Village Tavern

I came here for dinner with my daughter. My daughter ordered an entrée and a glass of water, I just had a cup of coffee. Food and drinks came out fast. But after that, the waitress literally ignored us. She never came back to refill my coffee or daughters water. Yet she walked around to every table around us and asked if they needed anything else. I finally grabbed her to ask to see a dessert menu. She pointed to a small menu on the table that was mixed in with the drink specials. She never came back to ask us if we wanted to order dessert. Then when I paid the check with cash, she never brought me my change back! What a lousy experience!

I stopped in here on St. Paddy’s Day on the recommendation of the front desk clerk at the Hampton Inn.
Easy to find — the big red bldg at the «Y», right next to the Fire Dept.
The place is clean inside and out. They offer bar or table seating, with outdoor seating avail. weather permitting. They offer a multitude of craft beers on tap along with the moat popular beer both on tap and in bottles… the beer menu is a big help!
They also have a nice bar-​type menu featuring sandwiches and burgers. I had the Hawaiian burger, cooked to order and served in a very reasonable amount of time. I recommend trying it.
What makes this place a pleasure to visit is the friendly staff that provided me with prompt service during a busy St. Paddy’s Day. Along with that, the customers were friendly and didn’t hesitate to start up a conversation with the stranger on the bar.
Of the bars in Geneseo, this is the only one you need to know. You won’t be disappointed and when business brings me back, I will return.

This review is based on just the bartenders and beer selection. Outstanding and ever changing variety. The bartenders really know what’s up. I make it a point to stop when in the area.

I came here with a friend for dinner. To start off, we ordered poutine as an appetizer. It looked like soup – the fries were just swimming in gravy. There wasn’t even enough cheese and it was too salty. Because it was wings night, I decided to order 12 wings, half salt and vinegar and half buffalo sauce medium. It seemed like there was no salt and vinegar rub on the wings, just salt sprinkled over them. The buffalo wings were decent. But I couldn’t even finish the wings, because I got a stomach ache.
My friend ordered the Bri Burger which came with chips. The bri burger was too salty and the chips tasted almost stale. My friend also couldn’t finish her food because she also got a stomach ache. I suspect that the cause may have been because the burger was undercooked (it was very pink on the inside, but at the time I thought it was because the burger was medium rare).
Had the food been decent, maybe I would have given the place two stars. The reason I am giving the Tavern just one is because the service was also bad. We had to wait over thirty minutes for our entrées. When the waitress finally gave us our food, she didn’t apologize.
The amount we had to pay was around $ 33 – a complete ripoff. Needless to say, I am never coming back here.

I really want to like this place. When I first moved to Geneseo we frequented here but kept having bad dining experiences. Mostly due to a terrible waitress.
Last night I tried take out from here. I ordered something simple, chicken fingers and French fries because I saw on the new menu they have handcut fries. Which I was very excited about. It was quick, they said my food would be ready in 15 minutes. I got the food home and the French fries were hard and not cooked all the way. I hate to complain but when you pay $ 15 for chicken fingers and French fries, I’d like them to be edible. The chicken fingers were decent but the buffalo hot sauce was also not good.

We followed new chef Justin from the Krash Landing and were again not disappointed. His smoked and flash fried wings were unique, with great smokiness and a light glaze. Came back two days later for more!

Not impressed. Although I haven’t been there in quite a while the last time I was there the service was terrible. Took forever and was quite rude. I suppose I would give it another shot if I had no other choice. The food was ok. The bar was nice, that was the best part about the place. I guess it should be if the word «tavern» is in the name of the establishment. Overall I wouldn’t kill myself if I never stepped foot in this place ever again, however if I had to go there again I don’t think I would run for the hills either.

The Village Tavern never fails when it comes to cheeseburgers. They are fresh, delicious and easily customized. Also, their beer selection is constantly changing. The only place in town to get a wonderful selection of craft beer!

My husband and I frequent The Tavern and it’s like our 2^nd home. The food never disappoints and the selection of draft beers is vast. We love sitting at the bar especially when Chris is on and chat away. I some times describe The Tavern as our «Cheers». Oh and did I mention the desserts. The cheesecake is sooo yummy. Highly recommend.

A World Without Melody
Bad Religion sings «I don’t want to live in a world without melody» and they are onto something. As a frequent customer of the Village Tavern, I love days when Melody is working. She remembers our orders, tells funny jokes, and makes our day a little brighter. That being said, the Village Tavern has worked hard to create an atmosphere that makes you want to return. The hostesses are great, the servers are great, the bartenders are great, the bussers are great… you get the idea. Food is phenomenal — Tavern Topped anything is a treat. The beer choices are too drink for, I suggest anything IPA but my stout-​y friends are fans of the Post Road Porter.
Look out for Beer Tastings and Beer Pairing dinners. Those are fun times.

3.5 Stars.
Rolled into town on business, and needed a place to grab a bite. Trying to avoid the chains, figured I would give it a shot. Sunday night football crowd, so the dining area was LOUD. Hard to have a conversation. Server Liz was very attentive, and friendly.
Note: The steak sandwich is literally a steak on garlic bread. It was cooked well, and was tasty, just wasnt what I expected.
The beer list looked great, and so did the salads and wings. Under different circumstances I think it would be more stars for sure.

Bitter sweet symphony by Melody
Sorry?! I think it is the first time ever, I experience real bad service in USA. When I go out I want to feel welcome and appreciated. This is part of the game in hospitality. Here the service made me feel unwelcome and I had a feeling of being hostile. The greeting was great, we got seated directly and menus were brought. We ordered beer and were asked for an ID. Maybe not to clever to have no ID with her, my wife changed here order to Pepsi while
I showed my German ID. After that I have the feeling service changed. Plates have not been served but been thrown on our table (starter & main). We got the bill served before we have been asked for dessert or further wishes.
The food and ambience were very good. That’s what the second star is for.

You have 4 waitresses, 5 empty tables AND you still can’t sit us despite having us wait 30 minutes?! Their reason being, «we want to make sure you get top quality service from us». One girl be taking care of 5 bills for 15 minutes. Either the computer is REAL slow, or service ain’t worth the wait.
We jumped at the opportunity to be seated at the bar. Chris took care of us and did the rest. Having Sixpoint as the beer of the month was a solid move to recover that misstep. Tower Burgers were spot on for $ 7 on Wednesday.
Their waitstaff service was suspect the first time around. Didn’t want to risk another miscue the second time around – but they seemed better.
But with happy bartenders and good food, I’ll be sure to come back… and sit at the bar.

Traveling on business sometimes takes me to places that are off the beaten path. I have pretty simple tastes, and do not require much more than decent food and service.
Thank goodness for Unilocal!I managed a couple of visits to the Village Tavern in lovely Geneseo, New York! The Village Tavern appears to be a converted residence of 80 – 100 years old. There is a wood deck with umbrellas that wrap around the entrance area and side deck. The building is two stories, bright red making it nearly impossible to miss. The inside is very warm with loads of character that only a building with some history can have.
Right off the bat, a greeting from Chris the bartender with the kind of genuineness that lets you know that you made a good choice. Old time feel, with plenty of modern conveniences such as flat screen TVs and many types of beers on tap. I had dinner at the bar that included a cheeseburger with chips. I can’t say that it was the best burger of all time, but it was good enough for me. Prices are very fair, so the value is good. On Wednesday’s they have «$ 5.00 Burger Night.» Most everyone in the place was interested in the hockey playoffs, but I am a Heat fan, and Chris left it on the hoops just for me. On that note, I will comment that when a person treats you like they have known you their whole life and makes an effort to insure that you’re happy, they deserve some recognition. Being genuine is impossible to teach, it is a natural occurrence that is becoming more and more rare in the restaurant business. As the evening sports continued, Chris opened up some craft beers for people around the bar to sample. That is a great idea for anyone to learn from… let the patrons have an idea of «what else» is available for a future visit.
If there was a single shortcoming of the entire visit, and this is very minor, it is that there are no cold glasses to pour the beer into. Maybe there is just not enough space. My bottom line is that the Village Tavern is a terrific place to visit. Very decent food, and great atmosphere. You will like it here.

The Village Tavern is a great choice for a low key dinner consisting of good quality American bar food and good beer (or so I hear) in Geneseo for both college students and families.
I tried the chicken wings and they were well fried and well sauced (not to mention well priced). The sauces I got to taste were: MoHot (pretty spicy… make sure you got your big girl pants on before you venture forth), Hot Asian (Sriracha with some ginger, sesame oil and sweet notes), Garlic-​Parm (a tonne of butter, lots of parm and not enough garlic).
The tater tots here are decent — nothing extraordinary but that jalapeño honey mustard was something else. I don’t know if I will ever have honey mustard without some chopped up jalapeño added to it. It sounds weird but is very tasty (sweet and spicy!).
The server was very attentive and friendly. We had a mix up where we ordered boneless wings and got the regular chicken wings instead. We decided there are bigger problems in life than «damn it, why does my chicken have bones it it!» and kept the wings.
At the end, the server offered to bring us all individual desserts on the house to make up for her mistake but instead we decided to split the Nestle Crunch cheesecake. I didn’t exactly have high hopes for it but it turned out to be a sleeper hit. This is not your super fancy lemon lavender ricotta cheesecake. This is the all American, unabashedly full of candy bar pieces, fudge, caramel and God knows what else cheesecake that you will be reflecting on when you are at the gym later. And guess what? Totally worth it. They make the cheesecake there and you can definitely tell.
I am not a beer person so I cannot remark on that but the other beer drinkers at the table seemed happy with their choices.
I am not in Geneseo often but I will recommend this place to friends who live around there.

Total disappointment. The taco salad looked like it WAS a leftover. It was lettuce, ground beef, cheese, black olives, onions and ranch dressing all mixed up in a bowl with a few nacho chips crumbled on top. It really looked unappetizing. My husband ordered what they called jumbalaya. He didn’t eat it. The whole time there were little fruit flies hovering around our table and one of our bread plates was dirty. All around a disappointing meal. We won’t be returning.

This was a very good meal. Of course I’m a beer drinker too. They have about 15 craft beer’s on tap. They also have many that are local. A nice draw –in is their first Wednesday special of a new beer on tap.
So we had Penini, burgers and jambalaya. No complaints from anyone. I had the omelet tower burger. Basically a ¼ pound burger with a fried egg bacon and cheese. Very good and cooked perfectly; rare for a tavern. Taters tots were perfect and had the right crunch factor. I also had their soup du journey… tomato and Feta cheese. I’ve had many different varieties of tomato Souths was at the top of my list to recreate at home. The soup appeared to be homemade. I think all together we tried 6 different beers. A very good spot. Inexpensive for a nice bar food with a beer or two… or three…

This place definitely fills a void… When we return to East Aurora from a trip and we know most places in EA will have stopped serving, it’s always been a challenge to find someplace for a decent late dinner.
I think Applebee’s is one of the worst restaurant chains out there (that’s one of the other late night options nearby) … and your other local late-​evening options are mostly fast food like BK (I have no need to ever visit fast food chains). So to have this place available is a great option.
The food is basically wings, burgers, salads, and paninis. They have several varieties of wings beyond Buffalo style. The wings, burgers, and salads we had were all better than expected. Frankly, no need to elaborate much… this is basic pub food and its done decently.
The service was spotty… the hostess quickly had a table set up for our party of four, but never said hi or cracked a smile. Our server seemed quite rushed and was not polished. I noticed another server that seemed professional and friendly and I wished we had that one. But this isn’t a high end place and you are in a low population area so I really shouldn’t complain much about the competency level of the wait staff.
The beer selection is a huge plus! Lots on tap. The beer menu clearly lists the type, ABV, place of origin, price, etc, as beer menus should.
Know that your going to a very casual place and don’t expect to be wowed with high end food, and bring a thirst, and you will be pleased.

Better than average beer selection for the area featuring local and national micros. I visited on wing night and the wings were great. Kids meals were decently priced and otherwise fine. In summary, above average bar type food priced right with a nice beer selection. Certainly a good choice for a casual dinner.
A note to the tavern itself — it would be good to delete the Megan T. review. It looks like an ad. If you are going to post your own review then try to be a bit more sneaky about it.

To all my fellow Livingston County residents, here’s a description you’ll understand:
The Village Tavern is The Wadsworth Grill meets Applebee’s, with a little Vital Spot.
My father knows the owner of this place, so I’m going to make my criticism more constructive and less cynical than usual.
First, I’ll start with the strengths:
— The Yukon Chips are awesome — freshly fried, not overly salted, warm, crispy, outstanding.
— The beer menu is better than most places in the area. It’s a little hop-​heavy, but I don’t know many people in LC that like malty beer, so I guess it’s a wise business move.
— It seems like a good sports bar. There are big LCDs all over the place and they have a lot of game day food specials. If I did more «man stuff,» I’d probably come here to do it.
— The outdoor seating is really nice.
— For non-​alcoholic diners, they have Saranac Root Beer on tap.
— This place is locally-​owned by a guy that has lived in Livingston County his entire life, as opposed to Applebee’s, which is owned by a corporation, making it a lot more evil, from a «I support local business» point-​of-​view.
Now, the «needs improvement» section:
— Under no circumstances (even to save money) should there be bacon bits, rather than bacon strips, on a burger. Shouldn’t happen.
— The back room really needs some sound dampening. There are only a few tables back there and it’s so loud that you can’t hear the other people at your table. I’d advise diners to not sit back there, if at all possible, if you care about listening to the other members of your party. I had a headache after about 30 minutes.
— The texture of the burgers could use some work. Their toughness makes me think that they are either pressed while cooking or formed using a plate or heavy hands, and most likely made from frozen beef. Take it easy when handling your meat, guys.
— They didn’t have any paninis when I was there. If you can’t make them, don’t put them on the menu.
— It’s «please seat yourself,» but there’s also a hostess station. Confusing.
I’ll definitely visit the Village Tavern again and I will try to persuade anyone who proposes going to Applebee’s to come here instead. Although it’s not perfect, it’s a great addition to the «uptown» section of Geneseo, which is currently infested by chain restaurants and auto repair stores.