Spring House Tavern — Restaurant in Woodstock

My kids and I decided to meet for dinner Thursday night for several reasons, March 6th is the day my mother passed away, my birthday is Monday March 10 and I just recently was diagnosed with breast cancer and have to have a double mastectomy on March 20th. So we stayed locally and went to Spring House. We had a 20 min wait which was fine. Once we were sat, we waited about 10-15 mins before we ever saw a sever ever come near our table let alone in the section. We had enough time to decide drinks, appetizers and all 6 of our dinners. Finally got a server, don’t even know her name she never said it. She rushed to take our drinks, wouldn’t let us put in appetizers ran off and spoke to us while talking that she would take those when she came back. That was even fine, rude but fine. She came back with drinks and took the rest of the order. When got the appetizers they looked hard and all the cheese was ran off onto the plate like they sat under a heat lamp for some time. Whatever we are starving by this point. 4 steaks were ordered and none of them were cooked correctly. She dropped the food off and never came back. However from where we were sitting we could see her in the kitchen next to the trash can talking to a guy I knew that worked at blue fox in Winchester (can’t remember his name his nickname was dread back then) and watched her hit her vape several times in the kitchen talking. Then she grabbed the food to the table next to us in the corner and ran it to them, never stopping by our table again or to wash her hands. I didn’t even care at the point after watching her hit her vape in the kitchen. So we grabbed another sever. He offered to fix our steaks was very kind about it. My steak was supposed to be well done, I get it well done is cooked longer but it was obvious they burnt it up so bad I’m sure it could have bounced on the floor and made a noise. I wouldn’t have fed it to my dogs. My one sons medium rare steak was medium well. The 2 steaks that were over cooked took another 20-25 mins to fix. It took so long and we never saw a sever anywhere that my son went to the bar in the back to get a beer and told the kitchen to not even worry about his. The other steak made it to the table shortly after that (by the original server who sat it down and turned around fast as possible). My youngest son was scared to have anything done to his so he ate it as is. Then we sat for another 10-20 mins waiting for a check. The original server came back to the couple near us, nice, gave them boxes and their check. Still no one for us. We walked back through the whole place to find someone everyone was out back smoking. Finally when I got up I found a server one I haven’t seen. I asked if she was the manager she said no and pointed to the girl behind me. She didn’t have much to say other than there must have been some confusion when we asked another server to help us with the steaks. Well it wouldn’t have happened if ANYONE ever came over to our table. So apparently the original server transferred our table to the male server who helped us but no one knew this had taken place so that’s why we sat there. She took the one steak off and discounted the check a little bit. I was so mad after this 2 hour horrific dinner I just wanted to get out of there. No communication at all from anyone. No one cared to even try to make anything right. It was the worst food, the worst customer service I’ve ever dealt with. She could have came out and said anything!!!! Blamed it on the kitchen, blamed it on being busy (if that was it), she could have came over and told me her boyfriend broke up with her and she was just having an off day. Instead she did nothing, said nothing and transferred our table like a child and told no one. So I paid $116 for a dinner and none of my family ate. Small town and small business I’m sure this email will probably be taken as a joke too. However it ruined our evening completely and I’ll write a review anywhere I can about this and report that vape to the...

The wait was about 45 minutes long for a party of 4. Felt sorry for the girl hosting, as she was also waiting tables and I think possibly working in the kitchen. There were about 6-7 other parties waiting there with us. Some choose to get drinks at the bar through the door to the right side of the waiting area. Was kinda disappointed in the lack of seating in the very tiny waiting area. Thankfully, some of that overflow went into the bar and others waited outside b/c it was a beautiful sunny day out.

When we were seated we sat in the back room which had another bar. Are waitress came up immediately and asked us for our drink order. She was super nice and friendly. Definitely a great waitress through the entirety of our visit tgere; I just wish I could remember her name.

My mother and I had ordered strawberry daiquiris while waiting to be seated at the front bar and they were not made correctly. They were light pink and tasted like cotton candy. Our waitress replaced both because she could tell by looking at them that they weren’t made the right way. She brought back two new ones with our other drinks for the whole table. She said the other bartender apologized for her mistake.

She took our dinner orders and even made recommendations and explained things we had questions about on the menu. My husband and I both had ribs that were cooked just right and literally fell of the bone, They were sooooo delicious; however, next time I’ll ask for a little less sauce. My coleslaw was yummy, as were the homemade mashed potatoes.

My mom had the 4 fish taco meal, she loves haddock, but wanted to try it in tacos, just to try something different, and she definitely enjoyed them, but could only finished two! LOL! They looked and smelled soooo yummy I probably would’ve ordered the beer-battered haddock by itself, not in tacos, had they not had ribs!

My son ordered one of the burgers. It was done to his liking. He said it was really good, as were his chips and Mac n’ cheese.

Sweet tea all around except for me who a virgin Arnold Palmer “half sweet tea and half lemonade”. Boy I sure do wish they sold sweet tea in restaurants and fast food joints in the north. Soooo soooo good!!!

If we ever make it back to Woodstock, VA, we’d most definitely come back to the tavern for another delicious meal. Hoping y’all are able to find a hostess in the meantime. I know it’s tough out there to find help….

FYI… many locals highly recommend eating here!...

EDIT: May 13, 2023....I can safely say that I am done here. My sister moved to the area and wanted to try Spring House. I didn't want to but for her birthday I agreed. We were met by a host who sat us quickly. We were there late in the noon hour and it was not crowded at all. At best 6-8 tables had folks sitting at them. It took some time before we ever saw a server and this gentleman was really working hard. Turns out he was the ONLY server on this Saturday. While he was slow in handling us and bringing us what we needed he was still doing his best. I will not address the food my wife and sister had as I am not certain. Just mine. I got the Fish and Fries and this fish was all batter and almost no fish. I like crispy batter on Fish but thiswas excessing. The Tartar Sauce was so so at best and the fries (the upgraded ones) were again just so so at best. This issue with not enough servers is a long time issue and I won't visit again due to this. No Covid excuses will be accepted as management continues to drop the ball here. I will also say I visited the mens restroom and this room was filthy. Looks like no one has given it a good cleaning in a very long time...............(More recent visit prior to May 13, 2023) I was hesitantWife and I ate lunch here today and it's been a long time since we've been there. Pre-covid. We arrived around 11:45 for lunch and there were only a few of us here. Kaylee (sp?) was our server. Very friendly and efficient. It took some time to get waited on and to get our food but it appeared they were maybe short handed. Something I hear often about this restaurant. I had a cup of Chili and thought it was good. A little spicy which was fine with me. I had a Hamburger with fries and my wife had the Coconut Shrimp with 2 sides. The size of the Shrimp did not quite match the description on the menu but that's ok. The wrong sauce was sent out with the Shrimp but Kayless rectified this quickly. We both thought our meals were good but not great. I imagine we'll be back again but not necessarily...