Raven’s Den Steakhouse and Taproom

Nice location and attractive bar with TV. Food is not great. Lettuce had turned in salad bar. Steak was tough and over cooked. Meal was greasy. I don’t recommend it. This place has always had trouble with restaurants succeeding. Chef owned and nice but so disappointed. Also loud so sit in bar and have a nice cocktail.

Had dinner at the bar. Tap wine and beer very good. Salad bar fresh and clean. Scampi very nice, boyfriend had chicken picatta, also very good. Chef was on tonight. Staff was working. Sarah a very good bar keep. WIll dine again. We are seasonal locals, looking for a local casual place to have easy, good dinner…

The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. The food is outstanding. The New York Strip was extremely tender, cooked perfectly, and the demi-​glaze is delicious!

Second time at Raven’s Den. The first time we sat at the bar — good beer /​wine selection and cocktails (decent Manhattan). The prices suggest more of a «fine dining» experience than Raven’s Den delivers. Entrée prices average mid $ 20’s to mid $ 30’s and most include their salad bard w/​bread. The staff was friendly and attentive; all specials were in print on the menu. After the duck dumplings, we had teriyaki steak and the haddock with crab in a crab bisque sauce. The food though lacking in presentation was ‘good’ not great, the portions were adequate; veggie sides also pretty good. Atmosphere was pleasant, but the classic rock background music was distracting. BTW Raven’s Den is kid friendly. We will return for drinks, bar snack food and perhaps a sandwich. Not dinner.

Wonderful experience! The salad bar was abundant and fresh! The ribs were meaty and delicious. Our waiter, George, was super friendly and extremely attentive! We will definitely return to this great spot!

Great salad bar. Had a $ 9 bowl of clam chowder, it was ok. Food is on the pricey side. They have a bar menu if you ask.

Food is good, but overpriced. I had a ribeye and my wife had the 7oz fillet. They were both good and cooked as ordered, but I can’t get past the prices. $ 36 for mine and $ 30 for my wife’s. Now I would be happy paying that if the place was more upscale, but it’s not. It’s just average.
On another note… a taproom it is not. In this day and age 11 beers on tap is entry level for a true taproom. Along with that if you are going to call yourself a taproom please serve the beers in the proper glasses. I ordered a Pilsner and it was served in a Bud Light shaker glass. This might sound snobbish but it brings me back to being overpriced. If I had paid $ 25 for my steak I might have been ok with the Bud Light glass.
Another note about the service. My wife was given a beer (in another Bud Light glass) that was ¾ full. The waiter apologized and told her the keg had just kicked and they would top it up for her when they changed the keg. 5 minutes later he comes by with a small water glass with 3 – 4 oz of beer in it. That was her «top up». Again if we were at a pizza place or paying $ 20 – 25 for our entrees that might have been ok. But at this price level it’s far from ok. If you kick the keg while pouring a beer you dump that beer or at a minimum serve it at no charge.
I really want to like this place. But there are so many other options around with food that is just as good for either 30% less in price or they have service that makes you feel like it’s worth $ 30 – 36 a plate.

I’ve been there. Your looking for a place to eat in Vermont, and you want a new option. You search Unilocal and find a bunch of similar looking restaurants. You’re stuck reading customer reviews trying to find something that stands out. Well GREAT NEWS! This is the place to go! You’re eating at Raven’s Den! Decision made.
I went last night, and it was so great. The food was delicious. There were a lot of great options on the menu. I had the shrimp scampi, because I have a weakness for that dish — and the chef prepared it perfectly.
I went with beer as my beverage last night. Again, there were a lot of great options. The wine list was quite robust, with a lot of high quality wines available by the glass — which I found impressive. The mixed drinks looked very creative as well. I was thoroughly impressed by the ability of their bar.
The dessert donut/​ice cream combo was something to behold. I have told many people about it already and it’s only been 16 hours since I ate there. You simply have to try it.
The thing that really stood out about this place was their attention to detail. The entire dining experience seemed fully thought through. The service was ideal and made us feel very comfortable.
Raven’s Den is a very welcome addition to my world of eating out in Vermont. I look forward to many enjoyable evenings there in my future.

The shepards pie is the thing to get! The waiter recommended it and it was so good! The salad was delicious too and the décor is really neat. Will be back!

I’ve eaten here last year before and got great service and yummy food. But my review is for an experience I had last week.
I was sick with a serious cold and just wanted something spicy and hot. Soup sounded good but I didn’t want to have to make it as I had little energy. Then I remembered this really great green curry noodle soup at Raven’s Den and knew that was the perfect thing for me. However, eating out was not an option! I called, not know if they could even do take-​out, much less soup! Nancy answered, I told her the issue and she didn’t hesitate to make it happen. If I was dining there, I would have had a trip to the salad bar included in the price of my meal. Over the phone, Nancy asked what I liked (and didn’t like) and made up a huge salad to take home. This, on a busy Friday night, was no easy task, I know. She even included bread with little pats of butter and side containers of pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and the various potato/​pasta salads they have on their awesome salad bar.
Having been in the service industry all my adult life, I appreciate not only good service but especially when someone goes above and beyond what the «norm» is. My crappy Friday night, filled with tissues and a little misery, was made SO much better with the soup’s healing warm and spicy goodness, an unexpected huge and yummy salad, and a friendly woman who cared enough to make it happen!

Slowest service ever. Took 20 minutes to get our drinks and then an hour after that to get our food. And the food was just as bad as the service. I should have figured that out when I found out they have a salad bar. What decent restaurant has a salad bar these days? The ribs tasted like I was eating a piece of smoldering wood. The 28 day dry aged Angus steaks they brag about weren’t even as good as a cheap steak I’d buy at a supermarket. Just an awful dining experience.

I objectively had the worst service of my life at this restaurant. The only saving grace was that the food was good and our waitress, Sonny, was very sweet. THEY DON’T HONOR RESERVATIONS so don’t bother making one.

Updated my review to 4 stars since Nancy was kind enough to reply. Hoping I get to try the food sometime

Wanted to amend my review as I think they deserve at least 3 stars for trying and because the restaurant has potential and I wish that they reach it some day.
At the present it serves very over-​priced food for what it is. My small Pepsi glass cost $ 3 (was half full with ice) and orange juice — $ 3.50 for a small glass. I think most of the items on the dinner menu hover in the low $ 30 to mid $ 30s. Coming from NYC where we sometimes visit restaurants that have prices in the same ballpark we set our expectations on par and this place just doesn’t cut it. The food isn’t incredibly creative — very plain and the service is very slow — waited almost an hour for our meals to arrive. Reviews on Unilocal looked good so we were stumped when we finished our dinner.
There are 2 menus here: the «bar menu» and the «dinner menu». The prices on the dinner menu are fairly steep and the bar menu has bar-​type food but the prices are more modest. Since we were there for dinner and not drinks we originally only paid attention to the dinner menu but then towards placing our orders with the waiter we found the bar menu had more choices including a burger. Maybe this could be 1 menu instead of 2?
My wife ordered the burger to be medium-​well — it was more like medium-​rare when it arrived. My duck confit was OK but not really worth the $ 30+ that it cost. We didn’t really care for the salad bar because another person walking in front of us started coughing on the salad which kind of ruined our appetite for the salad. No big deal — am just not a fan of these salad bars especially during cold and flu season when I’m on vacation.

RECOMMENDATIONS: I think if the salad bar was an OPTIONAL add-​on to the entrees and the prices were adjusted then maybe the prices would have been more inline with reality since I just didn’t care for the salad but wanted to try the duck. I also think if the drinks like the soda and juice had free refills then the price would have been more reasonable.

My wife and I had our wedding rehearsal dinner at the Raven’s Den in September (This review is long over due). I can not say enough good things about the staff, the food, and Ed and Nancy!
Nancy was an absolute pleasure to work with and had all the details down to every dotted «I» and crossed «T». She worked with my parents to put together a wonderful menu and truly make our evening memorable and special.
The food was absolutely amazing, and the service was spectacular. They treated us, as well as our guests, like royalty.
If you find yourself visiting the picturesque town of Manchester VT like we did for our wedding, Raven’s Den is an absolute must.
A great big thank you to Nancy, Ed, and all the staff.

Hands down the best place to go for an overall excellent experience! Dinner was fantastic, Frank (the bartender/​waiter/​personality) was polite and engaging, and the décor was so cool and fun!
Can’t wait for my next reason to come up here from nyc!!!

Well, now I’m a lover of beef, good tender well prepared grilled beef! I also love a great Caesar Salad, I mean with the croutons, REAL ANCHOVIES and those crispy garlic croutons. I found all this and more at the RAVEN! The atmosphere was very relaxing. The décor was within keeping with the name. Loved the furniture, the service and the price was reasonable and fair. Portions were generous. If it looks like I’m kind of jumping around here, it’s probably because I’m so excited about the excellence one is confronted with upon entering this fine dining establishment. Don’t pass it by, stop, relax, and turn all your senses loose and let them communicate the wonders of this great experience… I did, and I’ll be back! I award this great dining establishment 5 golden chefs knives.

Ravens Tavern had me at salad bar! Their homemade dressings are to die for (don’t miss the blue cheese!!) and the salad bar has lots of options for the best salad you can create. The wine selection was excellent and I had a delicious wine ‘on tap’ that was suggested by our server. Our server, Sunny, was excellent and genuinely kind, a kind that you don’t always see in the service industry these days. She even had suggestions on what to visit while we were in Vermont. The entrees were good, not mind blowing, but a solid meal. The dessert, however, was incredible. A grilled glazed donut with salted caramel ice cream. Yum! I wouldn’t miss this place if visiting the Manchester area.

After some turnover in Manchester restaurants I was in search of a new go to spot and a great place to recommend my Winter Renters. Raven’s is a home run. The place was hopping but had a few seats at the bar. I started with a Cider Tini which was just one amazing drink on a long list of house special drinks. FYI the Cider TIni has a lot of alcohol in it, even though my friend laughed when I ordered it.
The bartenders were so friendly and offered us a menu to start planning our delicious meal. Daily specials included fried oysters and braised short ribs.
Once we finished our apps our table was ready. We each ordered a meal which came with the most amazing salad bar I have ever seen. I topped off my garden fresh salad with maple balsamic vinaigrette while my friend had the steak ranch dressing. My meal came out just as we finished our salads. I had the Sea Bass with Cous cous and grilled vegetables and my friend had the duck Confit which were both cooked perfect and tasted like they were from a Michelin rated restaurant.
I always leave room for dessert and boy was I glad I did. Probably two of the best desserts I have ever had are the cider donut with ice cream and maple glaze and the bananas foster cheese cake. Warning if you are dieting you must go here on your cheat day.
Nancy the owner stopped by and we immediately became huge fans. I loved the way she took our feedback and wanted to make our experience the best it could be. I am definitely going here any time I come to VT and telling all my renters they must try this place. This is sure to become the next big thing in Manchester, VT, and even New England.
P. S. If You have been craving Prime Rib since Johnny Seesaws closed. The Raven’s chef knows how to prepare the best Prime Rib in Manchester too.

Nice décor, everything else was less than good. Service was awful with bringing drinks, giving orders, following up etc. were this guys ever trained.
My husband and I was enthusiastic at first. We want the restaurant to succeed but not after our last visit. 2 lunches and one dinner and unless you are paying we are out of there.