Restaurant Review: Ye Olde Tavern

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Ye Olde Tavern in downtown Manchester, Vermont serves up New England food and American wine. Over the years, this restaurant has built a reputation for its wine selection which is exceedingly varied. Some international wines are present too. The wine list at Ye Olde Tavern has been acknowledged with a 'Wine Spectator Magazine' Award of Excellence since 2003.

Ye Olde Tavern is a popular spot. The dining atmosphere is eclectic. The restaurant is housed in a historic building dating back to the 1790s. It's on the Vermont Register of Historic Places.

Each of the downstairs rooms has a decorative theme evoking the past and each room has a name. There's the Hearth Room, the Colonial Room, the Garden Room, the Patriot Room and the Tap Room. The latter includes a small bar. There are five or six tables in each room and all have captain's chairs. There's a genuine pine floor that creaks a bit as you move about. The floors are not completely level, of course, so the legs of tables need shims. Slanting doorways and door pieces from yesteryear abound.

Classical music from a satellite radio station plays in the background. While we were there, we were treated to such selections as the bombastic Finlandia by Jean Sibelius, a Strauss Waltz, and Richard Wagner's stirring Ride of the Valkyries.

The dinner menu includes such items as Almond and Brown Sugar Bake Brie, Green Mountain Boys' Onion Soup and Seafood cakes for appetizers. Main courses include Cidered Chicken, Walnut Crusted Pork and Venison Porterhouse. Cranberry Fritters along with a dipping sauce was served as an accompaniment as well as home made honey wheat bread with specks of salt in the crust. We had the Venison and Port Wine Sausage as an appetizer. The grilled sausage was served in a tasty blackberry sauce. My main course was the Filet Mignon with Bearnaise sauce while my companion enjoyed a New York sirloin. We finished the meal with some chocolate ice cream.

You will not be disappointed by the fare at Ye Olde Tavern. Expect to pay between $100 and $150 for two with wine and tip. The atmosphere reminded me of what one finds at the Common Man, a group of restaurants in Massachussetts and New Hampshire. You will leave feeling filled. You can have the staff re-cork your bottle of wine if you don't finish it.

Timothy Palmer-Benson
August 2006

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Ye Olde Tavern
5183 Main Street, P.O. Box 2682
Manchester Center, Vermont 05255