Guild Tavern — Restaurant in South Burlington

Tired is the only adjective that comes to mind when I think of any Farmhouse Group restaurant. I truly do not want to feel this way. Farmhouse group were known as innovators and farm to table Vermont style forward thinking dining pioneers. It just feels like they are phoning it in now, resting on their laurels from years ago. Example – went to Guild Tavern this evening. They touted their new summer menu. Nothing has really changed. And actuality, it has become more boring. The hash brown under the always reliable Steak Tartar is now a mushy mess. The new recipe for the muscles, sauce described as Dijon cream, garlic, fennel, and white wine was basically mussels in heavy cream. The only hint that mustard was involved was the faint yellow color. All of the other ingredients were not evident. Totally not worth the calories and ultimately a chore to eat. Could only get halfway through without feeling thoroughly disappointed. $10 for a $4 can of Focal Banger? Insulting mark up for a normally priced $7 dollar beer. I personally spend thousands of dollars per month dining out and have my definite tried and true favorites, but what used to be a bull’s-eye evening at any of your restaurants: Farmhouse Tap and Grill, Guild , Pascola, El Cortijo, Bliss Bee, just seem to be a predictable slog with redundant menus and abusive pricing. Start/ Stop/ Improve/Keep: Start: providing more innovative menu items and ingredients. The pre-requisite smoked $18 chicken wings and $16 poutine, and $4 per oyster aren’t cutting it anymore. Basic $20 tuna crudo plates are so pedestrian and boring now. How about more quail egg and caviar touches. You are charging exorbitant prices so you might as well kick it up a notch. I do understand that the aged steak at Guild is delicious but $79 for a 10 ounce strip seems economically preposterous and abusive in this day and age (no pun intended)

Stop- saying that you have new seasonal menus while honestly just tweaking one or two ingredients that make absolutely no difference to the taste or quality of your old offerings. I realize we live in a small state with limited dining options, but your team used to be the culinary frontier and now seem to be purely profit motivated, and boring. Also, your prices across-the-board are pretty out of touch. On a recent trip to El Cortijo, your Mexican themed dining car off of Church Street which had the ambience and lighting of Henry’s diner down the road, my companion and I had a plate of nachos and two margaritas each, 8 ounces, where the rocks overpowered the actual liquid, cost us well over $100. Eight ounce, $15 margaritas out of an old deco diner should NOT be a thing.

Improve- your overall atmospheres. The 2010 model doesn’t cut it anymore. Although it is lovely to smell mesquite smoke wafting through the majority of your restaurants, your designs are so boiler plate “Vermont” and, in this case, Guild has an overwhelming sewage smell emanating from the bathroom that permeates the dining room. This isn't a one off. I smell it every time I dine there, enough so to make me permanently stop any future visits.

Keep-your wait staff and bartenders. They continue to professionally and enthusiastically engage with the diners and offer educated advice and recommendations. Some locations are hit or miss, but 80% of your team really try to make the experiences better. As an aside, I say 80% because truthfully, I receive better and friendlier service at my local McDonald’s than I do at any of the Bliss Bee locations. Always frowning faces and attitude. I know it’s high-end fast food but why are they so mean?

In closing, I want my old FHG innovation back! Reliability and consistency used to be the hallmarks of your success(es). unfortunately, it now feels like I’m witnessing the slow death of a once inspired and forward thinking collaboration. we don’t have many options in the Burlington area. Please pick up the mantle again and lead the way. My friends, family, and I would gladly pay more for better quality and well thought out menus and updated dining...

Should've, could've been better.

It was the first time for this place for both my wife and I. Though it started out strong, it ended in failure. Would I try it again? Yes. I believe everyone occasionally has a bad day and deserves a second chance. But first impressions are often lasting impressions.

My wife and I decided to check out The Guild as our Valentine's restaurant choice. She made the reservations a week or so in advance and on the day of, we were ready early so we decided to go earlier than our reservation so we could possibly enjoy some adult beverages and conversation at the bar.

We arrived at 5:15 for our 6pm reservation and were delighted to find that we could sit in a lounge area with couches, chairs and tables near a wood burning fireplace to have drinks and appetizers as an alternative to the already crowded bar. It was wonderful! Our drinks came out quickly and our order of Rock Crab Dip was hot, fresh and delicious.

We were led to our table at around 5:50 and placed drink and entree orders shortly after being seated. Drinks came quickly, but food takes longer so we waited. And waited. And waited. After 40 minutes and still no food, we were getting pretty frustrated. At 45minutes, our food finally came out. Cold. WTF?! We ate it anyway and I must say, the flavors were good. I can only imagine what it was like hot and fresh. My Wood Fired Sirloin Tips came with mashed potatoes and mixed veggies including Brussels Sprouts and parsnip. My wife's order of Steak and Shrimp was originally cooked to her order of medium rare but it's just not the same cold. And her substitution of onion rings instead of mashed potatoes might as well have been calamari. Though served in a cast iron skillet, they were cold and rubbery.

This was very obviously a failure of the wait staff. The food was otherwise very good, and our drinks were good. After making a comment to our server about how cold our food was, she first told us that their burgers take 30 minutes to cook in their wood fired oven/grill. My wife pointed out that a) we didn't order burgers and b) our food was COLD, obviously not straight from the fire. Our server tried to fix it by giving us the entrees for free. We were not asking for any discounts but it was a nice gesture.

All in all, I think 3 stars is the best I can manage this time. Next time, if there is a next time, I expect to...

My husband and I went to the guild yesterday night with a reservation.i asked our server if the special was good and they said they have never tried it so couldn't tell us with very nervous energy. Ordered it anyway as it seemed good. I was not happy about the artichoke casino dish as it tasted like pizza roles. My husband ate them so I didn't have to even though he didnt like it either. When we got our meals my husband said his burger was good but the mac and cheese was kind of bland. I ordered the pasta dish with chicken and I swear to god there was more pepper and spice on that dish than in my own pepper and salt shakers at home. I took literally 2 bites of it until my body literally protested. I had my husband try it and he literally choked on it. Instead of just having them take it off the bill I just asked them to remake it as my husband already finished his meal by the time I got the servers attention and I would just take the new one home because it was an almost $40 dish. We ordered desert in the meantime. Got the new one and I actually opened the container and tasted the dish as I'm not stupid and low and behold, no seasoning what so ever on the pasta and vegetables or the boursin or anything that goes on this dish. And the same freaking chicken breast I rejected. I know because of the sheer amount of pepper and there was only 2 pieces instead of the three because i ate one whdn i got the first dish. The look of the 2 dishes was night and day. I was thinking that I was giving these people the benefit of the doubt and they literally try to give me a petty mediocre pasta dish I could make better at home. I was not impressed by the servers words that she didn't know what I wanted them to do and it's not up to her and verbatim it's not a seasoning issue it's a spice issue. Ma'am, seasoning is spice. I was not impressed with our experience or the shady I'm just going to throw stuff you don't like in your food and hope you just go away without noticing actions of either the kitchen staff who prepared or food or our server. We will not be back and our dinner date atmosphere was ruined. Thank you guys, not a good way to actually make sure...