As I walked into Compass Tavern, I first noticed the bar in the center of the main dining room. The bar looked well-designed and ready to serve large groups. It definitely seemed like a good place to have a drink with friends. We sat down at a table to the side of the bar. And then our waitress, Raylene, came over right away to give us a friendly greeting.
For my main course, I decided to order the Steak Tips and Mashed Potato with Mixed Vegetables. When the steak tips arrived, I was pleased to see a good portion of marinated steak tips. The meat had a nice flavor and went well with the side dishes. The mashed potato was alongside a mix of summer squash and zucchini. The mix was cooked then grilled slightly to give the vegetables a fresh crisp flavor. Overall the meal was decent but it seemed to lack a little zest. Also, my meal was not served very warm.
Raylene was a great server and seemed to know the menu pretty well even though they recently made several changes to it. She also did a great job of remembering everyone’s order and had a pleasant personality. The service was good and the food seemed to come out in a timely fashion.
The Compass Tavern is a good place to get a solid meal and have a few drinks. The calamari appetizer that someone at my table ordered was a tasty, healthy portion of fresh and spicy calamari. The service was prompt and pleasant. Overall I think the Compass Tavern gave a fair showing for dinner, but they could take it up a notch to be truly great.