text: I preface by saying we wanted to like this place We can bike to it it is familyfriendly and did i mention that it is close It is busy even before pm Parking is only achieved through luck or valet Kudos to word getting out about Arcadia Tavern ButnnREVIEWnUninspired bar food in a clean open friendly atmosphere Lack of imagination is clear in the tired sports grill theme aging fratboy paradise Might as well be a chain Then the execution might be tighter The pizza was basically Freschetta ultrathin crust made to order Almost looked like the pizza in the Nutrisystem commercials undercooked and topped with processed itemsnnFish n Chips usually deserve their own paragraph These get paragraphs but for the wrong reasonsnnFish n chips batter should be bound to the fish at the molecular level Attempting to peel the crust off should result in tearing away fish flesh or revealing fish that is crispy around the edge with the bound batter unwilling to separate Fish n Chips do not bend Cook hot cook fast cook through You can easily achieve this at home with a Waring fryer A decent batter and a properly used commercial fryer should be a slamdunk nnAnatomy of an unacceptable fish n chip hunk of barely cooked through whitefish surrounded by a loose layer of mushy batter than is not bound to the fish at all with a friedlooking but barely crisp outer edge I removed the end of the fish stick and shook it and the lump of fish fell out of the sad greasy tube No discernible flavor unless dunked in the accompanying restaurant supply grade tartar slop nnTots A moment of inspiration Sadly no The key to a tot is that it is made up of little distinct chunks of potato Like a tiny hash brown capsule You should be able to break them open and pull apart the pieces Fast food can even pull this off the Taco John Potato Oldue for example These were more like greasy fried mash potatoes And salty I am not drunk enough for thisnnI want to give it stars for being clean having decent service and having no less than plasma displays But is Aokay I think there might be something Aokay there but we have not found it yet We will return to try the sliders just to see if there is a dependable fallback dish for those nights when we just do not feel like cooking and want somewhere close In the meantime if the owners investors more like care to be more than just the next thing to FAILBOAT in that space they need to get back to the food Once the buzz fades the food will not bring people back Go to Four Peaks Tempe Go to Matts Big B Go to George n Dragon Go to Lo Los for chrissake Go see how simple food can still be good food and not scream shortterm dabbling in the industry business modelnnWill update after another visit Maybe