Deer Head Inn — Restaurant in Delaware Water Gap

This hotel has some great aspects but others were off putting. Lets start with the good, we arrived there late saturday night (6/22) and were quickly checked in by Ian, he also graciously showed us to our room and carried our bags for us. The band on saturday night was fantastic! Be advised that even if you are staying you are expected to pay a cover charge that goes for the nights performance, since we were only there for the last hour of the show we only had to pay 50% of the cover( Usually 10$ a person). The hotel is unique and since it was built in the 1800 there is no elevator. The furniture and the decorations might also be from the same era. The rooms were big enough, but they should use a little tender love and care, the only thing that is seemingly modern is the bathroom.

Saturday night, we decide to make a reservation for dinner at the resturant for 6:30 party of 6. even when going for dinner you're also expected to pay a cover charge on saturday night it $15 per person. We sit down and order our drinks and look at the menu. within 10 minutes of us sitting down a gentleman from the club comes and tells us we need to be quite. mind you we look around an see other tables talking also, and there is no signage that indicates this is a quite performance. So we respectfully honor the mans request and enjoy our drinks and continue to listen to the song that was being performed with limited conversation. Then the lead singer of the band in between songs says "hey were all trying to do something really special up here and we need everyone to be quite" that's when I had enough. I went out side and called the Sycamore inn to see if they had availability and they did. So we payed for our drinks told the waitress we would not be staying. She had a look on her face like it wasn't the first time something like this has happened. lastly the band on saturday night paled in comparison to the band friday night.

What the Deer Head Inn needs to do is have a sign at the entrance that its a quite show, or maybe give that disclaimer at the time of making the reservation. No where does it say that you're not allowed to talk with your table and it is insulting, and your customers have the right to know this before they pay a non-refundable 15$ cover charge.

I will not be staying with them again, and if your in the area go to saccamore inn the food is better, the atmosphere is better and the...

We have visited many times. Our overall experience had always been awesome and fun. Last night/12.30.2023, we visited for my daughter’s 19th birthday. The decorations and simply the place was lovely and holiday festive-looking. The inn was the birthday girl’s pick, which was exciting to us. The hostess was pleasant and a woman said thanks for coming on our way out. There was live music which was wonderful. As some of us are musicians ourselves, we always enjoy the profession live music! I gladly paid the $15/person music fee upon entering. Last night, our server was so sweet and nice and even wrote Happy Birthday on the bill with a smiley. However, a 20% large party fee was added to the bill without anyone mentioning that prior to me. (There were seven of us. However, we all shared one app. We asked for fries to share as two plate-apps but they were not available. A few of us had one drink. We then had a plate each. So, we were not a busy table.) The chicken sandwiches, which a few of us have had several times before there, were super salty last night or brined in too much salt (not counting the bacon). The waitress took our food order earlier than our dinner time, which we thought was good. By the time we got our food though, about an hour or more after ordering, I did not want to send the 3 salty plates back and possibly have to wait another hour for new food. Would I go back? Definitely. Was this a great experience this time around? No. I work PT in catering. I know all the details about why an experience such as last night can happen. I empathize with all that work in the food industry, especially now-a-days. However, I would hope the staff would take my notes and discuss this review. I paid the extra fee with reluctance which was approximately $32.00. and left a nice tip, as our waitress earned it. I could have asked if that fee was the tip (not noted as tip on the bill) but I did not. I could have asked to have that fee waived, as we all financially are sometimes struggling. I did not. I would go back and I look forward to doing so many more times. I hope our next experience is as usual, close to perfect. Would I recommend my piano students’ families to visit the Deer...

So I'd like to start this review letting anyone reading this know that I never feel compelled to write negative reviews, but if I'm being honest, I was going to give the Deer Head 1 star after my experience tonight but our server was the saving grace. The hostess (if that's what she was, she was wearing the same vest as the band performing, but never played any instruments) was extremely rude to the group I was with, treating them like criminals when they, after walking through the door, when innocently they did not know there was a cover (which they paid after). After which, when a few more arrived, I had asked our server if there was open seats at the bar, to which she said "yes, there are 2 that aren't reserved". No more than a minute after sitting at the bar, the hostess came over and quite literally barked at me "You can't sit here, these are reserved!", To which I explained that the server told us they weren't. The Hostess' response was to point at the silverware on the bar and rudely exclaimed "that's what the silverware means, it's reserved! You can't sit here!". We made our way back to a table, and placed our orders for dinner. Unfortunately the food was not up to the standards that the Deer Head had set from our previous trips there. One in our group is unable to eat meat due to dietary restriction, so she ordered the vegetable stir fry. That ended up with chicken in it somehow, the burger I ordered arrived cold, and the rest of the group had the soup, which was very watery (cream of broccoli soup shouldn't be watery). As for the dessert, I ordered the rice pudding, which like the soups, was very watery and the rice seemed like it was very undercooked. All in all, the treatment we received from the hostess, and the quality of the food we received did not live up to previous experiences at this establishment, and I know we won't be coming...