The Pantry - Restaurant & Bakery — Restaurant in Washington

The Pantry is a lovely establishment, at first glance. It is nestled in a small shopping area with a great bookstore, in a quaint and picturesque town. The chaos begins when you look for where to order, as there are no signs that tell you where to order. Then, once you figure out that you need to order at the counter facing the tables, you may sit and wait for your food. The tables are nice, comfortable chairs, and lots of nice kitchen items for sale displayed throughout the shop.

The chaos returns and worsens exponentially when it is time to pay because there is usually no one at the register, so you are forced to wait while staff busily fulfill take-out and walk-in orders. It is during this long wait that you may be horrified to watch the number of people angrily waiting for take-out orders that are not filled by the time promised. Then, when you finally do get to pay, you are most often speaking to a kind but frazzled staff member who is currently enduring the stink eye from at least 3 other customers standing nearby.

We have begun to call our experience PANTRY ANXIETY and go much less often. A few signs, rearranging the checkout counter to not be stuffed in with coffee and drink refrigerators, and keeping a cashier posted up at all times to help customers who want to pay and/or are looking for their take-out orders would hugely improve the entire experience.

Other ideas: more legible menu, printed menus or at least a second display that customers in line can read and be ready to order.

Adding “order here” and “pay here” signs and requiring customers to pay as soon as they’ve ordered so they are NOT waiting to pay just so they can leave when they are done eating.

Putting tape on the floor to indicate where the line should form / think of the x’s marking 6 feet apart during covid.

Move the drinks and coffee stations to the bread shelves area and/or the long far wall away from tables.

I worked in restaurants for 10 years and received very good training. The worst thing any establishment can do is to keep their customers waiting. I look forward to...

The Pantry has been open for more than 40 years. I've been going there for well over a decade, and have never been disappointed by the experience.  This is a restaurant/kitchen and home goods store.  The food is fantastic. You can eat in or order to go; they also run a fabulous catering business.  Chef and co-owner Keith Bisciotti is a wonder; innovative, and always on the search for sourcing the best ingredients and creating the next delicious dish. There are soups, sandwiches, salads, and more.  All the baked goods are house-made, including seven types of bread, usually eight kinds of cookies, along with a number of desserts by the slice. And don't get me started on the house-made ice creams and sorbets, both with inventive flavors and all made with fresh ingredients.

All the staff are friendly and helpful. Co-owner Zoe Velush-Rogers, who runs the front of house, is always smiling and seems to know every other customer's name. There are lines on the weekends, but the wait is worth it (check their website and call ahead if you're in a rush).

The kitchen and home goods are delightful; some are quite whimsical, but all are beautiful and first-rate.  To use an overused phrase, the Pantry is a real gem nestled in...

Every time I walk into The Panty, I’m reminded of the special times I’d go to lunch with my mom when I was in my teens. There’s this sort of casual familiar Litchfield vibe.

The selection of gourmet foods on the shelves, along with kitchen products, are like a warm blanket, surrounding you with upscale goodness from around the world. Olive oils from, Greece, Spain and Sicily, vinegar from Modena, and more.

The finely prepared foods, pastas, meats and salads in the front case, like potato salad, to fresh hand-sliced roast beef sandwiches, and homemade baked pies and cookies, are second to none, and always anticipated by a group of local regulars who depend on The Pantry for catering and a quick solution to dinner at home.

As a Litchfield resident for for 13 years, this is a staple of our community, a respite from the craziness of New York, but still with all the sophistication and quality you’d find in the best eateries in Brooklyn and the meat packing district.

Make sure you place your order in advance for pies and baked goods, because they can get busy and now offer pre-order and...