Spence 312

Simply amazing! We came here as a group of 4 for New Years Eve. The quality of the food did not lack at all even though the kitchen was cranking out plates left and right. I have been out in West Chester to other restaurants for New Years Eve and the food is just terrible — way overcooked and rushed. Spence 312 offered a 4-​course prix fixe menu — appetizer, salad, entrée, dessert. As a table we ordered two duck breast appetizers and two oysters’ spence. I’ve had the oysters before so I knew that they would be amazing. The duck breast was cooked perfectly and was complimented with a delicious cherry reduction. As a table we ordered two racks of lamb cooked medium rare and two lobster thermidor. The lamb was seasoned well and was cooked to a perfect medium rare. The lobster thermidor was creamy, comforting, and delicious. I have no idea what everyone else ordered for dessert because my face was too busy stuffed in my flour-​less chocolate torte. The service was a little slow to start which was expected for the amount of people that were in the restaurant. Our server was very nice and knew the menu very well. I can’t wait to come back to Spence!

Such a fantastic restaurant! The service was great and the food was amazing! The baked goat cheese appetizer did not disappoint and the scallops were perfect. I am really looking forward to going back.

Amazing. For apps we had the oysters spence and they took my breath away. We also had the calamari which came with a spicy duck sauce that was quite tasty. My entrée was the scallops which pretty much melted in my mouth and my date had the steak special with a Demi glacé he kept raving about. For dessert we tried a creame brûlée cheesecake which I was super happy. Waitress was great and attentive without being overbearing and décor was cute and interesting. Would highly recommend and will be going back again!

Steak and seafood BYO. Interior is deceptively small, there are seating areas upstairs and outdoor as well. Food was very good. For appetizers we tried calamari (a C due to slight chewiness), flatbread (a B) and the cheese plate which also had sopressata, olives and fig jam with it (A). Main dishes our party ordered: short ribs (B+, could’ve been little more tender if it had more liquid while cooking), black bass (A), fettuccini with shrimp, scallops and muscles (B+), and the special cowboy steak with oyster mushrooms in a balsamic reduction sauce (A). The fava beans offered as a side were a bit dry, but the fingerling potatoes were very good. For dessert we tried the chocolate torte, bread pudding and a cheesecake. The bread pudding won out! Service was good as well.

We had an incredible meal here for a pre-​wedding pre-​rehearsal dinner. The place is also BYOB which is a nice change a pace as far as I am concerned. I had the Scottish salmon which was excellent while my girlfriend had with almond chicken with quinoa. Both were very tasty. Service was very good and I really liked the décor it what seemed to be located in a West Chester. Will be sure to visit again when back in town.

Went here with my parents looking for a nice seafood dinner. It’s nice that it’s a BYOB, but unlike other reviewers, I don’t let work I did to bring wine influence my review. This place was good, not great. We started with fried calamari and oysters. The oysters were pretty good, those not as briny or as meaty as those I’ve become accustomed to from the Chesapeake Bay. The chile sauce served with the calamari was awesome. Get that to start. As for the main course, I got the clam bake. This is just all right. For the price I’d expect very meticulously crafted seafood which this was not. The sauce was too acidic for something delicate like seafood. It lacked an element of unctuousness and fat content that deterred from both the mouthfeel and flavor profile of the dish. Nothing really pulled it all together. It was just a bunch of different types of seafood in a bowl with a sauce I felt was not well thought-​out.
My mom got a special: crab stuffed trout. That I thought was spectacular. It had a blend of buttery richness and freshness that packed a bomb of a flavor explosion. I never see my mother finish her whole plate and this time she did.
Spence 312 is an OK spot. It didn’t wow. As a budget conscious young adult I just can’t justify coming back.

All I can say is WOW! Wonderful, delicious food! I had the mushroom soup to start and I enjoyed it, it was the best mushroom soup I have ever had, nice base with chunks of mushrooms; I had the crabcakes with the mango chutney and sauted veggies. The crab cakes were over the top awesome. The chutney MADE the crab cake. My husband was equilly wowed by the samon and crab salad, he also had the flatbread but wasn’t as floored by that and said he would have liked a bit more flavor. I would certainly dine there again! We also had the most wonderful waitness, Kelsey, she was very knowledgable regarding the menu. We sat outside and it was so pleasant walking through the restuant on the way out, it seemed really noisy so I am glad we chose outside. Everything appears to be rather dark inside; black tablecloths as well as a very dark floor. i can’t wait to go back!!!

Restaurant is great but unfortunately sounds like a high school cafeteria when full. Food is delicious and service is excellent just be prepared to say «what?» a lot.

Such a wonderful restaurant. The food is outstanding. The services is equally wonderful, and the ambiance is great. The portions are very generous for this type of high quality food. It is clearly prepared in-​house with fresh ingredients. I’ve eaten here a few times and have always left feeling like it was money well spent. Hubby and I have enjoyed a late night dinner, and we have also taken our three young kids for an early dinner. The waiters are well trained and provide excellent service. The cookiewich with salted caramel ice cream was one of the most incredible desserts I’ve ever eaten. I highly recommend Spence 312.

I had no expectations when we went and we LOVED our food. I got one of the specials which was a crab salad and it was amazing. Lumps of meat with basil and tomatoes stacked high. Delicious. Can’t wait to go back. The chef also came out and talked with us, which was a nice touch. And it’s BYOB.

What a great restaurant! I liked it so much I raved about the joint on Facebook that night. BYOB will always give a place at least 2 stars in my book, but regardless it deserves all 5. I ordered the Shecrab soup special as I always get that down the shore. So delicious and wasn’t too filling! We also tried the fried calamari with the Thai sauce. Amazing. For dinner my fiancé ordered the pork chops. Let me start by saying I hate pork chops, but this place changed my mind about them. Very moist and had some sort of cranberry or fruit chutney that I could have eaten alone. I had the steak and potatoes and was very impressed. Cooked exactly how I liked it and had enough for lunch the next day. Service was great as well as the price. $ 65 total for everything. Highly recommend!

GREAT food… My wife and I are huge BYOB fans and we track down anyone in the area that we haven’t tried. So we i found that Spence312 moved into what use to be Avalon and i thought lets give it a shot. Apparently there was a Spence café at one point. (never tried it, wasnt from the area before) But who cares thats old news. This place is 5 stars all the way. Every course we had was amazing.
My wife got She-​Crab soup and it was blow your socks off good, we joked about asking for a bucket to go. I ordered the Flat bread special and was not let down at all. (i cant remember what all was on it, sounded fancy, tasted great sorry for the poor review on it but just order it)
For main course my wife got the Scallops which were very good. they had a cauliflower purée that i spend 5 mins telling my wife it was mashed potatoes and she promised me it was cauliflower. I said no one makes Caulifower this good… it was Cauliflower, my wife was right… again. I orderd the Lamb Shank (special that night) it was AMAZING… i have used that word too much in this review… lets go with it was DEVINE… no lets just stick with AMAZING because it was. I hate every last bit and if the restraurant was empty i would have licked the plate clean!!!
Friendly service, it was a tuesday so it was quiet in the place. I am sure on a friday or saturday night it gets loud but that means your at a nice place, so deal with it, your there for the food not a quiet atmosphere. if thats what you want go to barnes and noble. Anyway Def give this shot a try, its got to be one of the best BYOB in West Chester!!!

I went here for the first time with another couple over the holidays. I was so excited to see Spence back again in WC because I used to love going there. The only downside is that they don’t have much of a lobby/​foyer, so when a lot of people are waiting it is super crowded. But they have a great system set up. You give them your cell number and head over to the High Street Café next door for drinks. They texted me within 5 – 10 minutes and we headed back.
The restaurant is BYOB. I love that because you can save money on alcohol, bring what you want and the restaurant can just focus on making delicious food.
My husband and I went with another couple. We shared the calamari and also the goat cheese appetizers. Amazing! Everything was so good.
My husband got the steak fritz and loved it. I got the Cioppino dish with a ton of seafood in an amazing tomato broth and crusty bread. It was delicious! Everyone was so jealous and said that they were going to come back again to have it.
We finished up the meal with sea salt caramel ice cream. Fantastic!
It is so hard to find a restaurant that can provide apps, entrees and dessert for everyone without missing the mark on any. The service was quick and the entire dinner wasn’t too expensive. Especially since we brought our own wine.
I highly recommend going back there. It’s going to be our new favorite. We have tried some of the newer restaurants that have opened up in West Chester and they just blew it on the food and service front. Spence 312 is awesome.

Good experience overall. Nice atmosphere inside. Service was good. Had the oysters spence which were ok only 4 for $ 12 tho. My wife had the scallops for dinner which were ok but they only give you 3, so hope ur not too hungry! The steak frites were pretty good, nice portion.
One suggestion for management is get some real rolls. Those dinner rolls are not up to par for a top restaurant, seem like something you’d buy in a grocery store.
We didn’t have any desert but they looked pretty good.
I think we will try it again as we really like byob ‘s

This was our first time dining at Spence 312, though we’ve lived in West Chester for a couple of years now. We arrived for dinner before the rush, and there was only one or two tables occupied in the entire restaurant. I mention this because we were seated at what was probably the least attractive spot in the restaurant (a high-​traffic area right next to a drafty window) even though many better tables were vacant. It made us feel like we were unappreciated from the get-​go… not a very good first impression.
The food was decent. We ordered a flatbread to start, and the short rib and scallops as entrees. We though all of the food was good, but not great. The scallops were luke-​warm when they arrived. The pricing was average for the area.
The service was, again, good but not great. To start, it took the server about two minutes to get the cork out of the wine bottle… a bit awkward. And, instead of just bringing obvious things to the table (water, bread, salt/​pepper), we had to ask for these or at least confirm that we wanted them. Just bring them! Why not? They are at no cost to the customer, and they cost the restaurant virtually nothing, so there’s no reason not to add them to the table. Other than these flaws, the service was fine.
Overall, we had a good experience, but nothing to write home about. We would come back to try Spence 312 again, just because we don’t think any venue can be truly judged based on one experience. That said, we wouldn’t go out of our way to eat here, especially when there is an abundance of great restaurants in downtown West Chester to choose from.

Good things first: I liked the main dish, especially the short ribs, with Parsnipp purée. And the immediate waitstaff was very nice.
Downsides: the restaurant management was close to impossible and very standoffish. The mussel appetizer had unclean mussels and a sauce that tasted like dishwater.
Bottom line: I don’t think I’m going to go there again.

So glad to see Andy back cooking in downtown WC. We picked the worst night to go to Spence 312 as it was Christmas Parade night… so really tough parking, but we made it in time unlike others who had to cancel.
Nice menu and a few specials like rack of lamb and crab risotto which our table enjoyed. Salads were very nice with not too much dressing. As my dear wife says… any place that has really good side dishes like veg and potatoes is going to have really good entrees. That was the case here. Shredded rutabaga and scalloped potatoes were great with the lamb.
Almond pear tart with salted caramel ice cream to end the night was super. We’ll be back soon. Nice job Andy… welcome back!

The restaurant is well appointed and the service is excellent. I had the soup, steak frites, and side of kale/​spinach. The food was good but everything was a tad bit too salty, and I love salt. The steak was also a touch dry on the ends. Prices are on the higher end but would be worth it if they adjusted the cooking slightly. Definitely has potential to be a great place.

A great new spot where Avalon once was before it moved. Seams to be mostly specialized in seafood dishes but there are some land critters on the menu as well. It’s a casual atmosphere and BYOB. We arrived at 5:30 for an early dinner and it wasn’t really busy, that changed around 6, so make sure to book reservations because it got packed.
We started out with the flatbread which is apparently changed often, ours had some Italian meats and cheeses on it and was delicious. It was almost like a small pizza. The calamari was different from what I’m used to. It wasn’t terrible, the sauce was actually great (kind of like a sweet chili sauce), but the it was fried in an unusual manner that reminded me of the short lived Burger King chicken fries.
The entrees were all fantastic though. We had the mussels, scallops, and lobster mac which was one of the specials of the evening. I ordered the lobster mac and it had huge pieces of lobster in it. The scallops though were probably the best I’ve ever had. Perfectly seared and as tender as butter. We also ordered some desserts which were all great too.
As I said, this place did get very busy as the night went on which slowed service quite a bit, but the food was still fantastic and it gave us plenty of time to finish our wine. I’m sure this place has yet to hit its stride and it’s already pretty darn good.

The restaurant is good. We were recommended to try the grilled Caesar salad and the short ribs with puréed cauliflower. Both were decent, although u got roasted potatoes instead (the server packed some of the cauliflower to go as an apology).
My wife had salmon, which was fine, you cannot expect much from salmon in a restaurant. We tried a crawfish/​oyster appetizer that was creative, although a little bland.
Service was fine, food was decent, BYOB meant a low over all bill. Wait staff is friendly, atmosphere a bit sterile but pleasant.
Clearly Spence 312 is trying hard, and are pleasing many already. We probably just ordered the wrong things and will certainly try them again..