How Marlow’s Subverts the Typical Tavern Menu

When Marlow’s Tavern opened its first location in Alpharetta, Ga., casual fare that blended American classics with global flavors was a rarity beyond culinary capitals like New York, Chicago and San Francisco. At face value, the word “tavern” also implies hearty fare that, at its most creative, could be described as gastropub.

“We had a vision to reinvent the neighborhood tavern for the 21st century,” says John Metz, cofounder and CEO of Marlow’s Tavern. “It’s an upscale tavern menu with elements from around the world. I think it was a really fun approach for my team and me to embrace. We could bring anything into Georgia and make it work with our Southern roots.”

He offers nachos as an example. Rather than piles of corn chips with sauces and meat, Marlow’s opted for a single, large chip topped with fresh crab, mozzarella, provolone, pepper Jack and fresh jalapeño. The decision to serve it as an individually portioned snack rather than a shared plate was also uncommon when the first restaurant opened in 2004. Fast-forward to present day, and the Shrimp & Crab “Nacho” Plate build remains the same—it also continues to be among the most popular offerings.

In November, Marlow’s Tavern celebrated its 20th year anniversary, prompting Metz to reflect on the concept’s culinary evolution and look ahead to its future. With 20 locations (17 in Georgia and three in Florida), it has remained a regional brand with steady, sustainable growth.

So the big thing for me was to know that, you know, I mean, it was nice working for a big company because they had, I had a very big budget. So I was exposed to a lot more than I would have been if I just started my own concept. And I also got into understanding how to start and create a menu from scratch in a different way than just doing it working in individual independent restaurants. So what does it take to scale a restaurant? What does it take to be able to do that?

The other thing was um kind of putting together the right people and the right elements to round out the rest of the content. So where do you get the finishes? How do you find this um the, the the kitchen equipment, you know, those kinds of things was really helpful, working for a bigger company to know what’s possible when, if I just done it for myself, working for independent restaurants, for my family, like I had done prior, I may not have known all that.

So how do we elevate the shrimp, the nacho into the shrimp and crab, nachos, for example. And then I had this category of our menu development, which I call pushed out, which is the stuff that no time it would be more in a high end upscale restaurant. Like one of our original restaurants or restaurants I’ve worked in, in my past like in New York City, working for uh you know, David Burke and all these great chefs uh that I would have never thought about doing it in a neighborhood cabin, right, in an upscale neighborhood cabin.

I was thinking about, you know, because those items may not sell as much, but they’re really cool and the people that try them are really blown away by number one, the quality they’re getting at their neighborhood spot. And number two, the flavor profiles, the exposure and the value proposition because we’ve always been about value, you know, with every menu item, every cocktail, everything on the wine list.

We just wanted to say, you know, what can we provide? It’s gonna create a great value. People who will develop trust and they, uh you know, one thing I’d add is that as we’ve, every time we open and especially neighborhoods that don’t know us, it’s a little harder in Georgia now, obviously, because in Atlanta specifically, because we’ve been around for so long when I go into a new neighborhood, the number one seller is always our, either the tavern burger or our Royale with cheese.

And because people go, oh, you know what, I’ll take a chance. It’s a burger. If they do the burger right, then I’ll come in and I’ll try the salmon dish, I’ll try the steak dish. And so that’s been really fun to watch. People come in and say our burgers are great with brioche, you know, fresh ground beef and the Royal has Wagyu with American cheese on the brioche bun. So it’s fun to see that and they come in and they go, this is amazing. And then they come in and try something crazy. That may be a little more elevated.

With our seasonal menu, we change the menu at minimum twice a year for our spring, summer, fall winter. And then sometimes we do some in between changes as well. And so through those changes are where the big variety happens, right? So we wanna bring in seasonal ingredients, we wanna try different things, both on the food and beverage side. And so that’s where those, uh, happen more than anything. But there’s, there’s some, there’s some things that, well, let me just say this, every dish has been modified over the course of the past 20 years at some level. There’s only one dish that has not. And that is the Shrimp and Crab Nachos. Every other dish has been modified, you know, maybe a flavor, you know, I don’t even know different salads, different, whatever. Like you for a salad may have happened, but that shrimp and crab nacho has actually been only there in 20 years and it’s not changed. Not just if you’re reminding me about him.

The other one on the menu for this season I love is our Beet Tartare. It’s got the classic ingredients. So it’s got the chopped egg, it’s got the caper, it’s got the mustard, but we also introduced a little miso and a little horseradish into there which you may not necessarily see. So a little bit of an Asian flair but you don’t know, it’s miso unless you know, it’s miso. But we don’t really call that. Yeah. But it may fit for something that really has a nice flavor and enhances and brings out the flavor, but also works well with the capers and the chopped in. So something a little different on the menu that you would traditionally see.