Royal Tavern is a Queen Village gem!
First, as far as bars go they have a decent selection of beers on draft, but if you can't find anything you like from the at least 15 selections their bottles list is pretty good too.
Although they can get packed, they are usually pretty good about wait times and shuffling people in as quickly as possible which is greatly appreciated.
Now the best part...the food is fantastic! Although Royal Tavern may have gained popularity due to its large offering of vegetarian options, which are great, it is actually my favorite place in the city for a burger. Their angus burger comes with an expertly melted piece of gouda, spicy roasted long hots, pickled shallots, chipotle mayo - the best I have had in my life - and bacon cooked to perfection. Fries and tots are both great, you'll need to dine with a plus one so you can share and not have to make that impossible choice.
They keep it new and interesting with an always changing offering of specials that also never disappoint.
I have to give 4 stars instead of 5 because the first time I ever ate here was for brunch and it was actually a bit disappointing...I ordered just the classic eggs and bacon and the eggs were cold and bacon was undercooked for my preference. It took me awhile to be convinced to go back but I am glad I finally did! Will have to give brunch here another chance to confirm that was just a one off.

Chose to come here to celebrate a birthday and were glad we did! We did the "let us feed you" tasting menu which was a great way to experience what they have to offer as well as a great deal at only $45/person. The first course we had something like a potato latke w salmon roe, a piece of toast w shrimp and scallions and some other things that was deep fried (my fav of the first course), and a duck liver parfait with cherry jelly and gold leaf. They also sent out rye bread and butter that was so good I couldn't stop eating it!
Te second course was homemade fettuccine w an Alfredo sauce that was perfect and delicious local mushrooms. The mushrooms and sauce were done absolutely perfectly, the pasta itself while tasty was a little undercooked even for someone who prefers al dente.
The entree was the star of the show, a white fish (pollock maybe was the name) with truffle, local peas and sauce that was just fantastic. My boyfriend said they were the best peas he's had in America haha. I even enjoyed the corn pudding despite my dislike for corn as it tasted more like corn bread and had the sauce from the dish on it.
The dessert were two ice creams, a vanilla that was perfectly done and a mocha stout which I also enjoyed. There was a red velvet crust chocolate cheesecake that was tasty and if I liked chocolate more would have probably gone crazy for.
Service was fantastic, our server was sweet, helpful, and attentive. Will definitely be back again - anxious to check out the brunch now after this great first experience!

After seeing the "I Hate Steven Singer" billboards all over town, literally since the day I moved here pulling into the city wondering "who is Steven Singer?", I finally made it in here to check it out.
My boyfriend and I went in two Sundays ago to start the engagement ring journey, neither of us having any background knowledge in diamonds at all and feeling nervous and overwhelmed after a rough first experience at a commercial jewelry store over the holidays. From the second you step in to the store everything becomes much less scary as every person there is so welcoming and knowledgeable. You check in with the hostess who offered us water, tea, beer, wine and warm cookies....ahhh let the relaxation set in.
We were fortunate enough to be paired with an experienced person who was so patient and informative and walked us through every step of the process. We got schooled in the 4 C's (though he added an extra 2 C's for good measure, who would have known), and he drew it all out for us, showed us a bunch of different diamond options that fit in our price range so we could see a perfect color and cut vs a larger but yellower stone, etc. He also took out different bands and the diamonds were loose so I could try them in the different bands to see the overall look.
My very ethical boyfriend had some concerns about the origin of the diamonds and how we could work to ensure that the diamonds were ethically sourced, and our rep had an answer for every question.
The best part is that he could tell we were stressed about starting this process and was able to address and remove every factor we were worried about and actually make the process fun and relaxed. There was absolutely zero pressure to make a purchase that day, obviously as I was there with them, but still I appreciated that he advised us to take some time and think about everything we discussed that day and to even visit other stores to get more comfortable and a better idea of what I want.
They didn't have a style I was pretty set on wanting but not without trying on first, so he took our number and offered to let us know as soon as they have one in the store like that for me to try in person.
Really grateful that we decided to walk in here, it was so informative and helpful. After spending over an hour and a half working one on one with the rep and never once feeling rushed or pressured, I would definitely recommend this place for any other newbies to fine jewelry shopping. :)

Decent food for a slightly elevated price. Came here for a work dinner while in town on a work trip.
Average beer selection, nothing remarkable there but the wine list was pretty good and we had 3 or 4 different bottles of red which were all good. I have to attribute some of that to my manager's superb taste in wine and ability to pick great bottles though, haha.
The entrees were pretty good, I had the queen's cut of prime rib which was cooked perfectly for me - ordered rare and it came out rare. It was also way more than enough food, left there feeling totally stuffed. I had the green beans as my side. Also the jalapeno cornbread was AMAZING. That may have been my favorite part of the meal, the free table bread haha. Anyway, the dinner was very good but comparable to a prime rib dinner at LongHorn, not sure if it's really worth the extra cost.
The rating came down for me after the waiter suggested the app sampler, which was a 3 plate tower of different app offerings. It was intensely meh. Nothing stood out as being very good and at $40 was really not worth it. Some of the standalone apps we ordered, including the cheese plate were much better than the tower app sampler. The only reason I can think for the waiter to have suggested this was to run up the bill because I can't imagine they get good feedback on that offering.
The venue itself is pretty cool. We were a group of 20 and were able to get a private room towards the back which was nice for us and nice for other patrons who must have been relieved not to sit with our rowdy group.