Rye Tavern

This restaurant just earned the distinction of hosting the absolute worst public dining experience I have ever had with my family in 40+ years. Eight of us arrived for a very special Father’s Day Brunch: my father recently survived a stroke and was released from Spaulding Hospital. My husband and I drove up from NYC with our two children, and we were joined by my mother and my brother and his husband.
We arrived shortly after the restaurant opened at 11, and had asked to be seated outside, reasoning that it would be better for the kids. Table had no umbrella and was in direct sun, but we overlooked this banking on the time commitment being a limited one.
Our actual waiter, Lane, was pleasant and competent, and we had no quarrel with him. A round of drinks was ordered and arrived quickly. The order was taken within the first fifteen minutes, and all seemed to be going smoothly. My parents shared a Caesar salad, which arrived in a reasonable amount of time and looked normal, if small. Another round of drinks was ordered, and we anticipated the arrival of our brunch entrees. Almost another HOUR passed. The second round of drinks was gone, and poor Lane came over to apologize and offer us a third round on the house. At this point, however, we were more concerned about health and safety than a third round of drinks. My father’s energy and attention were waning, and everyone was getting sunburned.
Then things got really strange. My husband went to the restroom, and on his way out he asked the hostess for some details about why the meal was taking so long. Apparently this befuddled her to the point where she was incapable of answering, and my husband returned to our table, perplexed. Hostess then approached the table and started to explain how they run their tickets through the kitchen [subtext: «look, you morons”]. My mother asked her a question, and the hostess literally ignored Mum (who was paying for the meal), and continued to talk directly to my husband.
Now the whole table was unsettled. Lane had disappeared, and the bussers had stopped bringing us water. We were all sweating. My children had given up on food and were playing on the lawn. We were trapped in the woods with no reasonable «other brunch» options. My brother then went inside to speak to her, and shortly after he returned, a manager walked over and informed my brother that he had hurt the hostess’ feelings. There were some nominal apologies for the delay, but no reasonable explanation. There was also a random server with the manager who butted into this exchange by saying to my mother, «Well, we all want to go home and be with our families, too, you know. It’s a holiday»
At last, at about 2.5 hours in, some food started to arrive at the table, accompanied by the manager, who informed us that the meal would be comped. The servings looked more like tapas portions than brunch, but food was food at this point. My tiny glob of prison loaf-​like chowder-​n-​mashed potatoes, served last after an additional five minute delay, was fine. I was worried that my poor Da would not have the energy to eat, but he mustered. Seriously, if the guest of honor were not a disabled elderly man, we would have cut our losses at 1.5 hours, for sure.
I think if you are one of the locals (there appears to be a hive of gated communities around there), you probably get better service. The service that we got was appallingly bad.

When out-​of-​town friends and family stop by Rye Tavern is a must on their Plymouth tour. Great food, great place to chill.

Delicious meal (brussels sprouts, burger, salad), wonderful server and service. Would definitely return!

Food is great! Outside sitting is so romantic and relaxing, in the middle of the woods!!!

So very disappointed in this restaurant. I had heard good reports so made a reservation for an anniversary dinner. We were seated for 10 minutes before anyone came to our table. The waitress had a jacket on as she waited on tables,??? I ordered the special which was a swordfish dish with roasted red peppers, olives and shrimp on a bed of orzo and greens. No shrimp or olives to be found and the bed of greens and orzo had been changed as well. To their credit they gave me a free dessert to make up for the lack of ingredients in their special of the night. All in all everything about this place was disappointing. Management needs to wake up.

Such a cute tavern excellent food friendly service a must if your in Plymouth. For cocktails or dinner a fab place to eat.

Delicious food– enjoyed the Brussel sprouts and the the tomato soup. The lemonade cockatiel was great too. Excellent atmosphere

I have to fight my natural tendency to think of 5*s as perfect. Mathematically, 5*s means that it is better than 80% of restaurants in its class, and Rye certainly is.
It is not flawless, but the flaws are small compared to the goodness.
I would not have ordered an appetizer if it were not for the fact that the other people we were having dinner with were very late and I was very hungry. I didn’t see anything on the list I thought would be a real treat, so I took my chances with Pork Belly on a Johnny Cake.
The pork was very good, but there was not a lot of it. The Johnny Cake was ok, but dry and cried out for some sauce or spread to moisten it up.
My wife ordered the Brussel Sprouts. I don’t like Brussel Sprouts, so I would never consider ordering them. I took a taste of her’s and boy was I surprised! I could eat these things all day long. The seasoning and texture were both wonderful and both totally unexpected by me.
Our waitress was instructing a new waitress on how to serve wine. This was a bit amusing because she didn’t know what to do with the cork. So as to not embarrass her, I waited until she was alone to point out her mistake.
I usually expect a more experienced waitress in a restaurant of this quality, but it is a seasonal area at the very start of the season. Overall the service was very good.
For my entrée, I ordered the Bison (medium rare) with Shredded Potato Cake. The Bison was a bit more toward medium than medium rare which makes a difference in a cut of meat that has zero fat. However, it was as perfectly seasoned as any meat I have ever had. 80% of the time, I will add salt to my meat, but here there wasn’t the slightest hint of needing any additional seasoning. The onion and other toppings went really well with the meat.
The deep fried Shredded Potato Cake was WONDEFUL. I never had anything like it before, but the taste, consistency, and doneness were perfect.
I had some chocolate cake for dessert. If was good, but not exceptional.
All in all, a really enjoyable meal.
This place really is on a dirt road. We were lucky that it had just be graded and was mostly smooth (for a dirt road). Later in the season you should expect a lot of bumps and holes. Just go very slow and all will be fine.

I should really give this place 1 star to keep people away so I can enjoy it all to myself! But that would be selfish… lol. The place fills up instantly at opening! The bar only sits 6 or 8. I would suggest you make reservations. The offer an extensive menu of craft cocktails, wine, and bottled beer. There are only 4 beers on tap. Now the best part… the food! Very reasonably priced, created with local seasonal ingredients that I’ve savored every time I’ve been there. Great menu offerings but I usually opt with a special. The venison medallions I had there were amazing! So please stay away from here so I can enjoy it all for myself. :)

We had such a nice time having dinner here that we hurried back the next morning to snag seats at the bar for a brunch cocktail!
The journey to the tavern alone is memorable — make sure you take Old Sandwich Road if you are coming from Plymouth. It turns into a quaint dirt road which really sets the scene as you approach this awesome 18^th century tavern.
The bar area is small and cozy with about 6 seats at the bar (so plan to arrive early if you want one of those seats!), a high top table behind those seats, and a working fireplace to offset the draft whenever a new guest arrives. The dining room is laid back and casual. We enjoyed some expertly made cocktails from the bar before we indulged in the crispy brussels sprouts with goat cheese cream, braised short rib arancini, lobster and crab pierogi, and slow roasted chicken and lentil soup. We finished with a trio of whoopie pies for dessert. Everything was wonderful, but my favorite dish was the soup — so simple and flavorful! Next time I find myself in Plymouth, I’ll definitely make a return visit.

Ate lunch here on a cold snowy afternoon. We sat at the bar next to the fireplace and it was warm and toasty. We shared the brussels sprouts appetizer, I had the harvest salad and my husband had the BLT sandwich. Everything was very well prepared. They have a great cocktail and beer selection. All top shelf and well crafted. The service was excellent and the price reasonable for quality and selection. I am looking forward to going back for dinner.

I came here with my best friend after running the Winter Warlock Half marathon down the street. We were in our running gear which we were a little uncomfortable about but we hoped the staff was aware there would be hungry runners coming in on that particular Sunday :) We waited for about 30 minutes before anyone came to our table. We would have gone somewhere else except we were actually already starving post run so we waited it out. Eventually the waitress apologized for not telling any of the waiters that we were there. (We were in a table for 2 in plain sight and at least 2 of the waitresses passed us and looked at the table). We were hoping they weren’t skipping our table because of our running gear lol. Our food came quickly and as soon as they put the Brussel Sprouts on the table, I was the happiest person on earth. I order Brussels anywhere they have them and I have to say with the Goat cheese — these were the best I’ve ever had, perfect crisp and melted goat cheese! I could have ordered 5 bowls of that and been happy. We both ordered the grass fed local burger and again — oh my god. We highly recommend this place and I cant wait to go back. I found this place on Unilocal and im so glad I found it! I lived 10 minutes away last year and never knew of this place!

After running in the half marathon earlier that morning, my friend and I were looking to replenish our bodies with some yummy food. Upon driving down a dirt road we came across this hidden gem [at least seemed hidden to an out of towner].
We had read up about the Brussels sprouts and decided to share those as an appetizer… umm. BEST. BRUSSELS SPROUTS EVER! Imagine these cooked perfectly to perfection with melted goat cheese and pepper on top… they are absolutely to die for… and I recommend anyone stopping in to experience these!
We ended up both getting the burger which was cooked perfectly and melted in our mouths.
The atmosphere was definitely small town, but casual. After the small mishap of the waitress not knowing she had our table, everything else was perfect and I’d love to visit again in the summer! Great staff, amazing food, and cute atmosphere!

Best American restaurant in Plymouth! This is a perfect brunch location, but take your connoisseur friends rather than picky eaters.

Very disappointed after such enthusiastic recommendations. All food was unacceptably salty. Brussels sprouts, carpaccio, salmon and scallops — all shockingly salty. Salmon was overcooked, twice. Scallops and rice served with the salmon were both overwhelmed by rosemary. Service was rushed. Wine service was poor. Given the price for dinner — $ 205 with wine, I won’t be rushing back!

A guest of Craig Gillard. What a dining experience. Heard about the chowder in passing and had to try it!!! Probably the best in the NE. Fried clam topped it off. Get the DUCK!!!
Jess kept our drinks coming and what a bartender!!!
Top shelf drinks and excellent wine list.

Think the food is absolutely fabulous here. For those of you debating, and in the area, the food will not disappoint. Further, they offer one of the best clam chowders with excellent flavor and adventurous presentation without hard, but mashed potatoes as well as fried calms on the top. Lobster + Risotto was another dish that wowed me. Menu often changes with seasons/​local fare availability. Outdoor seating is fantastic, they also have heat lamps. The inside bar is cozy and the dining room is small — would suggest reservations if you can. Service at the bar. outside was a bit of a letdown, would offer this up as my one qualm after several visits. Nonetheless, we will be back.

It was such a sad, disappointing experience at Rye Tavern today. I am visiting from Los Angeles and wanted to take my brother out for a nice dinner for his birthday. Rye had good reviews, so I thought it would be a great spot.
Not so. Failure on many, many levels. We ordered appetizers and mains very quickly after arrival, appetizers arrived 40 minutes after ordering them, after my cocktail was brought out 5 minutes after the rest of the table’s drinks. We asked to move from the very dark outdoors (the outdoor lights didn’t work) to the indoors, hostess said «I’ll check» and then 10 minutes later we had to ask our waitress who said, «of course.» we moved indoors to the dining room which was loud and we watched waitstaff run back and forth and complain upset to each other for the next 1 and ½ hours.
appetizers arrived finally, which tasted good. Fine. we then ordered a bottle of wine while we waited for our main dishes. 20 minutes after ordering our wine we were still waiting. it took 60 – 65 minutes for main courses to arrive. we were sharing and they didn’t even bring enough plates for everyone to share. we had to flag someone down to get more plates. we also had to flag someone down for our wine.
FYI the scallops dish main dish only has 3 scallops in it, don’t be hungry if you order it.
We then called our waitress over, who had barely paid attention to us the entire evening, and told her we were unsatisfied with service and wanted to talk to the manager. she said they were short staffed and busy, apologized but then ran away. We again flagged down a waitstaff, and asked to speak to the manager again. Long story short, manager never came despite asking twice. We were informed that our bottle of wine would be comped, which was nice. But we did ask to speak to the manager and that never happened.
I tried to figure out how to contact management directly for this restaurant but their website is sorely lacking so I had to resort to Unilocal.
While the food tasted good, the service was some of the worst I’ve seen at a restaurant that appears to try as hard as Rye tavern does, and charges the prices they charge. I would recommend you save your money and go somewhere else.

«Chad’s Eats» review of Rye Tavern
Cuisine: Creative American
Location: Plymouth, MA
Parking:
Ample designated parking lot
Décor /​Ambiance:
Beautiful charming old colonial farmhouse.
Greeting:
Warm, friendly, hostess on point… very welcoming
Menu mix:
Lots of twists on New England classics. Creative comfort food with elegant presentations
Water /​Bread service:
Clean and fresh tasting, no hint of bleachy rinse agent. Bread was wonderful, two varieties with a great whipped butter.
Drink pour:
Nice wine pour! Just a few sips over the «standard» you’ll find elsewhere. Reasonably priced.
Food quality:
Fantastic. I loved the version of clam chowder. It’s was a creamy bacon chowder broth poured over a dollop of mashed with fried clams on top. You don’t need crackers here as the crispy clams got you covered. A very creative version we loved. Spiced shrimp cakes with citrus and greens was great. You can get crab cakes anywhere but shrimp cakes! That’s a treat. Sandy had the lamb steak & belly, vermont cheddar gratin, roasted carrots, red beet cream, chili caramel, pistachio gremolata 29 and I couldn’t resist the grass fed burger with Vermont cheddar, bacon onion jam, house made sweet pickles and truffle Parmesan fries 13. For dessert we split a pineapple upside down cake.
Service:
Great, very attentive
Value:
For this class of food, apps, entrees, drinks, wine and a split dessert it was very reasonably priced. Food of this quality in the city would be 20 to 30% higher and you’d pay for parking on top.
Bathrooms:
Spotless, clean, single serve!
Would I return?
Absolutely.
Comments & Tips:
Make reservations, the road is in need of paving that takes you out to where the restaurant is so take it slow.

Been here twice now for a bourbon tasting and brunch. Outstanding.
The dinner events are expensive but make a good date.
Staff is friendly. Plan to go back to try out more of the brunch menu. We had eggs Benedict and the French toast and both were outstanding.
Look forward to going here in the summer for a drink.