Table Talk: Broad Axe reopens with a less-pricey menu

In ye olden days - oh, until about seven years ago - the Broad Axe Tavern turned out pricey, traditional fare at Butler and Skippack Pikes in Whitpain Township, while regular folks went next door to the casual mainstay Phil's Tavern for sandwiches and heaping portions of all-American fare.

As of this week, there's a new choice in the Blue Bell/Ambler/ Gwynedd corridor as the Broad Axe Tavern (901 W. Butler Pike, 215-643-6300) has reopened after a renovation that took the circa-1681 landmark down to three stone walls and aimed the culinary approach in a more everyday direction.

Managing partner Matt Doman, former chef at the William Penn Inn, oversees a warmly decorated operation with a bar and assorted dining rooms on two floors (one looks into an open kitchen) and a meeting/banquet room on the third. It's also "green," with an oil-recycling system and takeout containers made from recycled material.

Broad Axe's menu, available from lunchtime through late night, runs the gamut from casual (grilled pizzas, soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers) to more ambitious (a scallop BLT, crab cakes, salmon - even a couple of steaks, which at $31 are by far the most expensive items). There are 16 beers on tap, and 10 wines are offered for $21 a bottle (the so-called "21 Club").

Doman says there's enough parking, even though developers a couple of years ago plopped a bank branch in the lot next door.

Meanwhile, Phil's Tavern (931 W. Butler Pike, 215-643-5664) is still very much cooking. Owner Charles Compagnucci has added a barrel-ceiling sunroom with a fireplace at one end.

What's coming