The Old '76 House — Restaurant in Town of Orangetown

Massively disappointed!! Place has been a family favorite for over 40 years. We hadn’t eaten here since about a year ago, when we went for brunch, it was fine. But what are you expecting for brunch? We celebrated MANY special occasion and I remember being a young boy, playing piano in the restaurant. Thinking we'd have a similar experience, we made reservations for Christmas Eve. We arrived to a be seated in the dining room, the place has always been cozy and had a great atmosphere, so we were looking forward to a nice evening. The waitress was very nice, although we noticed that the service in general was more appropriate for a diner. Servers lumbering through the dining room, shouting out the names of the dishes, expecting acknowledgment from the guests, while delivering them to the table. As if you had to raise your hand when you heard your dish so it could be dropped off in front of you. There was a permissive sense of unprofessionalism that emanated everywhere. The place is supposed to be almost fine dining, but with staff wandering around wearing t-shirts, and sitting at the bar enjoying cocktails and eating, it's very hard to get that sense. On to the food. You'd think that with special menu, where a restaurant offers its most popular selections, you'd get their best. Considering The 76 House professes that their "patrons enjoy fabulous food prepared by our acclaimed chef, in a one-of-a-kind setting". Well, let me tell you, lots to be desired here. I'll go through what the "acclaimed chef" offered at their premium prices. "Jumbo" Shrimp Cocktail - $18, 4 mealy textured, medium sized shrimp, slapped on a bed of a couple trimmings of wilted lettuce with side of Restaurant Depot-type bulk cocktail sauce. Zero taste, gross texture, not at all "appetizing". Cabbage Salad, didn't recall the price, but this "winner" was pile of chopped up vegetables on a bread plate. "Thanksgiving Egg Rolls" - $17, they really broke the creativity scale with this gem, out came a three-piece egg roll stuffed with dry, cool stuffing that may have been sitting around since Thanksgiving. They covered it with some pink cranberry-like concoction and some micro-greens. You'd figure Thanksgiving, and you'd get gravy. I asked and the well-meaning server brought out a cup of brown gravy like I ordered Disco Fries. Several "Clam Chowders" - $10, were ordered and again, Restaurant Depot quality soup base with a couple clams, not terrible but nothing resembling high quality. On to the mains, three impossibly dry portions of the pot roast, slathered in the same brown gravy. It was as if the chef knew to hide the meat under enough gravy to make it appear palatable. It was really like a diner, food runner walking over, shouting out "pot roast" to anyone that would acknowledge him. Duck tasted like turkey, not in a good way, and was sitting in a pool of what appeared to be some Polynesian marmalade out of the Shop Rite aisle. All this while the owner's very large, although very friendly dog was free-ranging the restaurant. He was observed throughout the evening, nudging up to tables looking for attention and food. Not exactly what you'd expect in a restaurant. We were even "treated" to the owner's meandering and boring stories about the dog's genealogy. Drinks were blah, you'd figure the manager would teach the t-shirt clad bartender how to make an Old Fashioned, wrong cherries, large orange slice and enough ice to water down and defeat the purpose in ordering a particular Bourbon. Yet, a lady who appeared to be the manager, was enjoying an espresso martini at the bar, Merry Christmas to her! At that point, on to the controversy of the night. No one in the restaurant could figure how to perform a transaction tendering gift cards. The ten minutes of incompetence was punctuated by the highly unprofessional "manager" proclaiming "If you can't afford to go out to eat, you shouldn't". Excuse me, you silly excuse for a professional restaurant manager, I can more than afford to spend almost $500 on a meal. It's just a shame I wasted it...

I have frequented this restaurant many, MANY times over of the course of 7 years. My husband and I always had such positive experiences dining here for dinner- so wonderful that we decided to have our son's baptism reception here. What a mistake that was. We arrived a few minutes early as we finished up earlier than anticipated at the church. A guest of ours ordered a beer at 3:25 and the bartender asked for him to pay. When he questioned if it was open bar, she told him not until 3:30. Like, alright lady...it's not crazy early or anything. Good for him, he said to her "alright, leave it there and I'll be back in five minutes." When I arrived, I ordered an IPA for myself and Merlot for my elderly grandfather and the bartender told me only 76 ale and cider and Yuengling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc were being offered. I then introduced myself as the host of the party and kindly told her that when having created the contract with Robert (the owner or manager...not really sure) we agreed upon (and paid for) unlimited draft beers and house wines, but she insisted this was not the case. (This means she was holding back 2 wines and about 7 other beers.) After going back and forth a few times, I asked her to contact Robert as I tried to pull up my contract in my email (service isn’t too strong in the restaurant). She texted him and after waiting 5 minutes- I was embarrassed that my guests weren’t ordering drinks because they didn’t know what was available since she was being difficult, and not to mention, very rude. So, I approached the wait staff and asked them to call Robert because I was tired of waiting for a response. Once she saw me doing this, she came over to me to say she spoke with him and him had agreed to give us two red options, two white options (which was what we had discussed) and now four options of beer (not what we had discussed/was in our contract) instead of three. My husband and I didn’t feel like arguing anymore and chose our four options. After already letting our guests know the new deal, (which was embarrassing having initially told them they had options of everything on tap) Christine (our server) told us that she spoke with Robert and he said we had all options on tap available. We ended up just sticking with the four options because we didn’t want to call for more attention and further embarrass ourselves. I do want to express that our waitress, Christine, was very patient and helpful. The bartender had a terrible attitude and was not accommodating at all. Truthfully I felt as if she was lying that she spoke to the owner but, I could be wrong and it could’ve been the other way around. As I got two different stories I am not too sure what the actual truth is and who really spoke to him. On top of all of this, my son’s name was spelled incorrectly on his cake although the contract showed it spelled correctly. I did send it back to be corrected as I was not going to have something else askew on what was supposed to be a easy and enjoyable day for my family and have photos forever show the name incorrectly. IF THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH... when I emailed Robert all of this the next day, he apologized and asked for my address to send something to make this right. I have received NOTHING. THAT WAS OVER A MONTH AND A HALF AGO. I LIVE 4 MINUTES FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT. Like really, an apology would've been fine, but then he acts like he's going to do right by me. I was a frequent costumer who had brought friends and family from out of town and state to dine here, came for birthdays, anniversaries, and Valentines Days, but no more. For the sole reason that all of my other experiences here have been wonderful, I gave two stars. However, this incident really turned me off from the place....

We had a fantastic lunch at the Old 76 House in Tapan. The atmosphere is wonderful! It is inviting As soon as you pull into the Parking lot of the restaurant/Tavern. The old building is kept nice along with the grounds decorated with autumn mums and miniature Pumpkins. Inside is decorated with historical paintings, clothing, muskets, furniture ect. I read about the Old 76 online about it being Haunted. Table 2 was the table we made reservations for. Thought we would visit a historical tavern with a twist. We arrived at 12 noon Saturday. 1 table was sat and we were the only others in the entire restaurant. We ended up taking the table next to table 2 as it had large comfortable side chairs lol. It was like sitting in your living room relaxed. We faced table two So we can see if any ghostly shinanigans would happen lol. We started off with drinks I ordered the Peach Madra my husband Ordered the 76 House hard cider. Both were fantastic. The winner of the two was the Peach Madra. Superior flavor when it comes to any Peach drink i have ever had. It is very refreshing and strong at the same time. I orderd two throughout my lunch and was tipsy by the end of the second. I ordered the Onion soup and husband ordered the Stuffed clams for apps. Both were flavorful. My husband and I both agreed best Onion soup we have ever had. For my main entree I ordered the Meatloaf with mashed potatos. My meal also came with crisp FRESH mixed veggies. Lightly seasoned. The meal was fantastic and stuck to traditional recipe. With brown gravy. My Husband ordered the Big 76 burger and loved it. Especially the carmalized onions and the thick cut bacon. The roll was fresh and soft. We were full and could not finish our plates. Wish we had room for desert. Will def order that the next time we travel down. Our waitress was very nice. She stopped by our table often to see if we needed anything as did the waiters to top off water and clear plates.The ambiance is a 10 when it comes to comfort and historical decor. I took plenty of pics. We drove an hour to The Old 76 House to have lunch and it was worth it. We plan on another lunch visit with my parents and children so they can experience this Historical tavern as well.

We did experience something strange on our way out. Stories say that table #2 is haunted. Guests have encountered strange cold spots. Revolutionary era coins found on or around the table. Along with strange noises and apparitions. Even heard money falling from the ceiling and being stuck to the bottom of ones shoe. When we left our table on the floor next to table #2 was a super shiney Dime and penny. I picked it up and placed it on table 2. Little excited i showed my husband and we made our way out of the restaurant. I went out to my car and right in front of my car door on the ground. I picked up a super shiney 1 cent euro. Coincidence? Ghostly experience?? Hmmmm?? Was someone ghostly sending me home with a small parting gift? 😉 Definitely worth the travel and will be making Our way back down in the next few weeks and this winter in hopes they do light up those fireplaces. Go check it out yourself. Ask for table 2 or table 1 right...