We visited this place last October and had the to be expected horrible experience but felt like there was potential and were willing to come back after the kinks got fixed.. Â
On a whim today I was reading the current reviews and noted that the review that my dinner partner and myself had left back then are now gone. Â When businesses pay to join Yelp and then start deleting their bad reviews, I get suspicious. Â The BEST thing to do would be to publicly reply to each one of those negative reviews, LEARN FROM THEM, and move on. Â No one really sets out to keep your business from succeeding, your lack of responsiveness to an outpouring of negative specific feedback is the reason your business will fail,
I LOVED the chowder and have been craving it on every cool day.. But you need to listen to your customers a little... Your vision may be off a little.
My family stopped here randomly on a Thursday afternoon for lunch. We were drawn in by the patio seating and menu choices. Despite our server's best efforts, our experience was very disappointing. The kitchen made multiple mistakes on our food and some of the food was inedible. I had a salmon salad... The salmon was not fresh and terribly dry and over cooked. I would not go back.
Review Source:i called the tavern the 3rd of july and asked a few questions we planned to have dinner in the restaurant  then catch the 4th of july fireworks from the garage above .having 8 people to dinner on a day that they arent busy we figured they would be happy for the group .. i specifically asked if  their service had gotten better since teh yelp reviews had me worried but i had people that would not go far to get a better dinner and there are plenty of better dinners in salem . first one to get to the table was kim shes a waitress so she gave the nice girl a heads up and ordered  drinks they had been downtown all day and needed drinks . another girl came over told  kim "she  would be our waitress and not take orders till everyone arrived." the other girl never came back .... we all arrived and sat place  was pretty empty  we had one part of the place to ourselves but each time we asked  for any thing we felt like we were asking her to bench press the world ...during our wait the bath rooms were used ... a friend and her 2 girls went in and came right back out it was so bad .. they used the bathrooms in the mall that homeless people sleep in .. they were cleaner .kids got kids meals the ribs cut like they were plywood dry and hard awfull we waited fro ever fro our checks had to ask 2 and  3 times for drink refills.... now i have a rule if  cant complain about something unless you offer to talk to someone and let them know how disappointing it was i called explained and was offered not even a sorry you had a bad time . just ill have to find out who that was . salem has so many great places please try one of them before you go here ..
Review Source:As one reviewer states below, "this place has no direction". A truer statement has never been made. People who open restaurants need to have a clear vision of what they want before going into it. Try to do too many things and nothing will ever be done better than average..and confusion reigns as I witnessed and experienced on a recent visit. Servers weren't sure who had certain tables, orders for tables were delivered to wrong tables. Servers were taking orders then disappearing and you'd end up with another server trying to take the order you had already ordered and when you'd say something they'd look at you like you were nuts. Then you'd wait 45 minutes for chicken wings only to be told that they, "musta been entered through the bartender." whatever that means.
I do believe the place has potential. I like the atmosphere and some of the live entertainment but they need focus. The amount of people aimlessly running around needs to be addressed.
We have a friend that just started working here so we went over Monday. First we waited an hour for a table half the place was empty. We ordered drinks. Ok but overpriced on poor mixes being used. Wife got a coffee drink it was cold and no whipped cream. We ordered after 40 minutes we asked how much longer. In the mean time we ask for a grilled cheeses for the baby to tide him over. It was cold and burnt. 1 hour into waiting we grab the waitress she says the order is not even close to being started. Frustrating part is no one gave a damn if we would out un happy. I think they were just happy to see us go with out a hassle. This place is terrible and the owners should be ashamed of them selfs and so should the crew. Not even a sorry what can we do to make it right...nothing...so in the end they suck and they deserve to go under.
Review Source:Stay away from the beef brisket sandwich. The beef and the BBQ sauce where ok, but the bun is two slices of white bread toasted, and there was a huge lack of beef. Fries where good but the lack of brisket defiantly left me hungry. Stick to the steak tips I had them last time I was there and they where actually pretty good.
It would have given two stars if it wasn't for the entertainment. Peter Mercier runs a open mic night every Tuesday and he nails it. Some good local talent, Peter himself is a fantastic singer and he makes sure everybody is having a good time.
My wife chose the Village Tavern for 8 of us to have dinner and watch the Bruins game on my birthday. She was able to make a reservation and they were even nice enough to make sure that we got a table with a good view of the TV's.
When we first got there I was pretty psyched because I like the look of the place, the beer selection, the food selection and they have a shuffleboard table (oddly enough, no one else in Salem has one). But my excitement did not last....
The food in general gets a 1.5 out of 5. The jumbo smokehouse BBQ wings were fantastic and the 2 people that had the pulled pork burritos said that they were good. Personally, I had the BBQ combo 2 and it was terrible. The pulled pork was clearly chipped, not pulled and it was drowned in a ketchup-like BBQ sauce, gross. The brisket was super dry and very tough. Neither meat was very flavorful. 2 other people in the party had the brisket as well and felt the same way.
The beer selection was pretty good, but definitely pales in comparison to some of the other bars in Salem (Tavern in the Square, Rockafella, etc.). I also thought the beer was slightly overpriced. 22oz microbrew for $8 is more expensive than Beerworks right around the corner. 2 of our party members were drinking hard liquor and I am told that the drinks were very stiff and that is never a bad thing.
The service wasn't terrible but there was definitely room for improvement. 4 members of my party, including myself, were waitstaff at one time or another and a cardinal sin is to let 8 people who are watching a hockey game have to chase you for more beers. There were 2 times that we had to send a search party for our waitress, once for more beers as there were multiple empty glasses on the table and thirsty Bruins fans, and then again when we wanted our check.
PROS:
Good atmosphere (even when the band came on you could still hold a conversation at the bar)
Good beer selection
Lots of menu choices
Friendly service (After the hockey game we left our table and headed to the bar for shuffleboard and beers....bartenders were very friendly and attentive despite being busy)
Shuffleboard table!
CONS:
Service needs improvement
The food is pretty bad...if you want to be Salem's spot for BBQ food, get your act together on the pulled pork front.
Beers are a little pricey
I really wanted to love this place when we first walked in. I left there wondering if I will ever make it back. I would say that this place is still good for having beers, appetizers and watching a game, but for dinner, I would definitely find somewhere else to go.
I just got back from lunch at the Village Tavern, and while the food didn't knock our socks off, it was perfectly decent and a pleasant meal overall. We were greeted right away and taken to a table outside, as we requested. The server was polite and attentive -- he showed up at all the right times, offered to refill our water glasses, took my boyfriend's plate away when he finished, asked if I was done (which I wasn't quite) and came back for my plate in a few minutes. I had the mac and cheese w/ broccoli, which exceeded my expectations (it was baked with buttery breadcrumbs, the broccoli was cooked but still a little crisp -not mushy at all-, and green onions on top, with a creamy cheese sauce) and my bf had a burger, which was a pretty good burger, cooked just slightly under well-done (he asked for well done). We live nearby, and this will probably be one of our middle-of-the-road places, when we don't want to splurge for a favorite place, but still want to have a decent meal for $20-$25 total for the 2 of us.
Review Source:I have been here numerous times since opening weekend at the end of September 2012. I have sat at the bar for drinks/apps, sat in the dining room for dinner or lunch (and drinks where appropriate) and lastly went in this morning for brunch that they recently started. Food can be hit or miss but personally had more hits than misses. I have heard friends had not so great service and/or food. But overall decent. I keep going back so they are doing something right! The first time I was there opening weekend the food was eh. I think they were trying to open to fast for October in Salem and staffed well (maybe to well) so employees were standing around with not enough to do. Burgers there are good. The southern pulled pork dishes that i have had have been hit or miss. The breakfast today was decent. I got the 3 egg omlette. It was huge! I am tlaking the size of my head huge. Stuffed with lots of meat and veggies and came with home fries and toast (not buttered- pet peeve of mine) and 2 slices of bacon (or you can get ham). For the amount of food you get the prices overall are decent.
Review Source:Stopped in to watch the Red Sox home opener on a random Monday afternoon. Enjoyed the Slumbrew on draft. Good call. Had the smoked bbg wings, and an order of the nachos with chili. Both were good pub grub. Disappointed that the pulled pork was being smoked and wasn't available, and that a self-proclaimed oyster bar was offering fried oysters, but the raw oysters weren't available that day.
Service was good and friendly. Decor is pub. I'll try the place again.
Had Monday off for the Sox opener. Â Decided to take a walk downtown and check out the The Village Tavern...Great TVs for games at the bar...Good comfortable bar with plenty of drafts on tap..Bartender was friendly and helpful with the menu....Decided on the Beef Brisket sandwich (Cooked in the Smoker)...One of the best sandwiches I have had in a long time! Can't wait to go back.
Review Source:Went to the Bluegrass night it was awesome. Â Got there early to grab something to eat. Â The bartender was knowledgeable and they had a great beer menu. Â Had the bread bowl chowder, it was creamy a bit of bacon lots of clams, just the way I like it. then got the Brisket sandwich which was tender seasoned great awesome sandwich. Â Then the music started and it was such a great night.
I haven't gotten to one of the best parts yet, they have shuffleboard. Blue grass was a lot of fun, I had some Kentucky bourbon beers that the bartender recommended and gave me a taste it had a great flavor. Â Overall I would recommend the experience to anyone in the area.
Came back on a Saturday during the day, great little three piece berkley kid band, had  a great large salad with grilled chicken and watched the derby. Lot of fun.
Stumbled across with great dive bar with some girlfriend when we visited the East Coast! Â We loved the assortment of draft beers and it was cool how the bartender mentioned that they often mix up the beers selections just to satisfy the needs of all their customers. Â Especially loved how they had a great microbrew selection!!!
The food they served here was decent! PULLED PORK SANDWICH was great and they offered fresh, seasonal oysters at the bar as well! Definitely worth a visit!
Let me preface this by saying that I am extreeeemely patient, always open to second (and third) chances, and understanding of the myriad of unforeseen mishaps that can occur during service at dining establishments. My best friend is a chef who once fainted during service. Back of the house dropped everything. Things happen.
When service or food is horrible, what saves a restaurant from a dismal rating is the undeniable tastiness of its memorable fare OR exceptional quality of service, respectively.
It was an early Sunday evening and a few of us in our group were craving raw oysters. We were strolling around the area and we stumbled upon the Village Tavern. We entered and were greeted by a live band. But no one else. For a very long time. The eight of us stood in the area between the oyster bar and tavern bar - perfectly visible to the entire restaurant - begging for attention from the one waiter who looked at us several times and the one waitress at the oyster bar who also looked up from her shucking several times...but did nothing, said nothing. The waitress eventually, after a very long time - I think most people would have already left - asked us for the number of people in our party and said she would be with us in a moment. Tick tock, tickety tock...about five more minutes passed and just when we were about to leave, the waiter seats us in the oyster bar.
Finally! Oh, look...cute menus that look like newspapers. I appreciate that quirk.
We ordered: a couple of beers, potato skins, fried pickles, a veggie burger, a grilled chicken sandwich, two beef brisket sandwiches, and a NY sirloin. Funny that no one ordered oysters.
N liked the veggie burger and whoever tried the fried pickles (including myself) enjoyed them...which were served about 30 minutes after we placed our orders and 30 minutes before we started to receive our entrees. Unfortunately, a veggie burger and tasty fried pickles cannot carry the weight of a dish that my friend deemed disgusting, sad soggy fries all around, boring, fatty brisket, a cold-to-the-touch bun when the brisket is supposed to be on "grilled sourdough bread," an undercooked steak, overall sub-par food, and nearly non-existent service.
Note: My friend and I ordered beef brisket sandwiches. Although I didn't find it disgusting like she did, it was certainly fatty, and the chunks of beef that weren't fatty were flavorless. I was starving, so I ate some of it and the top half of the cold bun, as well as some of the soggy fries.
Our waiter was friendly and SEEMED to be working hard because he looked flustered the couple times he came by our table within the HOUR that we were waiting for our entrees. (Yes, we didn't leave.) Here's the thing.... We were the only people seated in the oyster bar. There were people in the tavern bar who were being served by the bartender. And there were only a few guests in the dining parlor, so what gives?
Here was the problem - COMMUNICATION. Communication is the key to any relationship, yes? It was not until the end of our horrible dining experience that we were told that their chef accidentally cut himself bad enough that they had to call in another chef. Pretty important situation. Why not inform us of the situation at the beginning?!
If the chef cuts himself again, if you're understaffed, whatever the case may be, here's what you tell the guests - within a reasonable amount of time once they enter your establishment: Welcome to the Village Tavern. Just to let you know, [INSERT THE APPLICABLE UNFORESEEN MISHAP HERE]. We would be happy to serve you, but service will be slower than usual due to this unforeseen mishap.
If your guests opt to stay, be sure to check in with them once in a while during their long wait time. Even though it's not something you normally do, perhaps you can offer them bread and butter. If anything, COMMUNICATE with your guests. Otherwise, they will walk out on you...just like the people who came in and ordered before us...which you discovered as you finally brought out their dishes.
You lost money with the party before us. You lost money with our party because my friend refused to pay for her disgusting meal and you ended up giving us a 50% discount on our total bill. Was the severe lack of communication worth it? Was your waitstaff overworked? Did guests leave satisfied? Were you satisfied as an establishment?
We give credit to the manager on duty for not charging us for my friend's inedible meal and for giving us a 50% discount. We understand the mishaps and how that affects overall service and we appreciate the discount gesture (even though my other friend had to have a detailed discussion with him about our experience), but in the end, the food was just not worth anyone's time or effort.
If you want a good veggie burger, fried pickles and a 22 oz beer served by friendly, possibly overworked staff in a casual venue near the PEM, Village Tavern is an option for you. Otherwise, I leave you with this: No.
Meh...Less than advertised...Not an interesting beer selection with the exception of Slumbrew which I had and is phenomenal...BBQ ribs were horribly dry...Wifey's mac and cheese looked good but was dried out and tasteless...Bartender was great but she was alone and overworked. May go back for the music but won't expect much. Â Can park in garage and they validate, which is good. An ok place to watch a game, but that's it. Given the quality of the food, I don't know if I'd try an oyster.
Review Source:Darling you say, mircrobrew on tap? Felt like I walked into the festivities of Oktoberfest, so alcohol consumption is a must. I sound like an alcoholic rating establishments 5 stars because of the amount of liquor they serve. -_-
Everything from their monstrous martinis, ( great price by the way) to their selections of drafts, and premium bottles. I did not try their food, it looked like it was a cross between TGIF and Sizzliers. Literally, probably a combination of both menus, so it was a bit much to take in. I'm a minimalist type gal, so I'll save the food for another visit. But as far as beer, martini's, full bar, outdoor seating, and a TV, I'm a happy camper because I'm not expecting wine and dine. So "Beifall!" to you!
I've only been to the Village Tavern 2 times. Â
The first time, was on a very quiet Thurs. night & I had dinner at the bar w/ a friend. Â The bartender was very friendly. Â I ordered the burger & it was good. Â Also had a mixed drink (sweet tea vodka) & that was excellent.
I did notice the menu was a bit much. Â Difficult to read & way too many choices, Although that didn't bother me too much.
The second time we went there was on an even quieter Wed night & my husband & I took our 2 kids. Â We had, what may be, the worst service we've ever experienced. Â We were the waitresses only table & she made it pretty clear she was less than thrilled to be serving kids. Â She didn't even ask if we wanted anything else when we were done eating (didn't even bother bringing the ice cream that went w/ the kids meals)....she just gave us the check & took off.
I want very, very much to like this place. Â It's a good location & the food is ok.....but the crappy waitress just ruined it for me.
Walking thru downtown Salem a few weeks back, I noticed the village tavern and saw they had allot of draft beers on tap. My kind of place.
I sampled a microbrew and a Guinness. Both were good. I was happy they had a nice range of beers instead of just bud, miller etc. the bartender also explained the rotate beers and clean the lines which is important in a quality draft beer. The bartender recommended their BBQ so I tried a sandwich. It also was good. Sauce had flavor and the meat was moist.
Definitely worth a visit if your in the neighborhood. I'm sure it gets busy during game time.
The menu at Village Tavern has no clear direction. Village wants to be an oyster bar, sports bar, BBQ joint and a Mexican restaurant. Â They would be better served doing 1 or 2 things really well rather than trying to be everything for everyone.
When I went in for a drink with friends I ordered a Guinness and and they served it in a frozen Woodchuck cider pint glass. No self-respecting bar can have Guinness paraphernalia on the walls and then serve it in frozen glass.
I did have a pretty good pulled pork sandwich, which is why I'm giving it 2 stars.
I was randomly walking down Essex Street on a Thursday night, and saw this place/heard the music playing. Decided to stop in for a drink, ended up staying for a few. I had great service the entire time I was there, good enough that my coaster didn't stay empty. Although I didn't have any, they offered free nachos from 9-930 on Thursday nights.
Didn't partake in food, but they had enough options to have me curious. Will definitely be going back there for some more drinks and fun. PM me for more details.
I was here on a Sunday when the Pat's weren't playing.
I met a few friends for drinks and a quick bite to eat at the bar. I was impressed with the menu, and ordered a BBQ brisket sandwich served like a Reuben. My friends got some burgers and other BBQ trios that looked really good. My sandwich was good, but I was jealous of the BBQ plate.
We had a good time playing shuffle board and watching football.
Cold Beer, Good food, a great place to meet a few friends for a drink.
I was cautious of the negative reviews at first, but it seems they have worked out the problems.
I'll be back.
I'm not one to judge a newly opened restaurant too harshly but this one inspired me. Â While I usually go to Yelp for all things food, I went to this restaurant on a whim and because I had a hankering for some raw oysters.
The good news is the oysters were delicious. The bad news is everything else wasn't. Â I ordered a steak medium rare and the missus ordered pork chops. Â The steak was decently cooked while the pork chops tasted like they were on the verge of going bad. The sides we ordered, chili and macaroni cheese, both had the consistency of buffet food sitting out for too long
In addition, when we received our check, we noticed that we were charged extra for side items that supposedly came with our meal. Â We brought this up with our waitress and she informed us that certain sides are considered "signature items" and thus would cost extra. Â Since when is macaroni and cheese considered a premium side?!? Nowhere on the menu was this stated (all sides were grouped together) and the waitress never bothered to inform us while we were making our order. Â She even got a little defensive and said that it was on the menu so we handed it to her. Â Lo and behold, she couldn't find it either.
As a side note, we went on a Friday and a DJ came on at 9pm to play music. The restaurant can't seem to decide whether it's a club or a restaurant. Â Depending on where you sit, you may not be able to hear yourself think. Â Thankfully the waitress was nice enough to move us.
Pros
Excellent location to everything downtown
Heated lamps for outside seating
Excellent oysters
Waitress was generally nice until the problem with the check
Cons
Entrees ranged from o-k to bad
Hidden charges for certain side items
Loud music depending on where you sit
In short, there are way too great restaurants in the Salem area to warrant stopping in this place. Â Maybe in a year or so the restaurant will work out the kinks and find its identity, but for now I would avoid.
I've been wanting to try this place ever since it opened but only now have finally gotten around to going. Â I was a little nervous based on previous reviews so my expectations were a little low and, I found out, for good reason. Â
Service is big for me and the Village Tavern was simply middle of the road. Â The waitress didn't ignore us and was friendly but we had to wait a good five minutes for someone to come over and greet us and take our drink order. Â I finished my meal before my girlfriend and she came and took my plate away which was great. Â Once my girlfriend finished, the waitress didn't ask if she was done and didn't offer us anything such as dessert, coffee or any drinks. Â Just here's the check. Â
I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and asked for it to be cooked well done. Â It came back medium well which isn't bad but I wanted to include it in this review so you are aware of how they cook their burgers. Â Every place is different. Â The burger was still enjoyable but I've had better. Â However, the steak fries are the worst! Â They were a little hard to bite into and there was barely any potato in the fries. Â They tasted overcooked and were bland, no seasoning whatsoever to these fries. Â Hands down the worst fries I've ever had. Â
This place is new so there is more they could do as far decor is concerned. Â There is a big bar with televisions and word has it a raw bar. Â But since I wasn't thrilled with their cooked food, I'm not sure I fully trust their raw food. Â
More and more Salem restaurants are beginning to focus on their beer menu which I love but Village Tavern doesn't have much outside of the usual suspects: Blue Moon, Harpoon, Bud Light, Sam Adams and Narragansett. Â
It wasn't a bad experience but I doubt I'll be back unless the food improves.
Several improvements made to food, as well as staff. Food came out nice & hot, The Birsket was to die for! Love the fact my cheese was melted on my sandwich this time. They are headed in the right direction for sure now! I would like to see different DJs however. I would hops word goes out further soon. I would also like to see more room to dance after hours if possible. Maybe more Special Effects Lights, attract a younger a crowd perhaps. They are beginning to really define exactly what kind of restaurant they are. It seems the growing pains are beginning to diminish. I would also like to see other additional items able to be requested at the bar. Perhaps some things ghat are not on the menu such as a cotton candy martini perhaps.
Review Source:Like the other Yelpers, I worried about posting a review, but I hope to post a better one in the future, should I return. Our first visit to the Village Tavern was a disaster, though. Granted our time there already had two major strikes against it; they just opened, and it was October.
The good points:
Their location is great for people watching and convenient to walking downtown.
Our server was very friendly.
The menu was varied.
They have really cool torch-like outdoor heaters and plenty of outdoor seating.
The negative points:
The menu is so broad, I'm not really sure what they're good at. It seems like a catch-all tourist spot. Their menus are all also printed on newsprint, which may seem cool, but it means they're wasting menus every day, as opposed to reusable menu binders.
Our of our party of five, only one person's order was correct when it was served.
After waiting over an hour for our food to be delivered, we finally had to ask for bread to be served to the table (while other tables were being served it as they sat down) for our hungry kids.
Of the food that was served correctly, all of our "roasted" vegetables were raw--not cold, not under-cooked--raw. We had bowls of raw, cold carrots, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, and red onion. When we asked if this was how they were normally served, or if the kitchen was backed up enough to send out raw food, the waiter did offer to take them back if we preferred ours cooked. I said I would take them home and cook them myself.
All of our other food was rather banal or over-cooked.
When we got our bill, there were other items that we didn't order listed.
After finishing our meal, we did call over the manager and tell him about our experience. We said we understood that they were new and that October is a super busy time in Salem, but we hoped none of the other people present that night were locals, because they probably wouldn't come back. We'll probably try the restaurant again once they've been around longer--if they stay around. The manager was very nice and did reduce our bill quite a bit, but it was not a good first impression.
I usually don't like writing bad reviews, especially since this place is still new. Â But I live right down the street and if this place were up to par, I would be a regular. Â I can only hope that they shake off their "growing pains" if that's what their problems are stemming from, because they won't last otherwise.
I went with a friend (who also lives super close by) for a couple appetizers and some drinks.  It was on a Sunday, the Pats game was coming to a close, the place was absolutely NOT busy and there were waitstaff practically falling over each other, so a shortage of staff wasn't the problem.  To make a long story short, the food was terrible (nachos=SUPER salty, gross cheese  potato skins= very greasy and overcooked, no dipping sauce of any kind) The cocktails were awful and took forever (seems like maybe they should stick with beer and wine and make it simple).  Although the server was very sweet, she was super slow.  Now, that may have been because the bar and the kitchen were slow, but either way, it seems like there was little communication between the three.   Unless something changes, the BeerWorks and Tavern in the Square have nothing to fear from this newcomer.
The one place when I visited the East Coast that I was very disappointed, it was very somewhat busy from the festival, but it was 10 mins before they acknowledged as we waited patiently seated at the bar, my sandwich came out before the oysters which I was still waiting for as I wrote this, which took roughly 20 mins after our food and were tiny.
Only thing ok was the beer and the waitress was friendly.
This was probably one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had. Â The restaurant was packed, don't get me wrong, but there also seemed to be an adequate amount of staff on to handle the lunch rush.
Came here for lunch this past weekend, we were seated right away and our server, Courtney, immediately greeted us. Â That was the best part of the entire dining experience. Â It took around 20 minutes to get our drinks. Â Another 15 minutes to get a glass for the beer I ordered. Â Well over an hour for our food, which arrived cold and missing sides it was supposed to come with. Â I had ordered another beer within the 60 minute wait for our food which I never received--but of course it was put on the bill, with the server simply saying "Oh, I thought I gave it to you." Â She was very unapologetic, and clearly not weeded since she kept stopping to chat with the women seated next to us. Â I saw at least 3 or 4 other servers handling the outside area, so I'm assuming the sections aren't that big. Â I realize the food taking legitimately AN HOUR is not her fault, but our drinks taking 20 minutes each time, and one time not even getting the drink I ordered is.
I feel bad leaving a terrible review like this, but I've never received such bad service in my life and I'm a little less forgiving considering the amount of staff I saw working that day. Â What should have been a 45 minute lunch turned into a 90 minute lunch that was extremely unenjoyable. Â We should have just went to Wendy's. Â I will not be returning.
I'm a little surprised by the reviews. My boyfriend and I had a really great night there. It was a little busy since we went during busy season in Salem. We had a lot of fun and the waitress was really sweet and cute.
The food was pretty good- I'd love to get my hands on their chowder recipe. We also had oysters and we were chatting with the waitress and she said that they were from a local company which is pretty cool. Â Steak tips were great!
The location was fun- after dinner we did a little bar hopping with friends. It was in the middle of all the fun Salem activities. I would def. go next time I'm on the north shore.
My girlfriend and I make an annual trip up to Salem every year in October to see the beautiful town of Salem in all it's glory during the busiest time of the year. We have gone to the other big named restaurants in the area and when I heard that there was an oyster bar, we beelined for the Village Tavern as quickly as possible. The place was packed and in order to get somewhere to sit we decided since the bar area had a handful of seats open we would sit at the bar and eat. We got there and sat down at 1:40 pm and watched the two (or three?) bartenders scramble about the bar pouring mostly beers at a snails pace. After being ignored for more than 15 minutes I told my girlfriend that by 2:00 pm if we didn't see menus or were asked what we'd like then we'd leave. There was a group of people next to us at the bar that waited an hour for appetizers and a small gathering of college kids that got so fed up with waiting for 10 minutes without seeing a menu (like us) and walked out. Literally at 1:59 the bartender looked at us and asked if we would like something to drink. I ordered a pumpkin beer and my girlfriend ordered a Sam-Octoberfest. I was pleasently surprised to find that they dipped the rip of my glass into vanilla/cream cheese icing and coated it with sweet pumpkin spices which enhanced the flavor of the beer. We figured since we would have to wait for a very long time to get an entree we would stick to appetizers. I got 1/2 dozen oysters and New England Clam Chowder and she got the Nachos. The oysters and the beer were the only good thing that we got. The New England Clam Chowder tasted more like bacon and potato soup with absolutely no flavor of clam chowder - I figured going to new england I would get a great cup of chowder - this was not the case. The Nachos were absolutely horrendous!
DO NOT GET THE NACHOS
The nachos were bland and the chips were burnt on the outside - something I would normally overlook if the nachos themselves were actually good since it means they were put into an over rather than a microwave. The nachos consisted of cheap cheese blend topped over nacho chips with some onions and tomatoes. The chips under the top layer were naked/had barely any cheese on them and after about 4 minutes at the bar the cheese was cold and dismal. The salsa was extremely watery and tasteless. Why do they not put cheese sauce or something on the nachos to enhance the flavor - I'd get a better nacho dish at a crappy Taco Bell rather than this place. Â Since the food was so bad I wanted to wash it down with another beer - except the bartender dropped the check off WITH THE FOOD and we have yet seen him to see if we wanted a refill. The only quick service we got was when we paid - they were oh so happy to get the people out that they could care less about making them want to stay. In all the time we waited - the fastest the bartender moved was when he dropped the check to us - and brought us back the change. Oh well, his loss considering I probably would've stayed to have another beer.
If I could leave a 0 I would, but the only saving graces for this places' horrible service, crappy food, and over priced beer is that the beer was in fact cold, the little twist to the pumpkin beer was nice, and that the oysters were fresh and the cocktail sauce was good. I will never return to this place again in our travles back to Salem, and hope that someone knocks some sense into management and the kitchen staff/chef so they can make some worthwile food to make people want to come back since the location is so ideal.
I came to Village Tavern with low expectations; expecting it to be busy, have new/unexperienced staff, and a hodge podge menu. Maybe this is why my experience was enjoyable overall?
Yes - the menu is a mess. Too many items. No coherent restaurant theme/speciality/etc. I don't mind the newspaper look though - it's kind of fun.
Yes - they are overwhelmed by the October crowds as they have only been open one week, so give them a little slack.
Our service was efficient and friendly. Our food - simple brisket sandwiches - were just fine and the fries were good. Beers on tap were great and the outside seating was appreciated. Hopefully those heat lamps can get us through November.
Nothing really wow'd me enough to come back. I wish this restaurant provided Salem with something more interesting. It is close to home so maybe it will be a good place to grab a drink every now and then. Food was good, but not something I would go out of my way to have again.
It saddens me to write this as I was so excited about a new bar/ restaurant opening in my 'hood.
On Saturday night I had a few girlfriends visiting the area and I thought it would be fun to try out this much anticipated new restaurant in the Pedestrian Mall. The patio looked cozy and inviting with heat lamps and cushioned chairs.
My first impression caused me a little concern. While there were 3 girls behind the hostess stand they seemed confused and nervous about seating a table of 4 outside for drinks and appetizers. Maybe it was the fact that we didn't order dinner? Perhaps she was trying to figure out which waitress to assign to the table? (It seemed like they had a TON of help staff.) One of the girls was also complaining about a previous table/ customer and the tip. -- inappropriate when you are the first thing a potential new customer sees/hears.
Anyway, we get seated. And the menu is set up like a newspaper. Fine, but there is a LOT on the menu. It's a little distracting and overwhelming and really causes you to wonder what this place is all about. Is it a BBQ place? Oyster bar? Pub? Dive? Therein lies the problem with Village Tavern. If they made all of these things wonderfully, I'd say "go for it, you rock!" But there was nothing really good about anything we ordered.
We started with a bottle of wine for the table. The waitress brought over an open bottle of wine and left it on the table with 3 glasses. It seemed like she truly didn't know that was inappropriate bottle service. If we are going to pay double what the bottle would cost over at Bunghole Liquors, we should at least get proper service. We waited for a few minutes thinking she would come back and pour for us, but she did not.
FYI proper service is to 1) Open the bottle at the table 2) Let the person who ordered take a sip and make sure it's good 3) pour a serving to each person at the table 4) come back periodically and refill glasses
Maybe this only happens at every other restaurant I've ever been to...
I haven't even started with the food...sigh. (Note: as other reviews mentioned, items we initially ordered were no longer available...)
We ordered 3 Apps and shared around. Thank GOD we did not order a full meal or we would have been beyond disappointed. We got some kind of wings that came with a BBQ sauce. (These were not terrible and actually warm and had some good pieces of meat on them. However they needed/ should have provided more sauce on the side. And there were only 4 wings so we each got one little wing.) These get 1 star. Then we ordered the something Yum Yum, described to us as similar to an Awesome Blossom. When this plate of cold withering fried onions showed up, we had to say something. It was like someone had ordered an Awesome Blossom an hour earlier and this is what they left on their plate when they were full. (The waitress kindly took it back and had them make another one. This one she said they made from scratch and she watched pull out of the fryer.) - Nice, but why wasn't the first one made from scratch? Still, one star here for her service and the fact they took that item off the bill. When it came back it was much improved but still not great. Then, the last app we got was a serving of fried oysters. Just thinking about the taste of these makes me a little sick to my stomach. It tasted like they dropped frozen oysters into a fryer and fried no only the oysters but the melted water. They were bland, really chewy and slightly watery. We were so hungry and had waited so long that we needed something to go with our empty bottle of wine at this point. So we ate them.
Needless to say we were thrilled to leave this place and go somewhere else nearby for dinner. I would not recommend this place to friends until management seriously revamps the menu and training of servers/ cooks.
Please, call that show Bar Rescue ASAP before it gets worse!
Where do I begin. OK it's new, I get it, still not an excuse for a 2 hour horror lunch. Menu is confusing and overwhelming. This restaurant doesn't know what it wants to be,a little of everything I guess which screams tourist trap. I ordered the brisket Reuben and as it turns out they were out of the brisket. disappointed the opted for the pulled pork,which was not very "pulled" and  more like pedestrian crock pot version that was cold and totally underwhelming. My buddy ordered a chicken sandwich and soup to start. The soup never came , sandwich arrived without the advertised lettuce, tomato and onion. When he told waitress it was supposed to come with aforementioned  accoutrements she replied, "No it's not". Ohhhkayyy... Points for having what looked like hand cut fries, but  all points deducted for the flimsy undercooked spuds that could have used a whole lot more time in the fryer. My friends daughter got a kids meal grilled cheese which came with apples slices as a substitute for the fries which he felt was a nice option.  The ice cream arrived as part of the kids meal but unfortunately since she is 2, she had some difficulty using the soup spoon that was provided.Upon asking for a teaspoon,, we were told that they were on backorder. I can only surmise that the spoons must be on the same truck as the brisket. Clearly this place opened a good 3-4 weeks to early. When we kindly spoke to part-time manager/bartender on staff about the long wait and issues, she diverted all attention to my friends daughter to basically change the subject and not listen to us. She then so graciously took the grilled cheese kids meal off the bill, instead of any of our meals or even our round of beers. I wonder why...
I see other reviewers repeat that they were out of certain foods they wanted to order, like the brisket when I was there. Funny how they had plenty of t-shirts,mugs,pints and whatever other swag for tourists. For those of you living in the North Shore, consider yourselves warned, this establishment is not meant for us.
I really feel bad giving a bad review for a place just starting out but i was so disappointed.
My boyfriend and I went in last night to grab some food to go. We got a platter that came with potato skins with pulled pork, nachos, tenders and wings. We asked for  bbq tenders and buffalo wings for the order. I don't know if they felt they had to rush since we came in to sit and wait for it, but the whole order was wrong. The 2 potato skins didn't come with pulled pork on them (even though I'm pretty sure that's what the menu said they were suppose to have on them), the 2 tenders were an extremely weird, gross black color and had a strange taste to them, not buffalo OR bbq. The 2 wings we BBQ and probably the worst wings I've ever had.  The nachos were eh. The worst part of all of this was this meal costed $18.00. SUCH A WASTE!
I only gave the place two stars because everyone was so friendly there. I'd probably try the food again just because the place is new and might need a few weeks to get it's act together,
I think the Village Tavern's menu is varied enough to provide a less trendy, but viable alternative to the "something-for-everyone" Beer Works menu, and I'm hoping with time, they'll work out their newly opened restaurant kinks.
That said, at Saturday at 7pm-ish they'd run out of a handful of items on the menu, and our server indicated it had been very busy all day. Our food's arrival wasn't delayed, though its quality, presentation, and volume did not live up to our expectations, let alone those set by the menu.
Based on our experience, we had the impression they were running out of numerous other items as well, as our appetizer, one of our entrees, and one of our drink orders was missing ingredients based on their menu descriptions, and in one case, inadequate substitutions had been made that were noticeable enough to cause us to ask if we'd been delivered the wrong order. The serving size of one of our items was 50% smaller than its menu description.
Both house side salads we ordered were well appointed, appropriately-sized, and quite fresh.
While our server was competent and pleasant, her expression was that of someone who been addressing numerous ongoing unsolvable problems and was expecting more to arise. Based on the quality, presentation, and volume of what we were served, and as well, our server's dignified air of resignation, I have to wonder if because of dwindling food, they had been fielding numerous complaints.
The interior ambiance had a more family restaurant vibe than I expected from a "tavern", and I wonder if this might be improved by turning the overhead recessed lighting down a notch, which was imparting a somewhat cafeteria feel.
I rated my experience a 2, based on the less-than-mediocre food, but in all fairness, as this new establishment gains a better handle over time of its business volume, inventory, and prep needs, any food quality, quantity, and presentation problems should resolve themselves. Â
All new restaurants have start-up problems, and we intend to watch this restaurant's reviews as they get their feet under them, and may venture back in mid-November, after the Halloween craziness has passed.
I'll give my first experience a 3, hopefully due to growing pains, but a 3 none the less. Â
The food overall was ok. Â We found the overall decor very similar to the Picadilly Pub from the 90's. Â Service was a little rough, but again, hopefully this will improve in time. Â
There is a lot going on with this restaurant but really no theme to speak of. Â
From menu (American/BBQ/oyster bar/sports bar) to decor there is little that makes this restaurant unique on the North Shore...especially not Salem.
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