Blackie’s Bulldog Tavern is located 181 George Washington
Highway in Smithfield Rhode Island. As
you enter the ample parking area you will immediately notice the impressive outside
patio area on the left side of the tavern.
Once inside, the lunch scene was bustling with customers ranging from
families with children, to business people, to tables of friends like us. Blackie’s also has a private dining room
located upstairs that is available for booking your party of up to 49 people.
As we were brought to our table in the separate dining area
we passed several fun to read signs with entertaining quotes placed at
strategic locations in the tavern as well as the bar that is home to a
wonderful selection of local and national craft beers on tap. Our waiter, Jeff, brought us the “Blackie’s
Brewski’s” menu. In addition to checking
out the craft beers on tap, all of which accurately described their character,
ABV and mouthfeel, we discovered that there are also over two dozen craft ales,
IPA’s, lagers, wheats, stouts and porters available to be enjoyed. Blackie’s also offers a selection of lighter
beers from their “Usual Suspects” menu.
A wide range of wines and cocktails are also available on the menu.
We ordered Left Handed Milk Stout, Lagunitas IPA Whaler’s The
Rise Pale Ale and Wachusett Blueberry Ale to enjoy while we turned our
attention to the food menus which include cooked on premise smoked meat
offerings, a unique “Paleo” menu and a “Kiddo’s” menu. As Jeff served our drinks we commented on how
well done and vast the food and Brewski menus were. We then ordered our lunch selection of Reuben
sandwiches for Ken and Charlie that are uniquely made with chopped (not
sliced!) corned beef, sauerkraut, provolone on crunchy marbled rye; The
Mushroom Marsala Burger for Gray, featuring (Pancetta Italian Bacon), provolone
and several tasty spreads; and English style beer battered fish and chips for
Jim featuring hand cut “skin on” steak fries and chopped slaw. We finished off our lunch with two delicious
desserts, the carrot cake ice cream sandwich and the seasonal cheesecake. All of our selections were excellent.
While we ate, we were visited by both Angie, the co-owner and
executive chef and Katy, the tavern’s beer manager, Angie is rightfully proud
of her “expect the unexpected” approach to designing and preparing her dishes,
using local products and ingredients and hand crafting every meal that is
ordered. Katy explained that the tavern
strives for “Creative Inconsistency” with a mix of beer styles from local and
national breweries to expose customers to many great beers that may not be
household names and yet pair well with the wide variety of creative dishes that
are designed and prepared by Angie.
Visiting Blackie’s Bulldog Tavern is a great experience for
all. As Angie and Katy say, Blackie’s is for all ages….from 7 to 97!
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