Mews Tavern — Restaurant in South Kingstown

We went last night for Valentines day, drove roughly 30 minutes as my wife has been in the past and it would be my 1st time going. She called last week asking to make reservations, they said they don't do that. I find that very odd that a restaurant of this size doesn't do that. But to each there own.

Once I parked, 1st thing that drove me nuts was trying to find out how in the heck to get into this place. I have signs pointing in every direction, and I just want to get in and eat.

I was told to go to the right side and after almost getting hit in the parking lot due to it being so poorly lit, I finally got in.

1st reviews upon entering, crowded and for a person like me who's never been unorganized. As a fire fighter, God forbid there was ever a fire in that place, it would be pure chaos. It's stairs, doors, drops in the floor, etc.I stood near a sign that said see host to be seated. My wife who's been here before once thankfully knew where to go, so after feeling like a mouse in a huge maze we found the front desk and all the other people sitting around waiting.

45 minute wait time they said, or we can go sit in the pub. At this point after seeing I guess what's called the restaurant version of the joint, I didn't care & neither did she.

We find the only "table" open in the place and it's facing the wall, near a fire exit with a bud sign right in my face. But at least we found a place to sit.

Service was poor and unwelcoming IMO. From the bar I'm asked if we want menus. I said yes. We get them then not see our waitress/bartender for a long time. I told the other two pick out what you want now so we can order as I don't think we're going to see her for a while.

Prices were VERY high. $12 for a burger with fries that aren't even freshly cut IMO is pretty high. $12/13 for nachos with pulled pork extremely disappointing as again IMO (in my opinion) the size was much to small for the price. The burger would have been good, if it was cooked right. Med/rare, not that hard to cook. Mine came out beyond rare. I think I heard it still mooing. I ate it just because I was that hungry and needed to get something.

The timing of the appetizers to the food being served wasn't very good either. Middle of nachos our meals show up and we have no room to put anything. I hate that in a restaurant no matter the size. I want to enjoy what I am eating, not feel rushed to shovel it in.

I didn't know about the beer until my wife gave me this small piece of paper folded up. The beer wasn't bad, I mean how can you screw up beer? But getting the beer, again falls upon poor service. My glass was empty for a long time before I saw someone who finally checked in on us and asked how everything was. I tapped the glass and got another one.

Played some pool to try and relax then got a huge overpriced bill and left.

In the end, I wasn't impressed and won't go back. I was really hoping this place was...

5 of us went for a late lunch in the inside dining room. We waited 1 hour for our food. When it finally arrived and our server had not been back to check in with us on why it was taking so long, or if we would like our empty drinks refilled, Yes they were empty! One persons nachos had set so long ,that the cheese was so hard and cold that you could not lift a nacho out of the coagulated mess! Another persons cheesesteak was cold and another’s sweet potato fries were cold! Our waiter must have noticed how bad the nachos looked, because he actually came right back and asked if everything was ok. I sad no and told him the problems and requested a manager. The manager came after a good 10 minutes wait and said, I don’t understand why things are cold and that it took so long, we aren’t even full, but it took him that long to walk from the back to the front of the restaurant. Hence the one star for the atmosphere! He offered to remake those three items, we got the cheesesteak back, it had been microwaved with fresh cheese melted on top, never remade! No new order of potato fries at all and the nachos were actually remade. The waiter came back and said don’t worry everything is going to be taken care of! He then came back and said again, everything is taken care of and laid down the bill. We were shocked when we looked at the bill which we thought would be $0!!! The nachos and the cheesesteak were the only things they “took care” of! All of us thought that they were going to comp the whole bill after waiting one hour then only 2 of us could eat, while the other three had to wait for edible food. I mentioned this to the waiter and he said, I must not have said what I meant correctly!! What a fiasco!! Also the manager never showed his face!! We paid the ridiculous $80 bill and ran into our waiter talking about us to another waiter on the wait, that was very professional, he could at least waited until he saw us leave!! There has to be a lot more restaurants to support when traveling to the Kingston area, than a place that doesn’t really care about...

Where to begin when talking about the Mews Tavern! They have a great and diverse selection of draft beers (69 on tap) which you can enjoy in the main seating area, the pizza bar, the original tavern, and the upstairs Celtic pub (open in evening). Be sure to ask your server or bartender about the three $3 pint specials at these bars, which can range from domestics to craft brews. On every first Wednesday of the month, the Mews holds a pint night where you get a free pint glass if you order the beer of the night. However, if you aren't into beer, there is also an assortment of ciders and mixed drinks available such as the Gator Bowl. The upstairs Celtic Pub definitely specializes in scotch and whiskeys.

The food is delicious and reasonably priced for what you get. Brick oven pizza and calzones are a must if you are a first time visitor or veteran. Some notable favorites include the Rancho Relaxo pizza and Pink Panther calzones, but you can also make whatever you like. Plenty of other options like burgers, sandwiches, wings, salads, and entrees. Food can be ordered for pickup by phone or the hostess desk at the front.

The overall atmosphere is perfect for anyone who needs to sit back with some food and a beer to unwind. Given it is a tavern, there is no call ahead reservations/seating so wait times can exceed an hour at peak times of the year. If you don't feel like you need a table, hop on over to the original tavern for some bar space or upstairs to the Celtic Pub. While parents are not discouraged from bringing their children, it is a tavern so most (if not all) family seating is in the main dining room.

Also, don't forget about getting a Mews VIP card! This will allow you to enjoy some of the weeknight dinner specials and free birthday meal and drink. All purchases give you points which you can use to buy Mews paraphernalia and other stuff!

Been going here for years and the only thing in my way is an hour and a half...