Midtown's Old West-themed tavern

The allure of the Wild West is timeless, owing to its boundless possibility, its total lawlessness, and measured use of Shakespearean stage actor Kenneth Branagh. Taking you back there but installing working pluming, Deadwood Saloon.

Opening tonight in the former Twisted Taco, Deadwood's a western-themed resto-roadhouse serving Gold Rush-worthy meals and spirits, re-decked with an upstairs balcony and a front patio, while inside it's polished pine floors, a coin-embedded bar w/ pistols mounted above the booze, and a billiards-/darts-filled game room with a statue of Captain Morgan, who bravely tamed the frontier with his cunning, bravado...wait, who let this dude into an Old West bar? Starters include roasted chili avocado salsa, spicy El Dorado chili, chipotle ranch-dippable fried pickles, house-cut blue cheese potato chips, thick-as-can-be onion rings, and mini cornmeal/tempura corndogs which're hand-battered...lookin' at you, Chris Brown. You can add sweet potato, Cajun, or garlic Parmesan fries to sandos like the Texas-toast'd fried porkchop w/ sawmill gravy and burgers like the Carolina (green onion slaw, mustard BBQ sauce); there're also dinners like garlic-chipotle penne w/ chicken or salmon, and a chicken breast glazed in a BBQ sauce spiked w/ Bulleit Bourbon, a recipe the chef figured was worth giving a shot.

They're working on a cocktail menu that'll include western-ish drinks (possibly featuring frozen Jack & Coke!), but in the meantime there're bottles like Shiner Bock and Rogue Dead Guy, plus 12 taps that include Harp, Terrapin Hopsecutioner, Fat Tire, and 420, although good luck if you're counting on it getting you Hayek.