Schoolhouse Tavern — Restaurant in Penn Township

Stopped in at 'one of the only restaurants in town' with 2 family members before seeing our cousin in her first musical.

We though we had given ourselves plenty of time to eat, as we sat at about 5:50 and needed to be out by 7:15. Boy were we wrong.

Our server, bless him, was so absent. It was about 5 minutes before we ordered drinks. I think he was hard of hearing because he would repeat back things we didn't say and we had to repeat ourselves a couple of times when ordering items. Not his fault, no problem.

However.

We were then abandoned for a long period of time. By the time he came to take our order we had been sitting there for almost 30 minutes and we were getting nervous. The restaurant wasn't crowded, so we weren't sure what the holdup was. We were seated right next to the servers' prep station, and we could see him filling sauces for a good portion of the time.

When we were finally able to order, we asked for a bar pretzel and our meals to all arrive together because we were in a hurry and he said no problem.

Our food did not arrive until almost 7pm, around an hour after we sat down. It's a shame. Because the pretzel was absolutely delicious. It was huge, soft, good amount of salt. The baked Mac and cheese, though, was not good. I couldn't place it, but it sort of tasted like noodles with a jar of that queso Blanco dip you can buy at a grocery store dumped in them. The wrong kind of gooey and not a good cheese flavor.

We had to ask for the check and boxes as soon as the food arrived, but then our checks sat with our cards on the table for another 8-10 minutes. We were panicked at this point that the short trip had turned into a marathon and we barely even got to eat.

I think this place probably has other great foods, but the service experience makes me not want to return.

The table next to us, who had finished their meal and was coincidentally heading to the same show, leaned over to say "our experience was much better, what a shame" before they left. So maybe this isn't the norm, but it surely...

Schoolhouse Tavern. Small eatery located in Clarige, PA. Close to my home. Never been here before. Small quaint house turned into restaurant. When we arrived there was a wait. We chose to wait at a very crowded bar but I was served within a minute or two. The wait for our table was only another 4 or 5 so not at all bad. Server saw to us shortly thereafter and we had enough time to peruse our menus and make our decisions. I ordered the bang bang shrimp and grilled chicken salad and my wife ordered boneless wings with side of Carolina sweet and spicy sauce and charred ceasar salad. This is the point where the wait really began. In order to conserve time we asked for everything together. Probably should have taken apps first but live and learn. A runner was quick to refresh our cocktails so that wasn't any issue. When our food did arrive it did so hot and for the most part tasty. There were a couple of issues here. First. Although the bang bang sauce was quite good, there was ZERO bang to it. I was anticipating that bite when I sampled it and was quite disappointed. Great flavor, no bang. The fryer oil was another issue. It desperately needed changed as the boneless with that were 9$ for 10 were way too well done. Very very dark. However, the surprise there was the Carolina sauce. That was really good. I don't know if it was prepped in house but it was definitely worth it. Our salads were big and plentiful and the wood charred twist on the ceasar is something I had never considered but will now when I make one. They have a small unisex restroom in a very tight hallway that you definitely wanna knock to make sure is not occupied prior to just walking into. All in all. Had a very nice time. Menu items look great. Food I saw coming out and also what I saw others eating looked quite good and balanced for the price. So ultimately a place I will return to here in the not so...

My family and I ( three of us ) arrived approximately 45 minutes after opening on a Saturday morning (11:45 am ). The parking was a bit confusing since i have been here before and found no handicapped parking available. A newly poured concrete pad was present where the spaces had been, so i did not know if ok to park there ,as was no temporary signage since posts with signs on them had existed before. Several customers were already seated when we entered the dining room and bar area. We chose the seating in the bar area, which has a welcoming atmosphere and decor. We were waited on right away and were attended to throughout our lunch, and we tipped according to the excellent service we received. My issue was with the menu description , and the lunch we received which was a kitchen issue. My wife ordered a tavern burger which arrived minus the Applewood smoked bacon. I had "fish on a dish" with onion rings which the menu states" made with Vidalia onions". I received the fish, which was excellent, but with fries and 5 small Spanish type size hand breaded rings. My son ordered cheesesteak sandwich, also excellent by his account, which comes with fries. He also ordered a side of tater tots. His arrived with tots only, no fries. Easy fix tho, I gave him the fries, I did not order, and kept the onion rings. My constructive comments are that this was not at the height of dinner rush hr and overall was a good experience. At almost 20.00 for a piece of fish and 5 onion rings for lunch, the portion was appropriate for lunch, but the price seemed a bit high. Everything has gone up, I understand that. The server we had gave us excellent service i will go back for another try. P.s we didn't need the missing bacon on the burger, our heart thanks you, but just a point of menu vs what...