When’s the last time you dined at a historical landmark?
The South End Tavern has been a fixture in Troy since the 1930s. Originally just a bar, the first owner wanted to be able to cater to female patrons (who, at the time, did not go to bars). He bought the building next door and opened a restaurant, complete with a sign proclaiming the door a “Ladies Entrance.”
Later on, the equal rights movement resulted in demands to remove the sign as sexist, even though the bar had been opened to women years earlier. Eventually the Troy City Council had to step in, preserving the sign by declaring it a historical landmark.
You walk in the ladies’ entrance, and it definitely feels like a tavern. Everything is made of wood, and well-worn. There’s no greeter—you just grab a seat wherever you feel like. The occasional snippet of cheerful, off-key singing can be heard at the bar in the next room.
On a Saturday evening at seven o’clock, the place was packed. We grabbed one of the two open tables and waited for someone to bring us menus. This took a while, but since we were discussing Robert Jordan, it wasn’t really a problem.
The menu is pretty much straight-up diner fare, with a few “comfort food” items for good measure: things like turkey and stuffing or roast beef. Prices are excellent—you won’t pay more than $10 for anything unless you order a steak, and most of the menu is in the $4-6 range.
Our server eventually brought a basket of bread and butter over and took our order—we all went with sandwiches. My wife and I were boring and got our standard choices: a tuna melt for her and a reuben for me. Our friend opted for something more interesting: a “pilgrim” sandwich, consisting of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce on a kaiser roll.
It also took some time for our food to arrive; happily, it was worth the wait. The reuben was one of the best I’ve had in this area, with the corned beef, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing balanced just right. My wife had similar comments about the proportions of her tuna melt, although she also said that she “could make several points of constructive criticism.” Our common complaint was that the bread on our sandwiches was a bit too toasty.
The pilgrim sandwich didn’t even have that problem—our friend reported that it was quite tasty. The only big miss was the french fries, which were too droopy, although at least not too terribly greasy.
We waited yet again for our server to drop off our check. This time he almost seemed to be deliberately ignoring us—possible because we were the only people under 40 in the place. Now, the restaurant was very busy, so I’m willing to mark it down as a possible fluke. If you pay them a visit—and you should—drop me a line at restaurants@poly.rpi.edu and let me know what kind of service you get.
The South End Tavern is located on Route 4 just north of the Menands Bridge. To get there, go south from campus to Congress St. and hang a right to head downtown. Make a left onto Third St., which is also Route 4. Keep going straight for about a mile and a half—the road will change from one-way to two-way. Bear left when you get to the Mr. Subb to stay on Route 4, and the South End Tavern will be a short distance ahead on the right. Look for the “Ladies Entrance” sign.
