Oliver's at Howland House — Restaurant in Town of Shandaken

My wife, daughter, ad son-in-law stopped at Oliver's last night a little after 8 PM for a cocktail to celebrate my birthday. The place was beautiful, charming, atmospheric, and had a very friendly group of people there. The only negative about this beautiful place was the tall woman behind the bar with short dark hair, who may've been the single worst bartender I ever saw. I believe her name was Jill. She was extremely rude, condescending, and unprofessional to my wife and daughter when they went to the bar to order drinks. When they brought this to her attention she muttered some barely audible excuse about "male dominance," which in addition to blatant gender stereotyping, made absolutely no sense since the bar was mostly females that night. It seems this particular bartender alienated nearly the entire crowd there last night, as a party of 6 or 7 girls at the table to our immediate left started talking to us about how nasty she was to them as well. In addition, a couple playing pool behind them overheard the complaints about her, and confirmed she had a major attitude problem with them as well. The wife told us it wasn't the first time they experienced it with her. I'm not sure for what reason Oliver's keeps her on since the bartender/server is the first impression a patron usually gets when entering an establishment., and NOBODY wants to deal with a surly unprofessional one. In all fairness Jill didn't charge my wife and daughter for their drinks, perhaps in an act of contrition for her very...

I had one of the best meals of my life at Oliver's. After driving by the unsuspecting and simple sign out front that reads "Oliver's Dinner 4pm," I wasn't even aware it was a restaurant open to the public. By night time, when the similarly excellent, but perhaps overdressed, Peekamoose had a minimum 90 minute wait for a possible seat at the bar, we were googling to check if Oliver's was for us. It certainly was.

We learned that this large, homey establishment went through renovations by the owners to offer a bar, an Inn, and now a restaurant with an incredible and simple menu full of right choices.

We sat inside the pleasant and casual dining room. It was a dark and cold October night, so the outdoor areas were not being used, but looked lovely. Service was fast and easy.

My partner and I were more than filled by two delicious, well balanced, and beautiful unique cocktails, perfect blistered shishito peppers, the best roasted carrots I've ever tasted (my top recommendation to order), a wonderfully thick and flavorful tomato soup, warm and crispy salty focaccia, and a deeply hearty, savory pot pie. The bill came out to $100. At a baseline, Oliver's is comparably priced to the other restaurants we ate out at in the Hudson area of Mt Temper/Phoenicia/Woodstock/Kingston/etc. For the quality and comfort, it was beyond generous and an unforgettable dining experience.

Shout out to one of the co-owners for her brief conversation, and a family of regulars who added even more charm...

Oliver’s is a new restaurant in an old renovated hotel building that kept a whole lot of its charm on the outside and inside too. The floors look to be the original! They have just opened and they are still working on renovating the main dining room from what I could see when I looked in the windows afterwards.

Service was friendly and effective for such a small crew - host, bartender, 1 bus boy, and some in the kitchen. All the tables were numbered and you have to order at the bar. I presume this is either temporary or a solution for the bar seating area of the soon to be full restaurant. I admit, I would have liked full service but I have to give them wiggle room for just opening up very recently.

The food was pretty dang good, and we had the fresh cavatelli, chicken pot pie and the lamb banger (not pictured). The food portions were reasonable and not oversized at all - we admit to have probably wanted one more banger as it only came with one to begin with for the $23 price tag but then it probably would have been even more expensive as they do make them in house as well.

Overall, a charming experience and felt good to support a local restaurant. The vibes were immaculate and 10 out of 5 if I could! Excellent drink menu, excellent wine menu, and really great spot for a date in my opinion! I would probably go back in 2-3 months as they work everything out, keep up the...