Midtown tavern review
Well last night the chicken wasn’t defrosted yet, and to be honest I didn’t feel like cooking. So the wife and I decided that we would walk to Midtown Tavern for dinner. Checking out the menu we had from April, we saw that Tuesday was 1/2 price pizza night, and happy hour there is .25 wings from 5 - 7, they also have $2 pints from 5 - 7. Since we are from Buffalo we don’t have high hopes for wings outside of Buffalo, we have found good wings in Harrisburg for example Zembies (review to follow). But trying something new is usually a hit or miss proposition. In Buffalo when you want pizza and wings you go to one place and get everything, this isn’t possible in Harrisburg, or at least possible to find both things that we really like. That has all changed with Midtown Tavern, we have been there before to play pool and Mrs. PacMan but never to eat.
We ordered a small pizza ($3.00) with pepperoni ($1.50) and 20 wings ($5) and had six miller lites ($12). We ordered the wings mild, although we prefer medium most places here only have mild or hot, and depending where you are hot is too hot. Midtown offers the wings in Mild, Hot and Suicide, as well as a few other ways that escape me right now, but probably BBQ, garlic etc. We should have gone with the hot this time, but we will next time. The wings had a great flavor, but very little kick, we could tell they were made the Buffalo way by simply looking at the plate the were served on. One half of the plate looked like pure hot sauce, the other looked like pure butter. We requested and received them cooked extra crispy, which we have learned is a requirement of wing ordering in Harrisburg.
The pizza was the best we have had since leaving Buffalo, it wasn’t overly saucy and it seemed like the actually put some seasoning into making the pizza. Something that rarely happens here and when it does it is overdone to a point where that is all you can taste. The crust had the perfect combination of a crisp outer level, with a doughy middle.
The waitress that we had was very nice and attentive. Wifey requested a water with her beer and although she didn’t receive it until the food arrived, which was the goal anyway, the waitress was very apologetic that she forgot it. When a beer was getting close to being done, she checked to see if you would like another one. This was great especially considering that it got pretty busy in the restaurant.
Both bathrooms received high grades. One thing I would prefer in the mens room however is that the door swings in a manner that when opened customers in the restaurant can see into the mens room, not a great idea. Also both Kathy and I notices that they do not have paper towels but the hand dryer things. I know they are supposed to be cleaner and better for the environment, but what about actually drying my hands, isn’t that the goal?
The building itself is very nice from the outside with a ramp to the door for handicap access. It is laid out well with lots of seating, two pool tables in the back, and a juke box. The music playing wasn’t too loud, you could talk to each other without hearing everything going on around you which is nice. The first seat we chose had a leak coming from a vent above the table, so we had to move, and I am sure that the vent will be fixed soon. The chairs were very uncomfortable for both the wife and I, for me, I felt like I was sitting in a kits chair (I am 6’ 4†though), she didn’t think there was enough padding and that the backs were too low, both of which I agree with.
All and all this restaurant receives 4 ½ stars from me, with only points taken off for over all comfort, the food, service and atmosphere were about as perfect as you can get. To top it all off it is about a ten minute walk from our house.