We are ho hum about Town Hall

Upon my arrival at Town Hall for lunch, I was stopped at the door by a perky greeter with “how are we today?” Somewhat entertained by her over-the-top enthusiasm, I smiled and replied I was doing great. Three strides later, I was stopped by another seemingly high hostess and asked “how are we doing today?” Now, I’m getting annoyed; I am fine - but you would have to ask my parents how they’re doing to determine how “we” are doing collectively. Shrug it off, Corinne. Enjoy yourself, darn it.

We took our seats in Town Hall’s main dining room; a space I sat in for lunch about two years ago with mixed results. Town Hall is a place people rave about and seem to go out of their way for. My first visit left me with no such inclination but I was willing to give it another shot. I walked in knowing exactly what I wanted - the fried chicken* - so was somewhat thrown when it wasn’t on the menu. The waiter then approached and - you guessed it - asked how “we” were doing today. I decided to speak for the table and assert we were doing well, thank you. Yes, I am dwelling on this “we” issue but their delivery struck me as pretentious and non-genuine. Our waiter reminded me of that weasel from Mad Men. I felt uncomfortable.

Since fried chicken wasn’t an option, I told the waiter “we would like the BBQ meatloaf.” My dad went for the burger and my mom ordered the pulled chicken (blonde moment of the day- I asked if pulled chicken was like pulled pork but with chicken? Uhh, yes - great deductive reasoning on my part). Our plates came out in record time - maybe ten minutes tops - so quickly that my dad was still noshing on his first piece of bread and butter. I enjoyed my meatloaf: it tasted a lot like sausage (yum!!) and had the sweet and savory combination that makes breakfast sausage so irresistible. It was served over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes and lightly sautéed vegetables. Like I said, I liked it - but I also saved half for later which means I could stop myself. My mom was pretty under whelmed with her pulled chicken; I had a bite and I could understand. There simply wasn’t much flavor to it - a sandwich you could get at a deli for the half the cost. My dad demolished his burger but he does so with canned applesauce with hot sauce on top (true story) so that’s not a great gauge. His fries were solid but nothing to write home about; in fact they were a little cold.

People love Town Hall. It’s in a very neat building and the interior is special. As far as the food goes, it may be unfair for me to judge since I have not been there for dinner. But based on my two lunch experiences, we will not be going out of our way to get back anytime real soon.

*After two months as a vegan I jumped ship about two weeks ago. It was a great experiment for me and my eating habits have definitely changed - but I no longer adhere to a zero tolerance policy toward meat and dairy.