Five Horses Tavern - South End — Restaurant in Boston

Five Horses - Columbus St. On my last day in Boston, we decided to check out Five Horses. Upon entering, they gave a chilly welcome. The waiter, who obviously wasn’t trained properly nor did he know the menu, was slow, awkward, confused and basically did not have a good demeanor for a waiter. We had to as several times for items for our food. He never asked if we wanted beverages or more water. He didn’t even clear our table of our appetizer. Once our entrées came, he placed my food on the other table, walked away to get an item that he forgot. It took a few minutes to come back. He then provided my cousin their food. We both were very disappointed with the look AND taste of both dishes!! Now, my wings were good; however, the baked macaroni and cheese was running, bland, and lukewarm. The jalapeño cheddar cheese mashed potatoes looked like tarter sauce!. Keep in mind, during our entire time, we were never asked if we needed or wanted anything! Because of the atmosphere and the food, we didn’t stay long. We had to ask for boxes and our check. Even that took awhile! At that time, they were holding a team meeting, so the manager told our waiter to join the meeting. After a few minutes, the manager finally gave use our boxes and checks. Ridiculous. Overpriced. Poor Customer. If I ever visit Boston again, I will stay far away from Five Horses… I advise you...

I've visited this place on multiple occasions for both dinner and drinks and the first thing I've noticed is that the staff is really warm and welcoming and the service is good. The attentive and friendly attitude makes me really feel taken care of regardless of whether i come alone or in a group.

That said THEY DO NOT SERVE HARD LIQUOR. So as much as I like the ambience i cannot recommend this whole-heartedly to a drinker. You do get liquor but it's flavoured variants which definitely take more to get you drunk. This is a deal breaker for most, especially if you enjoy a good cocktail, as they are even more on the lighter side. They do however, have a wide selection of beers.

The food is very commendable though. I have sampled mostly appetizers from both vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisines and i found all the dishes to be tasty and well presented.

The space is also something that appeals to me. Not to many screens, brick walls, dim yellow lighting and quaint 19th century tavern-ish vibe. There is seating for both large and small groups with sufficient room to walk around. I would prefer a larger bar table for more interaction among people seated the counter, as currently it accommodates around 10 people iirc.

TLDR, if soft liquor is not a problem for you, it's a 100% must check out! Better if you...

My friend and I came in for brunch over the weekend. We had a reservation, but it wasn't busy when we got there. As soon as we walked in the woman hosting (who we think was a manager unfortunately) seemed to be seething that we dared walk in?? My friend and I looked at each other several times in confusion as she stomped her way to our table. We asked if we could be seated in one of the many empty high tops we passed on our way to the secluded area in the back of the restaurant where she wanted to seat us. She said fine and stomped over to the high top, dropped the menus and didn't even care to look at us much less say anything to us. We immediately notified our server that she was exceptionally rude. We didn't think our server was going to say anything, but at least half way through our meal, the hostess came back and gave us an apology if you can even call it that. She very aggressively said she was sorry if we felt she was being rude... which... lol. We weren't expecting her to kiss our feet, just maybe not be rude for no reason? Anyway, everyone else that worked there was really sweet. We later realized it wasn't just us. The way she spoke with other guests and employees was nasty and unacceptable. If you hate people that much then maybe you're in the wrong...