HATFIELD — Paying homage to previous establishments at the 127 Elm St. site, the owners of the recently opened Heritage Tavern Food & Spirits are offering a casual place for dining, drinking and listening to live music and, for those who like to take risks, a competitive food challenge.

For $39.99, the Annihilator gives a person an opportunity to consume three, quarter-pound hamburgers, stacked with mozzarella sticks, bacon and a fried egg, and sides of French fries and onion rings, along with a pint of a carbonated beverage, either soda or beer. Eat and drink it all within 30 minutes and keep it down for 5 minutes and the meal is free, and recognition will come on a wall of fame.

Of the three patrons who have attempted the challenge so far, though, only one has succeeded. When someone takes the plunge, the tavern becomes raucous.

“It can get loud with people hooting and hollering,” says co-owner Mark Pinkham.

For Pinkham and Teri Anderson, though, their business is mostly about restoring what they have learned people loved about the spot for generations.

“We do a ton of burgers, chicken parm, shrimp scampi,” Anderson says. “Comfort food is what we’re doing.”

Upscale bar food, with servings piled high, is expected, adds Pinkham.

“A good plate at a reasonable price,” Pinkham said in describing the aim of the restaurant. “This is a farmer town, and you’ve got to put hearty food out.”

Anderson and Pinkham, who hail from Enfield, Connecticut, are in the midst of getting to know the community they are serving, and, in the two months since opening, as well as the time spent going through municipal permitting, are finding what Anderson calls “the biggest little small town” a welcoming place.

“We are learning so much about the community and what they want,” Anderson said.

Being their first business partnership, Pinkham and Anderson describe Heritage Tavern, with a slogan “where the people make the place,” as a labor of love that combines their previous experience in the business, which for Anderson included running a bar and for Pinkham was overseeing a restaurant, and their passion for feeding people. When searching for a site from which to run a joint venture, they had explored south shore of Boston, where Anderson is from, but then settled on a place less than an hour up Interstate 91.

“We were looking for a place for people to come and be comfortable,” Anderson said.

Building’s history

The history in the building greets customers. At the back door entrance, closest to the parking lot, a sign recounts the history from its origins as Pelc’s Cafe and later use as the Elm Street Club to its time as Smithsonian Grill and Bar.

On a recent late morning people began coming in for lunch, many sitting around the large bar that was installed over the dance floor in the 1970s. As the centerpiece of the tavern, they redecorated it with wood from tobacco pallets from a nearby tobacco processing plant factory. Some of that wood also makes the shelves that carry an assortment of artifacts.

Before opening, the couple also removed the built-in booths that had lined the walls and put tables and chairs in their place. “We cleaned it up and spruced it up,” Pinkham said.

“We’ve done a lot in a small amount of time,” Anderson said.

The menu, made in a small kitchen with four pizza oven racks, reflects the heritage, as well, with some of the items named after earlier places, such as the Grill ‘n’ Chill Burger and the Paddock Pizza. There are also originals like The Hatfielder, featuring ham, turkey and cheese on a grinder roll, with horseradish mayonnaise, the meatball salad, with meatballs made on site, and a salad pizza, and pub favorites such as buffalo chicken dip and a tavern pretzel with cheddar beer cheese and honey dijon mustard dip.

Homemade soups and salads, specialty sandwiches and shepard’s pie, macaroni and cheese and a fish special, with cut cole slaw on site, round out the food offerings. The couple are getting as much produce as possible from local farms.

There is a drink of the month and array of drinks that can be made by the bartenders, including one who has served as bartender through four restaurants there.

Currently Heritage Tavern is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, catering to workers at lunchtime with a 30-minute express lunch.

As a family operation, their children are on site, too, and Phinn, their golden doodle, lends his name to the Phinn Dawg, a hot dog on the children’s menu.

The owners have approval for an outdoor patio that will open for warm weather and, after Easter, will be offering Sunday brunch, noting that there are few breakfast spots in town.

In addition to the food and drink, there is karaoke, acoustic live music from the stage, trivia nights and requests to bring back Keno.

“It’s truly a community feel,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the hope is to make Heritage Tavern an engaging experience for customers.

In the end, the couple want to make sure that Hatfield’s farmers, public safety and public works employees, families and others who venture from the interstate feel welcome and get a good meal, Pinkham said.

“It’s about taking care of the people who take care of us,” Pinkham said. “It’s about making sure the beer is cold and the food is warm.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>