08/25/08

A Real Disappointment

by Abomb78

My sister and mother had been to city tavern before and said that it was fun and the food was good so I thought that it would be the same. We had dinner reservations at four pm. I ordered corn chowder, meatloaf and shared fried oysters with my sister. For openers I'm not a picky eater and it takes a lot for me to be totally dissatisfied. Anyway they sat us by a window which had flies constantly buzzing across the table. We laughed about it as we tried to squash them with our menus. Then throughout hte enitre service the waitstaff was getting linens out of this cubboard RIGHT next the out table, we laughed but in all honesty it gets annoying after awhile. Now onto the food. The corn chowder had clearly come from a can and I've had better at that. It was luke warm. I mean come on folks it's August on the east coast fresh corn is available EVERYWHERE and this is the best you can do for $6.50 a bowl!! Another reviewer talked about the bread being stale...true it had to be day old and was tasteless. The fried oysters were good in a nice cornmeal batter with a good dipping sauce so that was nice. I had meatloaf and my sister had a chicken and artichoke salad, which again canned artichoke and smoke chicken that had come from a roll like at the grocery store and cost $18.50!! that is just nuts in my book. My meatloaf was adequate but in all honesty by this point I didn't really care. I agree with others reviewers the waitstaff was fine the period costumes, I'll go for that, interesting building. Another thing the head chef if pimping his cookbooks on every table and in the lobby, if you are that great my meal wouldn't have been like this. Be a little be a little more tasteful for God's sakes and get your quality control in line. Bottom line way too Expensive, Poor quality, Lacking fresh ingredients....... Don't Bother

• Pros: Good waitstaff, fun costumes and nice building
• Cons: Poor food quality

07/28/08

The worst meal we had in Philly!

by hayden99

Think tired theme park food. Is this Liberty Square in Disneyworld? That would actually be a gourmet step up. Stale sour dough bread. Dried out over cooked duck. A pathetic egg noodle side dish still swimming in a puddle of water topped with a vile brown gravy. The staff was pleasant enough and a turkey pie had pleasant flavor. But a peach and summer berry "cobbler' at $8.50 was a strange concoction....neither a cobbler nor a crisp and simply inedible.

07/14/08

Old World Ambiance with Great Food

by tracker883

We made reservations for 6 (5 adults and one baby stroller w/ 10 month old) on the same day with no issues. They seem to have ample seating - 4 indoor floors and at least 2 outdoor levels - from what I could see. They did a great job restoring the original feel of 1700's living in Philadelphia. The weathered wooden floors, pewter water goblets (yes you drink out of them), and serving staff and characters from the time in traditional outfits. We were a little skeptical about the restaurant based on billboards and on line description specific to the "costumes". Thought it was going to be cliche or childish. Were we wrong! It was great fun. They were very accomodating with our 10 month old - child friendly. The service was great and the menu caters to all tastes. It does seem to be heavily German inspired with brats and krout. It's not fancy food and won't knock your taste buds out of your mouth but it is good food. The pale ale is great refreshment after a day of Philadelphia sightseeing.

The food on the plate is more than enough to fill you up and if you have room afterwards; the desserts are amazing. Bottom line: great atmosphere for all ages at any point in the year with prompt, helpful service and delicious food. I do highly recommend going here at least once.

• Pros: Ambience, Service, Food, Family Oriented, Plenty of Seating