Augie's Tavern

Sometimes we go looking for a place and sometimes the place just seems to find us. We were off on a fool's errand when the stereo grumbling of our stomachs made us realize that it was half past hamburger time. As fate would have it we were wandering through Reading and a misguided turn down a residential street led us to 201 Walnut St. led us to Augie's Tavern.

Augie's is the picture of a neighborhood place. Nestled actually in a neighborhood. This is the kind of place that is filled with regulars all the time. And from the looks of the place and their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Augies-Tavern/115427431812392), this group of regulars seem to do as much away from the place as they do inside and on the patio. Well, maybe not as much but there does seem to be a lot of events and activities sponsored and organized by Augie's in which people can get involved.

Being wandering tourists that day we seemed to stick out like that proverbial sore hitching digit and yet we were greeted by friendly folks all around; and not just those who were on the tavern's payroll, either.  A couple of the regulars went out of their way to say hi and ask what brought us in. We figured if they were that friendly to a couple of "foreigners" then this place was already elevated in our book.

That is all well and good but we hadn't stopped in for some friendly chat (though that never hurts) or to see who won this year's golf outing (it wasn't either of us). We were there for burgers. And so we ordered up a pair as we sipped a nice cool drink of the soft variety.

As friendly as the service its speed, at least with our food, wasn't about to break any sound barrier. Don't misunderstand, it wasn't slow. In fact it took just the right amount of time. You see, they cooked up our burgers fresh and brought them out to us just about the time we were hearing what happened on the seventh tee during the recent golf outing.

The burgers were everything you look for in that form of hand held cuisine. The meat was fresh and cooked just the way we like it. The bun was sturdy and did its job. The cheese and other goodies were there to compliment rather than get in the way. Was this one of the best burgers we'd ever eaten, not quite. But it was good enough (and the rating probably elevated by the tremendously friendly atmosphere) to perhaps drag us off the beaten path again in the future to have another go at Augie's. And who knows, maybe we'll bring our golf clubs.