Clarksburg Tavern in Clarksburg

4/13/2022Today I returned to Clarksburg Tavern and what a disaster it was from beginning to end. I apologize to the readers of my reviews because this restaurant has turned itself upside down in front of my eyes. The waiter, Alan, was busy with the few people at the bar, especially one in particular. He was clueless with the only table on the floor, me. We ordered 2 ice teas with lemon and lots of ice. The ice teas came but the lemons were missing. After reminding Alan that we asked for lemons, he brought them after a 10 minute wait. When Alan noticed I needed a refill for my ice tea, this time I got a couple pieces of ice and no lemon. We ended up asking Alan to bring us a glass of ice and lemons. After a several minute wait, the ice and lemon arrived. Now let’s talk about the food. We ordered French Onion Soup and Lobster Bisque Soup to start with and requested that they be piping hot. As soon as I was served the French Onion Soup, there was a horrible smell at our table. I was finally able to get Alan’s attention and asked him to remove the smelly soup. I can still smell that smell. The horrible smell burned itself into my nostril. The chef/owner came to my table to ask me what was wrong with the stinky French Onion Soup and then proceeded to lecture me on how she prepares and stores her soup. This information was of little or no interest to me. I only wanted decent French Onion Soup. The Lobster Bisque soup was lukewarm and lacked the richness and flavor of a true Lobster Bisque. When our salad entrees were brought to us, instead of placing the salads in front of us on the table, they were handed to us at face level indicating that we were to place our entrees on the table ourselves. Was he trying to teach us how to serve ourselves? Really? How rude. From the paper menu, the description for the Steak Salad stated “8 ounces steak…” My steak salad was missing about 4.5 ozs of steak and was a skirt steak. FYI Alan, when a customer orders a meat entree, it is your responsibility to ask how they want it cooked. Since you failed in all aspects of serving our table, my steak was cooked well done. I hate my steaks cooked well done. If only you had asked, my steak salad would have been mediocre instead of shoe leather. When we asked for our check, there was no waiting. There was also no itemized receipt with our charge receipt. Alan was no where to be found so we went up to the bar to request a copy of the itemized receipt. The chef/owner said she could help give us this receipt and noticed that we had been charged for the stinky and inedible French Onion Soup. At that time Alan shows up and the chef/owner mentioned that he should not have charged us for the French Onion Soup that we didn’t eat. Alan’s curt comment was that he didn’t know this. I will definitely never return to this restaurant again. Things seem to have gone downhill and may not be recoverable.****After shopping at the Clarksburg Outlet, we were ravenous for food and drink. There are very limited food options available. But we luckily found the Clarksburg Tavern. This family operated restaurant was so clean and spotless. We felt right at home. Because we had a seafood allergy friend with us, our waiter compassionately took the effort to consult with Chef Jan concerning our issues. The next thing we know, Chef Jan (also the owner) came to our table to put us at ease by directly speaking with us. For our appetizers, we had nachos and a bowl of potato soup for our friend. Both appetizers were fantastic. We ordered a cheeseburger, quesadilla, and a salad with grilled chicken. Our entrees were perfectly executed. The service was exceptional. The concern for our seafood allergy friend was genuine and greatly appreciated. We will definitely be back. Thank you Chef and crew. Before I forget, with the cooler weather coming, they offer patio seating as well.

This was my first outing to sit down in a restaurant since last March 2020. I chose this place (never having been there before) because of one thing. Monte Cristo. Apparently this used to be a Bennigan’s and they are still making the MC just like it’s 2008. And it did not disappoint. My tastebuds took a trip back in time. Everyone of my buds shouted for joy. I felt like Foodie Dr. Who.I guess I should tell you about the seating, safety and ambience. I was just so excited to tell you that the early 2000’s were back. I was seated at least 12-15 away from other guests and felt comfortable and safe. I think, no I definitely, heard singing in the kitchen which is always a great sign. The staff was friendly, kind, fun, and mask wearing at all times. Music was playing some classic rock tunes and I may have been humming a little while enjoying my food.Although, I came for the Monte. I stayed for what was the most tasty and huge Onion Rings! Onion rings the size of donuts people! See my pictures. So crunchy, delicious and whatever that ranch chipotle sauce is - it’s just a yes for me.I also order the ribeye just to check it out. It was tender and juicy. Cooked a perfect medium rare. Oh yes. There was a deal on Buy one get one half off on the appetizer, so yeah, I did that too. (Most of my food went home with me but that was my intention.)My second appetizer was delicious and amazing too! It was the chicken quesadilla’s. Yum yummy!! Perfection.I finished my meal off with a few bites (I was feeling full and happy) of the Turtle Cheesecake. Do not- miss out on that. I didn’t even take a picture of it I just wanted those couple of bites with my perfect cup of coffee.It was a first restaurant to remember; But it will definitely not be my last.By the way, I drove an hour from Virginia for this meal. It was worth it.What are you waiting for... GO!

We tried different items at the restaurant. The food was bland, and none of the food items had salt, so we had to add the salt. After adding salt, the food tasted better. One of the other thing was that they didn't give out to-go water. That was surprising as most of the time, especially in the summer, I have taken to go water from so many restaurants and never been said no. However, the service and the ambiance were good. It's still a good place for dining.

If you're looking for a casual environment, with quality American pub style food, served in large portions, by a friendly staff, Clarksburg Tavern is just the place. Their menu is mostly appetizers and sandwiches, with a few dinner entrées to round things out. They're known for their Monte Christo sandwich, Fish n Chips, and an excellent burger. They have a vibrant bar scene, with lots of televisions, a pool table, shuffleboard, and a jukebox. Some Friday's they have live music, call ahead to inquire. Ask about their daily specials.

Long gone are those days of 50 minute ticket times under the Bennigan's name. After several visits we have decided to put them in to our regular hang outs. The Buffalo Chicken sandwich is pretty good. And Lee really like the specials they had on one visit. Staff is friendly and you never have to look too hard to find them. Wish the TVs were a little easier to see from some seats. But a welcoming bar and patrons makes the tough parking lot worth it.The shorter hours of operation don't look good.

I can't say enough good things about the Clarksburg Tavern! This neighborhood gem is family owned and it shows as the customer service and food is top notch and delivered with care. We especially enjoy our very attentive and excellent waiter, Allen who is the son of the restaurant owner, Jan. Allen really knows his stuff and makes all the customers feel like they are special guests in the restaurant. He takes a genuine interest in his customers and makes great menu recommendations. He is also a real gem! I really like that this place is family owned and that the entire family works together to provide great customer service and tasty food. Jan does a nice job of keeping the menu updated with delicious entrees, salads and desserts...don't miss the key lime cheesecake when it is available. Try the decadent onion rings for a real appetizer treat. Our favorite entree is the salmon and shrimp dish and the roasted veggies are super delish. I'm so glad that this establishment is no longer the chain, Bennegan's and is now a local eatery that is now our neighborhood go-to several times a month!

Randomly chose this place on the drive back home from DC to Michigan and I was impressed. We ordered the pretzel as an appetizer, which was amazing! Our entrees included fish & chips, a Philly cheesesteak and shrimp, which were all really good! Our waiter (Vincent) did an excellent job taking care of us as the place started to get really busy. We definitely look forward to coming back. The Monte Cristo is up next!!

This is one of the better options in the area, but nothing to write home about. Been multiple times and the service is usually meh, and the food equally so (most recently had the impossible burger, which felt like it was a frozen patty). The outdoor patio is solid, and it's warm when they enclose it in the winter.Heads up they don't actually offer the happy hour specials (discount appetizers) listed on their site; disappointed since that's what first brought me there.

Food is good, but average, and service is excellent! For the price point, don’t expect this place to blow you out of the water. It’s good, but if you want better, go to downtown Frederick and pay for the $150 dinner for two. It just is what it is!The menu is diverse and the food is good, though, like I said. The restaurant is very family oriented and locally owned, which my husband and I love. Their drinks are GREAT and so are the desserts. The pretzel appetizer is drool worthy, honestly. We have always had great service and been greeted with smiling faces.We came in today and I want to give a shoutout to Serene. She was a wonderful server. There were kids running amuck everywhere due to a party happening and she was SO sweet and patient with those kids. It didn’t go unnoticed! And she was still so attentive to our table. That girl deserves a holiday bonus/raise for sure! We will be back and hope to be served by her again :-)

This place has gotten significantly better than years ago. The burger is so good, it's our new favorite in the area. And service has been top notch each time we go. Got the chicken salad which was decent. Would prefer sliced avocados instead of the guac (that is the premade kind you buy at the store, not fresh). If you want to come for fried foods, and appetizers while watching a game, it's great.

I don’t usually leave reviews. Seemed like an okay place. Got the shrimp appetizer that was good. Ordered two burgers. Waiter checked on us once or twice, told us order would be coming soon. Food didn’t come, didn’t come, didn’t come…multiple tables sat after us received their food. No sign of waiter. Eventually tracked down a random employee who said he would check. Waiter materialized and told us another server brought our food to another table. So we just asked for our check and paid for the shrimp and left. Pretty disappointing!

I wish I could give a review about the food, but when I showed up at 5 pm, all I encountered were people waiting at the door. What kind of establishment randomly doesn't open without an announcement or at least a sign on the door? My friends and I took a risk and branched out, coming from Germantown, only to realize we had wasted our gas and time on this place. Luckily, we found another local spot that was open. This experience definitely left a bad taste in my mouth as a first-time customer, and I would never waste my time gambling with this restaurant again.

AWFUL service. Waited over an hour for an appetizer (which wasn’t even as advertised, said zucchini ROUNDS and came as a MASSIVE stick covered in an inch of batter). 25 mins+ per glass of wine. Asked for a manager 3x when she finally came out and put an excuse on saying “sorry we had a $450 order at noon” (we got there at 1:30 and weren’t served until nearly 2). She then said “so do you want your French dip for free then?”. Awful. Never again. Saw 3 other tables ask for a manager and got the exact same crappy response from said “manager”. When the food finally arrived it was cold and we sent it back.

We ordered takeout a few times during the pandemic when we moved to the area. The food was descent. While we haven't gone terribly frequently so I cant say how frequently it's an issue but we've tried to go twice in the last year or so and both times found them randomly closed with a note on the door. They don't seem to be reliably open... dissappointing.

I met a friend for lunch here and we really enjoyed it. The nachos were everything I wanted at a portion size that made sense of the price. They’re great for sharing with ample, generous toppings. The salad topped with steak did not disappoint either. My kid has allergies to carrots and they kindly substituted carrot sticks for celery sticks with her kids Mac-n-Cheese. I didn’t want to give her fries for a double carb so the substitute was much appreciated.The atmosphere was relaxed and the service was great. I’ll definitely return.Kid-friendliness: Kind, accommodating and the music wasn’t too loud or vulgar.

Not a fine dining establishment but really great for what it is: pub fare. I got grilled chicken breasts with 2 sides for $18. Their broccoli was delicious!! They offer the kids chix tenders grilled also for a healthier option 👍🏻 Bun on hubby's chicken sandwich was supa fresh and their French fries were like maybe top 5 ever - hot&crispy outside, fluffy potato interior. Side salad was also super fresh. Only complaint about the food is everything was pretty salty but not inedible so OK. Service was fantastic also!! Very attentive and timely. Definitely recommend if you're ever in the area!Kid-friendliness: Great kids menu and they offer tenders grilled! Have kids cups.

Come for the mediocre food and service. Leave with a plan for insurrection..I prefer my food without politics but when they you're dining at a place they are holding "young republican" meetings while ignoring public ordinances... It'll kind of sour your opinion pretty quick.Your food isn't good enough to get away with that.Edited after manager response: I are there multiple times and the food was just okay. It was convenient to order and close to home when COVID first hit.As far as everything else... They ignored public ordinance and remained open during COVID. That's a factThey had evening meetings during the 2020 election that they called the young Republican Club... Led by Robin Ficker... If you're from MD you know who he is.So no nothing I've said is untrue despite what management might claim.

The food was okay, environment was okay as well. The waiters service was okay too... my rating of 2 star is because it was only two people at my table and the waiter initially showed on the bill a 18% gratuity which is their rule for parties of 6 or more. Then he said I can tip him more & had a tip line on the bill. After I explain to him that I knew that only applied to parties of 6 or more he removed it. Just be certain you look at the menu and your bill closely.

This is a great find tucked away from the mainstream traffic but well worth the very short drive. It is a very clean place with friendly and efficient staff. We were greeted quickly and promptly seated without reservations. While the menu wasn't expansive, there is no doubt that everyone will be able to find something to their liking. The portions were generous, and the dishes were well prepared. We were able to take some home to enjoy again the next day. A very pleasant thing was that they weren't rushing you. They would check on you to make sure everything was okay, but you didn't get the feeling they were trying to push you out. The pricing was also reasonable. It was a pleasant and enjoyable evening with a great meal and will definitely be on our visit again list the next time we are in the area.Wheelchair accessibility: Easily accessible with curb ramps and level entrance.

Absolutely perfect dinner experience for the 7 of us while we were traveling back home from our cruise vacation. We even met the owner and discovered that she is originally from our home state. The food was excellent. Each of us enjoyed everything we ordered! That is a rare occurrence at most restaurants.Vegetarian options: The veggies and hummus were great. We asked for no chicken on the nachos.Kid-friendliness: Our granddaughters loved the mac & cheese, chicken tenders, fries, and fried pickle spears.

Just had a very good dinner here. The chicken on the crispy chicken salad was crisp and moist. The tavern burger was delicious, moist and full of flavor. It came with thick French fries which seemed to be a small portion but we had difficulty finishing them. The brownie on the brownie sundae was a cake like texture. Flavor was good and ice cream was also good, but I prefer a gooey brownie. Serving size was enough for two.We were told when we arrived that service may be slow due to a staffing shortage but we didn't have any problems. Our server Fiona, was very pleasant and attentive. Our food arrived in an appropriate amount of time and was hot. We will be back!Kid-friendliness: Plenty of kid friendly menu choices.

My mother and I visited this Tavern today (Saturday) around 4 PM. After a nice day of shopping we choose to dine here to have cocktails and dinner. We set at the bar and all was well until we ordered drinks. We ordered a margarita and a pear martini. While waiting on our drinks we were trying to decide what we wanted to eat. There was some communication with us, the bartender, and who we later discovered was the owner. My drink was ok but my mothers drink made by the manager was not satisfactory. My mother asked the bartender what was in the drink because something was off/missing. My mother explained that she did not like the drink and asked to return it for something else. The manager said that she could try to add something to the drink to make it better but the reality is, once a drink is bad it’s not much you can do to change it. The lady said that as a small business owner it is her policy to charge for the drink because she could not afford to throw drinks out. My mother explained to her that was not proper customer service and we’ve never been stuck with food or drinks from an establishment that we were not satisfied with and could not return for something better. That said, the owner stood firm on her policy. I finished my drink and paid the tab and we did not dine at the establishment. The owner did not care that we were not satisfied or that we decided to leave. In fact, she was very unbothered and unpleasant during the exchange. Also, the owner prepared the drink but we were the only two a the very large bar. The bartender was new and if given the opportunity he’d probably would have done a better job. The bartender was very apologetic about our experience.Be mindful that if your order a drink and possibly food that you are not satisfied with you will be stuck with it and must purchase something else as the owner can not afford to recoup for loses over $14 (cost of the drink). Lastly, the customer service from the owner failed miserably. We patron restaurants from dive bars to Michelin restaurants across the country and have never experienced such policy. Always aim to make the customer satisfied especially when they are being understanding and accommodating.I would not recommend this place.

Love the tavern! Fun place, great food and easy atmosphere! Family-owned and operated and a great Clarksburg spot to grab a beer or some food. Wife and I moved to Clarksburg a year ago and the Tavern has been our favorite spot!The Fish & Chips is ridiculously good, best I’ve had.

First time here last night for some food and drinks with a neighbor. The wait staff was attentive and seemed excited to be working and serving us. The food was really good. The Tavern burger made with Brisket, chuck, and short rib was pure melt in your mouth deliciousness! Fried pickles and old bay rubbed wings hit the spot. The tavern is clean and modern. Prices are what they are everywhere at this time with general inflation. I will be back to try out more of the menu when meeting up with friends.

Now this place my girlfriends' family and I stumbled across on a road trip heading back to Michigan from Virginia. We had been rolling from a 6 day cruise and suffering the 12+ hour drive back.This gem of a restaurant I'd highly recommend anyone stop by and grab a taste of some high quality food. The server we had was excellent, even got to meet and talk to the owner, a very nice lady who actually hails from Michigan as well!I'm not even kidding anything on the menu, and since there was 7 of us we got a good spread from it and I will say with full confidence there was not one thing about the experience that could have been better and that's saying A LOT because my girlfriend's dad is not easy to please at any restaurant but yet this place yielded no complaints about the building, food, or service.I'm telling you, I took some chicken tenders and fries home from this restaurant and 7 hours later when I got home the fries and tenders still tasted great, not even warmed up and that's a stretch for any place to achieve.I know this review is long and drawn out but I have to say you need to stop here and experience it. I know if I'm ever heading back down the coast, I'm making this a priority stop.

Good food. Can find healthy options cooked perfectly and tasty. Our server was very friendly. The only minor issue for docking one star - went to try the Happy Hour specials, had dinner which was very good, but the drinks we had were not happy hour drinks. Not a big deal but it would have been nice to know when ordering since we mentioned that we were there to try out their Happy Hour.

Sat with Fiona took her awhile to greet and arrive with drinks. Ordered a side Cesar salad not aware it was spring mix and apologized to her saying I'd no longer wanted it and she let out a big sigh no it's okay or anything like that. My entree I asked for certain condiments not to be on it and upon arrival it had it all on. Overall not a great experience with that particular server but the food wasn't bad.

My 29 year old boyfriend with a very real Virginia drivers license was denied being served alcohol here yesterday. The ID reference book we were shown was nearly prehistoric with an outdated VA license as a reference photo. The bar tender pointed out the birth date year looked fake, albeit this intentional font is precisely what makes the ID real and near impossible to replicate. What a weird experience overall. I guess we can’t go back ? Or anyone with a VA drivers license obtained between 2022-present for that matter..? People’s dim wittedness or lack of critical thinking skills never fails to amaze me. Oh well, I’d be more upset if I liked this place more

First time going there yet everyone treated myself and friend like we were regulars! Food was great - try the sweet corn poppers! The Tavern burger was handmade and amazing.This will be my go-to spot when in that area hiking again!Parking: Plenty of parking on-site.

Fairly new to the area and stopped in with some friends. The staff and owner are very friendly and make you feel at home. Very good vibes. A very nice selection of beer, including craft beers with a kick and the owner is very knowledgeable. Just had a burger and fries which were good and what I was in the mood for. My next visit I'll try something different. Plenty of easy parking and family friendly. A nice place I would recommend.