Auburn Tavern — Restaurant in Auburn

I was not happy with Auburn tavern at all.

To start, none of the waitstaff were wearing masks at anytime. We have to wear masks until we get to our table, but they apparently don't while they are handling our food and talking to us over our dishes.

They were not super busy. The outside dining was full but inside where we sat was only at about half capacity. It took us a long time to get any of our food. We ordered the fried pickles for an appetizer, which were good but it took us about 20 minutes before they arrived at our table and our waitress (who did look very tired) didn't come to see us at all in the time between us ordering it and it being delivered. Therefore we were unable to put in our entree order until our appetizer arrived. It took another 20 minutes for our appetizers to arrive.

I order the linguini and meatballs. To start, there was a puddle of very watery "sauce" on the bottom of my bowl. Almost an inch worth. The sauce didn't have much flavor to it. After adding salt to enhance the flavor and stirring it, I found a French fry in my pasta. The meatballs were so over seasoned that you literally could not taste the meat in them. I will say that when the waitress asked how everything was, I politely told her I didn't really like my dish. She promptly removed it from the table and asked if I wanted something else. I declined and she took it off the bill with out any further need to discuss it.

Finally, they are using large sheets of paper to cover the tables and replacing them between customers. OK, good idea, but I watched a waitress get one ready to out on the next cleared table. It slid off the table she put it on, onto the floor, and she just picked it up and put it back onto the table. Now the floors were not what I would call filthy, but they are restaurant floors so there were bits of food and dirt visibly all over the place.

It would take a miracle to get me to...

Have been going to Auburn Tavern for years and truly enjoyed the service, atmosphere and food which always brought us back, especially their Greek food. However, our latest visit 8/15/21 was very disappointing. You were fore warned when entering that they had service issues due short staff. The wife and I work at companies suffering from the same issues but doing everything possible to provide the best customer service. We only ordered a cup of soup, cheeseburger and a Greek Salad. Twenty minutes had passed when a table of 4 arrived whose order was taken. Within 10 minutes, their appetizers arrived soon followed by another round of appetizers arriving when we asked a waitress there appears to be a problem here. We asked where our order was with the lady responding she would check out. The canned response was to apologize as being short staffed and the other party had quick cooking appetizers. We responded we only ordered pre-made soup, a cold salad and a burger medium rare; the quickest meal to prepare. We were advised our order would be right out. A few minuets passed and our order was placed on our table. The cheese burger was cold, the slice of cheese not even melted and the roll hard and cold having set too long. The burger was past well done and very, very dry. A McDonald’s Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese would have been more enjoyable for half the cost!. The French Fries were okay probably being cooked in the oil used in the appetizers of the other diners. Very disappointing after all...

Meh... fair, not great, cook food, not chef food. More of a diner experience than a Tavern. We started with fried pickles. For some reason the ranch was milked down to runny, but the pickles were good. We three got $22 Delmonico Rib Eye with two sides included, no baked potato though. It wasn't a true Delmonico cut, being only maybe 3/4 inch cooked: I expect an advertised Delmonico to be a very thick cut, maybe 1-1/2 to 2 inches. Rib eye is marbley, but these were about 1/3 just fat which I left behind on my plate. These were not great cuts, suggesting they were bulk frozen or the cook didn't shop them well, but they were flavorful and tender. The cook nailed the rare, medium rare and medium steaks we ordered, and the charcoal flavor was very good. The fries were standard coated (I think), thin cut, though the rings were reportedly very good. The waitress brought the salads out with the meal, always a sign of under trained staff. The waitress didn't come back after the plates were brought, didn't show up until we were done, confirming this. She was sweet and friendly, just not trained. The salads were mediocre, the tomatos small cut, the onions wide cut, the greens iceberg, the size smallish. We got deserts to go, not made in their kitchen, so...