Back Door Tavern — Restaurant in Fallston

If I could give 0 starts, I would! I couldn’t believe the service we received tonight. It first began when we arrived about 5:50pm and informed the host/waitress we had reservations for 10 people at 6pm. As we all stood there, the waitress told our party to “hang on a sec”. She then came back to tell us she accidentally gave our table away to a party that was just seated nearly minutes before we walked in. On to the next table we now go. We ordered our dinner at approximately 620-625pm (no later) Appetizers came out, but only for half of our party. As we continued to wait, we were not asked if we’d like refills, if our appetizers were okay, absolutely no customer service was provided. We asked again about the other appetizer that still did not come out. When they finally did, the poppers were ice cold in the middle and the cheese was hard. Not sure how you throw poppers in grease yet they’re cold in the center still. There wasn’t any type of apology given to the extreme wait. We finally called our waitress over about 720pm and explained to her that we understood it was not her error, but we had waited an hour at this point for our food. She said our food “was up on the rack” and that she would be bringing it out now. Mind you, in no sympathetic way. She could have cared less. It was almost like we were bothering her while we just continued to sit and wait for our dinners. No apology was given at any point, as if it were our problem that we had ordered an hour before. Keep in mind, the party that sat at the table next to us, (who our reservation were given away to) had ate, received their check and were getting up to leave. They were also a party of 10. We, however, still had no food. The food did come out about 5-7 min after the waitress told us it was up on the rack. We then asked for both ketchup and ranch (which we ordered when we ordered our food initially. The waitress, in a very rude way, said “I’m one person, I have two hands!” I’ve never had such rude and ignorant service in all the years I have come and ate at the Back Door. We had family in from another state and it was their first time there. I was so embarrassed by the service and treatment. I will never return to this restaurant again. And when we asked to speak to the manager, we were told “there isn’t a manager here”. Extremely disappointed all around. Like I stated above, I will not be back to...

The Back Door Tavern is a little bit off the beaten path, but the effort to get there is definitely worth it.

Just like the old joke, "I've got good news and bad news," let's dispense with the bad first. There are just 2 things that prevent me from giving them 5 stars. First, on a busy night, parking can be a challenge. It sits in a residential neighborhood, and even with their parking lot, spaces can be at a premium. That probably doesn't apply right now, but someday, COVID will be in our rear view mirror, and restaurants will be back to serving at full capacity.

The other negative is that on those busy nights the service, while eager, accommodating and friendly, can be a bit slow. Not "Two more minutes and I'm leaving" sort of slow, but slow enough that if you see they're busy, allot a decent amount of extra time for dinner.

Now the good stuff. The Back Door Tavern hits the trifecta of excellence...atmosphere, decor and food. Especially the food. They absolutely live up to the stereotype of the neighborhood tavern that has great food. So if you go there, be aware that you're talking "bar food" for dinner...burgers, wraps, wings, etc, as opposed steaks, chops, pasta primavera and the like. I have come to a stage in life where I try to be careful about my diet.

That goes out the window at the Back Door. If you like an appetizer with dinner, the onion rings, hot pepper cheese balls and breaded zucchini are to die for (and someday I probably will, but that's OK...they're great.). Their wings are outstanding, but I prefer their wraps. They've got four of them...Philly, Reuben, Chicken Bacon Ranch, and Wing Flavored Chicken...and I can recommend all four. I would also recommend the chili, pretty spicy, but very good. And, if you go there on a Thursday, their Chicken Parm sandwiches. I've been there countless time, and have yet to discover a swing-and-miss on their menu.

I really enjoy my visits to the Back Door Tavern, and I'm guessing you...

We just moved to the Ohio River Valley area 2 months ago and we like to check out little places. We drove an hour to come eat here at the Back Door Tavern. They have an entrance that leads to the bar of the main road and an entrance in the back of the building that leads to the dining room. There is a family dining and adult dining areas. It was super quiet and only one other family there. The dining area is definitely a great little spot! Lots of craft beers and a beer challenge!

The food was good. We got the steak chili cheese fries, onion rings, fish and chips and the HUGE half hot sausage Pittsburgh sandwich. Everything was really good. I just have thing I did not like and that was their hoouse made hot sausage. If you like fennel, then it's for you! I'm not a huge fennel fan and that's all it tasted like. The diet coke and sweet tea were so so and I wasn't a fan of the tartar sauce. But everything was really good. Large portions! We will...