by Steven Doyle
Mad Tavern opened a few short weeks ago in the former Sam’s Burger House location at 18101 Preston Road, the same shopping center where Cadot and Chaat Café are located. The new gastro-pub is operated by Sanjeeva Balachandra and Chance Harper formerly of Sherlock’s.
The pub has hit and miss items on the menu such as Gougers which are fried Gruyere cheese puffs (miss) and fish and chips made with Murphy’s Stout (hit). The menu also sports a shepherd’s pie and scotch eggs which were admirable. Mad Tavern makes much of their fare in house including a quite tasty corned beef for their Reuben. The fries are hand cut and are some of the best around.
In addition to the heavy food menu, the new pub also features over 30 beers on tap and 100 plus bottles. The bottles had more imagination than the draft beers, and over all this is a fresh oasis in this section of North Dallas.
You will also find a short brunch menu that simply features two eggs and an assortment of sides such as bacon, waffles and pancakes. Not terribly inspiring, but only 6.50.
The feel of the new pub was vibrant last evening when we checked out the space. It was hopping for happy hour which offers a buck off all drinks including beer, and half price on most appetizers until 8pm each day. Sunday is happy hour all day.
There is a large space devoted to darts, and the pub is equipped with plenty of televisions which feature ongoing soccer programming for a more authentic feel. Mad Tavern features live music on the weekends with local bands, plus karaoke on Wednesdays. A plus for not going excessive on the Alice theme.
Personally , I liked the Gougers.
You might want to mention the extensive whiskey selection for reasonable prices and their “select whiskey’s for $2.50 Wednesdays”.
I agree with your overall assessment that it’s a good addition to the scene, especially further north.
select whiskey’s for $2.50 Wednesdays”.
That got my eye also!
It’s a great offer and their usual whiskey prices are pretty reasonable, too.
being English and a scotch egg lover, they are good! They’ve had some misses on the draft beers (out of this, out of that) but overall the pub has a good feel, friendly and we love to have such a venue on North Dallas. We’ve been in 4/5 times and we’ll go back. The beer stocks will get sorted, I’m sure.