Village Tavern

                This is one of those places that seems to have been around as long as the surrounding community. Someone probably knows the history but as far back as Mark can seem to remember the Village Tavern has been on the corner of Montgomery and Cooper in old Montgomery, just south of some ribs joint. It’s been on the web at http://thevillage-tavern.com/ for considerably fewer years.

                Josh was in school and a friend of mine, Matt, came in from Chicago and was staying at a hotel not too far from the Tavern. It was decided that we would head that way and grab a burger.

                As the name implies this is a real community place. The original Tavern was what is today the bar area with very limited seating. When space next door became available the Tavern expanded and now has plenty of room for musicians (including a good friend of Matt and mine) and DJs for weekend entertainment.

                With a menu that features bar food, sandwiches, pizzas, a handful of dinner entrees, as well as gourmet stuffed deep fried burgers (such as the Chuck Norris) there is something for everyone.

Burger

                Matt and I showed up on a day where they were having a burger lunch special. Since we were going to go for the burgers anyway, it sounded just perfect. I did the B.Y.O.B. (build your own burger) and added provolone cheese on it. Since the special came with fries rather than the standard chips, I had those as well.

                The burger, made of a half-pound of fresh, hand patted Angus beef, was fresh and juicy and cooked just right. The bun did exactly what a bun is supposed to do and let the beef shine through. The mildness of the provolone was a perfect choice for this burger since there really shouldn’t have been anything in the way of the beef’s flavor.

                About two bites in Matt looked up at me and said, “This is a pretty good burger.” He was absolutely right. In fact, everything about the meal was pretty darn good. Our server, who was also working the bar, was friendly and didn’t rush us at all as it was obvious we were doing a lot of talking. The fries were crispy on the outside and as light as a cloud on the inside. The lettuce and pickle were crisp and tasty. And the price, due to the lunch special, was very affordable; which in a way was too bad because Matt paid.

                If you haven’t been to the Village Tavern in Montgomery for lunch in a while, I would recommend stopping in if you are anywhere near. The food is good, the atmosphere is good and the prices are very reasonable.