The Village Tavern is one of the first places that we dined when moving to Winston Salem 13 years ago. The ambience, the open kitchen, and of course the menu make for a great combination. Evidently, we are not the only ones who think so, as many times there is quite a wait for a table, but well worth it.
Review Source:It's hard to complain about Village Tavern. They've got an extensive menu that's got a little something for everyone, and they seem to cook it all very well. Visited there on a busy spring evening (looked like there were a lot of parties there on their way to prom - sweet) and everyone enjoyed their meals. Food came out fast and was hot. With margaritas on special, you've just got to pair that with fish tacos, am I right? A nice plate of food. I tried my aunt's shrimp & grits (a house specialty) and holy wow - southern food ways, I am on board. We'd also visited the Reynolda Village location on a previous visit and were likewise pleased.
Review Source:While back home from Chicago a few weeks ago, we returned to a perennial favorite, Village Tavern. Â Unfortunately, this place has slipped into fatal complacency. Â We were seated by the kitchen door in an otherwise empty restaurant (Monday night) and were treated to a nauseating behind the scenes slow night clean-up, including seeing one server wring out a wet rag onto the floor of the service station, which remained untouched throughout our dinner. Â When I approached the teenaged host to express my disappointment, he seemed completely surprised that I would take issue with our seating, which points to the fact that they either need more mature folks at the front desk or better management. Â Speaking of, the manager on duty never came by to address my concerns. Â I tipped 25% and vowed never to return to this local favorite that has grown far bigger than its britches.
Review Source:My co-worker and I went to Village Tavern last Wednesday (March 27th) after work to catch-up with one another's lives! On Wednesdays, the wine is half price by the bottle and the glass. Â The service was great! Â We got there around 5:30 p.m. Â We ordered the crab dip appetizer and a bottle of Merlot. Â The crab dip was extremely tasty!! We sat in the bar area and didn't have to wait to be seated. Â It started getting packed after 6:30 p.m. Â I look forward to going back on another Wednesday.
Review Source:This my wife's and I new favorite Winston Salem place. Saturday night was super. great meal and service was OK.
There was a SUPER COOL guy there that held up a lot of the staff being cool. Long hair with a pony tail and goatee. He knew everyone that worked there and had to let all of them know he was there.
The bartender enjoys throwing bottles in the trash can to see how much noise she can make. She had a great time over and over. We were sitting very close to her trash can so that wasn't fun.
We sat where we could see the kitchen. Those guys work HARD!
Great place, just don't sit in the bar and put up with the noise and COOL guys that slow down everything
If this restaurant wasn't so loud and the dinner rolls were better, I'd probably give this location four stars. Â While Village Tavern is a good place if several are dining together and have varied palates, it's usually so loud that it's difficult to carry on conversation. Â And the dinner rolls....They're awful. Â I find it hard to imagine that a restaurant of this caliber can't make fresh bread that's better than these banquet-grade rolls they bring out.
The last time we were there we had amazing service and great espresso. Â The spinach artichoke dip is soooo good, and their burger is one of the best in town. Just a few things I'd like tweaked.
Solid place to eat lunch or dinner with the family, business associates or for special occasions. Â Place has a diverse food and drink menu. Â Great outdoor seating area where they sometimes have live music.
Recommend the fish dishes and steaks. Â Bacon wrapped scallops are the freaking bomb.
Negatives
- The place is always packed. Â I highly recommend using your Yelp or Open Table app to reserve a table.
- It's very loud in the main dinning room.
- Parking can be a freaking pain when the place is jammed. Sometimes I have to park at the hotel next door. Â Last time I was there, I noticed a couple of jackwagons who double parked to keep their cars from being dinged. Â I don't like door dings either but don't be a johnson and double park. Â I hate having to park at the hotel and walk.
I've always liked Village Tavern, and every time I return to W-S, we always return there for a meal or two. Â This time, it was lunch time, and not too busy. Â We ordered Hot Crab Dip, the garlic bread was very soft and tasty. Â The only complain would be the crab pieces were very small, but the flavor was great. Â I tried the new item listed, 'Fish Taco', the fish was just right. Better than a lot of other places I've had the fish tacos, somehow they always turned up dry. Â Our waitress, Karen, was very attentive. Â We will definitely come back again.
Review Source:I really wanted to like this place. It came highly recommended. The weather was beautiful so we called ahead for seating on the patio. The atmosphere out there is very relaxing and the tables each are wired so that the umbrellas light up after dark.
Unfortunately, the service was so slow that it took over an hour for our food to get to the table from the time we ordered it. I ordered a filet mignon salad and my co-worker ordered a chicken pasta. The filet was flavorful and cooked to my order but the salad was disappointing... just a big heap of shredded iceberg lettuce in a fried flour tortilla shell.
I would go again to sit on the patio and have a drink but I'm not sure I'd go for a meal if I were hungry. The table next to us said they waited 2 hours for their food. Not hard to believe as they were there when we arrived and didn't get their food until after ours had come.
Wait: Mom went at 5PM and told them that she was with a group. Â Mom and her co-worker walked to the bar and it was during the happy hour. Â The other co-workers hadn't yet gotten a table at 6:45PM. Â The wait for mom's meal was so long that mom got her meal compted. Â She had asked the bartender twice if her meal would be coming soon. Â When mom left the restaurant mom had to keep saying: "excuse me, excuse me" b/c there were so many people trying to get in. Â Also there were no parking spaces when mom left the restaurant. Â
Decor:  Meduim to Dark wood bar  The bar stool had a back to it.  The bar had a step up. The bar edge curved so mom had to be careful to not to drop her "other fork" b/c the first forks had fallen off when a co-worker asking mom for the basket of rolls.  Mom says the rolls were warm and tasteless and some kinda oil was on them.
Food: Â Grilled Chicken (Salmon) Spinach Salad $13.95 Baby spinach, grape tomatoes, bacon, green apples (mom though this was honeydew and it was very good) , dried cranberries, spiced pecans, crumbled blue cheese (big pieces) and sliced egg tossed in Poppyseed dressing with Wood-fire grilled chicken, mom substituted salmon for the chicken. Â Mom says the cook "eventually" came out w/her salad and apologized for the wait and told mom that her meal would "be on the house" b/c the wait was so long. Â
Drink: Mom drank water. Â The water had the addition of lemon. Â
Noise: It was extemelly loud. Â Mom had to sit at the bar and eat. Â People were standing in line for a table and at the bar. Â Mom says: "There were just people, people, people. Â You would have thought that you were at the Superbowl".
Location: Â It was not hard for mom to find, but another lady had difficulty finding it.
The original Village Tavern and this iteration thereof have absolutely nothing in common. The crab dip, a standby at the original, tastes totally different at the newer location. Also the waitstaff would not stop refilling my drinks, asking me if I needed anything. At one point my server almost seemed angry with me after I told her I didn't want any more ginger ale even though they offered free refills. Also this place is freezing cold and extremely loud. Do yourself a favor and head to reynolda village.
Review Source:People looove going out to eat here for special dinners and birthdays, but I think there are many better new american style restaurants in the area. Â There's often a wait and the food is kind of hit or miss between loving it and just being okay. Â I would look into other restaurants that have a similar theme like 4th Street Filling Station and Noma.
Review Source:One of my favorite places to eat. Â The servers are is always attentive (sometimes a little bit too much). Â I almost always have Chicken Colorado or an entree salad and they never disappoint. Â As an added
plus +++ they also serve my favorite Red Oak Beer. Â That's worth an extra
star in my book.
As a native of Winston-Salem, NC, the home of Village Tavern, I have always thought of it as my go to for a nicer family friendly restaurant. Â The food has always been on the better side of good, and creative. Â Tonight was a disappointment. Â It wasn't bad, but it was obvious corners are being cut.
Starting off with the good things. Â Craft beer list is great, lots of choices from good beer producers. Â Wine list offers great choices, and something for each taste and budget. Â
Our table ordered a margarita special, which was our first inkling of change in the restaurant. Â It was undrinkable, obviously from a bad mix and no thought given. Â Chain Mexican restaurants have better. Â
Next iffy item was the switch from home made mac & cheese on kids menu to boxed Kraft orange powder. Â Really? Â For 6 bucks? Â
Bread service was frozen food service rolls. Â At least the butter made them taste ok.
Wife had crabcake sandwich, and it was good, but nothing to blow her skirt up. Â Definitely better found elsewhere in town. Â Slaw was runny, much like pre-made from Mega-Food Service provider.
I had the grilled meatloaf. Â Flavor and gravy were on target, but meat itself was a bit dry for meatloaf. Â Potatoes and green beans were good, and complimented well. Â
Ok, I know I have been harsh.  But this is not typical VT quality.  I know times are tough, but you had a line out the door, so I do not feel you should be lowering your standards to those of the national casual chains that are your neighbors.  Winston-Salem has way too many good local places to go to for the price point that VT serves in  ($12-22 for entree.)  for that average of a meal.  I will tend to recommend the Reynolda Village location instead of this one.  Its hard to believe they are related.
To close with a positive, the service was good, our server was attentive and very friendly. Â
To have once been one of the crown jewels in the Winston Salem restaurant biz, I now put it in the league of Applebees and Chili's.
Village Tavern is in one word... Fantastic. Â Great food, great wait staff, Great WINES at half price on each glass in the bar Wednesdays. Â Too bad I'm just in town one night for business. Â My hotel nearby recommended this place and what a gem. Â I had the small sirloin steak, a baked potato and wedge salad. Â Simple food order, but this is my typical order and I'm picky about what I consider to be great. Â The steak you could cut with my fork, the salad was perfectly right- not too rich and mayonnaise laden. Â The potato was perfectly baked. Â I hope I get to come back here for work. Â
PS: Â Eat in the bar if available.
Drove an hour and a half to meet a friend here and before I came I looked at the menu online and knew exactly what I was ordering. Â When I got the menu, the item I wanted was not on it. The waitress explained to me that on Sundays the menu is a "brunch" menu instead of their regular lunch menu. Â She then told me that I could wait an extra 30 minutes when the menu changed over to lunch/dinner to order what I wanted. Â So ... I waited to receive a new menu which had the item I wanted but for dinner price. Â The waitress compensated by letting me order the "lunch portion" of what I wanted. Â What did I want you ask? The Grouper. Â The dish ended up being pretty good. The waitress we had was super nice and accommodating.
Review Source:I'll just make this an addition to review of the Reynolda location - this place is larger and feels more like a big restaurant. Â I've had a steak here before that was pretty decent, but the last time I had the ribs - the ribs are terrible. Â Do not get them. Â Very thin (no meat) and not good flavor. Â Bad sauce. Â I should have known better, but I got them anyway. Â Anyway, this is a decent place, but don't expect anything amazing here. Â
2.5
My wife and I ate here for a residency interview dinner; Wake Forest paid for everything, so I can only comment on the experience, which itself is a little different because we were part of a large group.
Overall I'd say it was pretty good. Â I was a little surprised at how good our waitress was at making sure I always had a full drink. Â It did take a little longer than I would have expected to take our order, but the point for us was to talk with others there, so it was fine. Â The girl who took our order was different than the guy who brought them. Â She had missed the little customizations we had made (dressing on the side, adding mushrooms to my chicken, etc), but the guy was very quick to bring me a little bowl of sauteed mushrooms to add. Â I got the chicken teriyaki, which was pretty good. Â I wouldn't travel long distances for it, but I was happy with what I got.
For dessert we got the chocolate torte, which was really a slice of still gooey, but chilled really rich chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Â It got to be too much after just a few bites, so I wouldn't recommend it.
I checked out their menu online and the prices look pretty reasonable; if I lived here, I would probably keep this place on the list for taking visitors out, but I doubt it would be a go-to place just because we were hungry and didn't feel like cooking.
I took my mother here the other night after a long evening of cleaning the old condo. Â She swears this place is great. Â I was in the mood for fish. Â After our "15 minute wait" was up an hour later we were seated. Â On a Thursday night! Â I thought boy this must be good food. Â I was turned off by the 23 dollar price tag on the trout. Its a trout for gods sake. Â I can go down to the river and catch my own. Â So I ordered a burger instead which was very good. Â My mom ordered a burger as well and we watched our waitress roll her eyes with that cheapo patrons look. Â Maybe it was the fact that we ordered water instead of a forty dollar bottle of wine or 3.50 soda. Â Now call me a cheap ass but I aint paying 3.50 for a Coke ANYWHERE. Â My mom changed her mind and asked for a salad instead of the burger. Â When the food came they brought her salad and a lone burger pattie on a saucer. Â I understand getting an order mixed up but who in the hell would order a burger pattie? Â Mom had a gift card and asked the waitress to check the amount. Â It was only ten bucks and chickie acted like it took all her energy to do that. Â Two hours later we were on our way. Â Good food but snobby arrogant employees. Â Will not go back. Â Guess what? Â Fuddruckers has better burgers and I'd much rather deal with a dumbass teenager behind the counter than a better-than-you fake blonde anyday.
Review Source:The Village Tavern has been a staple in Winston Salem for many, many years. I have never had anything bad from this place. Steaks and seafood are always well done and the salads are always fresh and delicious.
I do NOT understand why this place is always packed. I usually pass this restaurant by because of the long wait. There are MUCH better restaurants in Winston that are easier to get to and with better prices that do not have the usual wait times as The Village Tavern.
If the wait time was reasonable, it would have gotten four stars.
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