Former bread factory now home to City Tavern
City Tavern is the latest stop on the growing North 4th Street commercial corridor. Although the Italian District thoroughfare has no shortage of food-and-beverage options, City Tavern differs from its competitors, owners Scott and Lindie Schweitzer say.
For starters, there is sports programming on several large-screen TVs, something that has been eschewed by some locales in the area.
Second, it’s a casual bar designed to take all comers — classically designed, with 14 taps, most of them for craft beers, plus several hard-to-find brands of bourbon and scotch.
“With the general excitement of the corridor and the development going on, it just seemed to fit,” Scott Schweitzer said.
He said the menu is far from fancy, but it’s largely built from scratch, and the portions are made to satisfy.
The Reuben uses house-prepared, slow-cooked corned beef topped with traditional garnishes and served with house-cut fries, coleslaw or a side salad.
City Tavern’s pork comes from the Licking County hog farm of James Anderson, who also owns the Ray Ray’s Hog Pit food truck. City Tavern makes a pulled-pork
sandwich crowned with onion straws and a fried egg.
The tavern is at 697 N. 4th St. in the former Wonder Bread building just northeast of Downtown and north of Interstate 670. It takes over the space formerly occupied by Cray Eatery & Drinkery and Factory on 4th. It is part of a mixed-use complex that also houses Wonder Bread Lofts.
Scott Schweitzer said he and his wife, plus business partner Chris Huda, did a small remodel with a few fresh touches. (The three also own Park Street Tavern in the Short North and Ledo’s Tavern in the University District.)
The 2,700-square-foot City Tavern features exposed brick, lots of fresh wood and large windows giving a direct view to Downtown from the south side of the interior.
“This has a very different feel in here,” he said.
City Tavern, which has a large parking lot on the south side of the building, pays homage to the former bakery by using the bread in a few dishes. One is the Wonder Bread grilled cheese, a nofrills triple-decker sandwich with American cheese and the choice of bacon and tomato for an extra $2.
The iconic white bread is a component in the grilled PB&J dessert — peanut butter and strawberry jam on grilled bread, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and peanut-butter drizzle.
Lindie Schweitzer said she worked with chef Jeff Harkleroad, formerly of the Muirfield Village Golf Club, to create the menu, which tops out at $13. One of her creations is creamy, cheesy mushroom dip with ground pork and fresh jalapenos for a kick.
The quinoa and kale salad, with several crunchy elements, is dressed in a lemon vinaigrette. It can be made vegan by withholding the Parmesan cheese.
A brunch menu is offered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Kitchen hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 614-826-2348.
Mini ale festival
The 14th annual Mini Real Ale Festival is from noon to 3 p.m. May 13 at Smokehouse Brewing Co., 1130 Dublin Road.
It will feature craft beer from a veritable who’s who of local breweries: Actual Brewing, Barley’s Brewing, Commonhouse Ales, Four String Brewing, Land-Grant Brewing, North High Brewing, Seventh Son Brewing, Weasel Boy Brewing, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing and, of course, Smokehouse.
The beer festival exclusively features caskconditioned, or “real,” ale, which is unfiltered and unpasteurized beer served directly from the cask in which it is aged, without the addition of carbon dioxide.
Another highlight of the event: a whole smoked hog, from which pulled-pork sliders will be made and offered for sale.
Tickets to the event, which includes 12 tastings, a souvenir pint glass and a souvenir program, are $25 at the door or $27 online at smokehousebrewing.com.
For the obit file
Closed: Whole World, 3269 N. High St., Clintonville, after 39 years in business.