When we visited Fishers Pub for a late lunch recently, the restaurant had been open for five days. Our expectations were not high, especially when we pulled into a packed parking lot. Surely a brand-new restaurant could not accommodate a crowd of this size.
But we quickly realized that while this location, the site of the former Shooters, was brand-new, little else was. Some of the staff and customers may have been transplants from the pub owner’s other Middleboro hotspot, Harry’s Bar and Grille. We were handed a menu that was Harry’s “and then some,” our cheerful bartender, Kim, said.
Sure, there were challenges to work out. We sat under an air conditioning vent and an employee spent much of our visit trying to regulate the temperature. But we can’t think of any other hints that this place hadn’t been open for years.
Like Harry’s, Fisher’s has an airplane theme. It looks like a big hangar from the outside. Dishes have cute airplane names. The walls are adorned with air travel paraphernalia.
But what really struck us about the restaurant design was how it seems, at the front of the house at least, to reflect how restaurants really function. Behind the spacious U-shaped bar, there is enough space for two bartenders to pass, even with plates and buckets of ice. Takeout ordering and pickup has a dedicated area. A quiet dining room is separated completely from what is likely to be an animated bar. If you’re in the industry, you’ll be jealous.
Our food was really good, reasonably priced, and served professionally.
We started with a Harrier Jet Combo ($11.99), selecting from several choices three of Harry’s famous chicken wings and a third of a rack of ribs. The ribs were somewhat dry and the Big Dog didn’t care for the barbecue sauce, while the wings — we always get the garlic parmesan version — were their usual delicious selves. The plate alone fulfilled our recommended daily requirement of protein.
But we didn’t stop there.
The Big Dog selected a cheeseburger salad ($12.99), a cheeseburger patty slapped on top of a serviceable green salad with a yummy hunk of garlic bread. The dish was good, and held up surprisingly well six hours later when we had the considerable leftovers for dinner.
Gina ordered the roast beef dinner ($15.99), and admitted doing so just to get the day’s vegetable, hearty slices of cooked carrots. They did not disappoint, nor did the mashed potatoes with delicious gravy. The serving of beef seemed like it might have been an opening-week error, as it was easily enough for three meals.
Gina also loved the sweet cakelike cornbread that came with her roast beef. The Big Dog claimed indifference but somehow managed to eat half of it.
Fisher’s Pub is located in an underserved area, with plenty of options to the north, but no restaurants for eight-plus miles to the south. At 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, every seat in the bar was taken, most by pairs or trios of guys who’d likely spent the week framing a garage together, or laying a flagstone patio. When they’re working north of Middleboro or out Route 18 they’ll continue to go to Harry’s, but when work takes them closer to the Cape, they’ll get off 495 at Exit 3 and drive a mile north on Route 28 to Fisher’s. Either location will feel like home.
Fisher’s Pub
360 Wareham Street, Middleboro
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