Merchant’s Row at the Colonial Inn

Came here with friends who used to come frequently. We were all disappointed. Apparently it is under new management and much of what made the place good is being phased out, like tablecloths. The Salmon burger had several slices of bacon on it (?!), a slice of tomato and a piece of lettuce, no sauce at all, and was dry and salty. The caesar salad used iceburg and a few romaine leaves and was totally unremarkable. The dessert was bland. Hopefully, this new management will get wise and remedy a mediocre experience.

Great historical atmosphere. Even what looked like a musket slug hole in a picture where we sat. Food was very good. Waitress was nice and attentive to our needs.

We had excellent service. The 1719 Ale was excellent. We all enjoyed our dinners. Was expecting a place with a little more history to it. Was a modern room.

This place was awful!!! We came for afternoon tea with a reservation, waited for 35 minutes and were ignored until we asked to be seated and mysteriously our table was ready for us. The Service was terrible, they put our 3 tiered plate holders ON THE FLOOR before serving them. The tea pots didn’t poor correctly so tea spilled all over the table, mind you this was loose leaf tea that also didn’t filter so tea was chunky. Food was dry, probably saw the wait staff twice the entire time we were there. It was laughable how bad the whole experience was, we couldn’t help but laugh at this bizarre experience.

Really, truly terrible service. The hostess was nasty and sour for no apparent reason. She is really in the wrong line of work. They were completely obnoxious about seating us (long story). Food took forever to arrive (nearly an hour between ordering and the arrival of salads). I watched several patrons become furious waiting for non existent service. Will not be returning.
The two stars are for the food itself which was fine.

Went for the Thanksgiving Buffet. It was excellent! From the fish bar of shrimp, oysters on the half shell and cherrystones, to the selections on the dinner trays, it was delicious! What a difference the new management team has made! Our servers David and Morgan were efficient and very helpful. Overall a wonderful experience for our whole family!

My last day spent at the Colonial Inn, I was able to eat breakfast in the hotel.
This Concord town in MA was the cutest, and this hotel was a great way to spend my two nights there.
For breakfast, the service was great, though the food took a bit longer than I would have liked to come out. The ambiance was great, an open restaurant, with windows all around the outside.
I ordered the Spanish Omelete which had onions and peppers, chorizo, pepper jack chesse and promised of Avocado and Pico de gallo, which both were missing from the dish. This wasn’t worth mentioning, to wait another 20 – 30 minutes for the changes to be made, so I didn’t. Instead, I ate what was in front of me, which was good, but missing that freshness that might have made this particular dish a home run.
With that said, the home fries were probably the top-​five home fries I have had the pleasure of eating. I am a big fan of home fries, and eat them every opportunity to eat breakfast at a restaurant. These were among the best.
If the food came a bit quicker, and was complete, I might have given that 4/4.5 that it might have deserved. I would love to journey up there again and give them another shot!

I went here for brunch on the suggestion of a friend. Turns out their brunch is buffet style with three different rooms offering a bounty of breakfast, lunch, and dessert options. Their food was delicious and varied with meat and nonmeat options for those veggie inclined. We ate outside because of the gorgeous weather and the downside to that was we were pestered by yellow jackets the entire time. Yikes!
Make sure you come here hungry. The brunch was $ 37 which I only thought to ask about after getting food. Oops. I thought it was way over priced. Good food but not for that much!
I’ll mark this as a special occasion restaurant and leave casual brunch to other places.

Great location and atmosphere. We’ve eaten here over a dozen times by now. We’ve only ever sat on the front patio, which is lovely and quaint, bordered by big flower boxes. The burgers and sandwiches are always delicious, and other dishes we’ve tried– like the baked Mac and cheese and the chicken pot pie– are sooo comforting and delicious.
Two gripes bring down the rating:
1) Odd little things about the menu seem to change every single time we go. Something that was once served with a side salad suddenly isn’t anymore, or the appearance and flavor of a dish has completely changed. Maybe they change chefs often. But this time we ordered a grilled cheese sandwich for my son, which usually comes with a side (fries or fruit), and it came with nothing else on the plate. The waitress said they’d recently changed the dish so that it no longer has any side dish. It’s just odd, how often things change.
2) Strangely, we always have great, helpful hosts/​hostesses but have never once had really good service here. I can’t imagine why– maybe they don’t train them very well? We’ve always had mix ups and servers who don’t check in much, and other minor issues. Once my husband ordered a meal with fries and when it came out with onion rings the server said, «Oh, that’s what we call fries here.» Um, no it isn’t. We get sandwiches with fries all the time there. What a bizarre excuse to give. We would love to see a more professional staff here someday– they’re not terrible; it just often seems like it’s someone’s first day on the job when we happen to meet them.

We visited the Colonial for the third time recently, this time for our 35^th wedding anniversary. Although we had made a reservation for Merchants Row, we were able to get a table on the porch on what will probably be one of the last warm evenings of the summer. There’s too much traffic to call it «scenic,» but we had a nice view of the Concord Green. This time we ordered the artichoke dip as an appetizer. My wife ordered the veggie burger and I had the lobster salad roll. We finished with coffee and Indian pudding. Everything was outstanding, including the wine (Malbec) and the service. We think this is now our favorite restaurant.

Definitely worth checking out if you’re into historical locations. Cozy aesthetic, friendly service, good food. Had their signature ‘Inn’ burger with truffle fries and a cold pint. Will certainly head back in the future. Shop local!

I do have a problem with the service. The server, an older gentleman, was probably one of the least professional I’ve ever seen. My mom ordered the bouillabaisse. «OK boo-​lah-​bes», he said. Someone ordered the sandwich special of the day. There was one sandwich special and the server did not know what it was. When it was my turn I asked him for recommendations, he said «I don’t know. It depends on what you like. Everything on the menu is good.» Helpful. I ordered my swordfish rare and he told me the chef could not do it rare but he would write it down anyways. (Also, why not? Are dishes here made out of frozen meals??) He mistakenly brought an extra glass of orange juice to the table and when we sent it back, he refused and said «anyone can drink it». Our table of 7 had a toddler who for the most part behaved himself and never spilled or broke anything. But the server would quite frequently say «That’s ok» out of nowhere without anything ever happening or anyone ever apologizing in the first place.
This place has a really big menu. Price is hefty but portions are big. The swordfish, a very healthy dish with cooked quinoa on the side, was obviously overcooked for my taste. The fish could also have been more fresh. It was somehow very mushy. For the first time in my life I actually wished my fish were drier. But I have to say that the person who ordered the sandwich special, which by the way was the prime rib melt, is raving about it and urging me to include it in my review.

I had pan seared Swordfish for $ 17. It was served on top of mashed potatoes with fresh cooked spinach. Attractive presentation, good service.

The service was extremely slow — it took longer than 45 minutes to get the entrees. The wrong food was brought, but was quickly corrected. The food tasted good, but was a bit overpriced. Overall, it was a disappointing experience.

No. No. No.
Every year or so we give this place another shot because it’s breakfast… how bad can it be? Turns out really, really bad. The only reason I gave any stars is because our server was attentive and friendly but the food was awful… greasy, lukewarm and tasted microwaved. It even had me feeling terrible for hours after. Skip this.

It was really confusing trying to get a reservation here: I first tried to call the Liberty, but the phone number given on the website («Call 978.369.2373 to make a reservation») was out of service, and then the hotel reception said that the Liberty doesn’t take reservations at all. Apparently Merchant’s Row serves the same menu as the Liberty, it’s just inside instead of on the patio. This all seemed unnecessarily confusing to me, but I guess that’s in keeping with the 18^th century spirit. However, all was forgiven when the warm bread basket with whipped salted butter was placed in front of me. Yum!
Once I actually managed to get here, I was impressed by the comprehensive new menu. They have a large variety of salads, sandwiches, and burgers, as well as a long list of more classic (and more overpriced) entrees like salmon and chicken piccata. A lot of the appetizers (crab cakes, fish tacos) also seem like you could make a meal out of them.
Though its inclusion on the menu is an obvious ploy to be trendy, the baby kale salad ($ 12) with goat cheese, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, edamame, and carrots was really delicious. The maple vinaigrette was a bit sweet, but I was glad to see something besides ranch.
The black & bleu burger ($ 14) was great: thick, perfectly cooked (I usually expect overcooked at places like this), and covered with plenty of toppings. The prime rib was also tender and well seasoned, and the «queen» portion of 12oz. was more than enough for a normal person of any gender.
The desserts ($ 7 – 9) were good, but I think I would skip them next time. I didn’t really like the «deconstructed» presentation of the Boston cream pie (ice cream was distracting). It was cool to see Indian pudding on the menu, but I got tired of it after a few bites because of how heavy it was.
I like how you can go all out with a four course meal here, or spend much less and just get a simple, good sandwich. Even though the dining room is elegant, eating here didn’t feel stuffy at all.
Service was a little slow, but our server was really professional. The whole experience kind of reminded me of eating at a country club (not in a bad way).
Overall, I don’t agree that this is a tourist trap. It’s not the most cutting edge place around, but it’s good quality food in a dignified atmosphere.

Please do not waste your money ordering the Cape Cod oysters. They are minuscule.
The crab stuffed cod was lost in the breading and whipped potatoes (although they were delicious).
The swordfish was perfectly cooked.
If you like bacon cremated, order the brussel sprouts.

Got a delicious blue cheese bacon burger, cooked to my specs. Nice day in July so we ate lunch outside on the porch. A little noisy due to passing traffic but quite pleasant.

I’ve been back a few times, as there are not tons of alternatives in Concord. I’ve had a couple of good burgers. The lobster roll is now fresh, but too much lemon zest hides the flavor.
The wine list is limited and pedestrian.

I was a little wary of this restaurant based on the Unilocal rating but my daughter and I had a great meal here. We had the dining room to ourselves because it was a beautiful evening and everyone else was sitting outside. Our server couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful. The bread basket brought two very nice rolls and pieces of yummy cornbread. We started our meal with the crab cake appetizer which was a little less crispy on the outside than I would’ve liked but very flavorful and accompanied by a delicious corn relish and aïoli. For the main courses, I had a grilled pork chop special with over-​the-​top bacon Gorgonzola mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. My daughter had chicken piccata with truffle Parmesan mashed potatoes and green beans. Everything was very tasty and well prepared.

We treated ourselves to an evening out at the Colonial Inn, a favorite of ours especially since we had our wedding rehearsal dinner there many years ago. We were given a choice of places to sit — outside on the patio, in the main dining room, the Liberty room, or a couple of other spots. We chose the Liberty Room, which was very quiet but we were up against the front windows so had a nice view of the patio and downtown Concord, while avoiding the heat and humidity of the outside world.
The food was delicious — I had a salmon caesar salad and my husband had the crab-​stuffed cod. We both wiped the plates clean. There was a very interesting selection of summery drinks on offer to round out the meal. Dinner was served with heavenly warm rolls and fresh baked cornbread.
Our waiter was «Young Bill» (apparently there’s an «Old Bill» there also) and he was charming and sweet, and very helpful. His smile and sense of humor added to the pleasantness of the outing.
I would heartily recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a great meal and elegant but comfortable evening out.

Four of us met for dinner at Merchant’s Row on a recent early spring Saturday evening. Prior to dinner, we had drinks in the living room next to the lobby as it was a tad too cold on the front porch. The staff, all around, were extremely pleasant and cheerful. For dinner we all enjoyed our selections — prime rib, salmon and haddock along with soups for an appetizer. I thought the clam chowder was excellent. We were told the restaurant had a new executive chef from Boston — he or she gets an A+ for plating. As many have commented, the atmosphere is well, dated. It’s an old Inn. Dark wood and colonial era design abound. Thankfully the staff was not dressed in period costumes. It wasn’t extremely crowded for a Saturday night as several tables were available. If you’re looking for a an old colonial inn with excellent food at a $ 19-​$ 30/​entrée price point, pull your horse up to the front porch and enjoy yourself… and they”ll leave a candle lit for you.

MY 5 dear friends and I I met there over the Holidays for a Reunion/​Holiday get together. At $ 35 a head we were at least expecting not to leave hungry. The tea sandwiches were uninspired, stale, were mostly bread, and they ran out. The tea desserts were also mostly stale and uninteresting. They did not have the full selection of teas listed on the menu, but the tea was served in pretty china cups. The waitress was very nice. We tipped her well despite the bad food and the rip-​off price. If I hadn’t left hungry it would have just been a bland meal instead of a fleecing. Or maybe if they included a mimosa in the $ 35 price, it would have dulled some of the pain. I won’t be back. And neither will my 4 friends.

This place will not go out of business and can get away with crappy food because it’s The Colonial Inn… Typical tourist trap in Concord. I can’t complain that each dining room is «out dated» because… it’s supposed to be…
Some of the older lady servers look depressed and sloppy, which isn’t exactly pleasing while having «high tea». She would spill soups while serving them… great presentation, I know it’s really hard to serve a cup of soup without making a mess everywhere…
Just so some of you are aware, there may be ONE «chef» in the kitchen, but the rest are cooks from MCI Concord — prisoners. Like I said, The Colonial Inn can get away with it, given the history.
I think it’s good to preserve this place out of respect and history, because after all this was a hospital for wounded soldiers from The Revolutionary War – the war where we won this Country.
They could still step it up – make it a bit more contemporary and esthetically pleasing (food and atmosphere) without totally throwing out the historical aspects. Basically, clearing the cob webs would be a good idea.

We came for dinner on the early side, and so had no difficulties finding street parking, although according to their website there is also free parking available behind the Inn.
Our reservation was for Merchant’s Row, which the hostess quite agreeably led the way to — and which we quite appreciated as it wasn’t exactly straight forward a path.
We were offered water as bottled still, bottled sparkling, or free tap. The three little dishes of swirled butter which greeted us on the table were conveniently soft and spread easily on the later arriving basket of warm sweet cornbread and a savory, rather oily focaccia.
For appetizers, we opted to share the Bacon Wrapped Brussels Sprout Bites — Hickory BBQ $ 6 and the Crab Rangoons fresh lump crab, scallion & cream cheese, stuffed into crispy wonton wrapper, served with orange duck sauce, sweet soy & Asian slaw $ 7 and the smaller Chicken Pot Pie — Fresh pastry crust, red bliss cheddar mash, green beans, cranberry relish $ 24/​$ 17
The wrapped bacon alternative was neat with firm vegetable wrapped in smokey bacon and bbq sauce. The crab rangoons, though listing fresh lump crab as an ingredient, did not particularly stand out much from its more pedestrian sort. The chicken pot pie with its flaky crust, however, was quite tasty, with rich, delicious mashed potatoes, and rather too crisp green beans.
Those same green beans made a repeat performance on other entrée plates. But on my Grilled Swordfish Pistachio crusted potato croquettes, summer squash & zucchini, red pepper purée & fig jam $ 27, the repeat performer was the lovely mashed, but here with a crisp nutty crust, and in a count of three good sized balls. They were actually also the star of said plate, as the swordfish was kind of dry, though the sweet jam on top was a nice touch.
For the kiddies, they offer crayons and a child’s menu noted on an activities page. The $ 6 kids meals are your basic American kiddie cuisine — see photo. And there was a changing table available in the basement level ladies room.

Our family stayed at the Inn last week and ate a hurried breakfast as we rushed to make an appointment — next time I will make sure we have time to linger! The food was wonderful and the home fries were astonishingly delicious and creatively prepared. The service and atmosphere were charming. We will go out of our way to eat here in future!

It’s better than it was, but sorry to say that’s not good enough for the price point. Still a tourist trap in my mind. Menu and plating has improved, service still the same — just ok but not good enough — again for the price point.

This was just a disappointing experience. We were a party of 6 for dinner and I’ll break down the experience pretty quickly:
— Some weird issues with our IDs. The waitress kept asking to see a couple of our IDs then would disappear for 10 minutes without any explanation. She only wanted the 26 year old IDs, not the 29 or 30. It was awkward.
–Two people ordered the steak which was pricey but pretty good.
–One person ordered the prime rib which was dry, without juice, bland, and lacked a suitable side accompaniment.
–One person ordered duck, which was just OK.
–One person ordered the seafood stew which was great.
Overall, you pay for more than you receive in quality. I’d hesitate before I returned.

My wife and I had breakfast here last week. Both the food and the service were excellent. Most importantly, merchants row serves the best home fries either of us have ever tasted. We will definitely be back our next time though Concord.

The Colonial Inn has been split into two separate restaurants — Liberty in the front with a casual pub feel and the more formal Merchant’s Row in the back. The menu used to be classic American — a favorite amongst the silver hairs. I guess there have been some menu and chef changes in the past year or so and not everyone is happy.
The long and short of it is that it was mom’s 78^th birthday and she hadn’t been to the Colonial Inn in a few years. What I had was delicious. The farmer’s greens salad with maple vinegarette was very good. For a main dish I had a filet of beef with a thyme jus. The meat was tender, succulent and perfectly cooked. The jus was probably red wine based??? with the perfect amount of seasoning. The parsnip purée I had with it was also delicious. Our stuffed clam app was a bit tough. Although they did seem to forget about it so perhaps they spent too much time under the warmer? The cornbread was BOMB… We took a loaf to go!
So back to that clam app… the waitress may have forgotten it as other courses came out but the clams were delayed. She also forgot a drink order. There were some long delays in the service at other times too.
It is dining in a legit 300 year old historical building in historic Concord. I figure that alone allows for some quirks. It’s charming and steeped in history. If you think about it, you are walking the same halls where some scoundrel may have stuck dudes up for their shillings or where some redcoat may have bayoneted up the help for messing up his grub.
Bottom line — it’s good but not as good as it could be.

If the idea of raising your pinky in the name of Henry David Thoreau tickles your fancy, pull the car over and benedict your morning with Merchant’s Row. I obviously like the idea or I wouldn’t be writing this juicy red 5 star review.
For starters, the history in this restaurant/​Inn is oozing out of every floorboard, piece of wallpaper and flickering candle. Along with a roster of several famous folks hanging their hat at the Inn, Thoreau called the place home for two years. Merchant’s Row’s charm and classicism is reflective of all things Concord.
My experience was during their brunch hours with 5 fellow diners at the table. When it came time for ordering, it was quite the toss up between the hot veggie hash (which consists of sauteed veggies, sweet potato hash and fried eggs) and the eggs Benedict Florentine (Poached eggs, English muffin, spinach, tomato, hollandaise). In the end, the Benedict Family won over — and, I’m glad it did. Crazzzyyy delicious! I traded out the traditional potatoes for the sweet because, well, who doesn’t love a healthy pile of sweet potatoes? Last, but not least, I can’t forget to mention the hot chocolate (real milk, fits the setting). The great service was the cherry on top!

Once again, Colonial Inn nailed the anniversary party for my parents’ 56^th!!!
We couldn’t have been happier. From the food (menu has def been upgraded in the last 2 years since our last party here), to the AMAZING SERVICE from Arthur, to the beautiful room and set-​up, everything was easy and extraordinarily well-​done.
Love this perfectly New England spot. So charming and authentic.
Most importantly, my parents were so thrilled with their party. So grateful to Colonial Inn for their service.

I’m so torn about this place, but I guess I can give you a 3.
Service, well it is horrible, during breakfast, lunch and yes you guessed it dinner. Unless you are doing the included continental breakfast, the service was great there, self service perfection!
Acknowledgement is the slowest thing here. If it wasn’t for the fact that Concord has a total of 4 places to have dinner I would have gotten up and left…
First off they give you just enough corn bread so each person gets one piece…
Had the scallops — cooked well. nice sear, but the accompanying salad and sauce… Holy crap the head chef was trying to be too creative. It was cool cause it was a light dish, but wow way too tart.
Brussel sprouts — I think these were actually boiled and then tossed in oil…
green tea crème brûlée — well it was regular crème brûlée with green tea power on the bottom. you can make up your own thoughts on this…
steak flat bread thing — first off shouldn’t have had the flat bread… steak was decent. way too much cheese that did not melt because obviously the flat bread was either cooked or microwaved, with what seemed to be sour cream, some spinach then a crap load of cheese, topped with a few pieces of steak.
sauteed garlic spinach and parm cheese — first off the waitress forgot about this, brought my crappy flat bread without this. i reminded her and she said it was coming out, but in the corner of my eye i saw here go back to the pos to put this order in. Waitress you suck, just tell me the truth instead of lying. this was good, but not really sauteed so much as swimming in oil.
btw the pepsi does not taste like pepsi nor does the diet pepsi taste like diet pepsi.
had an omelette here, nothing special. but the breakfast potatoes were super delicious.
One night we also had a buffet style dinner. It was… okay… But I was also drunk.
On second thought, you are only getting 1.5 stars but will round up to 2.