Marlborough Tavern — Restaurant in Marlborough

"This is Our Medium Rare" Don't waste your time or money. We came in on a Wednesday evening at 6:45p and were told the wait was 35-40 minutes. Went to bar with standing room only and ordered a drink. After standing at a small corner of the bar for an hour and 10 minutes, the hostess came to us and sat us at a table... In the bar. Key observation we made while at the bar: every plate going by us appeared to be frozen, pre-portioned food.

We first ordered the "homemade" chicken nuggets which consisted of greasy, fatty and cheap dark meat chicken breaded in a bland flour, fried and served with 2 small pieces of fries at the bottom of the basket. (Ok, the fries weren't on the menu as included but I guess we should consider it a bonus). After waiting another 30 minutes, the $45 "market choice" 17 oz ribeye arrives. The baked potato looks like it's been baked 6 times and then put into the microwave. The green beans are ice cold and the cauliflower is room temperature. When we cut into the "medium-rare-on-the-rarer-side" ribeye, it was a a light pink medium. Upon our server presenting it to the manager, the manager states to us, "That's our medium rare." Thanks but no thanks. In all my experience as a carnivore, eating some of the best cuts of steak, I have never heard of "that's our medium rare". While he tried to follow that response with "let me make you another, you will just have to pay for your glass of wine", the damage was too far done at that point. We didn't have it in us to wait another 30 minutes for another mediocre steak. Spent over 2 hours at this place, paid for my glass of wine and went home hungry. Won't do that again....

September 2024 - Historic tavern built around 1740 by the Buell family. At that time, its location was known as the "Governor's Highway" since it ran through an important vein of the state of Connecticut, from New London to Hartford. Revolutionary War soldiers gathered here to put down their muskets and have a pint of ale to cheer their triumphs over the British. Even President Andrew Jackson stopped in once. The tavern was sold under original ownership in 1868 but is now running again.

Today, my friends who brought me here after the Renaissance Faire, said it is one of their favorite places to dine and wished they could live closer to come more often.

Relaxing but engaging atmosphere. We had a nice meal which included a Guinness pot roast, a pan roasted Atlantic Salmon on risotto, and an evening special of a ragu over ravioli. Our starter was the house Buffalo chicken eggrolls which were really delicious.

The pot roast was described as tender and really flavorful. Our bartender and wait staff said she thought it was the best choice of the three. The ravioli was enjoyed but too filling to finish. For me, the only negative to say here is the salmon was a very small portion. I order salmon a lot and always have some to bring home. The bartender was knowledgeable and suggested I try her autumn gin drink with added spices. It was good but I moved on to a French Martini after that cocktail. Our beer enthusiast enjoyed his Headway by Counter Weight IPA. Marlborough Tavern has a large selection on tap. Overall, it was a nice experience and do recommend...

This is our second time here and this time was a little disappointing. We sat in the bar area and our initial waitress was friendly and upbeat. She took our drink orders and came back promptly for our appetizer and dinner orders. We ordered the fried sprouts. It took about 30 minutes for dinner to come out and the appetizer never came. At some point our waitress was pulled to do bartending. The second waitress asked if we still wanted our app. We said yes. By the time the app came out we were very much done with our entrees and ready to leave. So I asked for a to-go container for the app and the check. The original waitress came to our table about 10 minutes after we asked for the check and asked if we wanted dessert. I said no, just the check. Seeing as how we just got our app, who knows how long it would take for another order. After getting the check I was a little irritated that the app wasn't comped but it's whatever. At no point did anyone come to the table to ask if we wanted another beer or anything for that matter. I had to flag a waitress down for ketchup because the burger came with zero condiments. Despite the awful service, the food wasn't bad and we're still willing to come back, but...