Normally I would give 5 stars. I love The Tav. It's a go-to place for me to get dinner on my own, typically weekly if I am in town. . The service is friendly and very good; I don't take these for granted. I get quick response from an eyelock from the guy behind the counter, who knows what I will be ordering. A homie. I can order with an eye lock. I like the food that I wouldn't make at home. Normally I would give 5 stars, but not tonight. The bar is a little awkward for a small person, but the staff know what to expect from a regular customer. So I sit at the small table in the window where I can order with an eye-lock and a raised eyebrow. The only thing that The Tav lacks is a place for a woman to hang her purse under the table or bar. This leaves me hanging my handbag off my knee. This is annoying, and completely unnecessary. I brought this to the attention of a courteous wait staff member previously. When I inquired again , I learned that the message had been relayed. Apparenly it has not motivated any plan of action. This is a problem I could solve in an hour, with the tools and hooks in my own house. read more

I was stopping by Ellensburg and came here for lunch because a burger and fries sounded great. The service was good and attentive. I ordered their jalapeño pepper burger, while my friends ordered some of the other burgers on the menu. We ordered two large fries and onion rings to share, and the portions were big. Definitely worth it. I'll be back next time I'm in the area read more

The Tav - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

This is decent bar food. Great drinks. Great atmosphere / character, you will see all types inside this place late on a Fri or Sat night and I say that in a good way. Great spot post football game, when in town I hit this place up every time. read more

Burgers and fries were very good. I stop by every time I am in Ellensburg. It is a busy spot but have never had to wait for a table.

I've always enjoyed stopping here when visiting my daughter at CWU, which is why this experience was so disappointing. We were in town for graduation weekend, and while I understand it's a busy time, the service we received on Friday night was unacceptable. The restaurant wasn't overly crowded, yet the female bartender who helped us was rude and dismissive throughout our visit. I've worked in customer service and understand that busy shifts can be stressful, but customers shouldn't be made to feel like they're an inconvenience. Do better.... read more

I have been a customer of the Tav since, well, a long time. It was operating in the 1970's when I was a college freshman. Great food, great atmosphere. I haven't been drinking there for years, but they have a nice outdoor patio in back, where you can take your dog, and a full menu of burgers and takeout. The folks who work there look pretty young these days, but they're very polite and efficient. read more

Best burgers... always make it a point to stop on the way when traveling east. Kids are fine waiting for us, as long as we bring out their burgers, fries and shakes! read more

Great staff. Always very professional and quite humorous. Awesome food and drinks but the prices are starting to get ridiculous especially for the drinks!!! It's much cheaper to find other places or just stay home. read more

The Tav gives you that CHEERS feeling, where you want to go where everyone knows your name Great service! Good burgers , and they also have one of the cleanest restrooms for a bar. read more

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Food: 8/10, very good! LOTS of fries. Honestly overall good food. Service: 10/10. The server was amazing. Super chill dude. Very fast and efficient. Price: 5/10. Pretty overpriced for the area and what you get. Good food but not worth the amount you'd have to pay. read more

The Tav - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

We go here a few times a year and normally I get a burger . This time I got the oriental salad and it was a glass bowl filled 90% with lettuce and a tiny bit of tomatoes, horrible chicken with pesto seasonings on it, red nouns and two croutons. The dressing just tasted of oil. I will stick with my burger . read more

First off, the service was great. It wasn't overly busy, but the server was quick to refill our drinks and incredibly nice. The burger was VERY good. Cooked to perfection and juicy. The Potato Salad was absolutely incredible. I would go back just for the Potato Salad. It is my new favorite spot when driving through Ellensburg. read more

The Tav - Hungry Mother Burger and Potato Salad - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

Solid bar with plenty of TVs and space. Friendly service. Great bar for the college people but also for the general community stopping through Ellensburg. Good bar food and would recommend anyone in the area to stop by. read more

Friends told us to try this place out and we weren't disappointed! Great service, attentive and friendly. Burgers were fantastic and the drinks were good too. Next time in town we will stop in. read more

There was a female bartender who was having problems with Spanish music and I even heard her say some remarks insinuating she hated it so she skipped everything I played on the juke box... sad... but food and service was great but the woman's with problems with Spanish language never served me.. she definitely ignored me and I had to wait for other servers to serve me... guess my money wasn't worth her time read more

I've eaten here twice. The first time was fine - service was efficient and friendly (I interacted with a brunette female server and male server/bartender in his 20s), and the food was decent. The second time was one of the most negative hospitality experiences I've had, if not the most. I was part of a group of CWU graduate students on a weekday at dinner time. We arrived at different times. Many of us ordered food or were preparing to do so when another grad student in our party arrived and had a disturbing encounter with the tall, blond, male bartender. The bartender was unprofessional when he checked our friend's ID. Our friend was joking around with the bartender, but the bartender took offense and completely overreacted. He swore at our friend and kicked him out. Our friend had been the only Black person in the bar. When another grad student in our group spoke to a different tender/server about this unprofessional and concerning behavior, and how the bartender's disparate reaction and decision appeared to our group, the offending bartender interrupted our friend's conversation to argue with her. He yelled at and acted aggressively and in an intimidating matter to our friend, who is female and about a foot shorter than him. I'm not saying that the bartender is racist, but his interaction with and decision to eject our BIPOC friend was inconsistent with how he acted with the other patrons, none of whom were Black, and disparate treatment is implied. Further, the bartender's hostile exchange with the female member of our group was inappropriate and unprofessional. I whole-heartedly do not recommend this business. I would hope that this particular bartender is an outlier in terms of his attitude and apparent stance, but I personally will never again visit The Tav. read more

Great bar, great service, friendly staff and good food. Stopped by here twice on a recent trip for beers and bar food. Nice selection on draft and the food is bar food, fried-y, but good enough. I give it 5 stars for the experience. If all you want is food, it's probably 3.5 to 4.0. read more

I was passing through Ellensburg, Washington, late at night on 5/18/23. I needed to get a bite to eat, but didn't take into account how early things close up, even though it is a college town. Fortunately, The Tav was still serving food. Located in the historic downtown, The Tav has been around for 55+ years. It is a favorite watering hole/hang out for locals and college students, that also has a good sized menu. The wooden booths and the bricks in the wall are hand-carved with the names of employees and patrons. There is a small stage in front of the kitchen window and two pool tables in the back of the room. I ordered The Barney Burger ($8.69) - a quarter pounder with all the fixins, and a side of French Fries ($4.49) with fry sauce. I added a slice of cheese to my burger. It's not common to see places this casual list burgers on the menu à la carte, or charge prices this high, but that's Ellensburg for you. Everything seems to cost more here. The cook forgot to toast in my hamburger bun, which would have been a problem if I've been eating anything bigger than a 1/4 lb. patty. Aside from that, it was a solid burger. The french fries were good and plentiful. I liked the made from scratch fry sauce. Next time, I would order the Super Mother burger which has cheese, and either ham or bacon. I would've gotten this time, but in the rush of trying to get my order in before the kitchen closed, and the darkness of the room, I misread the menu and thought it said that it had ham AND bacon. Priced at $9.49, it's a much better value than the Barney Burger. The service was excellent! My server Ellie was busy trying to keep up with the needs of everyone in the room, and she did a great job, all while keeping a smile on her face. My food came out quickly. There was a nice overall feeling of camaraderie. Even though I didn't know a single person in the room, and was the only solo diner, The Tav a very welcoming environment. Normally, my ratings are based solely on the food, and given that I've worked in kitchens and have eaten at a lot of restaurants, 3 stars is a good rating for me. But I was so impressed with the service and welcoming environment at The Tav that I'm going to make an exception and add an additional 1 star to my review based on those factors alone. Highly Recommended!!! read more

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Service was poor. Waitresses were doing you a favor by taking your order. Water was out of a cooler. Just not a great experience. Hamburgers tasted like a Costco frozen patty. read more

My favorite part about the Tav is that they are consistent. They've served the same delicious burgers for as long as I can remember- at least since 2005! We always make it a point to swing in here when I'm town to get our pub food fix and reminisce about our college days. Be aware - It's a dark and kinda divy bar - just my type of place. If you're not into that thing this place might not be for you - but we LOVE it. My favorite is the Fowl Mother - with American Cheese added, of course. Thanks for being one thing we can always count on to not change, Tav! read more

The Tav - Fowl Mother w/American Cheese. Yummmmm!!! - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

Impressive service for a tavern: the kids there really seem to care about their customers. I like that, because that means the owners care about their staff. (Sometimes trickle down works!) When we walked in the menu board said country fried steak (and that sounded so yum!) but alas, they were out. Maybe next time? read more

The Tav - Ice cold! - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

The service and food was spectacular!!! We will be back. Broiled chicken sandwiches (Texan and Hawaiian) but the other food coming out looked amazing also.... The onion rings look like a next time must have!!! read more

The Tav - What a gem, the outside patio is adorable! - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

*Disclaimer: my husband, a CWU alum, will not be reading this review* Hubby had his glory days here while a student. He raved and raved about the atmosphere and food, so when we drove through Ellensburg, we had to visit! My thoughts? Eh. Service, food - pretty bland if you ask me - atmosphere. One big eh. Chicken burger was thin, fries were blah, sauces were non, all down the line. Like the Springsteen song, the "Glory Days" may very well be over for The Tav. read more

This was our 2n time here. A strong dent from CWU referred us! Bailey was a genuine server and o read more

Piper was amazing, she was friendly and fast! And the best employee I have had serve at the tav in years! Keep up the good work girl! Definitely will be back! read more

We have not been to The Tav since our daughter graduated from Central Washington University. We live on the wrong side of the state. With so many places not open, or have changed their hours without updating their sites as we found out on Wednesday (Northern Ales, Kettle Falls) we found a cell signal and called. We were happy to find The Tav opened at 11:00 AM. We timed our trip to be there at 11:00. We were the first through the door. We were pleasantly greeted and were told to sit anywhere. Half of the booths were "roped off." Tables were appropriately spaced, and the staff all wore face coverings. They were constantly cleaning while we were there. On to the food. The special was called the "Angry Hawaiian" or something similar. The description sounded good, so we both ordered it. We also ordered the Texas Toothpicks (battered and deep fried jalapeño straws and onion rings) along with the Fried Mac & Cheese Wedges. The only thing I would give a 3 or 4 to was the Mac & Cheese. The burger was great. It came with one side. We chose fries, a good sized portion! The Texas Toothpicks? We should have gotten two orders. My wife kept grabbing them, and they were my pick. The service was great! Three staff members visited our table frequently, even as the place filled up. Does the fact that we left about a 50% tip tell you how great the service was. Attached is a copy of their single use menu. They are not at the table, you have to ask. There is a scannable QR Code taped to the wall so you can get the menu that way. My cell phone decided to "hiccup" and the scanner did not work. Once again The Tav DID NOT disappoint! read more

The Tav - The Menu (continued) - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

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My bestie and I stopped into the Tav for lunch while travelling to Spokane. Free street parking can be found. Credit cards are accepted. The Tav is 21+ only. Happy Hour is offered Monday-Friday from 3pm-5:30pm. The Tav offers a full bar with a nice selection of micro brews. There are a couple of pool tables and TVs for entertainment. Indoor decor is natural: basic brick and wood. Unassuming yet effective. Comfortable and laid back. Loved it. My bestie and I each started out with a pounder of Lucille IPA for $4.75 while we browsed the menu. Burgers are served à la carte so we started with the Texas Toothpicks for $7.99: deep fried onion and jalapeno strips. The strips were crisp with good flavor and heat. We shared the Jalapeno Pepper Jack Chicken Burger for $7:99: char-broiled chicken breast, jalapeno peppers, pepper Jack cheese, tomato and lettuce. The chicken was the perfect thickness and juicy. The kitchen was kind enough to split our burger in the back for us. We both devoured our meal. Our server was friendly and competent. Overall, I will definitely be stopping into The Tav the next time I'm travelling through Ellensburg. read more

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As a first timer to Ellensburg It makes me really sad not to give this establishment 5 stars. The afternoon lunch staff were incredibly friendly. I had the best burger ever, the pricing was incredibly reasonable and the employees were so attentive! We came back with a bigger party as we had such a great time around 8-30 perhaps 9 pm and were lucky enough to be outside. Sadly, the service was terrible, they were unprofessional and rude. I really hope they remember threatening my husband with the police because he was trying to pay them. It was the most bizarre restaurant experience in my 52 years of life. read more

This place is such a fun spot in the cutest town! The service is so incredibly friendly. The drinks are absolutely delicious. & the food- YUM. What a total steal for the price of everything. You'd be crazy to not give this place a try! read more

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Showed up at lunch on a Saturday while the car charged. Just needed a burger and a beer. These guys delivered. Food was fast and good. Beer was cold. Best of all, it was well staffed and the team seemed happy to be here. At a time where restaurants "just can't get people to work," it's fun to see healthy restaurants with good culture fully staffed and working just fine. read more

We had an interesting experience at The Tav this past weekend. To preface everything, we did come in on a Saturday night with a 10 top, and it looked like they were a bit understaffed. We sat for about 10 minutes before being helped or greeted by anyone other than the doorman. Eventually, after going up to the bar and asking them to help us out a waitress took drink orders, and the team eventually bussed the previous customer's trash from our table. Our whole group of 10 has either previously worked or is currently working in the food industry, so we completely understand something like this happening especially on a weekend when things are so hectic, but what followed was completely unacceptable and made our group uncomfortable. After receiving our food order, it seemed like one of the line cooks took offense to it, and began to hard stare our table while yelling profanities about us, "Those f*cking m*therf*uckers" he said as he made direct eye contact with us. Again, working in the food industry we completely understand the frustration, but we think saying things about customers directly in their line of sight and staring the way this gentleman was is completely unprofessional. He could've at least turned the corner and vented elsewhere. Anyways, bar food was fine for what it was. I recommend the wings. The burgers, nachos, and fries were sub par. Everything came out pretty quickly. Drinks were fine. Atmosphere was fine. Doorman was nice. waitress was understanding and tried to help as best she could. read more

The Tav - a brick wall with writing on it - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

Always great food and good cold beer. Hungry mother is a burger you cannot go wrong with.

The place was packed with customers, but they got my carry out ready on time. The food was very tasty.

I lived in Ellensburg for 9 years and it used to be that the Tav had food that was a definite cut above normal bar food. It also was one of the few places in town that didn't cater primarily to college students. All in a fun, dive-y environment with a nice outdoor patio too. My last time there (pre-Covid), I went in solo and sat at the bar for a drink and a bite. I was the only person sitting at the bar; it was about 5 PM and if was dead sober. I'm a respectable looking guy (college prof in fact) and I could not get the female bartender to give me the time of day-- no "hello", no menu, nothing. She stayed behind the bar, washing glasses and otherwise tidying up for a good 5-10 minutes. Not serving other customers. I got irritated and said something along the lines of "what's it take to get a little service around here?" and left. Apparently I closed the front door too hard, because the manager (I guess it was) came running out into the street to get in my face about "slamming" the door. I explained the situation and he was completely unapologetic and made excuses like the bartender must have been busy, etc. He was very aggressive toward me and acted like I was some drunk troublemaker who was completely in the wrong. I never went back. Your mileage may vary. read more

WORST EXPERIENCE IN AN EATERY! They fake lower burger prices than other places in town by charging extra for fries or a salad, which in all other places is always included. Unsuspecting of the add on cost I ordered a salad which came as a very simple cheap iceberg lettuce salad - $6! Cost of burger jacks up to about what it is elsewhere, but others' burgers are larger.... I start to pay the server who is behind the bar, and - wanting to give her some customer feedback - tell her that that was to much for a cheap salad, so I wouldn't do that again, and suddenly some little blonde girl butts in and snears, "We didn't set the prices". I explain I'm trying to give customer feedback, and she RUDELY just turns her back on me as I'm talking - really unbelievable treatment of a paying customer. I point this out and, like a shrill little yapping dog, barks that I can't talk to her that way, like one of those uppity, entitled spoiled liberal brats, then barks at the doorman about my being'abusive'. He saunters over so I can tell him the whole thing. He was calm, not miffed, and when I showed him the NO TIP on the CC slip, made the point of how stupid - and costly - it was to treat a customer the way this little snarling wench treated me. read more

I ordered the Supermother but it wasn't the same as I remembered from the mid nineties. I remember it being greasier and meatier. In fact it seemed like a frozen patty you might buy at the grocery store. Unremarkable. Fries were the same. Service was efficient and definitely not obsequious. Stick to beer and pool, order food if you are hungry, you gotta eat, right? read more

The Tav - Supermother burger with fries - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

Perfect college town pub and eatery. Atmosphere and service are amazing. The food is worth a revisit (every Friday). Plenty of screens if that's what you want. Memories are literally carved in the walls! A must visit in Ellensburg. read more

If your passing thru or staying for a day or two in Ellensburg, Wa , The Tav is one spot everyone should try! While a lot of other places cannot fill spots were people want to work The Tav looks like it has a healthy and vibrant staff who is welcoming and ready to serve. The burgers never disappoint, along with the clams & fries. Atmosphere is always lively & fun, and with plenty of seating inside & out. read more

Was refused service by the bartender for showing up with her ex. we were simply coming in for a drink and some food before a night out, its a small town. People date exes. Lacks professionalism, very disappointing. read more

Twice a year this place is guaranteed to get my business. (It would be more often if I lived closer) Every hunting season we pass through Ellensburg and stop here for a bite to eat. This a great little college bar to get some delicious food and drinks. Plenty of tv's for games, pool tables, and a jukebox when the games aren't on. The staff is always pleasant. This last time out I had the bacon Bleu mother, but highly recommend trying the hungry mother. Can't wait to come back again. Hope this helps in your decision to come here. read more

The Tav - American Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington