The City Tavern Reviews

American food, yeah, super tasty. Very appetizing. Service treated us so nice. The place has a cool atmosphere.

Walked in today for dinner and they did not have a table ready. The hostess asked us to wait off to the room on the right. As we were waiting on a bench, I spotted MOUSE DROPPINGS on the corner of the floor! Right out in the open! We left before they seated us and the hostess did not even bother to ask us why we were suddenly canceling. I felt bad because the place was packed! I have a picture, but I'm not sure why my phone won't allow me to post it...will keep trying!

When I came here for lunch I found the true typical American cuisine. All good apart from the overcooked pasta (this is to be expected but it was paired with a soup). In meats they are very strong. The great and professional waiter. The only drawback who welcomed us was VERY RUDE and POURED water on the diners WITHOUT apologizing. His photo can be found here posted by Giovanni Maria Ruggiero (the one with the pink shirt). For the rest, everything was excellent, including the price.

An ABSOLUTELY wonderful experience. The moment we walked in the door wonderful aromas were in the air. The old house slash tavern .the old clothes an a guy playing the harp ..awesome. everytime food came out to another table great smells wafted through the room. Was quite hard to decide on what to eat it all sounded so good smelled so good and looked so good. Seems everyone around us was having something different. We had fried oysters with an awesome dill dip....perfectly prepared. The mushroom toast was so simple yet so tasty. Our dinners were venison. Turkey pot pie and NY strip steak. Meats were cooked perfectly and the Turkey pie was huge and decadent. Table next to us had lobster pot pie and seafood special. Both said food was phenomenal. Bring you readers and a small light source as it is very dark....only candle light...just like the 1800,s. Great food great service great atmosphere. I will be going back at least 14 more times to try everything on the menu. I thought the prices were very very reasonable for all we received
A bargain really. Go here

I got to meet Benjamin Washington and Jar Jar Binks!

Cool place for the history, but not much more than that.

Helloooo. My friend and I had the pleasure of having lunch at city tavern.
The restaurant is an old house with an entrance, room, stairs, etc. On the first floor you will find three rooms which one of them is a bar. In the other two rooms there are chairs and tables like any other restaurant has.

Food was good honestly. We had two soups, mine was the corn with other vegetables. Then smoked salmon and trout appetizer. Main course was med rare salmon with sautee vegetables. All these three course were really nice.
Service was casual but pushy but I dont blame my waitress because I found this behavior in almost all the restaurant I visited on my stay in philadelphia.

See yall in my next trip!!!

Delicious food. Very nice and cozy environment. Had the best sea food pasta- chef's special. Kid friendly. Can't wait to go again :)

Spectacular. Food was excellent. Staff were knowledgeable and very helpful. You must eat at the City Tavern. We are already planning or next trip. Diana is the best pastry chef ever.

Anyone who is from Philly will tell you it s a tourist trap...and it is. Overpriced frozen food served by weirdos is costumes.

This place is terrible. I wouldn t take kids here. the beer is disappointing. All of the food actually tastes like it was made 1000 years ago and they sat us alone on the top floor were it was rather uncomfortable.

Excellent. The pork chop and crab cake was to die for.

Excellent period cuisine served in a historic location. Good service.

Very cool olde world experience w thoughtful recipes and menu items to try. The rabbit was very tasty and the experience was enjoyable. Next time i go, i ll be in historic attire.

A very unique and cool dining experience. We stopped in here to eat after touring independence hall. It was really interesting to see all the wait staff in period clothing. The decor was also period and the plates and goblets were a nice touch. The food and service was good. We would go here again and recommend to anyone visiting the area try it out for the experience.

This is place is literally old school, had a great Thomas Jefferson Ale with some old locals. The bar wench ( not my word, it was a guy!) was very cool had some good thick barely soup which was very dope for a rainy Philly afternoon. Waiter was wearing oldy time knickers and a hat like a boss. America! yah

Excellent location for tasty american food. Arrived at five, it wasn't busy. Had a friend come into town and she asked me to take her here again. The prices are good for what you get. My apartment is far from here, so I can't visit often.

I could not believe how great everything tasted. The atmosphere is perfect for a unique American heritage experience.

Wonderful meal and a great staff! We enjoyed the whole evening.

This place is so warm and if you love history this is a place you must see. Go through the whole house and check out the park in the back! Love it here!

This was a highlight on our trip to Philadelphia! We came for the historical interest, and I wasn't expecting much on terms of food, but, WOW! It was amazing! I had the beef medallions and my husband had the turkey pot pie. Both were so good; I would love to taste everything on this menu! Jason F. was our server and he was perfectly attentive and really helped make our experience the best it could be. Thank you! If we are ever back in Philly, we will definitely come again!

Exceeded expectations! Fun atmosphere, great service, surprisingly tasty food. The pot pie was especially nice.

Excellent meal, great dessert, waiter was super. The only downfall was that it took quite a while to get our meals. Under staffed?

The atmosphere definitely evokes an 18th century tavern, though it is worth noting that this is not the original tavern that (supposedly) stood on this spot during Revolutionary War times. Still, it makes for a perfect setting to enjoy recipes and drinks from and inspired by that era.

Food was good,Puddings excellent. Could have done with some vegetables with turkey pot pie (3 ordered) but have found on past experience in US you must order as a side why? In England they come as part of a meal. Lucky to have the house musician playing(harp) at time of visit. Would recommend as a place to eat.

Authentic even though a reproduction the City Tavern looks and feels like an 18th century inn. The waitstaff was excellent(Thanks Ed) and the food was top-notch. I'd come here again tomorrow.

Awful service. Not worth the price. I've had better beef from cheaper restaurants. It was tasteless. The host sat us by the sun and said nothing. He sat an old white couple by the sun and even offered to lower the shade for them. The waiter didn't even offer us specials and spent all his energy with the old white couple behind us, talking to them like they were old friends. He mostly ignored us. If you're young and not white, expect bad service.

Fantastic food, great atmosphere, wonderful wait staff. All is a championship meal with wonderful flavors of drink and delicious food.

Excellent for a night out drinking but not recommended for the food. It's not bad per-se, but not amazing either, just mediocre.

This place is pretty over-priced. They messed up my reservation. The waiter was kinda rude, but that could be because he's from Philly. Poor drink selection. Cool history though

Nice. Pricy. Yummy food good service. Wasn't crowded for lunch but slow yet nice service

If you are heading to Philadelphia, then you won't want to miss City Tavern. Run by Walter Staib - friend of the Clintons and award-winning US TV star - the restaurant serves up traditional 18th dishes and ales, using the original recipes of the time. Founded in 1773, it was a watering hole for Washington and John Adams and threw the country s first ever Fourth of July celebration in 1777.

Really cool food and awesome staff, but there dressed up like the 1700s

Definitely a tourist trap but also definitely worth a visit. Olde-timey tavern, one of the oldest in the city, where servers dressed in Colonial garb serve up some truly interesting beers. Food tends to be merely okay except during their 'special' scheduled and ticketed dinners which are pretty spectacular.

Great food and fun. We visited as part of an after hours historic tour. Highly recommend.

My wife had read many positive remakes about the City Tavern. We ate there this evening. I was so utterly disappointed with the meal that I don't know where to begin. To put it in a nut shell, Pepper Pot soup was so spicy I could not taste anything else. Cornmeal Fried Clams - tasteless. Veal Sausage - tasteless and saurkraut the same! The chef had a card on the table showing off his many achievements and even the medals he has won, not to mention his TV show. Please live up to your boasts, lest you look a fool. The manager was very polite and offered to meal for free along with desert. This was very decent and responsive and will earn a 2 star rating from this visitor to your city. Thank you for making the situation right!

We WAITED 75 MINS PAST OUR RESERVATION TIME to be seated let alone eat while receiving patronizing, condescending, and certainly less than helpful service from the maybe too accurately dressed wait staff hostess . And still I d say the worst part was the metal water goblets. The wide rim lip on those things gently caress your own with each sip. Bring a straw.

Suffered through this shitshow only for fear of the tantrum my Mother would have if we skipped out on her bucket list restaurant meal. Thank you "A Taste of History" and its host Walt for bringing this restaurant into our lives. A family of 6 got a glimpse into a life of starvation and maybe that's the real authentic colonial experience here.

*Dave our waiter was excellent and is an innocent by-standard.

It was ok, not worth going back the customer service wasn't very good waiter kept forgetting things my spoon for the soup didn't tell us what type of ice tea they served just brought us raspberry flavor it was nasty. My god-daughter complain that the chicken was under cooked and the manager attitudes was horrible telling her it seem alright to him. Won't be going back there again that's for sure.

Very nice historical tavern with period recipes. Quiet when we visited late afternoon. Conveniently situated and walking distance to other attractions. Food was unique and tasty.

I had a most delicious lunch at City Tavern today. I was attending a chapter meeting of the Sons of the American Revolution, which was held at City Tavern. The turkey pie, which was the main course, was absolutely delicious. The wait staff were most professional in their demeanor. The earlyAmerican decor of the restaurant was charming. I spotted several families who were having meals there; the place seemed to be enticing for children. High recommended for Philadelphians and visitors to that city alike

Wow! This is a tavern where the Founding Fathers actually hung out together and drank beer and ate colonial-era foodstuffs. The City Tavern is now a Huge and Fabulous Gourmet Restaurant! The staff dresses in period costumes and are very welcoming and professional. My daughter Caitlin (who is very smart and beautiful and an RN!) and I ate lunch there on Dec 26th. This place is top-notch and not inexpensive, but worth every dime. We started by sharing the Fried Oysters appetizer and it was fantastic! Perfectly fried in a tempura/ beer batter coating, these Huge bivalves are soft, juicy, and firm where they should be. Yum! My entree was the Crabcakes, two baseball-sized mounds of crabmeat just barely held together by a smidgen of bread crumbs and egg. The sauces served with both appy and entree were garlicky remoulade, and out of this world! My daughter, as a semi-pescaterian, had the Fried Tofu entree. She said it was good. I didn't try it, but it looked like a big mozzarella in carozza served on greens. No drinks but coke and water and check came to $66 w/o tip. A great deal for quality food and great ambience. If you go there and mention my name, they might seat you. If you make a reservation before showing up, I mean.

[Note: this review is for 25Jan] ~ Well, let's start with the timeline:





Ambience: Noisy, 2nd floor temperature too warm ~ intended to deliver a more authentic 18th century experience?

Summary Recommendation: City Tavern is an important historic landmark as I'm sure it's once long time diners: Franklin, Jefferson, Adams etc would agree. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a higher quality dinning experience, with price attendant service and fare, our founding fathers (I'll suggest), would recommend taking a quick self guided tour of this gem... and moving on.

Today I had lunch with my family (including 3 young kids) at the City Tavern and the whole experience was excellent. The waiter (Greg) was particularly nice. The food was delicious and the kids enjoyed trying some of the traditional recepies. Service was very fast (it was not very bisy). The whole family enjoyed it a lot.

City Tavern is a great restaurant. Set in a historic building and served by waiters answer waitresses dressed in historic 18th century outfits. The food is definitely top notch. I try to eat here when I get to Philadelphia. Their George Washington and Thomas Jefferson recipe beers are great.

Good atmosphere, and very kind staff. But the food wasn't my taste. However, I don't blame them, since they intentionally use old recipes to show what people of the old era ate.

Neat place to go and relive colonial experiences along with a taste of colonial history

Historical place, where the confederalists met. The attendants dress up as they did at that time.
Very good food.

Visited Philadelphia from Canada with friends for the day recently and one friend from New Jersey suggested City Tavern, saying he always wanted to go there. We made a reservation and had a wonderful time visiting the past and having a wonderful meal for a very good price. Our server Helen helped make our trip back in time very realistic. We all loved our meals and drinks, mine from Martha Washington s cookbook, a shrub old fashioned!Would highly recommend this experience of taste and ambiance.

excellent service and friendly environment, although a little on the pricey side.

Great food. The folks that do the reenactment and period games are superb.

Great venue, excellent food at rreasonable prices. Coming here adds to any visit to Colonial Philadelphia

You will never go wrong choosing City Tavern for a meal! The ambiance, authentic menu, and courteous service is spot on.

The literal best place to get a traditional colonial meal. Atmosphere is amazing and the staff is excellent.

Great place. We try to stop by whenever we get to Philly. Good food. Pleasant atmosphere. Good location.

Great bread basket in the beginning, and the pot pie was excellent. I was even able to meet the owner, who was a very knowledgable and kind. If in town, go here.

Excellent food and service in a beautiful 18th century atmosphere

This restaurant is a fantastic place to dine. The atmosphere is cozy and the food is amazing.Love this place.

Amazing customer service. Called before opening hours and got an actual live person AND then to the manager to make special arrangement for the same day event!
Food great! Waiter timely. Uniform needed to be clearer.

Waiter was knowledgable and patient above and beyond expectation! We ate with four children off hours and despite that they were helpful. The food was delicious, filling, and authentic.

Overpriced food, mediocre service. Our group was 5 people. We arrived on time for our reservation but were told we'd have to wait maybe 15 minutes. No problem, we'll have a drink at the bar. The cramped bar area had only unclean tables. After a couple of awkward minutes, a waitress cleaned an area for us and we were able to sit down. Not 10 seconds after sitting, we were told our table was ready. Good news, but disorganized.
We waited about 5 minutes for water and to place drink orders, then another 5 minutes for drinks to arrive. We placed appetizer and entree orders. The appetizers took about 30 minutes to arrive. I had the crab cakes. Two cakes ($12) came, looking quite burnt. The crust was fried and too thin, providing no crunch and little texture. The filling was quite good, with adequate crab meat, but little contrasting flavor. It was a bit of a shaped mushy thing.
I ordered the venison. I was asked how I'd like it cooked, and I replied as rare as possible. My colleague who ordered the same said well done. After waiting for 30 minutes for the appetizers, the mains came out relatively quickly. But they were a disappointment. First, both venisons came at the same time, but without regard to who ordered their meat, obviously no regard to temperature preferences. Both were obviously overcooked, even for well done and I had wanted rare. The serving sizes were small, with 3 or 4 small bits of venison ($34), some zucchini, mushrooms, and cooked barley. While the accompaniments were tasty, they plus overcooked tasteless venison wasn't worth $10, much less 3.5 times as much.
Really the only thing I very much enjoyed was the beer. Stay away from the food!!

Absolutely great reconstructed historic spot. The Thomas Jefferson recipe Ale is fantastic. The atmosphere is wonderful, and our waiter was very friendly and knowledgeable of everything about the place and the city. The Lobster Pie was especially wonderful.

Very historic makes you feel like you're in the past with Ben Franklin and George Washington the food is awesome there you half a try it

Enjoyed a delicious 4 Course Valentine's Day special here. Food 5, waiter/staff 5, service 5 initially but once crowded a 4, noise level a bit high as the tables within 2 feet of each other. Ambiance very nice, period style historic restaurant wirh staff dressed in late 1700s early 1800s attire. Overall, a 4.5 if that was a choice.

My sister and I love this place.. old style colonial restaurant and food.. the menu, food, deserts, drinks are very good.. the beers are made from original recipes from the forefathers.. good and strong.. staff are dressed in colonial fashion.. big place but it does get packed.. can't wait to go back and have some beers

Food is good, service is good but very over priced.

Come for the atmosphere. If you want a tavern experience like you might get in Colonial Williamsburg, then this hits the mark. I got the tenderloin tips and mushroom. It was supposed to come with herbed egg noodles, but it was swimming with so much gravy, that it ALL tasted like gravy. The steak was kind of tough for tenderloin even though I had it cooked medium.
The server, Douglas, was attentive and enjoyable to talk to.

The staff was very welcoming. Jason F was our waiter and he knows his stuff. He was able to explain the menu itens and the history behind them. The food was amazing. The bread we started off with was delicous. I had the Turkey Pot Pie and it hit the spot. Thank you.

Authentic historical atmosphere. Food was okay but lacking in a little flavor. Even though these are his recipes, Chef Staib would probably make the food much better himself, I'm sure.

Very cool place if you like food and history. While it s not the original building which burned down it s the same location and follows the menus and colonial ways of the restaurant when it was formed. The food is great also. We had lobster. Delicious. Chris Vtrainers Personal Training

The atmosphere is always a plus. I do like the menu and always like to try something new. This time however we stopped in for a lite fare. A drink, bread and soup. My soup was not hot, and service was poor. When I finished my drink I was never offered another. The waitress was inattentive. Very disappointed this time.

The food was very good. The service left a lot to be desired. We had an 8 PM reservation for 2 adults and 2 kids, were late due to parking issues and called to let them know. The person who answered the phone did not have very good manners and disconnected without saying goodbye or anything. When we arrived, we had to wait for 15 minutes before being seated; and they marked us as a no-show for our OpenTable reservation.
Once seated it was another ten minutes before someone took our drink order and an additional 8-10 minutes after that before we received drinks and ordered our meals. Food took about 20 minutes to come out which, ok will give you that based on what we ordered. Then our bill was wrong and our waitress acknowledged it and left on the table while she ran to get something for another table. She said she would come back and adjust it and run our card. Another waitress took it and ran it without us knowing which is great, however, when I tried to find someone to adjust it, it was like I was speaking a different language. I got brushed off. It was corrected, but the way it was handled left a lot to be desired. I will rave for the food, but the service does not match the ratings I saw on Google and TripAdvisor. Very disappointed.

The location and ambiance were great, but the food was delicious and the dining experience very enjoyable. Would recommenced.