While I was in New York City for a dealer expo last year, I had a night to myself and decided to just check out the neighborhood around the hotel. Not far from the hotel was an interesting looking place called the Tailor Public House. I thought I'd go in and have a beer just to look around, then after a couple cold ones, I decided have dinner there.
Since June of 2018, the Tailor Public House has been serving a mixture of English, Irish and American favorites. The owner - Brendan Creegan - is a serial restaurateur with similar restaurants to the Tailor Public House under his ownership. In addition to the Tailor Public House located in the Garment District on 8th Ave. in mid-town Manhattan (see map), Creegan also owns Jack Doyle's, an Irish bar just around the corner on 35th Street; and the sports/Irish bar John Sullivan's which is just a few steps to the east of Jack Doyle's.
I had stayed in the neighborhood around Madison Square Garden/Penn Station on a previous trip to New York a number of years ago, so I was somewhat familiar with the area. But the Tailor Public House wasn't around when I was last there some 12 to 13 years ago. (I believe I had been in John Sullivan's before with one of my former colleagues, but I'm not too certain about that.)
I had actually walked past the front door of the Tailor Public House and it was sort of obscured by a stack of scaffolding in front of the building. There appeared to be an entrance on 35th St. under a large neon sign that hung over an awning. However, that door was locked and now I was sort of confused. I went back around to 8th Ave. and finally figured out that was the main entrance.
The main entrance off 8th Ave. opened into the main bar are at the Tailor Public House. There was a large oval bar with a lighted liquor island in the middle of the room with a number of high-top tables interspersed around the room. Wooden-beamed ceilings with brick walls gave the place a nice cozy feeling. A hostess asked me if I wanted a table and I told her that I would just sit at the bar.
There were two or three bartenders working that evening. One of them dropped a food menu off in front of me and another came by and asked what I wanted to drink. Somewhat surprisingly, they seemed to have a pretty limited selection of beers on their drink menu - especially craft beers. They had just 2 or 3 India pale ales available on tap that evening, one of which was the Lagunitas IPA. I really like to try something local when I travel, but the two local IPA's they had listed they were out of that night.
The food menu featured an array of selections, but it wasn't too deep in each of the categories. Appetizers included your run-of-the-mill chicken wings and chicken tenders to a poutine appetizer and blistered shishito peppers served with garlic, soy sauce and a lemon aioli. Small plates such as fried Brussels sprouts, crab cakes and fried calamari were available, as well as a couple pastas dishes including a lobster fettuccine. They had Irish favorites such as shepherds pie, bangers and mash, and fish and chips, and entrees such as a New York strip, a pan-seared salmon, and a chicken pot pie.
I was sort of zeroing in on getting a sandwich and they had a few items to choose from. They had a fried chicken breast with a chipotle aioli that sounded good. And they had a roasted turkey sandwich and a basic burger on the menu. But at the end, I decided to go with their reuben sandwich.
The reuben sandwich at the Tailor Public House featured a half pound of thick slices of corned beef with a Russian dressing, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. It was your basic reuben on grilled rye bread. At first, I wasn't too excited about the presentation as it looked like your run-of-the-mill reuben.
But picking up one half of the sandwich told me otherwise. It was piled high with corned beef with thick cut Swiss cheese that was oozing with each bite. It wasn't quite piled as high as some of the New York deli's that are known for their "mile-high" sandwiches, but there was a significant amount of corned beef on the sandwich. The corned beef had that great seasoned flavor and it was moist and very tasty. The toasted rye bread held together very well with all the messiness of the dressing, sauerkraut and cheese.
The fries that came on the plate were seasoned and very good on their own. They were perfectly cooked with a crunchy outer shell and a soft potato core. They were the perfect compliment to an excellent reuben sandwich.
While I didn't think much about the presentation of the reuben sandwich when it was put down in front of me, I have to say that the first bite took away any apprehension I had. It was an excellent reuben and the fries that came on the side were also very good. I was sort of surprised at the lack of a selection of craft beers - especially locally brewed beers. But the atmosphere was comfortable and the service I received from the trio of bartenders was efficient and almost robotic. The Tailor Public House was a nice find as I was walking around the streets of New York City.
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