The Dudley Chateau

Had a great lunch
The burgers were huge and the onion rings were fabulous.
This place is not easy to find but it is worth looking for.
It looks like the locals are regulars here.
The bar is an old wooden boat and the tables look to be made from pallet wood.

We love love love this place! We haven’t had one server that we haven’t absolutely loved! The food is outstanding! The burgers are HUGE! The steak and cheese subs melt in your mouth! This place is definitely a hidden gem! The view is just beautiful! Only draw back is the limited seating! But totally worth the wait!

Loved the location of this place. Chill, local, rustic ship house right on the pond. The food was absolutely spot on, all 3 of us enjoyed it immensely.
The poor lady working was serving and bartending and everything else! She definitely could use some extra help there. We understood her situation and were patient, but can only imagine if she got some asshole in there.
Again, awesome spot. Will be by again!

Great burgers. Nice waitstaff. Everyone seems to know everyone. Casual, hidden gem!

Had lunch here yesterday with a cycling group. I’d never heard or read of the place before and sure wish I had. This is an exemplar dive bar. The Chat, as it’s known by fans, is like a really cool tree house for grown ups, set as it is on the second floor of what feels like a knotty pine cabin that’s been there so long it’s part of the landscape. And the view of the pond is classic. The Chat has a checkered and interesting past (go to their website to read it) which adds to its cool factor.
The selection of draft beers was very good. There were about 10, including Arrogant Bastard and Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin. Since I’d already ridden 35+ miles at a fast pace and had another 20 left to go (in the rain) I didn’t have a pint. Regrettable, but the right call. I liked my Warrior Burger: a fresh ground beef patty stuffed with blue cheese, topped with bacon and served on a bulkie roll with lettuce, onion and tomato. The burger was cooked perfectly and had a satisfying char-​broiled flavor. The veggies were crisp. However, the burger and toppings deserved better than the lightweight, flavorless bulkie roll on which they were served. Switching to a better roll would move the needle from good to great.
It’s easy to see why the Chat is a local favorite and a family tradition for so many of the other Unilocalers who’ve reviewed it. This is my kind of dive. I’ll be back… when I can have a few pints to go with my burger.
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Wonderful time at the Chat last night. Katie was our waitress and could not have done a better job of making us comfortable and happy. There were 2 bartenders and we wanted to play Keno… it was very difficult to get their attention and frankly, we felt the female bartender was annoyed each time we brought or tickets to the bar. She never smiled once.
But Katie made up for it and so did the food! Excellent burgers, salad, fries and of course draft beer! We will be back!

Best burgers around! Best value as well. As dive bars go would recommend unreservedly!

This place is great! I can say if you’re a snob and give bad reviews on the chat you don’t belong! The people work hard and are very nice! The place has history and all the locals enjoy this place! So go some where else!

Decent pub grub but consistently rude staff. I’ve lived in the area all my life and have been coming here off and on for years. Yeah the view is nice when the shade isn’t pulled down with the sign saying don’t open the shade! The party I was with recently was told off by the waitress because she didn’t hear someone ask for an iced tea, and challenged the person as to why he hadn’t spoken up because now she was going to have to make two trips to the kitchen. I don’t need to pay for that kind of treatment, can get at work or at home!

Had lunch with a friend here the other day and was very pleased with the food & the service.
Katie, our waitress, was absolutely delightful and efficient.
I had the Wedge Salad w/​steak tips and LOVED every bite!
The place has a lot of character… I really dug it.
I look forward to returning again…

It’s been over 10 years since I’ve been here and now I remember why. I’ve lived in Wayland for a long time and tonight was a night I wanted to stay local, grab a drink and a bite and relax.
The place is a dive. I knew that going in.
The head bartender is a delight… based on her I’d give it 5 stars, but The bar back bartender is a jerk hence the one star. She was More interested in texting and puffing on her asthma inhaler and going out back for a smoke (I didn’t see her wash her hands upon returning) and flipping her hair back then being service oriented.
Food took forever. Was mediocre at best. And I feel like I need a shower after visiting
Next time I want local — I’ll go to The Local in Wayland center.

It seems like there aren’t many restaurants left where you can walk in and almost smell the history that happened there– it’s a musty smell of aged wood and beers finished long, long ago– but The Dudley Château is a place where you can do that. An old speakeasy that welcomed the likes of Ted Williams and Babe Ruth in the Prohibition Era, the Château is now a neighborhood bar and restaurant that overlooks the surprisingly picturesque Dudley Pond.
Food is good. I got a chicken club sandwich with a generous amount of fries, and my friends all got variations of burgers/​tacos/​salads and were pleased with their choices. The prices are reasonable– it’s about $ 10 – 11 average per sandwich, though mine was only $ 9.
Despite its history, expect to show your ID here, as The Château has had run-​ins with the law in the not-​so-​distant past regarding ID-​checking. The newest owners seem to enforce a tight ship when it comes to checking IDs. It’s also a decidedly «beer» bar; there are a couple of cocktails in the menu, but it might be best to save your fancy drink orders for, well… some place in Boston.
Our server was attentive and friendly. Maybe the cranky server wasn’t on duty that night? Hard to know, but our experience was a good one.

I got a cheeseburger and my boyfriend got «the Dudley burger.»
Both were juicy and delicious.
Onion rings were crispy but not too oily.
French fries were my favorite, crispy and nicely seasoned.
We stopped by on our drive home from CT and it was a pleasant surprise.
Not as divey as others described, right next to the pond but we could only see the parking lot from where we sat. Service was great and food came out promptly.

Classic dive bar, but steeped in baseball history, good beer, and actually really good food. I don’t give the 5 stars lightly; The Chat is perfect for what it is.

We dined here many times in the past, and we tolerated the rude behavior of one of the waitresses.
Unfortunately the extraordinarily rude behavior of one of the waitresses has led to our no longer dining here.
Get rid of her and drop the «chatitude »

Rude ass wait staff and bartender!
Was excited to try for first time but we were not greeted at door and had to look for waitress who didn’t seem interested in our business, telling us you would normally seat yourself but all seats are full. FYI — clearly two open seats at bar. She could of at least said if you wait a few min a table should open up. No smiley happy faces here on a Sunday night!
We decided to sit at the bar. The bartender took 5 min to greet us, rudely may I add, and only 4 other people at bar. Folks, this place only seats about 30.
Waiting for my food, but even if it’s good I won’t be back.
I guess if your not a regular or local, beware.

OK food. Horrible service. Ehh, beer selection could be improved. Looks like a dive bar on the inside but has some character.
What’s up with all the junk on the bottom floor?! Definitely not a good first impression as I walked in the door.
Service was terrible, had to wait 20 minutes just to get the check and leave. The restaurant was nearly empty yet I had to walk up to our waitress and ask for my check, who just was sitting at the bar playing with her hair and texting on her phone. The lack of attentiveness was shocking.

These hamburgers are absolutely enormous. I traveled here for a quick lunch one day (because I want looking to eat fresh) and was surprised at the reasonable prices and friendly staff.
Come with a big appetite, the beer selection is appropriate, the portion sizes are excessive, and the food is awesome.

I. Love. This. Place.
It’s a dive, tucked away in a residential neighborhood that surrounds Dudley Pond in Wayland, MA. A little difficult to find, but a hidden gem once you find it. This place has an amazing history, dating back to even before my Mom was a kid. (She grew up in Wayland and loves to say, «I never came here (to the Chat) growing up, because ‘Nice girls didn’t frequent places like this’.») Now we go a few times a month.
Even the front door is hard to find. (OK, it’s on the right near the small dumpster.) The stairs up to the main floor are bowed, worn and rickety. The servers are salty and some of the regulars are grimy, but boy nothing beats The Chat for food, drink and fun atmosphere! Great burgers, fish n’ chips and onion rings. Everything I’ve eaten here tastes good. The beer is cold. The place is loud. What more could you want from a hole in the wall?
NOT a good place for kids, even though some folks insist on bringing theirs. This is a BAR, people. Tables seat about 40 people in total, so it gets crowded on the weekends. Prepare to wait for a table, then prepare to wait for your food. Sometimes they only have one server on (for the whole place, acting as bartender, too!) And sometimes it seems like the kitchen processes one table’s order, start-​to-​finish, at a time. So don’t come when you have time constraints. Do come when you have some time to kill, want to kick back and soak in the atmosphere while you wait for your DELICIOUS food. Hope to see you there!

These guys are truly victims of their own success.
Came here with my wife a few months ago on a Thursday night and the service was terrible.
They took our names but whenever some local came in they would just grab a table and the waitresses/​servers weren’t really keeping track. After asking MANY times when our table would be up we finally just ordered at the bar an hour into a 10 minute wait.
Food was OK, prices were nothing special. Our waitress was apologetic, thanked us for not being jerks, and comped us a round of beers. The staff was friendly, just super-​disorganized and not really handling things great. The atmosphere is also great. Cool setting and nice staff bring a one star experience up to three.
If this was next door to me and hadn’t been discovered by Chronicle and the Phantom Gourmet I’d be a regular. As it is, no way is it worth the drive, wait, and hassle.