One Federal Restaurant & Lounge

Really hit or miss. I’ve had lunches that were great, and others that made me wish I’d spent the night at home. Their pulled pork sandwiches are usually pretty good, and the tables are clean. Staff is friendly and quick, overall 3 stars.

Never again for dinner, company dinner there Jan.3 2016… prime rib size of a small pork chop… for the price not even worth going there. Honey Thyme scallops 26.99 for 4 with burnt topping no thanks… salad made me sick… thumbs down on the dinner menu… Too exspensive. 300.00 nope never again stick to their brunch I guess!

We have been coming to St Albans for over 25 years and have eaten at all the restaurants, in all their incarnations, over that time.
Four of us went to the latest One Federal for lunch and were profoundly disappointed with both the service and the food. After being greeted from the hostess behind the bar, we waited about 15 minutes to be seated. She kindly said she would be «right with us», disappeared into kitchen for a few minutes, came out with food that needed to be served, walked right by us, checked on a second table, went back behind the bar… all while were waiting in the entry waiting to be seated. Clearly understaffed.
The daily special soup was tomato based and highly acidic, and the lightly grilled chicken added to what otherwise were nice simple salads was under cooked and inedible. They did re make them — but the rest of our party was already done. Took way too long. In the end, the chicken was still undercooked. Good beer selection and decent hand cut fries, but gosh, over a hundred dollar check for four needed to be much better on all counts.
This restaurant can work but needs far more attention to service, menu, preparation, and décor. They have a great location but they better improve to survive. I’ve eaten here when this restaurant first opened under the original management and subsequently and it has noticeably gone downhill with each iteration. Please take this to heart and step it up. They have a potential winner if they do.

One Federal is a fantastic location right on the corner of Federal Street and Lake Street in downtown Saint Albans. The restaurant has a very inviting interior with gentle lighting, an older architectural vibe and an elegant design to the bar and dining areas. So overall, yes the ambiance is nice and relaxing.
As for food and service, they need some work. I’m not going to come out and ever say the food is awful here, because it isn’t. The menu has wonderful dishes and generally they come out delicious and well-​crafted. But I can’t say I’ve been blown away by anything they serve here. I typically order the cheddar ale soup, which is consistently tasty. But the entrees are hit or miss. I had the fish sandwich last time and found it very bland but cooked nicely. You won’t get table rolls, even though it has the vibe of a full grown 5 star restaurant. The salads (caesar) is usually OK. Burgers aren’t superb but generally taste OK.
The service is very spotty and inconsistent. I’ve found many visits where I had to wait for my server just to get drinks to start after being seated. Other times the server is distracted and has to be tracked down when needed. Food sometimes doesn’t come out as ordered (I place this equally on the kitchen as well as front end staff).
If One Fed fixed a few things with consistency, taste and service they’d be a fantastic restaurant. But for the price and for what I’d expect of the type of menu they serve, it just doesn’t come up to expectations.

Went to a dinner meeting and ordered a Chicken Pot Pie. The dish arrived with a large bowl of noodles in chicken broth with bits of green peas and traditional ingredients with the exception of identifiable chicken. A large golden brown pastry type bun was sitting on top of the dish. I expected a Pot Pie and not a bowl of noodles with a piece of bread on top. I also expected to see bite size pieces of chicken. I think it’s only proper that when comfort food is advertised as a Pot Pie then it should resemble a Pot Pie and not a bowl of noodles. Next time I will ask the waitress to describe the dish so I won’t be disappointed.

I haven’t eaten in all the restaurants in St Albans but One Federal has got the best food that I enjoyed in St. Albans. Nestled near the center of town, I tasted their fare on three separate occasions over the past 2 ½ weeks.
Almost everything is hand-​made. The first night was the rib-​eye steak which was cooked superbly. Sometimes places throw lots of seasoning which tends to cover up the true flavor of the meat. This steak was a man’s portion and delicious. You get two sides with most of the entrees, plus a salad. The salads are simple but very fresh. Try the maple balsamic vinaigrette, a house specialty.
Other sides that I had of note were the mac N cheese and the onion rings. Both are really good. I had some French fries too. But the nite that I tasted them, they were overdone. Others in my group had had them during a previous meal and said they were perfect. They are hand cut and house made, so perhaps they are worth a second try.
Other meals I had were the smoked pork shoulder. Outstanding. A bit overdone on the bottom but tender and flavorful, and big. I split it with my wife and it was easily enough for two.
Dessert of note: maple glazed crème brûlée. Coffee was very good too.
To drink, they have a nice selection of draft and bottled beers. Not a beer meister’s selection, but certainly pretty good. Wine is acceptable too.
They are a bit weak on scotch and whiskey choices, so if you are looking for something special in this category, probably won’t find it here. However, it is a full bar and they made an excellent, dry Cosmopolitan for one at our table.
I will probably never be in St Albans again to eat, but I would always recommend One Federal Street to any who are passing through. This restaurant and the Maple City Diner were my favorites in town.

This place has really been more miss in the hit & miss department lately. The last couple times we’ve gone there my youngest son has been unable to eat is food because the chicken strips were burnt to a crisp and while comping the meal last time was nice it didn’t fill his belly, and he wasn’t offered another order. I could’ve insisted but he didn’t want me to make a fuss. I would love to see the attention to detail they first had when they were a new place. I’d like to see a seasonal menu or at least a change every now & again. We’ve tried everything and well, now I can’t even get my husband to try again, he prefers to go elsewhere.

I had to retract my previous review after my last visit as I feel three stars was being far too generous.
The food being «hit or miss» is an understatement. I am aware that this is regarded as one of the better restaurants in town… and that’s unfortunate. The food leaves a lot to be desired and certainly does not match the price. The menu is all over the place and the quality is mediocre at best.
But this particular review is not about the food. On two separate occasions, meeting with friends, I had the misfortune of witnessing the (male) kitchen staff being incredibly rude and misogynistic towards the female staff. I understand that the kitchen environment can be a bit tense, but their behavior is simply inexcusable. I even mentioned something to who I thought was the manager whose reply was «yeah that’s pretty common.»
The food is nothing special, especially when it’s prepared by individuals who exhibit this sort of behavior. I can’t, in good conscious, support this business. My friends and I will go elsewhere.

Great food, happy staff, and awesome environment. One Federal has a great line up of appetizers and entrée options. Their bar tenders are very knowledgeable when it comes to drinks and often very social.
There is often a wait on evenings and weekends, sometimes up to a hour, but don’t let that discourage you at all, this place still stands out a a charm amongst St. Albans City.

Although the service is slow, I have no other complaints. Actually, the service could be even slower and that would just mean that they are making my food even better, so I guess I have no complaints at all. The mac ‘n cheese was the perfect cool weather treat and my fish sandwich was the absolute best I have ever had. Hands down, this restaurant is in my top 20, which is saying something, because I have been to a few hundred, in many states, and a few different countries. It could be that the fish sandwich is just my thing, maybe because I dump my coleslaw on it, or because I like it so much I will eat the other half cold for breakfast the next day… not sure.
The other great food they make is the wings. LOVE them! If we get a craving for wings we automatically think One Fed, which is not surprising, we love it there!
The service is great. Not even typical hometown restaurant great, but the kind of great that epic stories are made from. I might feel this way because my Mr and I were dining, and this woman was ignoring her child to the point that it was screaming. I asked if we could be moved. It might sound harsh, but we do not go out at 8pm to eat a romantic and rather expensive dinner to the musical sounds of screetching children. We purposfully eat later in the day in the hopes that there will not be young children there. I think kids are lovely, and can’t wait to have a horde of my own, but I see my husband three full days a month…
anyway, I asked very quietly if we could be moved and they accomodated us immediately, which they certainly did not have to do.
I am looking forward to returning soon!

I have never had a bad experience here. Food is always delicious, beer is always cold.

Hit or miss. This time was a miss, so much that I am writing this review.
I have been here plenty. Lunch, dinner… it has been up and down though the last two or three visits. Last dinner here with my husband we both felt like everything was over salted… And I don’t mind salt. This visit… Lunch with kids. Slowwwww service, on a not so busy Saturday afternoon. Food started out good, and then my 16 yr old states that she’s not eating the rest of a chicken finger because there is hair in it… Not on it. Not sitting on the plate. Actually inside it.
Spoke to waitress and she acknowledged it was «so disgusting». They made a new one but I have to say that above all, hair IN food is a major turn off.
Going to take a long break from coming and hopefully things will get better. We do support local and generally this has been a good place to come but the service and quality need some work.

In love with this place. The food selection is phenomenal and all the dishes call to me. I want to eat there over and over and over again. Why? So I can try every single one of the dishes. When we ate there about a month ago I was very impressed with the service and the ambiance. The food was really tasty and magical. It was full of flavor and personality.

As soon as you walk into the establishment it is very welcoming. Cozy but not dark and gloomy. We arrived for lunch on a Saturday which was very busy. We were advised that the wait was 20 minutes for a table but we opted to have a seat at the bar. Nice bar at the end of the front room. We ordered and our food was served in a reasonable amount of time. The food was wonderful both in presentation and taste. The only excepts/​buts I have are these observations 1. No enough staff to accomplish good customer service, acceptable yes, good no. 2. When a sauce is flung over your customer’s clothing when serving their lunch more must be done besides saying sorry, leaving the sauce at their feet during their lunch and having your customer have to ask you for some sauce to replace that which has baptised you. We enjoyed our visit and would like to return. another day when things are not as crazy

Service is always good and the one time it was iffy, the waiter apologized and gave us a discount. We tend to go during not busy hours because we eat with our potentially annoying 3 year old.
The food is always fantastic. I don’t typically order mac and cheese, but I tasted my husband’s once and am a complete fanatic now.
The Wings!!! Oh my. I’m from Buffalo and have been to all the originals and local favorites. Recently, with a trip to Buffalo, then back home to St Albans, we had wings in both locales within a few days of each other. Hands down, One Federal’s Buffalo Wings are the best ever. The chicken tastes fresh and moist, the skin is perfectly crispy, the sauce has all the right flavors. And while on the topic of the sauce, many restaurants try to either make it ridiculously hot as if hot = good. It doesn’t. Or, they put so much on that the wings are swimming in a pool of it. But One Federal’s has just enough sauce to thoroughly coat and not saturate the skin, and it’s spicy but not ridiculous. And, there’s no rancid oil burps after eating them like at most establishments.
Everything else I’ve tried there is delicious, but I’m stuck in a delicious wings and mac and cheese rut at the moment.

My family and I just completed an excellent meal at the One Federal! We decided to go after reading all the great Unilocal reviews and our whole meal experience exceeded our expectations!
The atmosphere is inviting and comfortable. We were seated right away in high top by the front window. Our waitress Devyn was incredible! We had fairly complicated orders and she delivered everything perfectly with a great attitude! She was quick, friendly, and attentive and really made the whole meal an excellent overall experience!
We each had a different glass of the house wines and were all very happy with them. The burgers were delicious and my dad’s fish sandwich was fresh and crispy without being greasy. The broccoli cheddar soup was also very good and was lighter than I expected!
Overall I would highly recommend this restaurant if you are in the area. The service and food were excellent and the overall dining experience was very impressive!

Waited 6 min to get seated for lunch at 12 noon. Waitress said «we’ve run out of iced tea». Huh?
Good soup. Green bean appetizer was tasty. Turkey on ciabatta was dry. Pasta was good. Service just OK.

Good stuff but not amazing. Perhaps a little overpriced.
The nachos for appetizer was the best part of the meal. Awesome cheese and vegetables on there.
Wife’s pasta portobello was okay… not extremely flavorful. Needed hot sauce. I asked for the meatloaf but they didn’t have it for some reason so I got a burger with pork on it. Nothing special. Pork was okay, pretty fatty. Burger was okay too. No awesome, memorable flavors to report.
The ambiance is nice. Service was really great. The dining area had a dirty floor. Needed to be cleaned for sure.

The best restaraunt I’ve tried in St. Albans. I went with my daughter on a Monday night, Feb 17, 2014. We were seated right away, no wait. The décor is nice, lots of exposed brick and wood. The place was a little cold, temperature wise but that’s OK it’s February in Vermont.
Now for the food: we shared Poutine for an appetizer. It was delish! Previous reviewers complained because it had cheddar cheese and not curds but that’s ok with me. This is Vermont and they used Vermont cheddar! Yummy! We ordered sandwiches for our entrees because this was girls night and not date night (just keeping it casual). The entrees were priced from $ 16-​$ 29. Sandwiches $ 9-​$ 12. My daughter had the «Crunchy Fish Sandwich», this was huge! Served on a football-​esque roll! I went with a basic Turkey club, which was what you’d expect but enhanced with Vermont bacon and Cabot Cheddar. We both chose the Cheddar Smashed potatoes for our «side» and boy were they gooooood! Due to the extra large portions, we each took a half of our sandwich to go! Very satisfied with the taste.
The service was fine. Our waitress was friendly and attentive. She kept our glasses full.
Overall, I can’t wait till next year to go to One Federal again! The other restaraunts I’ve tried in St. Albans were not so good. So, while we stay here and ski at Jay Peak at least I know where to get a good meal!
(See photos I posted, above)

Ended up here after Googling restaurants near where we stopped for gas on the way home from Canada, and was NOT disappointed. The waitress LaWanda was very attentive, and the food was fantastic.
We had crispy mozzarella bites, maple bacon bourbon wings, a bacon cheddar burger, and fish and chips that were all very fresh and piping hot. The wings were SO good we got another order to go to bring back to Boston to munch on later. I need the recipe for those! Worth a visit if you’re in the area.