Mill Creek Tavern
275 Bayville Ave. Bayville, NY 516-628-2000
Critic rating:
Mill Creek Tavern heats up this stretch of the North Shore. The high-spirited spot, spawned by Mim's in Syosset and Roslyn, boasts plenty of favorites from the originals. Consider MCT Mim's upscaled and toned-down. "Land" and "Sea" become "Chop House Selection" and "Market Fish Selection." Exit most pizzas, enter more mussels; bye Marvelous Marvin's Meatballs, hi Marvelous Maria's. Are you here for the escargots, too? Anyway, no meat loaf. Improved service, better drinks.
There's nightlife at Mill Creek as well, with live music Fridays-Saturdays at 9 p.m.
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday for dinner, starting at 4:30 p.m. Closed Monday. Service: Good Reservations: Recommended Credit cards: Accepted Accessibility: Wheelchair access at side entrance. Season: 4:30 p.m.-11 p.m.: Tuesdays. 4:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.: Wed.-Thurs. 4:30 p.m.-2 a.m.: Fri.-Sat. 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m.: Sundays.
Photo credit: Newsday/Ana P. Gutierrez | Buffalo chicken spring rolls at Mill Creek Tavern in Bayville
Mill Creek Tavern heats up this stretch of the North Shore. The high-spirited spot, spawned by Mim's in Syosset and Roslyn, boasts plenty of favorites from the originals. Consider MCT Mim's upscaled and toned-down. "Land" and "Sea" become "Chop House Selection" and "Market Fish Selection." Exit most pizzas, enter more mussels; bye Marvelous Marvin's Meatballs, hi Marvelous Maria's. Are you here for the escargots, too? Anyway, no meat loaf. Improved service, better drinks.
ORDER THIS
Bar-food alert: chicken wings via "Mim's classic" hot sauce-blue cheese-celery stick version or deboned and juiced up in crunchy spring rolls - both good. Nibble on a blackened chicken quesadilla to complete the big-bird trifecta. Mango salsa and spicy mayo do no damage to the tuna "martini." Two-pound pots of mussels merit their box on the menu, where the simpler "au vin blanc" prep highlights the catch. Also worth it: pecan-crusted sole. Lighter entrees include a homey lobster BLT wrap and the burger on brioche. A thick, grilled sirloin and Australian rack of lamb head high-end courses. If it's a full-beer-night - kielbasa with sauerkraut. And that messy macaroni-and-cheese does awaken your inner kid. Apple crisp, brownie sundae and make-your-own Smores-for-two trail the sweet spin on bananas Foster.
DON'T BOTHER
"Three cheese spinach & artichoke fondue" looks like an accident scene, and the taste is Gerber-for-adults. You'll become a risk-taker after settling on the anemic shrimp cocktail and saline-solution onion soup. Chicken pot pie comes across like cream-of-chicken stuck between puff-pastry tortillas.
THE BOTTOM LINE
American bar and grill, 50-50 split. -Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti
Mill Creek Tavern
