The General Stanton Inn — Restaurant in Charlestown

My husband and I enjoy dining at places that have unique characteristics, such as The General Stanton Inn which has a great deal of history attached. Last night, we were joined by other foodie friends who share the same interest. Here is my honest review, which I will try to keep brief and to the point.

DRINKS: GIGGLE WATER: I didn't order this and don't remember the exact concoction of alcohol in it. I did have a taste and recall butterscotch and champagne. It’s good if you like sweet flavors. Personally, I think tequila would make me giggle more MOSCOW MULE: Drink was fine when I did receive it. My party had their drinks for 20 minutes before mine finally arrived. The waitress was a sweetheart and apologized for the delay, so I don't blame her.

APPETIZERS: All apps were very good. Excuse the awful and half eaten pic of the Fried Brussel Sprouts, we were a little hungry at that point.

ENTREE’S: My husband and I had the Braised Short Ribs. As I have never ordered this dish out before, I was only forced to make this decision due to the limited menu options, the absence of a steak dinner on the menu and my inability to substitute with some of the other entrees I was considering. Although the meal itself was very good, my husband was extremely disappointed when he received broccolini rather than the broccoli rabbi that was listed with the dish. This brings me back to my comment regarding no substitutions. I understand that some dishes come with certain purees and are already part of the chef's menu, but when you list a side to accompany the entree, you assume it will be the correct side.

DESSERTS: All were yummy but then again we had a brownie, chocolate chip cookie and pumpkin pie, we’re not talking about the most decadent of desserts here, Lol.

SERVICE: I will give a waitress praise, she was attentive as much as she could be giving the fact that she was very busy.

Atmosphere: This brings me back to when we first arrived and couldn't find the right door. For this reason alone, I knocked off stars. We come upon the first entrance, we see people inside, they are dressed in more formal attire, we decide to enter and realize we are at a rehearsal dinner. Turning around, there's another couple just as clueless as us. We all walk back outside, and decide to go in door #2, now we're in a small room adorned with a stone fireplace, memorabilia from 1700, very interesting btw, but now I'm feeling super uncomfortable. I’m nervous we’re going to barge in on another private gathering, or wind up in the kitchen. When we were about to walk out again, we spotted a woman who I didn't even know worked there. Fortunately, she did and guided us through the bar area, across the dining room to a small entryway where our friends were waiting. We would have been at the correct entrance had we walked back outside again and tried door #3. Never before have I had such difficulty locating the main entrance. Apart from the layout, the atmosphere was well lit, at the right temperature, and the chairs were not the most comfortable, but they do...

This was kind of a last minute trip for us so we didn't have a lot of time for planning. The initial draw for us was that the guest house was dog friendly. We arrived early and the owner (I think he was the owner) was gracious enough to let us check in super early. It was a rainy morning and we were so grateful he let us check in that way we could unpack, get the dogs settled, and wait for the weather to clear before we headed off to the beach. Let me start by saying the website is slightly confusing when it comes to the guest house and the photos online do NOT do it justice. It is literally the perfect space to travel with pets and teens! It was an ENORMOUS space! Full kitchen, living room area, sitting area, bathroom and a large PRIVATE bedroom in the back. The bedroom was my favorite part because it was so removed from the front living space, where we had our two teens, one the pull out couch and one on a rollaway cot (already in the room in a massive closet), for once, my husband and I had privacy on vacation. It was peaceful. The room was clean, the bed was comfortable. There were two tvs with Roku (one in the living room/one in the bedroom) The grounds were lovely. The owner told us there were 3 plus acres in the back and we were welcome to walk our dogs anywhere on the property (we discovered a very old historic gravesite in the way back!). This inn was perfectly located for us. We were, 15 minutes away from a beautiful beach, 20 minutes away from a lighthouse with expansive views, 45 minutes away from the Newport mansions, 20 min away from a little water park, 15 minutes away from mini golf. There was a cumbies within walking distance, which was perfect to get our morning ice coffees (although the guest house had a coffee machine). There were plenty of options for restaurants being so close to the ocean and we did explore a few but we also chose to dine in at the inn for one night because there's a beautiful little restaurant right on site. If you're travelling with your dogs, or with a large family, this is really a great place to stay. It was calm, quiet and clean and centrally located to all the fun stuff. I feel lucky I found this gem! I honestly meant to take better pictures of the room but there was just no time. We were on adventures...

First and last dining experience at the General Stanton Inn Saturday. Made a reservation on the web site, arrived on time and seated promptly in the Tavern Room, which needs more sound baffling to muffle the noise. There's another, less frenetic, dining area, the Prohibition Room, which might have been better for us.

Service and food fails.

Ordered club soda with lemon. Took 20 minutes to arrive.

We ordered a $15 tomato salad, which was billed as "fresh and roasted tomato, local mozzarella, peaches, balsamic and arugula." There were no peaches at all. The mozzarella was washed out, lacking the creamy, buttery, salty flavor we expected. We were only halfway through the salad when I told the server there were no peaches. She explained that the kitchen had made a similar error previously (for a full week, she said) and blamed herself for not noticing the omission. She didn't offer to have the salad remade but did remove the charge when the check arrived.

I ordered $40 steak frites, asking for medium-rare with some butter. The server was busy working the room and I was wondering how food could be delivered while still hot (i.e., do they have a pager system or a bell system or some way to alert servers that an order was up). Someone from the kitchen brought the steak to our table. Both the steak and the fries were cold. The steak was medium and cut in a way where there was too much sinew. It was slathered in a salty peppercorn sauce, which had congealed, and there was no butter, as requested. The fries had cooled down and they were on the soggy side.

My wife ordered the $32 seafood risotto, described as "bay scallops, chopped clams, romesco and mushrooms." The dish was loaded with a green, oily substance. A little drizzle would have been fine, but her risotto was an island in a moat of oil.

Regarding service, the table set-up lacked spoons., which are helpful with risotto. There was no steak knife, so I had to attack the cold steak with a butter knife.

After two lackluster courses, we decided not to have dessert.

We're year-round South County residents and I saw good reviews for General Stanton Inn from my neighbors on Facebook and Nextdoor over the winter. Quite disappointed the food and...