My buddy and I found ourselves far from home on the night of Game 7 in the Miami Heat-Indiana Pacers series. We didn’t want to miss the critical deciding game, so we headed straight to an establishment that we heard was not only good for viewing sports but had good grub—namely, The Yarde Tavern in Enfield.
Inside, we found most of the customers
watching Boston Bruins-Pittsburgh Penguins playoff hockey,
so we set up in another room with the basketball game on the closest screen and the Yankees-Indians game on the next screen over.
The situation called for beer, and we were able to get a pitcher of IPA from Back East Brewing Company in Bloomfield for just $18,
glasses of which we wasted no time bringing to our lips.
Housemade southwest chicken spring rolls with avocado ranch dressing and chipotle aïoli were absolutely delicious.
The award-winning chili was even better, truly one of the best I ever tried (and that includes my own three favorite recipes).
For our entrées, we enjoyed hearty servings of Cajun chicken pasta
and classic tavern meatloaf.
Dessert was a shared slice of chocolate chip pie
with a big side of vanilla ice cream,
a much better ending to our meal than the Miami triumph in the basketball game.
1658 King Street, Enfield, 860-254-5778; 3 Hadley Street, South Hadley, MA, 413-315-4339; www.yardetavern.com