Maribelle's Tavern in the East End

So over the holidays, I had the opportunity to go with my parents to a new restaurant called Maribelle's Tavern on Eastern Avenue in the East End. It is in the old Du Drop Inn. For a new restaurant, I was impressed at how great of a job they did.

There's a very relaxed vibe inside. On the ground floor there's a bar, where you can get food. The dining room is upstairs, along with the kitchen. We were there early enough that it wasn't crowded when we walked in, but as we left the room was starting to fill up. One of the tables was filled with three generations of one family, with the youngest being 1 to 5 years old.

I wish that I had been to the Du Drop Inn. I know from driving by this spot that they did a lot of work to update it. My friends and I used to joke about the Du Drop Inn as the diviest of dive bars, but Maribelle's gives no indication of that.

(I always found this interesting. Anytime you see a bar with the name dew or du in it, it's probably referring to moonshine. And the bar probably caters to an Appalachian population. Eastern Avenue's changed a lot over the last dozen years, but there was a time when it was mostly Appalachians. Mountain Dew was one nickname for moonshine, and the soft drink was originally marketed as a hillbilly drink.)

Anyway, on to the food. I ordered a Caesar salad that was good, if unimpressive. My mom ordered a a tomato basil soup, a special on the day we were there, and it was very good. Smooth and creamy, but with a very fresh and lively taste. For my main course I had a tomato, mozzarella and basil sandwich, which was amazing. Really fresh mozzarella, crisp tomatoes, and a yummy focaccia bread. And the tavern fries are some of the best steak fries I've had in a while. Not too dry, with a delicious outer skin.

I recommend going to Maribelle's Tavern. Unfortunately, they don't have a website, or I'd link to it.

And if you've been to the old Du Drop Inn, I'd love to hear about it.