The two guys behind the Falcon House in Delray Beach have picked up their original concept and opened a few blocks away in Pineapple Grove.
Two Thirds Tavern -- named for the cross streets of Third Avenue and Third Street -- is in the former Monterey Cantina spot.
"We took it over about four months ago but, to avoid a bunch of hassles, kept the Monterey name until we could get our paperwork done," said Tim Bauer, co-owner with Ted Keer. "We've been open as Two Thirds for about a month."
"The concept is the Falcon House's when we first opened," Keer said. "Small plates of simple, good food that everybody likes and at a reasonable price." The menu's friendly -- lots of slider varieties such as lamb, lobster, meat loaf, and pork. "We'll have some of the Falcon House food -- the Asian ribs, mussels and tuna poke," Keer said. "With the drinks, we're going old-school, back to the days when the cocktail was king, right after Prohibition: the Sidecar, Moscow Mule, Dark and Stormy. And we'll have our Five-Sip Manhattan with the special cherries again -- it was really popular."
Prices
are recession-minded, Keer said. "Everything's between $7 and $12. Only
the lobster platter is $17, and it's the most expensive thing on the
menu."
Baur said more work is in progress on the building itself. "It
was in foreclosure when we signed on, but we figured it could take
months or years. Instead, it went down in three months. The bank bought
it back and lowered the loan way down, so now, we're looking for an
investor."
It has 160 or so seats and a little patio out back. The space is more
than a third larger than the Falcon House, but the duo wants it to be a
neighborhood place where diners or those out for a beer can go and
"meet up with your friends, read a book -- be casual," Keer said.
Instead of a happy hour, drinks are priced "happy" all day -- draft
beers are $3 and $4, house well drinks are $4, and house wine is $5.
There's more of a music focus here too, though without a genre label.
"We're not a blues bar or a rock bar or a jazz club, but we have all
those types of music. We want to mix it up," Baur said.
The two still own two-thirds of the Falcon House but decided they
wanted to get back to their roots and not be a restaurant but more of
a tavern. "In this economy, we're conscious of how money is spent.
People aren't going out for $14 drinks anymore -- those days are gone,"
Keer said. "I'm not sure they're coming back anytime soon."
Baur agreed. "You have to adapt -- make things better, keep up with what
the economy throws at you, and be willing to make your concept better.
I think this will appeal to a lot of people today."
Two Thirds Tavern is at 301 Third St. in Delray Beach. It's open six days
from 5 p.m. but closed Sundays. The website is under construction.
Jan Norris is editor and publisher of JanNorris.com, a website focusing on South Florida food.
