Birch Hill Tavern — Restaurant in Glastonbury

Went here for the first time and probably the last. Went at about 7:30 pm on a Saturday night. Wasn't bad, just not good enough to bring me back. The physical appearance of the restaurant was delightful with a rustic feel,despite being kind of small. Also service was fairly good and what was expected.

Food: Menu is relatively small, half of which consists of burgers. The caveat is that there are only one or two "specialty" burgers and the rest consists of a build your own burger concept. The offer either a beef or turkey patty. Unfortunately they were out of turkey patties on the night of my visit. The burgers were extremely over priced. A base level turkey burger with nothing on it started at $10 and a beef at $11. From there, each topping cost an additional $0.50-$1.00, cheese was not included in the base cost. To top it off no fries or other sides were included. French fries or onion rings were offered for additional $2-$3. Burger sizes were okay, but were not as big as you'd expect for the price. The best part was the bun. The sides were served in small portions and for $3 received less than 10 onion rings. In the end for a Burger with 3 toppings and onion rings cost me $18 which was absurd. We tried the "chips + cheese" appetizer which was essentially nachos with queso. They were fairly good but were lacking much for toppings and they were extremely stringent with the amount of chicken or anything other than cheese on them.

Drink: The drink menu wasn't the easiest to read. There appeared to be zero cocktail menu. Beverage choices seemed to be centered around craft beers, of which, many weren't offered. There was also a few limited offerings of the usual bar beers, aka Amstel's, PBR, Coors. Beers cost $4 for the usual bar beers to about $8-10 for any of the craft beers. A large number of the craft beers were offered in only 750ml containers for about $40.

Overall impression: Pretentious...

A good friend introduced me to this establishment last week, and treated myself and another friend to lunch.. I had a very elegantly constructed turkey sandwich, served on Texas Toast and garnished with Ranch dressing, tomato, avocado, bacon and jalapenos. I had the Caesar Salad as well, and we drank some excellent micro brewed sour beer called "Lemke" (if I remember correctly) After tasting the food, and beer, I was starting to get mildly concerned about the seemingly precipitous bill... However, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't nearly as pricey as the offerings seemed to dictate. We were all also pleasantly surprised that when the check was brought out, the bartender asked to see ID for a credit card payment, as well as checking the signature line on the back of my friend's card. As a recent victim of fraud, and my friends' collective concern about due diligence in these circumstances, we were all very impressed at the professionalism in the transaction. She apologized for the inconvenience, but we all assured her that it her request was the appropriate measure that all service providers should do on a regular basis. Her tip more than reflected our appreciation! I highly recommend stopping in for any of their offerings as well as the excellent service. For those familiar with Glastonbury, they're located in the same building as Highland Park Market, also a...

So I’ve been here a few times because I live 2 miles away, but I decided to review this place because after reading the reviews I laughed hard at the feedback I thought they needed a truly honest take. This is a great tavern that gets 2 very important things right; they have a great beer selection and a talented chef executing a good menu. First off, a lot of people are saying this place is pricey, but it’s in Glastonbury!! You can go to Gilbert’s or Max’s or anything downtown and pay way more for less. However just saying Glastonbury should tell you to expect a slightly higher price for a quality experience. Secondly, of course the bar is noisy!! It’s a bar! If you don’t like the noise, go sit in the restaurant part! Seriously, who goes to a tavern with a bar that is always packed and expects it to be quiet. If it were quiet, no one would be here which means the restaurant wasn’t good. Noise means conversation, which is people having a great time, which means a great place to be. If you want to find a gem in rural Glastonbury with a great beer selection, with surprisingly good food way far away from downtown, or really far away from anything.. this place is a must stop at least once. You will not be disappointed. Great service, tasty food, great beer selection, and busy. Which tells you it’s good. Just show up and enjoy yourself and the...