The Stone Tavern — Restaurant in West Goshen Township

After reading a plentiful amount of reviews espousing the qualities of The Stone Tavern, and viewing some amazing looking photos of the food, a work colleague and I were excited to visit for lunch and try it out.

We were promptly seated in a mostly full dining area just to the right of the entrance around 12:30 pm on a Thursday. The dining room was spacious with plenty of room between tables though the booths are a tad tight. A large bar area with lots of TVs looked appealing as well. Drinks were quickly ordered and served as we perused the menu. While we had both looked at the menu prior to coming, and had an idea of what we wanted, there were so many appealing options that we second guessed a little as we made the tough decisions to not order way more than we could consume. Finally we decided on The Hot Roast Beef Sandwich with fries, the Ribeye Cheesesteak with fries, and a bowl of the Tomato, Bacon Mac & Cheese with the agreement to split the sandwiches and mac & cheese so we could both try additional items.

Three very full and visually appealing plates of food arrived quickly (about 10-12 minutes after ordering) and we were ready to dig in.

First up was the Ribeye Cheesesteak with caramelized stout onions, truffled local mushrooms, and sharp provolone on a Liscio’s roll. Immediately viewable was the limited amount of cheese that was only lining the roll and not mixed into the meat in any way. Biting into the sandwich revealed a dry meat with a distinctly non-cheesesteak flavor. It wasn’t bad, but it just tasted like a bland steak and cheese sandwich. The sharp provolone didn’t make it to the party and had no noticeable presence. After eating half of my portion I added some ketchup which helped some with the dryness. This was a 2.5 out of 5 and I wouldn’t bother ordering it again.

I also started to consume the shoestring french fries while I ate the cheesesteak, and they were delicious. Crisp with just the right amount of salt. 4 out of 5.

Next up was the Hot Roast Beef Sandwich with thinly shaved Black Angus beef that is roasted daily, served with Au Jus, and horseradish sauce on a long roll. Topped with cheese and loaded with meat, this is what I was most looking forward to and couldn't wait to take a bite. I wish I hadn’t! By itself, this was probably the blandest sandwich I have ever had in my life, while dipping into the Au Jus definitely improved the flavor, it still wasn’t enough. I tried adding the horseradish sauce, but that was a sad approximation of real horseradish. Worst of all was the meat itself, where I had three different bites that were fatty/gristly and couldn't be chewed. Can’t say I’ve ever had that from a roast beef sandwich before. 1.5 out of 5.

Lastly, we had the Tomato, Bacon Mac & Cheese consisting of cavatappi pasta, applewood smoked bacon, and some diced tomato. This was sadly also a disappointment. The quality of the cheese left something to be desired and the sauce was very runny in consistency even after letting it sit for 10 mins while everything else was eaten. Another bland dish that neither of us even bothered to finish or box up to take home. Ketchup couldn't save this. 2 out of 5.

Other than the fries, the only other bright spot was the service. Our waitress Isabella was polite, attentive, and performed her job well. Refilling drinks and making sure we were taken care of. 5 out of 5 for service.

Affordability… for the three dishes and two Diet Cokes the total came to $57.27 with tax plus a $12 tip. The portion sizes were strong, but the flavor eliminated any value proposition.

Overall, the food looked far better than it tasted and I was really disappointed in the meal. I had hoped I’d found a good local pub to take family and friends, but The Stone Tavern doesn’t cut it. 2 out of 5 rating with no good...

My family and I had dinner at Stone Tavern last week for the first time in a few months. It was a Thursday night dinner staple of ours until work schedules changed, but the schedules changed again and we were able to go back to ST which we were looking forward to very much. However, we noticed a number of changes, not for the better, had been made during our brief hiatus. Here are a list of the things we noticed were different this time around:

No longer any cute, fun kids’ size cups with crazy, colorful bendy straws that not only did my boys (ages 4 & 2) looked forward to, but these cups were perfect for their little hands and the bendy straws allowed us to shape and shorten the length of the straws so they can easily drink their water without spills. The new cups are regular size with a normal adult straw that are prone to spillage since the cups are too big and the straws aren’t flexible, so my kids tip the cup to an almost horizontal position in order to drink the water from the long plastic straw. The kids crayons were a cheap, no-name brand which barely showed up when my kids used them; this is very frustrating for little kids. I had the smokehouse chicken sandwich and was very disappointed in the changes made to a perfected sandwich. The chicken used to be a large, thin chicken breast and perfectly seasoned; not too spicy, but had great flavor. To emphasize, the best part was that it was a big piece of chicken and thin, which meant it was always tender, juicy, and moist. I personally can’t stand a chicken sandwich with a super thick piece of chicken, because it always gets dried out. Such is the case for the new version of chicken that I received. It was two pieces of thick chicken placed on top of each other to make an even thicker piece of piece chicken. The chicken was tough and dried out and quite clearly not as good quality as it was before. Additionally, the seasoning changed as well. It has been made spicier and just didn’t taste as flavorful. Finally, we noticed the man that was ALWAYS at the hostess stand greeting patrons and helping the staff in anyway possible, was no longer there. I assume he was the owner. It’s sad to him gone as it was always nice to see how much he cared about the ins and outs of the restaurant.

It’s a shame when new ownership comes in and makes changes like the ones above probably thinking that the customers won’t notice or if they do notice, the new ownership doesn’t care. Well we do notice and we see that you’re making these changes to cut costs, but those costs cutting “strategies” come with a different price…the loss of regular customers. Sadly, I don’t think this will be a weekly visit of ours anymore because we no longer enjoy the food and the experience, especially for me as a parent, which was no longer as “family-friendly” as...

We've been patronizing the Stone Tavern for a number of years. We live about 30 minutes away, but it's always been a solid Irish pub and we have typically made the effort to go at least every few months.

We became aware in the last several months that this pub had changed ownership. Initially, we didn't notice any meaningful changes. The two gentlemen who were always working the bar were still there, and we noticed that a number of other wait staff were still there. Recently, we noticed that it looks like the entire wait staff has turned over. There could be any number of reasons, but given that the format of this place hasn't changed, it was puzzling to us. The last couple visits, I started to notice some changes. A 3% credit card fee was instituted, something that wasn't in place in the past. Menu prices (I think) also crept up a bit. I get it, I know cost of doing business is up, but for what this place is, it started getting expensive. Also noticed portion sizes coming down (3 pieces of fish instead of 4 in my wife's fish and chips, a portion of corned beef that I polished off, when I always used to have leftovers, etc.).

Last night was a poor experience. I'm not saying I'll never return, but I won't be rushing back. We went on Monday night, it's wing night after 7 (website and signs in bathroom say $10, it's normally $16). Place was VERY busy, but we were seated within about 15 minutes.

Food took forever. We ordered wings, burgers, chicken fingers, etc. Standard bar food. I think we sat around 7:10 and we weren't out until 9:00. The place continued to be very busy, and from what I could see, everyone's food was taking a long time. So I think that's why it continued to be so busy on a Monday night. Server was not attentive, she outright disappeared multiple times.

When the check came, the wings (2 orders) were rung at full price. I was sitting there holding the check, and a gentlemen who (may have) been a manager came over and asked if I had a question. Explained that we were charged full price. He says sure, I'll fix it. Check comes back, wings now say $12.50 (again, advertised at $10). I might not normally complain about $5 at a place I like. But it was such a bad experience that I wasn't going to let it go. Spoke to the same gentlemen, he seemed puzzled, and I said, it's on your website - he didn't argue, did take it off. But if you're going to advertise a special, staff should know about it.

I've noticed a number of other poor reviews as of late. New owners should take heed, at some point, people will spend their money elsewhere. There is still time to right the ship, but in terms of cost and service, we are not moving in the right...