Two Fools Tavern

This afternoon, Mandy and I went to Two Fools Tavern down by the university for lunch. I'm afraid I don't have pictures, so you'll have to put up with one I nicked from their facebook page. I really enjoyed it, and would like to go back. Recommended.

Parking isn't great, but it's just up Central from UNM, so that was expected. The place is kind of hard to find; we drove past it twice. If you're willing to walk a bit, there are some places a block north that are free parking alongside the street.

The atmosphere in Two Fools is excellent, especially compared to a lot of our modern "get your food and get out of our way" type restaurants. It feels like the sort of place you could go with a few friends or a good book and still be there three hours later. The furnishings are heavily stained wood, leather and stone. Various Irish folk music plays in the background. The fire was, unfortunately, gas instead of wood. I guess you can't have everything; it still added a lot to the ambience.

The staff was very friendly and attentive, but keep in mind we were likely the first customers they had this morning. I think it gets a lot busier in the evenings and on weekends, and I bet the place is mobbed for St. Patty's.

Menu wasn't huge, but it was diverse enough to be interesting. They carry the usual Irish classics; fish and chips, bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, and ploughman's lunch. In addition, they carry a pretty good spread of sandwiches. I was briefly tempted to investigate the waitress' claim that they had the best fish and chips in the city, but I'm not much for fried fish.

I ended up ordering the Paddy O' Malley Melt, which is essentially a reuben with a burger patty standing in for the usual corned beef. Mandy went with a standard reuben sandwich, which turned out to be a very respectable specimen, but nothing too far out of the ordinary for anyone who's had a reuben before.

The Paddy Melt was excellent. The burger was juicy and tasted very fresh, not too greasy, and cooked just how I like it. Their man on the grill seems to understand that "medium rare" is not brown all the way through, which seems to be increasingly uncommon knowledge. The grilled onions, cheese and thousand island work well, and I didn't feel it needed any garnish or additional sauce. The Irish-style chips I ordered with it were good, enough salt without being overpowering. Perhaps a tad dry; I tend to like kettle chips a bit more moist.

One odd thing stood out; the strength of the red onions served with both our sandwiches. I tend to much on raw onions when I get the chance, but these were overpowering. They tasted good chased by a bite of my sandwich, but without anything else they were very strong. I imagine this varies week to week, but make sure you try your onions before piling them all on your sandwich.

As far as drinks go, I ordered a Coke, (yeah, yeah, I'm boring; deal with it) and Mandy got a root beer, which was a bottle from some smallish brewery or other rather than the usual IBC. Nice to see, but I don't recall the name of the brewery. The iced water drew a resounding "meh," tasted very much like tap water, but I'm spoiled having RO water available at home.

I can't speak to the quality or lack thereof of their brews, because I don't drink at all when I'm driving. They looked to have a respectable collection of beer and liquor. Go find out for yourself if you're so inclined.

To wrap up, I'm still mentally savoring that sandwich six hours later. The atmosphere is great, the people are friendly. Mandy and I made it in and out for about $25 plus tip. Two Fools is a great place to stop and have a bite.

Until next time.