The Tavern of Solon

Nice sports bar restaurant in Solon. Been there several times and always leave happy. Ribs and shredded pork are delicious. Plenty of food. Sometimes take a half rack home to eat later. Need to try out the bands on the weekends. Good value.

Never eat at this place! Owner told me to f**k off when I called on a Sunday. Didn’t know they were closed and he picked up and was rude. Food is not good at all! Don’t waste your time or money!

Dined here recently with a family member. It was early and not crowded. Our server was friendly and professional. But, when I went to open the ketchup container, it EXPLODED! And I mean everywhere!!! It was all over a brand new scarf (purchased that morning), a mohair sweater jacket, my hair, my shirt, my pants, my coat and even in the lining of a brand new Dooney & Burke bag. Not happy.
The server was quick with damp towels and help. The manager? Not so much. At the end of our meal, she came over and comped the onion rings on our bill. Not quite adequate, given the damage. I had to go home and shower. Then wash everything I had on. Then find that the lining of a brand new, expensive purse was stained as well. Then go visit the dry cleaners.
I won’t be going back. The food? Okay, but nothing to write home about. For BBQ, I’ll stick with Rick’s.

The smoked meats are awesome. Best I ever had. Bar is comfortable and welcoming. Great prices too

Food was okay, service was okay, was hoping for better experience,
groupon deal, thankfully, probably wouldn’t make the drive to go back

We went to this restaurant for the Tuesday deal. The restaurant was for the most part empty. The server was great, very attentive with drinks and the food come out quickly. We ordered fried pickles which had no pickle taste, too much breaking and they were over cooked. The hamburger presentation was great and the fries had a great taste. The hamburger had much to be desired — it was heavy in spices which means low grade meat to me. The meat was fatty and had a very different taste. I will not return to this restaurant.

Went here for the first time this weekend. I ordered a BBQ Turkey dinner and it was served with a choice of 2 sides, which I chose to be corn and mashed potatoes. The dinner was also served with a roll.
The Turkey was delicious and Smokey and the BBQ sauce was tangy and sweet. The sides however were served in tiny ramekins which made them kind of hard to eat.
The wait staff seemed friendly and on their game. The reason I give this place 3 stars is simply because I wasn’t floored by the food. Not fabulous but not horrible either. The price was alright although they could give a little larger side portions.

Dry, dry, dry. That’s all I can say about the meal I had. I was looking forward to eating here based on the reviews, but our 6 meals fell well short of being good. My ribs were so hard and dry I had to ask for additional sauce. Too bad, was looking forward to good BBQ and this wasn’t it.

Alas, the fall from the 5 stars. We’ve visited the Tavern several times since my former 5-​star review. Everytime though there just seems to have been something missing from the food whether it’s salt, pepper, or just that flavor you expected yourself to be enthralled with at a smokehouse. Don’t get me wrong — the absolute best thing on the menu has to be the smoked teriyaki wings and the smoked prime rib I alluded to in my previous review is still pretty good. But there have been too many oddities that outweigh the pluses — some unusual flavor in the green beans, chili much too sweet, smoked meat overcooked and not juicy (smoked too long or too high a heat or both), French onion soup tasting strange, garlic wings inundated with just too many chunks of undercooked garlic, and on and on… I hate to say it but it just seems like the chef (s) are not tasting what they’re sending out.
Proximity, coupons, and smoked teriyaki wings will keep us coming back here but not much else. That’s sad because I really had high hopes for this new business. I hope things improve.

What brought us to the Tavern of Solon? One word, Groupon. What will bring us back? One more word, nothing.
We arrived on a Saturday evening around 6pm and the restaurant was empty. Located in a strip mall where the now rotting carcass of what was once Earth Fare sets, empty and silent, the Tavern of Solon is a restaurant in search of an identity. Are they a live music venue? Biker bar? BBQ joint? Casual eatery? The unsmiling hostess that greeted us set the tone for our visit.
Ceilings painted black, walls painted brick red, black upholstery on the booths and chairs. The front of the space has tables and booths and the rest is inhabited by a long bar that stretches to the rear. It didn’t feel comfortable and it didn’t encourage us to remain any longer than necessary. There’s also a postage stamp sized stage apparently meant to host the various live music acts they feature here. I can only imagine how ear-​bleedingly loud this venue would get.
Our server was the one saving grace during our experience. She was friendly, attentive and kept vigilant watch over our water glasses and iced tea making sure they were never empty.
The beer list reads like something out of a college dorm room refrigerator — essentially all macro brews. There were two points of light, Columbus IPA and Great Lakes Dortmunder, but given their regular clientele I imagine they’ve been setting around for awhile. It’s rare that I don’t get a beer with my dinner. This was one of those rare occasions.
The menu is inordinately large. There are burgers, wraps, sandwiches, salads, BBQ and even pizza. I believe this is a perfect example of a restaurant trying to be everything to everyone. Obviously I can’t speak to the quality of every menu item, suffice it to say that pure speculation would lead me to believe that none of them can be all that good. I believe a restaurant should focus, find its niche and do it well.
To start we had the soft pretzels. I should have known better. Once you’ve had the best soft pretzel in the city (Fat Head’s Brewery Tap House) you simply shouldn’t stray. These were as middle of the road, average as you can get and the processed cheese sauce that came with them reminded me of the nachos I used to get at the roller rink when I was in junior high.
For our main courses we opted for the BBQ, a risk that didn’t pay off. I had the smoked turkey platter with a side salad and «fair fries» as my sides. My wife had the half slab of ribs with cole slaw and baked beans. Both came with a cornbread muffin.
It states on the menu that all BBQ dinners are served with a choice of seven different sauces. We weren’t given a choice. Both dinners were served with the same relatively bland BBQ sauce that tasted like a combination of ketchup and extra vinegar. First, the meats. The smoked turkey came sliced and topped with sauce. It was OK as far as sliced turkey goes. The ribs were definitely fall-​off-​the-​bone tender but lacked seasoning and were a bit dry.
The sides were all pretty lackluster as well. The cornbread muffins were cold and very dry. I’m not sure why they call them «fair fries» as I remember fries at the fair as the skinny shoestring variety, these were thick-​cut and a bit soggy. The salads, served without the croutons, were fresh and crisp but the raspberry vinaigrette was a disaster. It had the consistency of slime and was ridiculously sweet. I thought the cole slaw was tasty, though.
The Tavern of Solon is exactly what the middle of the bell curve tastes like. No surprises, nothing memorable and certainly nothing that would have us coming back. One and done list, here we come.

I went here with my brother because I got a Groupon deal for this place. Restaurants that use Groupons are usually hit or miss. This was a definite hit. We ate lunch and had an order of the smoked wings with bourbon sauce. The wings were crispy and smoky and very good. The sauce was light but flavorful. We got the jambalaya which had some kick to it and was packed with sausage. It was very good. We both got the prime rib philly sandwich. It comes on a pretzel hoagie roll and the house smoked prime rib in it was awesome and juicy. We sampled the other sauces that they had at a «sauce station» which were all quite good. I’m a sucker for smoked meats so I’ll definitely be back.

Service was slow. Ordered rare prime rib, they delivered medium-​well and said it was rare. It was dry and almost cold. The said there was nothing they could do to improve it. My wife had ribs which were OK. Restaurant was very noisy and only half full.

I ordered food to go. The food was great and the service was friendly and quick.

This place was absolutely disgusting! I bought a groupon for this place and went there with my fiancé. We had the provolone wedges to start and they were served with burned marinara sauce that looked very unappetizing. Then our meals came and the fries were soggy because the oil they were cooked in probably was not frying at a high enough temperature. She ordered the BBQ steak sandwich and it tasted like rubber. Both of us felt sick the next day from eating there. I will never eat there again. I am not sure where these high reviews are coming from. Maybe they need to bring back the quality others have experienced.

Ended up here due to a Groupon deal or something. It was their fish fry Friday, and my parents ended up ordering that. On the photo of the fish for advertising, it looked like the dish came with butterflied perch. But, upon arrival of the dish, turns out it was cod or something. The coleslaw side dish was bland in flavor apparently! My mother actually put BBQ sauce on it…
I, on the other hand, ordered ribs. Upon arrival, it looked a little burnt. Then I realized it was REALLY burnt, with sauce covering it up. They were so accommodating though! I just pointed it out, they whisked it away, and then I had an entirely new half rack. On top of that, they even gave us a free appetizer coupon as a sorry! Now that is good business. I forgave them immediately.
So overall, decent flavor and great customer service. Plus I believe they are a new establishment, so there is a lot of potential for growth!

Awesome smoked wings with a tasty BBQ sauce with some kick? The smoked brisket is also delicious as is the chili!

I went here a few days ago, after the movies, to meet up with some pals. We were a large party, over twenty, with young kids, as well. We had a waitress with short, dark hair (I didn’t catch her name) and she took fantastic care of us. Everyone ordered all sorts of stuff; apps, drinks, salads. This tavern offers up some tasty burgers, too (which is what I ordered.). My dude ordered a club, which he really liked. The fries were good as well, but I didn’t eat very many as I scarfed the burger. You can get your sandwich or burger served on either a kaiser bun, or a pretzel bun (pretzel ftw!).
FYI, this place is in a shopping plaza, and is a long, skinny place with lots of televisions. Be aware that it’s loud. Despite its sports-​bar-​y-​ness, it’s still pretty kid-​friendly. No one was uncouth, even when they were pissed at the game. We will definitely be back, especially since they are super accommodating to large parties and I noticed the waitress knew a lot of my friends’ names.

I’m not impressed. Maybe I ordered the wrong plate. The Sampler, which we thought would give us an idea of their meat, was terrible. 5 spoonful of, turkey, corn beef, sausage, pulled pork and brisket, for $ 17. Meat was greasy and very average on the tongue. There is absolutely nothing memorable. Don’t order. Oh, by the way, they forgot about the pulled pork. It was around 11:45am with us being the only customers in restaurant at the time. We thought the meat was so little for $ 17 that there ought to be something more worthwhile to be called a BBQ house. Then we noticed pulled pork was missing.

Great food and service. They know how to do barbeque, and the sides are excellent.

The service was subpar, however it was after lunch rush and before dinner. Ribs were damn good, bugers not so much. So stick to the BBQ and you will not regret it.

I FINALLY made it here last night! Wow! BBQ perfection! The menu looks so awesome, I wanted to try one of everything! I’m sure I will eventually! This visit, I had the fried pickle chips, wings, baby-​back ribs, and the Western Philly sandwich. (Don’t judge… I DO have leftovers in my fridge today!). The ribs were smoked perfectly, the meat was tender with the perfect amount of «stick to the bone-​ness»! (Yeah…I can’t think of the right word!). The pickle chips were AWESOME! Definitely NOT from a bag in the freezer! The use Herman’s horseradish pickles, sliced, battered, and fried. These are the best fried pickles I’ve ever had! The wings are hickory smoked and then fried… best of both worlds! They’re good-​sized and really meaty. The smoky flavor really shines! We had the BBQ flavor last night and I would definitely recommend them! I can’t wait to go back and try the other sauces, too! On to the Western Philly!!!
This is smoked brisket, onion, peppers, and provolone cheese served on a pretzel hoagie roll. The flavor combination is fantastic! As with the wings, the smoky flavor of the brisket shines through under the provolone. The smokiness paired with the onions & green peppers reminded me a bit of szalonna bread (Hungarian greasy bread. one of my FAVORITES!). The brisket was tender… I was able to bite through without having it slide out of the sandwich at me, and the pretzel hoagie roll is a delicious touch!
I want to add that they buy as local as they can… honey, pickles, etc… That’s important to me!
I can’t think of one negative thing to say… except that I worked so hard to lose 9 pounds and the Tavern is going to give them right back if I’m not careful! (Now…time to work on my leftovers… which have filled my fridge with an awesome hickory-​smoked smell!)
Go to the Tavern of Solon! Bring your appetite!