Cuisine:

• Coffee Houses
• American

Tarrants Cafe Description:
"Established 1873" states the menu, but Tarrant's has only a short history as a restaurant. That year refers to its origins as a drugstore, a role it held until 1987 when the building became vacant for nearly two decades. Owner Ted Santarella took it over, helping to pump life into a derelict downtown with this upscale, pub-like charmer. He kept the name, emblazoned in stained-glass over the door, claiming it was cheaper than buying a new sign. The legacy also suits Santarella's fare, nothing new-fangled or hip; more a cross-breed of his personal favorites---if they could be prepared in an eye-drop-size kitchen. An expansion nearly doubled Tarrant's in size (enlarging the kitchen and giving rise to Tarrantino's Pizza Parlor), and the menu spans chili dogs to lump crab cakes and everything, including reasonably priced sandwiches such as a Reuben, is available at lunch and dinner. Entrées, generous with vegetables, include soup or salad, one night a grandmotherly rendition of sausage and cabbage. A sidewalk chalkboard announces specials such as triple nut encrusted mahi mahi, grilled sea scallops over risotto and chicken potpie, to name just a few.


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