Truman’s, Inexpensive Neighborhood Pub in Lakewood Ranch

LAKEWOOD RANCH – Most of us travelers love neighborhood restaurants, those reasonably priced places where you can have a good meal around normal people doing normal things for a decent price.

Such is Truman’s Tap and Grill, situated on Route 70 in Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton. It’s a simple American pub, with extensive beer selection and well priced entrees. On a recent winter Friday night, it was busy, the crowd running between young married couples, families with young kids, teens grabbing a hamburger and youthful crowd at the bar. While there were retirees there, it was not singularly dominated by such, and any of the retired age folk were there with grandchildren and extended families.

It’s located at the Publix Plaza on the corner of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and SR 70, and is a typical pub with booths kind of place. For those who know about it, it would be a good place to stop while traveling along I-75 for lunch.

The menu’s reasonably priced options include the $9 Truman Burger. Happily (and I don’t know why more restaurants don’t do this) you can substitute the fries that would come with your burger with any side vegetable on the menu. This eminently practical option should be offered more often at restaurants, and enabled myself to get mashed potatoes and gravy with my burger. Another pleasant surprise was the mashed potatoes were served in a small soup cup with gravy, allowing the beef gravy to perfectly permeate the mashed potatoes.

There is a pleasant outdoor seating area to the left, when the weather is nice, which is just about all the time. If you need sports on the TV, its there, but its not dominated by being a sports bar. All in good measure.