Village Tavern

My boyfriend and I come here on occasion when we are in the mood for Italian. My feelings about this place are very mixed. They bring out bread and peppers before the meal and the peppers are just to die for. I could sit there and eat just that all night! The food is only okay. It’s not by any means high-​end Italian. My boyfriend got the stuffed shells last time and they seemed under-​cooked and doughy. I got the tour of Italy (which also included some stuffed shells) and I thought the same thing. Mine also came with chicken parmesan, which I thought was delicious.
The other thing I did not enjoy was that our waitress was not very personable. She wasn’t rude per say… she just did not make us feel welcome. We were also seated very close to the kitchen door so we had waitresses busily passing by the entire time and that hindered our experience.

Excellent food at a great price! Décor is nothing to brag about but it’s certainly clean and comfortable. Staff is friendly and their niche seems to be everything «with a side of spaghetti». Their Shrimp scampi linguini (or with angel hair pasta) is absolutely to die for, if you’re into shrimp! The last time I was there this wasn’t on the menu but was a special and could be requested any time.
Definitely worth the trip.

Afrer a bit of an expexted wait on a Friday night even tho reservations were made, our party of three was seated. Reviewed the menu ordered drinks and had to ask what the specials were. The staff was very very busy but pleasant. Calimari app was delish! very fresh tasting and a nice sauce. athe bread tasted home made and freshly baked and we enjoyed both. My son ordered the Tower of Italy for a variety which he enjoyed. nice portion an tasty sauce. The ravioli was huge! My husband ordered the braciole and the meat was very tender. a little fatty but tender and again the sauce was smooth he wasnt fond of their choice of cheese but and I wound up eatng most of it. That happened because my chicken franciase came out with no lemon and butter sauce at all. and it was heavily breaded and fried chicken not lightly floured and sauteed. I truly think they forgot what they were making. I did find some small, hard garlic cloves but it lacked in flavor completely. We all did leave full and the prices were VERY reasonable.

I told Kay, the owner her bracoli was the best east of the Mississippi I was wrong it’s the best in the USA. It’s so good I pay my tax man with Bracoli ‘s, he doesn’t want cash. I have been going there for 26 years. I will go there for the rest of my life.

If you dont Try the Braciole your nuts… best meal in lockhaven… this place is terrific I was so happy someone from the hospital told me to go there…

As usual I’m a little miffed by some of the other reviews I read here. It never fails… people review every establishment with the same set of criteria. Its absurd.
Is the Village Tavern anything life changing? Of course not. Is it a place where you can get a solid Italian American meal? Of course it is.
The interior is drab and boring, the service is pretty good, and the food is exactly what you’d expect. Italian American food, slathered in red sauce and cheese. But lets all get really damn honest with ourselves for a second… sometimes that shit is EXACTLY what you’re in the mood for. It’s hearty, tasty and doled out in big portions.
So for what it’s worth, this place is solid for a typical small town Italian American meal. And keep in mind, Lock Haven ain’t that big of a place. There is probably only 1 or 2 other options in town for a sit down Italian meal.
In conclusion… stop over thinking it people! This isn’t a «fine dining» joint. BUT you knew that walking in. So why judge it with a set of unrealistic criteria?

Very nice family owned place. Good Italian food. I had the Braciole which I had never heard of before. It was very good. I would recommend this place if your staying in Lockhaven.

Very nice family owned Italian restaurant. Broad menu, good food and friendly service. Highly recommended.

First time here and it won’t be my last. It was a sigh of relief to encounter fresh home cooked Italian cuisine. The food was steaming hot when it arrived and had incredible flavor. Portions were large enough where you could split a meal. Definately my «go to» place.

I’ve been visiting this area (Bald Eagle State Park) once or twice a year for almost ten years. The hotel I was staying at seven years ago highly recommended Village Tavern. It was the day after Thanksgiving. It was packed.
I had the meal of my life. For the next year I am looking forward to returning there. But I can’t find it.
I have imagined that meal for all these years. (I know, I know…)
Last year I finally find it again (by accident) and find it closed. I copy the address.
So I go back up Monday for two days. I am so much looking forward to the meal I have re-​created over and over in my mind. I find it closed (Memorial Day) and the day after. Wednesday lunch is the earliest. It was when I planned to leave.
Veal Parmesan — it came out exactly as I envisioned it and it was exactly the same dish I ordered seven years ago. Was it good. My (adult) daughter had spaghetti with white clam sauce. That was good too.
I pay the bill, leave and realize upon pulling in Dunkin Donuts several blocks away I dropped some money out of my pocket. I go back. The young lady who served us is waiting at the door with it. The meal got better. So did this place.
My kind of place. It is the little things. ..

Nothing special. Save your money and time.

Have the braciole … Enuf said its fantastic! Been going here for years have it every time!

My husband and I read some reviews and decided to try it out based on everyone’s claims that it was an «authentic Italian restaurant.» Not the case at all! We made reservations yet still had to wait for our table. The service was ok, friendly, but not knowledgable about the menu or the wine list. It took almost an hour after we were seated to get our food. The bread and peppers were good, so we were hopeful about the rest of the meal. The salad was nothing special. Iceberg lettuce with croutons and a few tomatoes. The house dressing was ok, basically just oil and vinegar. The spaghetti was extremely disappointing. Cheap box pasta and cheap, tasteless tomato sauce, clearly from a jar. For our entrees, I ordered an 8 oz. delmonico steak, and my husband ordered a platter of fried seafood. My steak was over-​done. (I ordered medium rare, it was medium-​medium well.) Also, they didn’t cook it right. They either threw it in the oven and baked it, or it was boiled. It wasn’t what a good delmonico should be, that’s for sure! My husband’s dish resembled something from Long John Silver’s. The breaded and fried scallops were the only saving grace, and the crab cake was acceptable. What confuses me is how busy they were. I guess this is the type of place that people go to because they go on a regular basis and know the staff well. (The wait staff knew most of the customers by first name — except us, of course.) Don’t go out of your way to go here. And I’d consider traveling over a mile to this place too far out of your way.

Nice little local Italian restaurant.
I was in the area on a business trip and the Village Tavern was recommended by a few of my coworkers. It is a nice little restaurant located a few blocks outside of the center of town. Walking in the waitress was very friendly and the atmosphere felt very homey. You could tell this is a local favorite.
While you wait, they bring out traditional bread with a side of sweet peppers. The peppers were great. Not spicy at all. It made the bread taste like an Italian sandwich! For my meal, I ordered the rigatoni and meatballs. The meatballs were good, cooked well, but not overly flavorful. The sauce was the same way, good but not overly flavorful. I could not distinguish if it was from a jar or homemade. The pasta was the real disappointment. It was generic, cheap, pasta from a box. This took away from the meal.
Overall, I would go back to the restaurant if I was in the mood for Italian and did not feel like leaving the small town. I would not go out of my way to go back.

The last thing I expected was the first question we were asked upon entry.
«Do you have reservations?»
Really? This place looks like a converted house on the outside, and I need a reservation? What the hell did we stumble on in Lock Haven?
What I stumbled upon was a decent Italian restaurant off the beaten path, thanks to Unilocal.Definitely a place where everyone goes there on their respective nights, routinely, definitely a family feel. Maybe 18 tables, spread among two dining rooms and an 8 seat bar located in the «Tavern» room with a couple other tables. Lots of stuff crammed in here, but doesn’t feel too claustrophobic.
Got there on a Saturday night around dinner time, and they had a lasagna special up on the whiteboard. But according to their menu, it was only a Friday special. Our waitress said they still had some left over. Against better judgement, I dove in — it was cheap.
The meal starts with «Italian» Bread with a side of hot pepper relish that was very good. The side salad was fresh, albeit a simple salad with an iceburg lettuce base. The Parmesan Peppercorn dressing was quite good and clearly homemade.
I had lasagna with meat sauce special, and the sauce was quite good but a bit sweet. **LOTS** of meat, A+ there. The lasagna though… it had the consistency that it was older than just one night. I was actually a bit disappointed that they re-​offered it based on what I saw beneath the sauce.
My belly agreed 100% later that night. Lots of regret. Lesson learned.
Despite my belly’s displeasure (which is probably relative to me — my g/​f reported no issues), this place is definitely worth stopping if you’re in the area and hungry. I’ll personally be avoiding the «next-​day» special.

I have never given 5 stars but this one came close. Generational traditional Italian restaurant! I had a chicken dish with pasta in a wine sauce that was wonderful. They serve bread with peppers before the meal that I cannot wait to have again. Highly recommend.

I have a group of friends who kept telling me to go there to eat and I caved and dicided to go try it out. For two people it ran around 40.00 I had chicken marsala with a side salad and a pepsi and fries which were on the burnt side and my fiancé had a Turkey club and fries. The service was not that great and I usually try to stick up for a waiter or waitress if the service isn’t that good and there are a lot of people there but this was not the case that night and the service was poor. They do offer a full bar for those wanting that and offer an Italian Cuisine and sandwiches. Personally would I go again? Most likely not as I failed to be impressed at all.

Another from my past, this great Italian restaurant is another fine choice Lock Haven has to offer.
My family has been dining here since I can remember. It’s nicer than O.I.P., a bit more expensive, and has a full bar. The food is fantastic. I love the spaghetti and meatballs, cheese raviolis, eggplant parm. If these are the kinds of dishes you are craving and you are in the neck of the woods (I wont even explain why that is last part is cracking me up right now) then head over to The Village Tavern. Family owned and operated, and they will treat you well! My uncle is in with owners. He should be. I think he has eaten there once to twice a week forever!