Gadsby’s Tavern Restaurant

My boyfriend and I had a great experience at Gadsby’s. The strawberry cobbler may have been the best part. Great ambience and fun time.

Father’s Day brunch with family and friends. As a history buff I of course loved this place, and the servers in period clothing made it even more so. Old wood floors, fireplaces and old wooden tables, you can just imagine the cast of historical figures who’ve bellied up to the bar.
Service was great, the young lady who served us was really friendly and did a great job.
Food…eh. I’d say it was average. Little corn bread muffins they bring out were great. I had the Virginia ham and eggs with potatoes. Another person had the waffles, which really were not very good. Another had steak and eggs. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t generate a lot of enthusiasm. I guess I was expecting a restaurant focused on local ingredients and traditional period dishes… but it is not. It has great potential, but the executive chef needs a little imagination to take it up a notch. I’d recommend you try the Thomas Jefferson Ale, which is noted as an original TJ recipe… but be forewarned it is potent!
If you’ve never been there before and would like the historical aspect and willing to have an average meal, I’d recommend it. But if you’re looking for some gastronomic experience, I would not.

What a special treat this was for my family and I. Dating back to the late 18^th century and where Thomas Jefferson had his inaugural dinner celebration, this place doesn’t disappoint! The fare was good but the aura of this place made you feel as though you were dining with nobility. The service was great and the gentleman walking around the restaurant dressed in revolutionary era clothing and speaking at each table made our night! Would highly recommend, especially for out of towers wanting an authentic Old Town Alexandria, VA experience.

Came here on a hot Saturday afternoon and it was surprisingly empty. Quaint, historical décor. The staff is even dressed in period garb. Very pleasant atmosphere and friendly service.
Apparently Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison and Monroe all dined here.
Loved their local brews. Really enjoyed Poor Richard’s Tavern Spruce and Jefferson’s Tavern Ale by Yards Brewing.
Food was enjoyable but not particularly memorable. I liked the peanut soup a lot. Roast beef sandwich was good but nothing amazing.
There is a museum next door with a cute gift shop. It’s tour only and believe it was $ 6. We decided not to do it.

Gadsby’s is one of the best surprises in Alexandria. It is comfortable. The food is good. It’s prices are higher than one would expect, but, hey, Alexandria is (forgive me) Puff’n’Stuff.

Who knew colonial food could be so darn yummy! I had the vegetable house special and it was superb! I recommend Martha’s puff pastry for a unique flavor experience.

This place is exactly what you should expect from an old tavern.
We went for the experience of being transported back in time. The waiter was great and stayed right in character. We were seated by the fireplace and the old bar. It was a great ambience to feel like we were living right int he eighteenth century!
The food was delicious and felt like it was very authentic to what would have been served at the time. The pot pie was so good with its patriotic decorative puff pastry on top.
I really loved their choice of beer and wine. I was very happy they served sparkling wine to accompany my lunch.
The best part was visiting the museum portion and getting a tour. It’s a must see!

The food is surprisingly excellent! We tried the pork chop and prime rib. Both were perfectly prepared and delicious. The side dishes were good too. I could have gone either way on the pork biscuit appetizer we tried, skip that one. They had a small beer selection, but it included some interesting historic brews we had never had. I recommend the Thomas Jefferson Tavern Ale, which was strong and very hearty.
On the downside, our waitress was really bad. It wasn’t very busy and she took forever to return to take drink orders or check on us. She was polite, but completely inept. The other waitress working that evening appeared to be better.
The atmosphere was nice-​old wooden tables and chairs, candlelight. Overall, it was a unique and tasty dinner experience. It’s a good place to go for a date or would be interesting for out of town guests who are in to history.
Be warned, it is quite pricey. Dinner entrees ranged from ~ $ 22-​$ 35.

As for being a restaurant that’s goal is to transport you to an 18^th century Tavern that served the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, it certainly falls short.
Food was good but overall service, ambiance and lack of authenticity can only allow 2 stars.
City Tavern in Philadelphia is much better

I sipped a cup of rich peanut soup, could only eat half, but I also needed room to enjoy the ‘cock-​a-​leekie’, which was very good. I didn’t care for the flaky pastry but my lunch mate really did. She finished hers and mine.

Andrea is a seriously awesome waitress in an already perfect spot. Ask for Andrea when you are seated. Her suggestions were on point and service was 5 stars.
This place is historic and amazing to think we are eating in a spot our first president sat at.
The food is terrific and the hot apple cider is a must have.
Puff pastry and ham biscuits were superb and the prime rib is top notch.
5 stars for this venue and so glad I saw it.

Very friendly and personable servers (Andrea and Mike) and great dinner entertainment by John Lucas Hall. We were there for a wedding rehearsal dinner and enjoyed every moment of it. If I had to pick a negative it was that the prime rib was a little overcooked for my liking (but to be fair, the menu did say it would be prepared to medium). Everything else we ate was wonderful. We picked from a limited pre-​selected menu for this dinner so I’m not sure how the rest of their menu is typically. The English Trifle dessert was delicious. The vanilla ice cream was creamy and tasty.
We had a few young children in our party and all of the staff worked well with and around them. The entertainer came around to each table to serenade with a song on his lute and even played Itsy Bitsy Spider for the table of toddlers, who enjoyed and sang along.
If I’m ever in the area again, will definitely make dinner plans there.

Look, the food isn’t great here, but you come because it’s a charming as hell Revolution-​era pub. So it’s totally worth going, just not for the food. More for the experience.

Entering Gadsby’s Tavern is like walking into a little slice of Colonial Williamsburg right in the heart of Old Town Alexandria. The staff is all dressed in period clothing, there are purposeful «old timey» misspellings on the menus, and the place just reeks of history. It’s got kind of a historical-​shabby décor vibe, and the food was perfectly good.
I really enjoyed the onion soup in particular, which came in a huge hearty portion for just $ 6, smothered in cheese and bread. The soup is a little bit sweet due to the onions, and it was really delicious.
I also got the roast beef sandwich, which was described as coming with horseradish sauce and au jus. The horseradish spread was delicious, but the au jus just turned out to be more of the french onion soup. So, while tasty, it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for after downing an entire bowl of the same stuff right beforehand. The beef was also really fatty.
I think that this is a great choice to come dine if you’re looking for a place with a lot of character, decent food, and solid prices. They also host special events.

Came with a few friends for lunch. It is the 2^nd oldest tavern in the US so it has that going for it. We enjoy the historic aspect of the restaurant. Just a note, the lighting was rather dim inside.
I had the peanut soup, which was honestly [to me] heated up ‘natural’ peanut butter. I do not recommend it.
The complimentary appetizer bread is delicious. Homemade– [note] tastes like it has lemon zest in it.
Two of us had the chicken salad sandwiches that were decent. One other had the Reuben, which was tasty. One other in our party had the burger with cheese, bacon, and the fried sweet potato strings on it. Overall, it was okay.
I would recommend this location if someone in your group really enjoys the historic appeal of the site. The original ice well was recently restored and is a great piece of history to see.
Overall, the service was relatively slow but okay. Street parking was a little competitive but we found free 2 you parking one block east.

Went here last night and got to sample their ‘restaurant week’ menu. Off the bat, humorous and enjoyable that all the staff are in colonial dress, didn’t see that coming and a welcome surprise.
Appetizer: Ham biscuits with some sort of raspberry sauce. Oh wow, these were amazing. Little sad they were so small. Looking back, I wish I had just gotten like 12 – 15 of these for the meal and just gone to town. That’s not meant as an insult to the rest of the meal either it’s just how much I really liked these bad boys.
Main course: Prime rib with some mashed potatoes and assorted veggies. The veggies had onions just all up in them (I can’t stand onions), so they were immediately out of the running, so the review does not cover them. If you like onions, get in there! The prime rib was very decent. Scale of 1 to 10, I’d give it a 7. mmmm
Dessert: To be fair, kinda brought this on myself. The dish was titled ‘Berry Heaven.’ This lends itself to a lot of ambiguity. Is it a tart? Some sort of pastry? A parfait? Instead of asking I just went ahead and got it. What was it? Some strawberries, some blueberries, and some blackberries with a dollop of whip cream on them. Pretty disappointing considering the rest of the meal was great.
The only negative: the restaurant’s AC was not working or not on or not existent we aren’t sure, but wow was it ever hot in there! We left very quick after dinner due to this. It’s not a huge place, so the tables are ‘cozy’ (read as: on top of eachother), so it gets pretty hot.
Overall, wonderful experience. Try it out! Preferably in winter.

I was between a 3 and a 4 for Gadsby’s Tavern and have decided to give it a 3.5 (rounding up to 4 stars). I had been wanting to visit this restaurant for a while and finally had the chance to when a couple of friends and I happened to be in Old Town Alexandria around lunchtime recently. It’s located on a quaint street and has a quaint feel to it, but I was disappointed that the food was not more on point with the theme. I liked the rustic, old timey décor, but the theme feels disjointed when they’re serving up regular sandwiches and burgers, even if they slap on historic names like «William Caton» or «John Gadsby» on their burgers. I actually ordered the «William Caton» burger (which was comprised of bacon, fried onions, lettuce, tomato, and cheddar cheese) and it was tasty enough, but slightly too charred for my taste with dry bread. There was nothing distinguishable about it from dozens of other burgers I’ve eaten.
Service was excellent and I truly loved the décor. If I could repeat the experience again, I would probably visit at night and would probably order a steak or crabcake entrée instead of a burger.
Bottom line: Historic and very nicely decorated, but the food didn’t quite match the theme and wasn’t quite as tasty as I had hoped. Still, I’d be up for visiting again for a different experience.

I had the chicken and it was good
Its a vary good clean environment and the food is good
I l the berry heaven dessert it was very good
But is expensive

Decent food in a real historic setting, if you never tried the –as I’ve never have before– peanut soup this is the place to do it.
It is little pricey, and the server was bit too eager to get rid of us. But the lady at the hostesses desk was wonderfully helpful about the tours, and generally around the town attractions.
I didn’t think $ 7 – 8 deserts was worth the money.
We try the porter, the ale, which were decent, but we thought the spruce ale was the best

Gadsby’s Tavern is one of those true historic dining experiences — the building is as close to its original condition as you can imagine, and when you think about some of the people that hung out here, you should get chills if you care about history even the tiniest bit.
We were here some time ago for my friends’ rehearsal dinner,* and the staff went all out. It was a wonderful evening, and it’s always great when a place comes through for a (hopefully) once in a lifetime event like this. On my most recent visit, I stopped in with my wife, my brother, and the two-​year old niece.**
As you might expect, popping in for brunch on a quiet Tuesday morning is a little different from attending a rehearsal dinner. I’d have to say the place is coasting a little bit on the historic reputation — most of the dishes we had weren’t necessarily bad, but they were certainly uninspiring. I did find it odd the amount of peppers being served with almost every dish. I certainly don’t expect pure, traditional colonial fare, but it was so pervasive that I almost felt like the kitchen had heard that spicy food was a thing now and just started adding it to everything on the menu. So the food, like the service, was adequate only. The cocktails were a little better, but nothing unique.
I’m going up to four stars for Gadsby’s for two reasons. First, have I mentioned the history?! It’s absolutely incredible, and well worth a visit for that. Second, allow me to add two more words to this review: Peanut soup. I wish I’d ordered a huge bowl or two of that and called it a meal. One of those truly impressive dishes that sticks with you long after you’re gone.
* They were nice enough to marry each other! Talk about helping us save on travel expenses!
** Which by all accounts should have been an unmitigated disaster, but the kid spent most of the meal telling me about the various planets in our solar system, their proximity to the sun, the gravitational differences, etc. It was very disturbing to be lectured with such clarity and accuracy by a precocious little demon child. And, dear brother, if it turns out she is actually three instead of two, I’m sorry. I can remember much of the 90’s, but minor details like the ages and names of my dearest family members never stick in my brain.