Short answer: The Cornish Arms does exceptional food for the price and welcomes dogs in the bar, as long as you are not in a hurry. The Annex is the tapas one, closed Mondays. Malthouse does burgers Thursday to Sunday from 4pm, ordered by app.
The one people recommend first, and for the right reason: the food is better than the price suggests. Dogs are welcome in the bar. The consistent caveat is pace — this is not somewhere to eat between two other things. Book and give it the afternoon.
Outstanding tapas, and a genuinely good alcohol-free list, which is not a given in a Devon market town and matters a great deal if you are driving back across the moor afterwards. Closed Mondays.
Burgers and cocktails, open Thursday to Sunday from 4pm. Ordering is by app, which is faster than queueing and means you stay at your table. It is the later, more casual option rather than a lunch plan.
Food served until 10pm and dog friendly, which makes it the one that is still open when everything else has stopped. The music is loud — that is the trade.
Inside the pannier market, open with the market Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 4pm. It is the cheapest sit-down in town and it is indoors under the Victorian roof, which on a wet Dartmoor-edge day is worth more than it sounds.
Friday is the Charter Market with fruit, vegetables and local produce. For a fraction of a café lunch you can put together something better and eat it at the Meadows by the river. In summer that is the best-value meal in Tavistock by a distance.
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