Southern California

Tam O'Shanter Deal: National Brisket Day

Mad for meaty sandwiches in old-world settings? You're in luck.

The Memorial Day leftovers have finally been snacked upon, picked at, and ultimately devoured from their space on the fridge's bottom shelf. No surprise there, really; that's what happens when a person revisits the burgers or hot dogs or potato salad, again and again, just for a piece, a corner, a bite.

But late May's meatier ways have not yet gone up in a puff of fragrant smoke. National Burger Day is on its condiment-carrying way, on May 28, but Burger Day also makes room for Brisket Day, too. (Surely no one is surprised they share the food holiday, given the similarities here.)

Southern California boasts many savory spots in which to go the brisket route, but few have the historic cachet, or the dark-pub charm, of the Tam O'Shanter's Ale & Sandwich Bar. And to honor May 28, the Tam, which is one of LA's very oldest restaurants (a centennial is ahead in less than a decade), will offer a ten-dollar brisket sandwich in honor of National Brisket Day.

That's all day, too, on May 28. And that's a bonny discount from the $14 brisket sandwich on the everyday Ale & Sandwich Bar menu (which in itself is a fine price for a fine amount of food).

Yes, we said "bonny" before, for the Tam O'Shanter's design theme is, of course, ye olde Scotland. Or, if you prefer, and have know your animation facts, the look is ye olde "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs."

The cozy tavern was, after all, the de facto Disney animator lunch spot when the old studio was on nearby Hyperion Avenue. And it is not hard to see how the look of the Tam can be seen in the cottage-fantasy design of the film.

As for the sides for your $10 brisket sandwich? They're equally beloved 'round the A.V. (that's A.V. South, of course, as in Atwater Village, and not Antelope Valley). Thick-cut pickles, hearty potato salad, old-school beet slices, and some truly sinus-opening horseradish can all be dolloped on the side, if you wish.

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"Truly sinus-opening" is, yes, a big compliment. Who doesn't love a condiment with panache?

So where will you spend the meatiest of national food holidays? You can find a burger deal, yes, or you can go brisket, in a cottage-sweet pub with one of the region's hottest horseradish creams as your side dip. 

Flavor and history combined, for sure. Heigh ho, heigh ho ...

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