Painter’s Tavern — Restaurant in Town of Cornwall

I lived in Cornwall for the first 25 years of my life, and Painters (regardless of ownership) has always been a welcome stop. The food and beverages are consistently great. I don’t think I’ve ever written a review for a restaurant, but I felt compelled after my recent visit.

On the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, we visited the patio for a meal with our two dogs—both of whom are incredibly well-behaved. When we arrived, someone who appeared to be a manager or owner encouraged us to stay in the corner so her dog wouldn’t see ours and get riled up. Although it was an unusual request coming from a manager to a customer, we obliged and kept to the corner.

As we were preparing to leave, we saw some old friends and began chatting with them near the door. The dog inside must have seen ours and started barking. The manager then came out and asked us to return to the corner of the patio so her dog wouldn’t be disturbed.

While this wasn’t a major issue, I don’t quite understand treating customers this way. If dogs aren’t allowed, that should be clearly stated. I’m sure the person we dealt with is a perfectly nice individual, but as a manager or business owner, it’s important to be mindful of how you speak to and treat your patrons.

One of the longest-standing restaurants in town should encourage its guests to socialize, and no one should be made to feel uncomfortable. We’ll, of course, be back—hoping this was just a one-off—but I wanted to share...

We just returned from Cornwall. We went to Storm King, and as we've done over the past 15 years, headed to Painter's directly afterwards for their pile of nachos/veggies/cheeses/spices on a wooden plank. This year we were marking a year since my father passed away. He loved Painter's.. loved Cornwall. We almost moved into the bike shop on the main street when it was being sold back in the day.

Upon entering and noting that we are a party of 7 and would like to sit on the all but empty front porch, we were told that they "no longer slide tables together". We could sit out there, but would have to sit at different tables. What ensued was a ludicrous - ludicrous scene. Three hostesses and the manager all took a turn at turning our shock and disappointment against us in a passive aggressive, bordering on aggressive-defensive wave of negativity and stubbornness. The bottom line is that they were unwilling to let us sit out front together. It's simply their 'policy' not to move tables anymore. (We weren't allowed to move them ourselves). It smelled quite damp and musty inside. We didn't stay. I'll savor the good memories I've had here, but the food last time tasted old, and they've now lost us all as patrons. I'm really sad about this. This was a favorite place of mine. In this recession, it's just shocking that a place as wonderful as this could treat their customers with such brazen indifference and a complete lack of compassion or...

This review is for lodging only. Stayed here in July 2015 and the room (room #6) was acceptable but an extremely poor value for the price. For $130 (which was $10 off) we got a room with a very tiny bathroom that was set up for a child (sink about 12 inches across), wall to toilet very narrow (you better be slim!), a toilet that was extremely hard to flush, and a toilet that was very, very low to the floor (you better have strong legs to get off of the pot). There was also quite a bit of dust under the beds, quite loud air conditioner, very hot access hallway (probably 110 F) to the bedroom, and bedroom itself hot on arrival (at least 90 F). There were no trash can liners in any of the 3 trash cans and no plastic bag for the ice bucket. Very few other lodgers (none that I could see). No breakfast of any type in the AM, and not even any coffee in the morning (they gave us a promotional card for just one free cup of coffee down the street!). The room had some artsy nudes painted on the wall. The beds were acceptable if you are just looking for a place to sleep. My opinion is that this room should not have been priced over $70 at the very most (someone else made reservation for us). If you are accustomed to "normal" motel stays with decent bathrooms, normal amenities, and some kind of AM breakfast, this place will sorely disappoint you especially for the...