Tavern in the Square (Dedham)
985 Providence HighwayDedham, MA 02026It is a long drive from Kalamazoo to Boston.
I met a co-worker in Lansing around 7 AM and we drove twelve hours, through Canada and New York until we finally reached our hotel in Dedham, Massachusetts right around 7:30 PM.
We had stopped for lunch before 11:00 AM at Harvey’s in Brantford, Ontario but that was our only meal stop of the day. The plan was to eat once we got to our hotel.
We were meeting some colleagues from Virginia and California for this corporate work assignment. They were already there when we got there as all of them flew. We were the only ones that had the long drive to make.
Our colleagues from Virginia had already eaten by the time we got there but suggested we all go out for drinks and those of us who hadn’t eaten could grab something then.
It worked out really well that there was a restaurant on the other side of the parking lot from our hotel.
We walked over to Tavern in the Green on Providence Highway and Ariadne Street in Dedham, MA outside of Boston. This location is one of 19 locations in New England. The chain got it’s start in 2004 in Cambridge’s Central Square. This location has been here only a couple a of years. Before that, the location was a place called Joe’s American Bar & Grill.
We walked in with a group of five right before 8:00 PM. There’s a large bar that takes up a good portion of the front of the building. There are large floor to ceiling windows that let in a lot of natural light during the day. There are also a number of TV’s mounted behind the bar if you want to watch Boston sports for some reason 🙂 There wasn’t five seats together at the bar and that wasn’t really conducive to what we needed to do anyway so we asked for a table.
There’s a pretty large dining room off to the left of the bar and that’s where we were shown to a booth. Again, nice big floor to ceiling windows that even at this time of night let in a lot of natural light. There were a few TV’s on the walls in this area as well but this has much more of a dining room feel than a sports pub.
We all started with beers. I, of course, went for the craft beer while everyone else pretty much stuck to domestic bottles. The first one I ordered was the Endless Vagabond from Lord Hobo Brewing Company in Woborn, MA. I had never heard of this beer or this brewery but I wanted a juicy IPA and this fulfilled that desire.
The two of our colleagues that had already ate didn’t order food but they still wanted something to snack on. They decided to order some guacamole for the table. The appetizer came with a fresh made guac and house made tortilla chips. I’m not a guac fan but I did grab a couple of the chips and they were really tasty. Everyone else at the table raved about the guac though so it must have been just as tasty as the chips.
My choice for dinner was the Blackened Bacon and Blue Burger. This sandwich is a burger that’s seasoned with a cajun spice mix and topped with bacon, lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions, and bleu cheese. I asked to leave the onions off like I typically do but the kitchen did not do that. There were A LOT of caramelized onions on the sandwich that I had to take off and the unfortunate thing with that is that it took off a lot of the bleu cheese. It was still a really solid and really tasty burger but I would have liked way more of the bleu cheese flavor and way, way less of the onions.
I chose the Parm Fries for my side and these were really delicious. These fresh cut fries were covered in a Parmesan dusting. Definitely worth the two dollar upgrade.
After I ordered my first beer, I noticed one of the beer list that I should have ordered. I figured I was walking back to the hotel so I could get another.
I ordered Lunch from Maine Beer Company. It’s like I totally forgot I was in New England and had access to some beers I can’t get in Michigan. The only time I’ve ever had this beer before was at the Bell’s Funvitational 10 years ago. It was one of those beers I had heard so much about but never had access to. Since I did, I had to take advantage of that. It was just as good as I remembered.
The price for my meal would have been pretty close to $35 but one of the other guys at the table picked up the check. It was going to be expensed anyway but usually we do our own expense reports. It was a really nice gesture of this guy I literally just met to take care of the bill for everyone.
Tavern in the Square was on my radar as soon as I learned where my hotel was. This was a great place to unwind after a really long car ride and get ready for a long couple of days of works. There’s a great beer list..especially for an out of towner like me and the food was really good….even if there were onions on it.
SW Michigan Dining 
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