Tyler’s Taproom

Another night of all-American grill & bar food – we decided to venture to Tyler’s Taproom, which was listed under Indy’s Best of the Triangle 2009 as, essentially, the best bar. Wednesdays are their pint night in Durham, which means that if you buy their featured drink, you keep the glass.

Tonight’s featured draft was the Big Boss Bad Penny (a local brewery in Raleigh), which Sid ordered. It arrived in the drink’s logo glass, which was pretty cool.

This place’s drinks menu is seriously about 10 pages long, and mostly beer – domestic, Belgian, Canadian, British… so if you’re looking for drafts that you’ve never heard of, this is the place for you.

Anyhow, onto the food. We ordered one of Tyler’s specials, the Pulled Pork Sandwich, and an Ultimate Pork Sandwich. The pulled pork was a bit on the dry side, although the flavor was rich but not overwhelmingly sour. (The kaiser roll didn’t help with the dryness of the meat; in the end, eating the meat without the bun actually made it much better.)

The Ultimate Pork Sandwich, on the other hand, was very tender, and fried pickles were a great complement to the juicy, crispy meat. Also, the kaiser roll was toasted, so it didn’t seem as dry as the pulled pork sandwich. As you can probably tell, this one was the winner of the meal.

Their sides were house-made chips and garlic fries – we tried one of each. Both were delicious, but if you must make a choice, I would go for the fries. The garlic adds a pretty unique taste.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable meal – good food, fun atmosphere. It’s definitely a great restaurant if you’re catching dinner before a Durham Bulls game. (If you do go on a game night, though, be sure you get there early because they can get pretty full.)

Price Range: $10-20

– A great restaurant for a fun dinner out or late-night drinks. Worth checking it out!