we talked about our Unilocal reviews and he said he read all of them and he enjoyed the funny one and recognized the broasted chicken mention and Jenny’s Jameson dicksauce reference. He was good and he fixed things for us. He also got us a round of free shots, and though he couldn’t drink, he had a shot of red bull with us. Awesome!
Love this place but I love my friends more and how nights seemed so magical when we were together.

Tav on the Ave has become our unofficial watering hole. Or in my and Sam’s case, our whiskeying hole. HH rails are cheap, $ 2.75 until 6pm, which provide me a lot of joy and regret.
We all sat on the patio in March! In Minnesota! It didn’t hurt my body! The sun was shining and Dita D, Sam W, Jenny A, Louise M, Suzanne P, Heather R, and I were all in great spirits. Of course, we always are when we get together and grace the fellow patrons with our cackling and fart jokes. The night started with HH drinks and apps — my faves were the cheese curds and the jalapeño mac&cheese bites. Our server started off being amusing and funny. I actually liked her drunken concussion story because we’ve all been there, cmon now. Did I mentioned I guzzle cheap whiskey?
Well, some time after the apps and before the entrees, it seems she located a dead porcupine holding sewing needles dipped in battery acid and sat on it. Jk… I think the porcupine was alive. Lu asked for a refill and instead of saying, «sure», she told her she did not have time to even acknowledge the drink request. She took more time rejecting our order than it would have to just nod and bring out the drink eventually. Later, I had my camera pulled up and asked her to snap a quick photo of us, but she coldly said she did not have time and had to do this and that first, again, which took more time to say than it would have to do.
But the food saved the day. My beer battered cod fingers with tater tots were PERFECT. Light and crispy, tasty, and not greasy. Everyone was enjoying their generously sized broasted chicken dinners per usual. And then there was Kamal, the manager. Who we expressed our displeasing service to and he responded with shots and recognition of our previous Unilocal reviews, including Jenny and her dicksauce. He was apologetic, attentive, and just cool as hell. 1 star for location/​venue/​parking, 1 star for affordable & not awful pub food, 2 stars for Kamal.

WOW! This is the best tavern on any avenue!

I am a bit on the fence about this place. GREAT deals, good food, but just average service.
Upon arriving I saw their big parking lot and was pumped I didn’t have to park on the street blocks away. I liked the big bar atmosphere but it was pretty slow for a Thursday happy hour.
On Thursdays, you can get a burgers with 2 toppings w/​fries for $ 6 — great deal! The two people I was with and I all ordered those and were very pleased. Big burgers and a decent amount of fries! (You can also choose tator tots instead) During happy hour you can get $ 1 off beers, mixed drinks or wines and they have a few select appetizers that are only $ 4.
They had great happy hour specials and very tasty (and greasy :)) food but our service kind of was a put off for me. Our waitress seemed annoyed by us whenever we asked a question and rushed us even though there was barely anyone else there. I plan on coming back to get some of those $ 4 apps and hopefully have a better experience! As for now, just A-​Ok for me.

I’m giving this place 3 stars because of the patrons who visit… Extremely ghetto and negative people. People try to start fights left and right, and cut in line in the bathroom and try to start something if you say anything. The bartenders are great, and I would give them 5 stars if only it was based on them alone. I am a vegetarian, so there’s not much for us here, but the couple of things I have tried have been good. Music is also pretty good if you are into rap and hip hop dance music. I just wish people who visit were more friendly!

On the recommendation of other Unilocalers, I set out for ‘Tav on the Ave’ to experience their fish fry. My expectations were modest. You can get a two-​piece meal for $ 9.99 or an all-​you-​can-​eat (AYCE) meal for $ 11.99 — unless you’re like me and fill up on the two piece meal. The fillets are HUGE and have crispy, flavorful breading that’s reminiscent of KFC. You could bread almost anything in it and its going to taste good. Potato options include fries, baked, chips, or Tater Tots.
I love that you can still find AYCE fish fries in the Twin Cities — particularly at local bars like ‘Tav on the Ave’ where you can afford to have a few drinks. The homemade, rough-​cut coleslaw was also a hit. Servers were attentive — no empty cocktail glass was overlooked.
We arrived around 8pm and had no trouble getting seated.

went there randomly on Sunday and sat at the bar, my friend had the Bloody Mary bar and liked it. the bartender named Katie was very good and friendly also and so was the one after her (didn’t get her name). the people next to us had a breakfast pizza it looked really good and almost all the food looked above average !.
one lady did get carried out on a stretcher apparently she had too many bloodys ! I live and go out in Minneapolis but this place is worth the drive and the customers are entertaining and fun! can’t wait to try the steak and Cuban pot roast!

Bar: one of the best long-​islands I’ve ever had.
Staff: friendly, attentive.
Food: tavern steakhouse wrap, Heaven. Waffle fries, Divinity.

Though I was drawn like a moth to a flame by the promise of many fried eats, I instantly thought I’d be put off by this place the moment I saw it.
Why, you ask?
The interior looks like the shakily conceived lovechild of Dunham’s and the 5 – 8 (neither of which I’m particularly fond). Usually, places like this simultaneously set in stone at least two of these scenarios:
1. I get lots of dirty, prying looks.
2. The service blows.
3. The food is substandard at best.
4. (the most heinous of all) I must endure at least one country song.
I’m a fucking contender so I steeled myself to the possibility of hearing a Soggy Bottom Paisely song and bit the ol’ «don’t make eye contact with the regulars» bullet.
We grabbed a booth and waited for a waitress. It took some time to get menus but we were occupying ourselves eyeballing our surroundings.
The first waitress came. She was young, very sweet looking and full of light fluffy smiles like a unicorn at an expensive petting zoo. Jenny and I gave one another the mental thumbs up and proceeded to decide what dishes would look best pasted to our thighs.
Just when we’d decided on a appetizer, a second waitress came. She was the complete antithesis of the first, and, after slamming down our waters, flatly blurted, «Whaddya want».
We ordered the appetizer – the steak kebob – and didn’t have enough time to get in our drinks before she vanished.
We shrugged it off and went back to perusing the drink menu. After a few minutes, the happy unicorn came back and lit up the table with electric smiles.
«Has anyone gotten a drink order for you guys yet?»
«No…»
“I’ll get right on that! What can I get you?“
The answer was beer, naturally. She grinned, trotted off and left a shimmering trail of glitter in her wake.
Again, we gave one another the «all is well» look and made our last minute final decisions on our food.
The other one came back, slammed (I’ll be repeating this word a lot) our appetizer down and wordlessly disappeared.
… ‘kay… thx.
The steak kebobs shocked me. There were two skewers full of sizeable chunks of meat, all cooked to a perfect medium rare as requested, and seasoned nicely. Neither of us got any unpleasant gristle and they more than sated my beef needs. The accompanying ‘Jameson Sauce’, though? It reminded me of an over-​reduced
can of mushroom soup and tasted equally as charming. We pushed it off to the side carelessly; the steak more than made up for it.
Amidst our barbaric chewing, we caught a glimpse of our unicorn again and grew giddy in anticipation. She spunkily trotted right past us, presumably to spread her cheer to some other less deserving party. Our mutual confusion and abandonment issues hardly had time to boil, however, as our beers got slammed in front of us by the other waitress just moments after.
«Do you know what you want yet?» she sneered.
I got the broasted chicken (fak u gais) and Jenny went with the beer battered fish fry. She grabbed the menus and stormed off to slaughter kittens in the alley with her angry, angry pewpew eyes.
In one final brilliant showing, our mythical hero returned and, with a characteristic smile, admitted it was her first day and that she’d gotten confused and thought we were her table. We both managed to mouth a pathetic «I wish you were» before watching her float away like the celestial being she was born to be.
Forsaken and alone, we waited for the final installment of our meal.
It was slammed down for us sometime later. Both of our platters were HOLY BALLS HUGE. We greedily dug in.
— Broasted Chicken: You know all the great things I said about 5 – 8’s chicken? Multiply all of those things by ten. Heaven. In. Your. Mouth.
— Fish Fry: It wasn’t mine, but… fuck yeah, it was delicious. The beer they used clearly came through in the batter and lent the perfect amount of crispy casing for the tender fish. Well-​seasoned and executed across the board.
The pewpew eyed waitress came back only two meaningful times after this.
She threw down boxes at us and returned with the bill at which point something unnerving happened. She sat the black book down, leaned into the table and twisted her face into a pained smile.
«I hope you guys had a good time! I really like your nail polish.» she remarked to Jenny.
Pull it back, pewpew. Should’ve turned on that charm an hour and a half ago.
Strange and somewhat uncomfortable service aside, the food was seriously delicious. So delicious that I’d tolerate shitty service again just to eat it.

We went here for the Friday night all you can eat fish.
I would never come here regularly as it reminds me of a small town VFW or Legion. Long bar, pool tables, old brown tables with chairs that have torn vinyl. you get my drift…
No one greeted us upon entering and there was no sign indicating if we should seat ourselves or what so we sat down and waited and waited… Eventually someone noticed us and came over.
The fish was good. For $ 12, you got the All you can eat fish, fries, coleslaw… Pretty standard fish fry food. Ci had a burger and she said it was OK, not the best. The fish was really good though so if you want some good fish, come try it but be warned… its nothing fancy. Its a large dive bar. The fish is also not cod which is what I prefer.
The service was OK, pop was flat like almost all bars, and too many drunk people around for my taste. I more than likely will not come back for another Friday Fish Fry.
Oh.One last thing, the place still smells like smoke from back in the days when you could smoke inside bars.

I was referred to this place last month for the burger special Thursday nights. Half pounder with mushrooms and Swiss. Extremely good. Price? Five bucks! Delicious!
Next was the sirloin. Most tender steak I’ve had. Next? Saturday nite ribs. Very good, tons of meat. Price? 10 bucks. Very nice staff. Very good to customers. The bartenders are very attractive. This place used to be a dump! The reputation here is very good. It has to be. This area has very good restaurants with very good atmosphere. Many of St Paul’s elite hang here and there.
They need to book Johnny Holm or a big band to get them on the map. Kurt Jorge sen!

Deluxe mac and cheese is great!
It’s a divey, large St. Paul diamond in the rough. Don’t expect spectacular service or fancy digs, but that isn’t what you need at a dive bar. Food and beer are cheap, and it’s a lovely place to relax.

We had my Mother & Stepfather in town for the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend & one of the first things my Mom said to me was, «Do you have a Fish Fry picked out for Friday?» I didn’t, but it doesn’t take long to pull up Unilocal & start checking into what we’ve got bookmarked. Friday Afternoon we had it narrowed down to Tavern on the Avenue. A place Alyssa & I had been to once before for the All-​You-​Can-​Eat Friday Night Fish Fry. However, it had been 3 years or so since that last visit. Driving on 35E from the North, you exit off on Victoria. Take a left. Then a left on Jefferson & you have arrived! The parking lot wasn’t too busy & we found a spot easily. You enter into the middle of the place, with the bar to the left & the seating area to the right. There is a half wall separating the two. In the back, there is a game area, complete with pool tables & arcade games. Also a stage area for bands & dancing.
We found a table & were greeted by our server, Smashlee, promptly. She just had got off of Roller Derby practice & was still dressed like it. Smashlee was able to obtain a highchair for Pheona. When she returned, she asked about drinks for the table. We asked about beer choices & she pointed to a specials menu on the table that had beer choices on one side. The other side had the daily & happy hour specials. We arrived just after 5 o’clock. Happy Hour goes until 6 o’clock on Friday, so I was able to get a $ 2 bottle of the High Life. My Step-​dad went with a Guinness & was asked if he would like a tall or a short. He did a tall. Alyssa did a Redneck Martini (Miller Lite with an olive). My Mom stuck with water. We were given 4 menus and Smashlee went off to get our drinks. The menus are large & laminated with 2 sides. A front & a back. They keep it short & sweet here. I like that. They know what they do & they do it well.
Our drinks were delivered & we were asked if we knew what we wanted to eat. Being that it was Happy Hour, they offer up a select few appetizers at a $ 3 cost. My Mom wanted to try some of those out, so she put in an order for cheese curds & a stuffed pretzel. We all ordered our entrees at this time, too. Mom went with a Chicago Style Hot Beef. Alyssa did a Happy Hour order of Boneless Buffalo Wings & the Loaded Mac & Cheese. Which seems to be the «house specialty». Mac & Cheese with tomato, bacon, & such. My Step Dad went with the regular Friday Night Fish Fry, while I did the AYCE version. The Fish Fry comes standard with Beer Battered North Atlantic Cod, French Fries, & Coleslaw. We asked for the apps to be brought out first. While they were the first food put on the table, they came out with our entrees. That made for a crowded table.
The curds came on a small plate with 10 – 12 pieces. Good for $ 3, but if that’s the amount you’d get paying full price, I’d be unhappy. The stuffed pretzel was your normal size. It came with a cheesy dipping sauce. All of that was good. Boneless wings had about 8 pieces, tossed in a spicy buffalo sauce. Pretty standard breaded chicken chunks, but the sauce had a wonderful kick to it. Now, supper. My Fish Fry came in a basket filled with French Fries. On top of ‘em was two pieces of 24 caret gold colored fillets of Beer Battered Cod. A large plastic ramekin of colorful Coleslaw was included. As well as 2 wedges of lemon & a small plastic ramekin of tartar. I took a bite of a couple of fries right away. Great Fries. Perfectly cooked with skins left on. One of the wedges of lemon held enough squeeze for both fillets of Cod. Dipping the first bite of Cod into the tartar, I realized that the sauce was house made. Biting in, Nirvana. Oh Boy. They got «it» down here. Perfect Beer Batter. Not too thick in coating the fillet. Yet thick enough where it holds up on it’s own. The Cod is pearly white in color. Moist & flaky. Everything you want your Beer Battered Cod to be. The Coleslaw is deceiving. It looks good, bordering on great. Taking a bite, you are let down. Tasted old.
When we got checked up on, I asked for two more pieces. Another member of the waitstaff brought it out to me after a short wait. However, I only got one piece. I didn’t complain, though. It came with lemon & tartar. The reorder piece wasn’t as golden fried as the first pieces. More light in color. The taste was just as good. When Smashlee came back to see if we were doing alright, I asked for two more pieces again. This time, Smashlee brought out my reorder. Again, it came as 1 piece. She told me as she set it down that she asked for another piece be put in for me. When that came out, it also came with tartar & lemon. As had my prior piece. Alyssa’s Mac & Cheese was great. Rich & creamy. I got a bite of that. YUMMY. My Mom’s Hot Italian Beef looked wonderful. She said it tasted that. The parents picked up the tab, but I can vouch for the cost of the AYCE Friday Night Fish Fry. $ 11.99. Worth every penny. Alyssa & I are bound to make it back here. We just hope it’s quicker than last time.

We stopped in one Wednesday night when we couldn’t get a seat for the steak special at nearby Skinner’s Pub, and have returned several times since. Turns out the Tav on the Ave is a pretty decent spot for food and bev.
The Tav’s crown jewel has to be the bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers. Jalapenos are halved, stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped with thick, crisp, juicy bacon and baked until golden brown. It shouldn’t be good, but it IS, and you will be pleased.
Beyond the poppers there are daily food specials that are a pretty good deal, and the menu goes beyond the expected burgers and fries. Sadly, no real craft beer options on tap, though they do offer Summit and Newcastle. There’s a large outside patio, mostly given over to the smokers. Service is always friendly. Plenty of free parking.
Poppers please!