We stopped going here under the previous management, and learned it was under new management, so we figured we would try it again. Â We found it was not any better. Â We ordered two entries, crabcakes and prime rib. Â The first thing we got was a salad the was inedible. Â We ordered vinaigrette, and it was pure vinegar. Â
We received the meals, and prime rib was not bad, but the crabcakes were lacking crab. Â The owner came over to talk to us and we explained the situation. He did give us a credit for the crabcakes, which was nice. Â We heard the table next to us, and they had a similar issue with a steak, which they did replace.
This is more of a place for tourists, a one and done.
I recently heard the Woodshed was under new management so we decided to go back. We had been there countless times over the past 20 years but there were clearly problems and we never had gone back. The property is beautiful and always had been. We were in no rush and knew we'd be there for a while. Overall we were satisfied and the quality of food was good to great. The waitstaff was attentive and cordial and our experience suggests we'd go back. The Woodshed has always had a loyal following and there aren't many restaurants in that mart of the lakes region that boast that level of establishment. It was quite crowded when we left. I thought it pricier than expected - $200 for 3 of us. I also thought some updating is in order to justify the pricing. We'd become fans if we lived in that part of lakes region but no need to venture too far from Meredith needing to find an alternative to Lago, Lakehouse Grille, or Canoe which I rate 4 stars and a great view of the lake (on 1st two). But that's where the Woodshed needs to be and I hope they move in that direction and we'll be back.
Review Source:Disappointed! I have been to the Woodshed many times(10-12). Have many great memories of the fine food and always felt welcomed by the staff and owners. Now the business has new owners I have probably been for our last time.
It all started from the moment we made a reservation. The phone was answered "Woodshed" by a female that just sounded mean. Â Asked for a specific time for our party of three and again the lady had no class in explaining that we would have to choose another time, either 15 minutes before or 15 minutes after our desired time. That was fine, other than the tone of her voice.
We arrived early and found many new faces of the staff just hanging around as we entered. Most were quite young and it was obvious that they were inexperienced. That's fine we all have to start working at some time in our lives. All were very pleasant. I asked about a sign posted on the podium explaining that the new ownership would not be accepting a list of reward programs offered by the previous owners. I commented that I had no idea that the previous owners had some of the posted reward programs and was abruptly told that, "that is why they are no longer in business" by one of the new faces. We sat in the bar and enjoyed a cocktail as was our usual way when going to the Woodshed.
We were shown to our table and met our very nice waitress. She told us the specials and left us to decide. A man was arranging a table next to us and we asked if he was an owner. He came to the table and explained he was the manager. When asked if he might except some friendly advice regarding his business, he stated "only if it is positive"! Â Â OK. Â Â The reservation phone call was explained to him. It was assumed that he should know how his customers are being greeted. Â He got defensive! Â No thank you for our interest in his businesses well being. Â No apology. Â Just defensiveness. We three diners just sat at the table in disbelief.
We ordered our meals and continued to fume at his surliness.
The food was mediocre at best. Never before had any of us been disappointed with the quality of the food.
One in our party has many years of family restaurant ownership. Another is a practicing veterinarian, and I am a small business owner. Today has been about one month from this awful experience and we still comment about how poorly it was handled by the manager, as well as the quality of our meals.
We all agree we will not go back! We have too many choices available. One in our party visited the Woodshed at least 12 times each year. Usually with 4 or 5 others in her party. That is a big chunk of business. Lost!
Eh. I can't say it was good, but I don't know if I'd kill to go back, either. We sat at a table on the balcony which was nice. The restaurant is in a big old barn so has that warm, rustic feel (a bat flew by towards the end of the meal, too- rustic, right?). The rustic vibe is cool, but I think they could definately do with some sprucing up and updating.
Cocktails were fine. Bread was terrible- tasted and felt like it had been sitting out for a few days. Complimentary salad consisted of what seemed like pre-packaged greens and that's it. Food is sort of "old school steak house"- all your typical cuts with slightly boring, run of the mill seafood and chicken dishes. Nice to have an option of potato (mashed, baked, etc...) but all plates came with the same mashed squash. No choice of another veggie.
I found it overpriced for what it was, and the place can't figure out if it's "fancy Saturday night occassion place" (people somewhat dressed up, for the area anyway) or neighborhood joint (people in jeans and baseball hats).
Really great service. Comfortable dining room. Food is hit or miss. The sauces are visually perfect but their taste is mediocre. The raspberry sauce on the lamb still had lots of seeds in it. The blue cheese sauce was very, very mild.
Nicely cooked meat of very high quality. Melts in your mouth.
The caesar salad was way off the mark--plastic cheese, super-salty anchovies, and limp lettuce. On the other hand, the soup was great.
So, roll the dice and give it a shot. I will go back.
Always a staple when on summer vacation. Â The food is always good and never had a glitch with service (as suggested in other review i read) Â i love to sit in he main dining area. Â Some of the off rooms appear a little run down... I have also been here during the winter and the setting is magical.
Review Source:I'd been rather apprehensive about The Woodshed after reading some of these reviews, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how great my meal was! I had dinner there on a Friday night as part of a party of seven. We didn't have a reservation but managed to get a table within about ten minutes (this was around 7 p.m). The waitress was really knowledgeable and got every component of everybody's order just right. Someone had commented that the salads are drenched in dressing; this was not the case with our meal. My father-in-law and I both very much enjoyed the cedar plank salmon, and nearly our entire party cleaned their plates. Another plus is that you have the option of ordering desserts in mini-portions so you can still have your dessert if you're watching your figure! The one negative was that the creme brûlée was a little iffy. The texture wasn't custardy enough for my husband's taste, but I thought my indian pudding was delicious. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting the area.
Review Source:Went to dinner on a  Wednesday evening and it was comfortable and quiet. There were many specials in addition to their regular menu. Decided on two traditional entrees, the prime rib and seafood casserole.
The house cut prime rib was done exactly as ordered and a more than  ample serving. The seafood casserole was delicious and included three lobster claws along with shrimp and scallops.
While the food and rustic ambiance were stellar, the service was exemplary. Â Our meal was enhanced by relaxed, competent, and timely service. Â We do not usually praise our server by name, but on this day we were treated so expertly that it seems appropriate to do so. Â Thus, we would recommend that you ask for Mandi's table. Â We would also ask that the management commend Mandi Manoogian for her great service.
There's a certain monotony of cuisine in the New Hampshire Lakes Region, and of all (6) the restaurants I tried while spending time there, Woodshed was the best of the similar.
They roast a brilliant prime rib - it's expertly cooked: seasoned and crispy only on the edges and then a gorgeous uniform pink the rest of the way through.
Lamb medallions, garlic mashed potatoes, french onion soup, clam chowder, romaine salad: all to code.
The staff is endearing but not particularly smooth. They are instructed to yell "Corner!" whenever they come around a corner, and let's just say...it's a little annoying.
It's a really, really cool space too.
Tonight we decided to give The Woodshed a try, even though they have a bad review. Â As it turned out, we had a fantastic dinner. Â We arrived early and were seated right away. I started with the artichoke dip appetizer. It was par. Nif said. Then we got the warm bread baked in a flower pot and served with a maple butter that was delicious. We also ordered the special salad of the day. Fresh greens with crumbled blue cheese, sliced apple, walnuts, and a balsamic vinaigrette. Â Our waiter Matt, was very accommodating to our special needs son. He asked the Chef to make chicken fingers and fries(not something on the menu). Â The Chef produced a dinner that was enjoyed tremendously by our son.
 I ordered the Hanger Steak with bacon and Blue cheese sauce, baked sweet potato, and steamed veggies. It was so delicious. The steak was cooked to perfection. I struggled to finish it, but after sharing with my wife, we did.  With no room for dessert, we got the check.  All in all, a wonderful dinner. If you're looking for a casual upscale place in the area, hive The Woodshed a try.
What a lovely dinner inspired by a yelp reviewer from last night. Â The ambiance is so perfect - airy and cozy - we never felt cramped or rushed. Â Matt our server was so nice and took extra care of us when we made a special request. Â The chef was nice enough to make chicken fingers and fries for our autistic son. Â The food was amazing on top of that. Â I had the peel and eat shrimp which were served with a yummy cocktail sauce. Â Loved the "special" salad of greens, apples and walnuts. Â My husband and i couldn't stop talking about how good the salad and balsamic dressing was. Â How cute to serve bread in a flower pot? Â We got some of the maple butter with the bread and that was sooo delightful. Â Ask for it - i think matt gave us some because he was a sweetheart.. Â The entres were spectacular! Â I had the crab cakes and they were moist and delicious. Â Lots of crab and none of the breadcrumbs you usually get. I had a sweet potato with maple butter...also so yummy.
I read the awful review that the oyster guy gave the place but then read last night's review. Â I recommended that this restaurant mention yelp to happy customers because we had a terrific time and experience. Â If you are in the area stop out and enjoy! Â You will thank me later! Â And if you love it... Join me in praising them here on yelp!
We have been enjoying dinners at The Woodshed since its beginnings in 1978 and compliment the newest owner/chef for maintaining the same high standards with mouth-watering beef, Â delicious local vegetables and salads as well as simply delectable desserts. We started with the Crab Cake appetizers and can't say that we have ever had more delightful ones. We are from the Washington, D.C. area and take pride in Chesapeake Bay crab cakes. The Woodshed version stands by itself as a rare treat.
Our waitress, Conner, was very knowledgeable, helpful and efficient.
We were very surprised to have read a very negative review by a previous guest. Their main complaint concerned a bad oyster but, in our experience, an attack of food poisoning doesn't happen until several hours after eating. We can't help but think the affected diner must have been responding to something eaten earlier in the day.
We look forward to retuning soon.
The Baileys  8/16/11
This was our second visit to the Woodshed, the first was excellent the second time even better. It is nestled in the countryside and is a rustic, yet immaculate barn. The staff is friendly and professional. The menu is a bit old school and I'm grateful for that, not every restaurant should serve fusion cuisine. The cocktails can be "snifter sized"...which means they are served in an over sized snifter glass and were fairly strong. We both had a Filet Mignon bone on special, both were cooked perfectly and the sauce was so flavorful. Desserts are homemade. Our server Erin was awesome. It couldn't have been better. I suggest reservations and request the loft..great spot for dinner for two
Review Source:I came here with my Aunt and Uncle for the Skip and Go Naked. Our waiter, Ben, was awesome!
My husband got super excited and knocked over my drink. He responded immediately and brought me another drink (for free!)
He found out that we were from out of town and brought us some bread and maple butter. So tasty!!!
My husband and I went to check out the barn and house and it's just amazing! So cool to hang out in something that has so much character.
We had the Indian pudding, which was so good!! We ended the night with the mint chocolate candies on our way out.
If I lived here, I'd be here at least once a week. So much fun!
I slept on this, prior to writing my review...this is one of the most difficult reviews to write. However, this is why YELP exists and should be utilized by everyone. Me and my eating partner were really looking forward to a nice birthday dinner.
It should be noted that I have never asked for a free anything from the thousands of meals I have eaten, but let's be honest under certain circumstances you should probably comp certain items...
Here's how it plays out... We were both undecided on what main courses we were going to be ordering but one thing that was certain was the fact that they have blue point oysters and clams on the daily menu. This is a no brainer for us, we ordered a dozen blue points and a half dozen clams. They came out on a plate of ice which is a must, the fixings were all there horse radish, cocktail sauce and 2 mini tabasco's (I hate these little fucking things by the way). Moving on we also ordered a special appetizer in the portabella mushroom. The mushroom was fine... Here's where it all goes wrong. I ate one clam and then one oyster, typical alternating is my m.o. my eating partner ate one oyster then another.....well this would be the last oyster she would have...it was a bad oyster, i dont really want to get into specifics, but this thing should have been caught way before it got to our table. I don't blame the waiter, I don't blame the owner, but knowing a few shuckers I absolutely without a doubt blame the kitchen.. UNACCEPTABLE... Also after further review there was more than one bad one on our platter....
After a run to the bathroom, mouth washing and a bitters drink my eating partner to my suprise powered through the meal. Now I want to say the rest of the meal went off without a problem and everything was good. However, there was no offer of anything with the exception of the bitters drink to help my eating partner take the taste out of her mouth.. Our server Alex who was good, cleared the table quickly for me to get the oysters and clams off the table before my eating partner returned. She was thankful for that as this truly affected her and she did not want to see that stuff on our table. We decided that we would not be referring to this as a bad oyster, but only as the appetizer incident. We eat way too many oysters, clams et al to associate this with our love for shell fish.
My complaint / concern is that after all of this, with the exception of an apology from the manager whom I believe is the owners wife, but I am not 100 Percent on that, they didn't comp a single thing, not the other appetizer, not the deserts we ordered, not the bottle of wine. My eating partner just threw up in your bathroom because of your kitchen is either a. inexperienced or b. lazy and you don't believe you should do something a little extra to make us want to come back.... ?
It's too bad, in an area that offers very little with the exception of common man restaurants I really want to have a place to call my own and I've been to the woodshed a few times and thought this could be the place but they left a BAD TASTE IN OUR Â MOUTHS.....
So the Woodshed for the area is unreal. I mean you would have to get down to at least concord to find a meal this good in NH. The prime rib here is really great, but everything else, is just fine. I mean ok its good, but this place would not do well in a major metropolitan area for sure.
If you are in the area worth checking out for sure. The ambiance is a bit tacky, I mean its NH, its got this whole "log cabin" thing going on and random celebrity photographs with signatures on the wall?
In the past I would have always wanted to rate The Woodshed 4 stars but, that all changed after our last visit a few nights ago. Party of 6. Showed up early to enjoy the ambiance and have drinks and appetizers prior to dinner at our table. Appetizers were so so. The Mushrooms and Escargot had the same spinich and cheese spread smothering the baked concoction and the normally stellar Artichoke dip was less flavorful than in the past.
After two rounds of drinks we're brought to our table. We explore the menu, place our orders, chat and eventually look to order another round of drinks. That's when the Woodshed really soured the evening ...
Our waitress was put to the task of telling us we were no longer able to order any more alchohol. That's right ... Cut off after two rounds and with a designated driver! Now keep in mind, we're not loud, unruly or anything of the sort, just shocked when the young manager came over and further explained that it was now the restaurants policy and that was that. We asked to speak withh the owner/manager and she reiterated the restaurants policy and offered us one more round each but, the damage had truly had been done. Worst of it was that we even had a designated driver with one of our party not drinking.
We certainly understand a restaurant's liability as it relates to over serving their customers and applaud their effort but, to not have given their customers, us, any kind of heads up as we started the evening was a lousy customer service experience.
I will say, I enjoyed my Prime Rib but, that was only part of the total dining experience.
This restaurant has a great atmosphere and is a wonderful place to go and have a great family meal. The food is fantastic and the service is excellent!!! You are never rushed and it is WELL worth the drive (as it is located a bit away from most places). It is not a chain restaurant and it does not cater to the summer season. Year round it is the same place and I love it!! Definitely worth checking out.
Review Source:My third summer with my boyfriend's family in New Hampshire, and everyone always looks forward to the Woodshed as the height of the vacation, and also some valuable adult time. (There is 19 in his family. 9 of them are children. Adult time is very much looked forward to!) I actually have dreams about the Denver Pudding.
Although I'm a very stringent vegetarian, I've enjoyed the salad and the ONE vegetarian option they offer here. (It's a steakhouse, I know). Every year, all the adults (10 of us) head here on the last evening of the vacation, and it is usually great times had by all.
This year, myself, and everyone in our party, was greatly disappointed. We were seated at 7:45 (the time of our reservation) and our server appeared around 8:00 (as we looked at the empty tables around us.) It took another 15 minutes to get 2 bottles of wine and 2 mixed drinks (again, as we looked at the, oh, 60% full dining room around us.) We order appetizers at 8:25-30ish. I know having 10 people is overwhelming, but, again, the past two years (and the many years before me) it has never been a problem for my boyfriend's family having a large group.
Our appetizers rolled out at 9:15 (3 of them were wrong) and 2 people that ordered escargot were surprised to find their plates cold. (They were taken off the bill, but no apologies about the dishes nor the 90 minutes wait for food were offered.)
Salads come out about 15 minutes after. Unlike the crisp, fresh salads of years past, they were uniformly drenched in dressing and very soggy.
Entrees: My boyfriend's father's fillet (which he had ordered medium rare) came out a robust well done. A simple "sorry" was offered in return, not even offering to take it back. My vegetarian torte was luke warm at best, with tepid vegetables (they looked so sad) on the side.
The one bright spot was the dessert - you can't go wrong with the Denver Pudding!
I am so sad that our experience here was not comparable at all to the past two years. I hoping it was an off-night, but a bummer none the less.
A good bartender and an experienced and attentive wait staff combine to set up a very pleasant dining experience. Â The atmosphere is very New England, and the food, while not the best I've ever tasted, is quite good. Â It's hard to imagine anybody being disappointed after a meal here.
Review Source:"Ugh" is how I feel about the Woodshed. I mostly feel that the restaurant is dark, dusty and expensive. The only thing that the Woodshed has going for itself is that there aren't too many "nice" restaurants up in the area so people keep coming here. I, however, will travel an additional 30 minutes to eat a better meal in a cleaner place, i.e. The Canoe. The last time I came here, I went with my family and because we're all big eaters I think I got to try almost everything on the menu. The food is good but nothing stood out to me. My mom and I got the surf and turf special. Both of our lobster claws were definitely frozen and rank. They smelled so awful that it made me sick. I'm not sure how they missed it prior to serving it to us. We brought it to the attention of the manager, which I hate doing but felt it was deserved, and not much was done to correct the problem. This is one restaurant on the Lake that I won't be visiting again.
Review Source:One of my top three places to eat on earth!
From the salad to the prime rib, to the bread. Can't go wrong not only with the food, but always have great service, and the atmosphere is great too. Its set in a restored Barn at the end of a quiet road. Great place to eat if/when you're vacationing and need a nice night out.
Great food, great drinks, great service!
I have never tried a dish at the Woodshed that disagreed with me. Â I'm loyal to the onion soup, but also have started with the artichoke dip and the escargot. Â Both are amazing. Â For dinner, I don't think I've ever been able to steer myself away from the Prime Rib. Â I'm addicted to it. Â
And then to finish with something sweet, get the ice cream puff. Â And make sure you order your drinks double, in a swirler. Â They're cooler, bigger glasses.
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