To Dine or Not To Dine: Tarrant's Cafe

Tarrant's Cafe is relatively off the beaten path for those who frequent the culinary mecca that is Cary Street and the Fan. However, well worth the trip down West Broad, Tarrant's offers upscale pub food in a warm and inviting environment. Tarrant's Cafe ended up being the perfect choice for a pre-movie dinner as its location is a few minutes from the Bowtie Cinema, and its extensive and varied menu also had plenty of options for my party, which included one gluten-free eater, one with a shellfish allergy and a vegetarian.

As you enter Tarrant's, you walk through a narrow foyer with a long, full-service bar on your right, exposed brick walls to your left and a wood plank ceiling above you. The entire cafe is modeled after a nineteenth century pharmacy with antique signs reading "Prescriptions" above the bar and "Soda, Drugs, Tobacco" by the windows. If you keep walking, you'll enter the first dining room with booths lining each wall of the narrow space.

The second dining area mirrors the first while doubling the size of the restaurant as a whole, with a small corridor connecting the two dining rooms. The lights were dim for dinner, which contributed to the relaxing atmosphere while still allowing my friends and me to enjoy a comfortable and upbeat dining experience.

Our table was tended to within reasonable time constraints and the fragrant garlic knots they presented us with were a welcome change from the standard dinner rolls.

The menu offers an impressive array of appetizers all less than $12 dollars including fried oysters, barbecue baby back ribs, a delicious seared ahi tuna and a hearty triple bruschetta that satisfies the palate with three different combinations. The salads are a healthy serving as well with a Greek salad, a pear and goat cheese salad, a cobb, a Caesar and other options which all can be topped with chicken, salmon, calamari, tuna, oysters, crab cakes or beef tenderloin.

The next largest portion on the Tarrant's menu consists of 33 different sandwiches, subs and wraps. They of course, offer the traditional pub fare such as burgers, reubens, monte cristos and BLTs, but also have several more unique options like the grilled mahi-mahi sandwich served on a Kaiser roll, or the vegetarian grilled cheese with zucchini, cucumber, squash, tomato and a blend of cheeses. I enjoyed the Tuscan chicken wrap with herbed chicken, grilled Portobello mushrooms and onions, lettuce, tomato and tangy balsamic vinaigrette.

All entrees are under $27 dollars and served with soup or salad. She crab soup is a Tarrant's Cafe staple but there is a daily soup du jour as well. Seafood cannelloni, oven roasted wild Norwegian salmon, penne a la vodka, and a surf and turf dish make the entree selection just as varied and delicious as the rest of the menu. And as if you didn't already have enough options to choose from, consider the extensive list of pizzas and calzones with a plethora of gourmet toppings and fillings.

Top off your meal with one of the traditional yet decadent desserts like the hot fudge brownie sundae, bread pudding with whiskey sauce or a slice of New York style cheesecake. Or if you prefer to finish your meal with a drink or a cocktail, Tarrant's Cafe's extensive wine list and cocktail menu are sure to have something to satisfy you.

Tarrant's may feel out of the way for some, but the casual yet intimate dining experience provides something that anyone can enjoy, and the all-inclusive menu is sure to offer something for everyone.