"Here we go." You muttered, carefully plucking and setting a number of tankards and steaming plates onto the table before him.

A pony, one of the septet of customers, scrunched his snout and peered down at the meal. "What is this?"

"Your order." you flatly responded.

“But we just sat down,” the griffon, another member of the party, groused.

With a heavy sigh, you walked around the circular table while distributing the vittles and mead. "I'm guessing you’re new, so I’m gonna make this really simple. There ain’t a menu, there are no options, and there aren’t any secret items to order. If your ass meets a seat, you get a tankard and a bowl of whatever’s being cooked in the back, then you pay when you leave - easy-peasy."

Most of the customers looked content enough or too weary to argue, though the single pony in the group wasn’t one of them. Watching the stallion, a unicorn, levitate a spoon to the bowl of thick stew, he held his breath. It wasn’t uncommon for them to get new customers, seeing as how they were the only watering hole within a day’s hike in any direction, although that meant they’d occasionally get uppity visitors who weren’t used to their particular brand of service.

You straightened up, slipped the emptied serving platter under one arm, and surveyed the interior. The tavern wasn’t all that big, having a serving area that could comfortably seat about three-dozen patrons at best, but it was comfy - well, it was comfy most of the time. The promise of a hot meal, a cold brew, and a warm place, paired with the blustering winter winds just outside, had brought them to capacity as soon as they’d opened the door for the evening.

Languidly turning your attention back to the horned equine, you cocked a brow. "We good?"

"No," the unicorn huffed, reaching out and pushing the bowl away. "No, I won’t accept this peasant gruel - for buck’s sake, I think there’s meat in it!"

"Not sure if you caught what I said, but it’s this or nothing," You grumbled, sliding the bowl back to the pony.