Saloon of East Durham

The food had no flavor unless you’re consider extra salt and ketchup flavor. The burger was dry, the chicken franchise was had not taste besides a egg dipped into chicken. Dont know how this place is as a bar because we there only there for a very late dinner.

I came upon this place while travelling through East Durham recently on vacation. It was getting late and my husband and I were starving — having not eaten for 5 hours since starting our drive to the Catskill Mountains for vacation. There really weren’t many places to stop for food so we took a chance on The Saloon. While the place did not in the least look like somewhere I would normally stop to eat, like I said we were starving and I was willing to chance it. A menu board outside said the «Soup of the Day» was «whiskey» which made me a bit leery to walk inside. When we entered the very large bar inside had about 15 «locals» bellied up to it. At this point I wasn’t even sure they served food and if they did figured it was typical bar food. We asked the bartender if they served food and she said yes to take a seat anywhere we wanted. The bartender came over to ask us for our drink order and we asked her for any suggestions along the lines of burgers. She suggested the «Cracked and Bruised» burger and the «Whiskey Barrel» burger. Both were made of ½ lb. of Angus beef. The «Cracked and Bruised» burger was rolled in black pepper and sea salt then covered with their homemade bleu cheese and crispy bacon and also their homemade onion straws. My husband had this one and he said it was absolutely delicious. I had the «Whiskey» burger which was served with swiss cheese, crispy bacon, the onion straws (so good) and brushed with their Jack Daniels sauce. This too was absolutely delicious and we both agreed these were the BEST burgers we had ever eaten. It just goes to show you that the old saying «Don’t judge a book by its cover» is true. I am glad we took a chance and will definitely go back next time we are in the area.

Went up to visit friends and they suggested this place. Burger and fries were above average as were the boneless wings that my wife ordered. Was ready to be disappointed by boneless wings only because I haven’t had had much luck with them in other places but the quality of the wings coupled with their special house sauce made them a hit. Would have eaten them all but my wife objected and I had to settle for whatever generosity she was offering, next time I will order my own. Our friends who are regulars they ordered a couple of the specials and were equally pleased. The food and the friendly prompt service will have us returning.

God awful.
You couldn’t get me in there EVER AGAIN, not after the horrible meal I had.
Service was slow and sloppy, meal was average, but expensive, when compared to the Ghetto, chintzy décor.
What put me over the edge was serving water and soda in MASON GLASS JARS. Simply GHETTO! Extremely low class.
Depressing that we have NO good restaurants in our area.
After this atrocious experience, and meal, haven’t EVER stepped foot in this horrible, GHETTO place ever again!

Sorry to do this I hate leaving bad reviews but unfortunately this place has changed greatly in the past few months. I’d been told the food was amazing by many friends and based on the reviews from years ago my friends and I tried it Saturday. We were 1 of only 2 tables on a Saturday night at 7pm, so I’m guessing the word has spread round. The food was bland and badly prepared, we sent back our appetizers («fried» calamari with soggy breading that just fell off the rubbery overfried tasteless rings and «beer battered» mushrooms that liquified from over frying to the point that they shot out of the solid breading when my fork punctured the first one, ended up with a pile of mush that I didn’t even attempt to ingest) and the manager sent the chef to our table and he actually said «The locals have a bad palate they don’t like seasoning»… This was his explanation for our complaints… Huh??? I know the area is Irish (LIGHTLY seasoned food is the norm in Irish food) but COME ON!!! No salt? Nothing at all? The chef did make me a Mac and Cheese from scratch (after he served me Kraft from a box apparently «kids dont like REAL Mac and Cheese so they no longer serve it») that was good. One of my friends said he «enjoyed the wings» but nothing else. The staff was rude, our bill was over charged (even after they took off the horrid appetizers, the server had still double priced one of our entrees). I don’t know what happened to the Saloon, but something’s gone horribly wrong and eating there is a bad idea. They are cutting corners in this economically depressed area and the first thing to go was real food for the dining room. They do have Karaōke on Saturday nights in the bar area though, which I’m sure is nice. I know the Guy who runs it is a local favorite for that. Bottom line, drink in the bar, don’t eat in the dining room.

We have eaten here many times. One of the things that keeps us coming back is my step-daughter’s obsession with their moon-​shine wings. She might be addicted! Wednesday nights are particularly cheap with a $ 20 for an appetizer and two entrees deal. The fajitas are outrageous and the steak is perfectly cooked, the ribs are out of this world. I didn’t love the chicken I chose last time, but I think I ordered poorly. I need to tell you about the patient staff though. Every waitress we have ever had has stood patiently and listened whether it was to my kid with a speech impediment or my drunk family, they never loose their cool. Sometimes it’s sluggish because it’s a bit understaffed for a busy night but we have never left here unhappy. Good food, great staff, and immaculate bathrooms.

Very family friendly! The whole staff made everyone feel so welcome! They were beyond accommodating. We will definitely be back.

Went there last Sunday. My daughters, mother and a friend of the family. Walked in, picked our table and sat down. Heard they had a good menu. There was ONE person working there– the bartender. No one else! Never saw anyone else. Waited 10 minutes and never had menus brought over. Put our coats on and walked right out. Restaurant on a Sunday afternoon and no one else working? Really! Went to the Barnwood restaurant in Catskill and had a nice time!

Hard to really judge because we were there with a group (we had a room to ourselves) but the service was good — 2 waitresses for our whole room, very attentive, great at keeping up on drinks.
I will be honest and say I didn’t have high hopes for the food, and I was wrong. It was perfectly good. My husband got the wings, he said they were good. The burgers were cooked to order and tasty, ribs were fall off the bone. We got chili cheese fries, the chili was tasty, I thought it could’ve used a little more kick. I got a buffalo chicken salad, the chicken was delightful! Good sized portion too.

My husband and I recently bought a home in Middleburgh about 11 miles from the Saloon. We live in Jersey full time, but when we are visiting Middleburgh we drive the 11 miles to get to the Saloon. The food has always been spot on for us. Portions are generous and the prices are very good. And the service is great as well.

The food is delicious here. I prefer to sit at the bar, since Alissa will always provide me with fast service. Sitting down and waiting for a waitress usually takes a while and the girls usually have attitude problems, but Alissa and Sharon provide the best service. The chicken franchise is to die for.

Stopped in for an early lunch with two families. The service was amazing and we all enjoyed our food. We started with the wings. Many had burgers that were all hits. The chili was tasty with just the right heat. We would definitely go back I’d we are in the area!

The food was ok, but when there is a big event in town they are understaffed at lunch time, resulting in long service times, frazzled staff, and errors in the kitchen. Several tables were late to their next meetings, had to leave food uneaten, etc. If you have less than an hour available to eat, don’t order food (even simple items like soup, salad, or chili) if more than two tables are waiting for their orders, or you will end up paying for food you never got a chance to taste.

I am a local and i waited and waited. we were ignored for 20 minutes. the witness came over toward our table and passes us to tell the table behind us to please be patient. and that their food would be out shortly (she ignored us with closed menus) after we heard this a we left. first impression here was not good.

Good burgers. The waitress warned us that the outlaw wings were too hot so we ordered the hot wings which were very good but not quite hot enough… we ordered a side of the outlaw sauce and added it carefully for a very good combination… the outlaw sauce alone would have been way too hot so good advice from waitress.
We enjoyed the meal and would go back again.

My Mexican Coffee was excellent. The Tilapia Oreganata was wonderful but the side of corn was underwhelming and the side of penne with marinara wasn’t anything to write home about. I gave half of It to my friend who then said it was over-​cooked. I originally wanted to sub the side of pasta /​potato with the grilled asparagus but they wouldn’t let me without charging me for the full side… so they lost a star for that. My fi has the side of spinach, which he wasn’t too impressed by, but he did like his basket of ribs. Our other friend had the blacked chicken, which he thought was grea but didn’t like the sides either. The sweet potato waffle fries were really good, though we tried not to eat them. The salad our dish came with was jus iceberg lettuce, so nothing too fancy there either. My fish hit the spot though so I left satisfied, I’d come back for the same or something different.

Great lunch. Steak sandwich rocks and staff is super friendly

You walk into this place and are in awe at the size. Huge bar with bands on Friday nights. They have nightly drink and dinner specials. The dining room is really nice. It is seperated from the bar area. It has a door with access to the deck. The steaks are awesome. You must try their Signature Saloon Smokehouse Burger. If you are really daring, try the super hot Outlaw Wings… so delicious. If you are lucky, you will go there on a night they have their amazing Shrimp Bisque. Free wifi too!