Victorian Restaurants- The Dog and Bull Tavern

In the last Victoriana campaign I ran, one of my players played a halfling obsessed with eating new foods. He often stopped adventuring at meal times, and always asked what was eaten by nearby NPCs.
This helped him stay in character and immersed him deeper into the world, but I was often unprepared for his character’s food obsession. If you need some foodie answers or just quick locals for adventuring, you’re in luck. All February long, I will be posting adventure ready Victoriana restaurants.  

The Dog and Bull Tavern
A few streets over from the factories and workshops, the Dog and Bull tavern caters to tired working men at the end of a long day’s labor. Their clientele range from shift workers and foremen at the cotton mill, to constables hoping to warm up for a few minutes, to lawyers and merchants breaking for lunch. The glasses are clean, the food is good, and the atmosphere is relaxed. Dwarven publican Walter Waifbottle opened the tavern in 1810. His son, Tommy and Tommy’s orcish wife, Laura, run the Dog and Bull now, but Walter still serves drinks at the bar.
The Waifbottles are hardworking and easy going, however if trouble starts in their tavern they will quickly end it. Tommy keeps a shotgun under the bar and Laura may run the kitchen now, but she has a series of scars from her days as a bare-knuckle fighter. Tommy lost 5 shillings when she knocked out “Pixie” Marlin; it was love at first sight. Their three daughters (two dwarves, one orc) take after her.

Tommy Waifbottle (Friendly dwarven proprietor)
Initiative: 5
Physical: 5
Mental: 5
Social: 5
Health: 8
Traits: Pub gossip +2, This is a reputable establishment! +2
Combat: Punch (3), Shotgun (7)

Laura Waifbottle (Busy orc cook )
Initiative: 6
Physical: 6  
Mental: 4  
Social: 5  
Health: 10
Traits: Queen of her kitchen +2, Champion Boxer +3
Combat: Punch (5), Kitchen knife (3)

Layout
A sign featuring a dog pulling with its teeth the nose ring of a large bull hangs over the tavern’s entrance. Inside, a long L-shaped oak bar fills one side of the room. Shelves of bottles and a large painting illustrating a story from the aluminate bible line the wall behind it. Round tables and chairs for man-sized or dwarf-sized customers fill much of the floor space. Passages to the kitchen, the courtyard, and the saloon lead out from the barroom. The appealing smell of roasting joints and the sound of cheerful conversation come from all directions as the Waifbottle’s daughters serve patrons.

Past a mounted lions head, the short hallway leading to the kitchen is lined with the tavern’s four snugs, small booths with frosted glass windows closed off by a door, for those wanting to drink in private. Drinks and food brought to the snugs cost extra, but are worth it to a patron needing peace and quiet.

Another door leads out back, to a small courtyard between the Dog and Bull and the back of Hammel’s Pharmacy. The courtyard is empty aside from the water pump and an ogre-sized table and chairs, unless a party is underway. Then the courtyard is full of dancing and talking celebrants. Lanterns are hung and more tables are pulled from inside.

The curtained door to the saloon is always open, but after five pm, Laura Waifbottle’s brother, Elias, watches to make sure nobody gets in without paying the one shilling door charge. For the shilling, customers get a small cut of meat, a glass of beer, table service, access to the billiard tables, and the saloons’ entertainment for the evening. Song, jokes, and dances are performed nightly on a small stage next to an upright piano.

Menu (All cuts of meat are prepared at 1pm and hourly from 4-7pm)
Cut of beef or lamb and vegetables (carrots, turnips, peas and parsnips) 1s
Steak, bread and cheese 1s 4d
Beef and potato stew 9d
Choice of haddock, cod, or sole, with bread and cheese 1s 6d
Pork-pie 4d
Beer 2d
Gin 1d
Wine 4d
Ale 2d

Encounters
Charlie Ollscott, a horsefolk laborer, saw something awful today (a terrifying shadow in the sewer, a body half buried by the railroad tracks). He’s at the bar trying to forget with the help of alcohol.

A kindly old halfling named Archie Pendleburry runs book in the saloon. He will take bets on any sporting activity in town.

An upper-class gentleman dines with a young lady in one of the snugs every week. They use the kitchen entrance and never leave together.