Townsend House

Love the baked-​stuffed haddock, chicken parm, french onion soup and salads with blue cheese, great local family establishment!

It was way to HOT tonight and coming back from Leominster I decided not to cook… The three of us stopped in…
DECOR/​AMBIENCE (⁴⁄₅) — I like it! Its rustic like an old tavern. I could see hanging out int he bar area with the wife if she wanted to go out for a drink and some appetizers. Very nicely decorated for the season.
ROLLS (⁵⁄₅) — I’m not a bread person but these were very very good!
SALAD (³⁄₅) — Very fresh salad! Very small. The Italian dressing was typical.
MY FOOD (2.5÷5) — I didn’t like the sauce on the my $ 10 chicken plate. The chicken was good though.
FAMILY FOOD (⁴⁄₅) — My son loved his hot dog with onion rings plate… I loved the price! My wife loved her French onion soup and the onion rings. They just wanted something small.
SERVICE (²⁄₅) — This was lacking. Now the food was served promptly but they were dead. Like 2 customers in the whole place. I would of ordered another beverage if asked and I desperated needed napkins.
VALUE (⁵⁄₅) — It only cost $ 30 for the three of us and I got a beer (more for tax and tip of course)
We will be back… I want to try some of the NON pasta options and perhaps the PRIME RIB…

The service and food is five star. The atmosphere is very friendly. My wife and I often go for lunch, dinner or just a drink. If you want to take a nice drive it’s worth the trip. Hope everybody enjoys it as much as we do.

good place in town great food petes great on the bar

My local go to! Great family atmosphere with home style food. Who needs Cheers when everybody knows your name here?!?

Over the past several months we have made it a tradition of sorts to come here at least once a week and all I can say is they deserve a sixth star! Peter the mixologist to the stars is great!

Great meal deals on Monday and Tuesday. Always great food, salads are awesome, sandwiches are great, prime rib is OK, dinners are generous portions are reasonably priced. Lots of local flavor and people. Hope you enjoy as much as I do.

It’s a tavern, and it does its job very well. That said don’t expect anything a true tavern wouldn’t deliver. Portions are generous, and prices are very reasonable. Service was standard.
This is a great place for comfort food, when you’re on a budget, or want to casually hang out with friends … Or all three!

We visited this place on a Saturday night, it was steady but not busy. There really wasn’t any wait. The food wasn’t half bad I actually enjoyed the chicken Parmesan manicotti dish I got. I wasn’t impressed with the side salad or the bread they served. I would have given the restaurant a 4 star if the service was better, the service was slow. I would definitely go back for the food though.

I’m really torn on this place. On the upside, the food is DELICIOUS, but on the downside, the service kind of sucked. Here’s the run-​down:
When we walked in, we walked straight into the bar. Not really a family-​friendly atmosphere, but I don’t care much about that. We were told to sit wherever so I went towards the back of the bar (incidentally where the bathrooms were) and we had the little area to ourselves.
Eventually our waitress came to get drink orders. She said they had a «full bar» but they only had three beers on tap (Yuengling, Bud Light and some other low-​rate beer), and then stuff in bottles, but no cider. I ended up with a Jack and coke, a Stoli and Sprite for my female compatriot, a Sam Oktoberfest for her boyfriend, and a Yuengling for my fiancé. When she came back for the next round, they were apparently out of Oktoberfest so my friend switched to the Boston Lager but got two just in case (LOL).
The food though… dang. It was so good. But I had some issues.
— French onion soup: my friend seemed to REALLY enjoy it, so I’m assuming it was good, but it had bread in it so I didn’t try any.
— Veggie soup: hearty veggies, absolutely delectable broth. I could have eaten a vat of this.
— Steak tips with mushroom gravy: ohhh myyy goshhh. I snuck a few bites of this despite knowing that the gravy probably had flour in it. It was worth it.
— Mashed potatoes: a little bland, but tasty once salt was added.
— Haddock Parmesan: Haddock baked with marinara and parmesan. Sounds straightforward, right? I asked if it had any breadcrumbs and the waitress told me no. But when it came out, the whole fish had been breaded and fried. I understand not everyone is going to immediately assume that I can’t eat wheat but if I asked if there’s bread on it, it should be pretty easy to figure out that I don’t want it breaded… Once it came back out, sans breading, it was absolutely divine. Unfortunately I couldn’t eat more than a few bites because I was so stuffed on everything else.
— Cole slaw: my friend summed up the weird taste in this one with, «hand sanitizer.» Oddly enough, spot on.
One thing to note: the restrooms are single bathrooms (one men’s, one women’s) and they only have one light switch. So if people don’t know this, you might end up in the dark.
Overall, it was really good. If I’m ever back in the area, I would come here again, if only for the soul-​warming veggie soup.

We live nearby so this is our third time trying. In all cases we received an average meal at best. Do not expect to get an outstanding meal here… The atmosphere is ok with the bar seemingly always occupied by locals, the kind that look like the stools were built under them…

Seems the place is going downhill. Service outright sucks for the most part. Expect to be forgotten about and ignored unless you’re the loud boisterous type. There are a couple awesome waitresses… maybe we’ll have to get their schedules! Food is hit or miss lately… I’ve had orders come out cold, wrong, and just never at all. Cuts of chicken and turkey are fatty and cheap. They dropped the local beer on tap, Wachusett, and replaced it with the new fad; Yuengling which is just another name for Budweiser. Dunno… really sucks as this used to be our favorite spot for dinner. Three stars still for that food that comes out just right. Someone back there hasn’t given up… sigh.

Find the food on pricey side for the portions here. I’ve had some excellent meals here but generally the food is forgettable unless you stay with basics like burgers, etc. For some reason bartenders here always seem miserable too. Service is fine speed wise but they aren’t very personable. And for some odd reason today there were no side dish options for a meal other than french fries or onion rings — no potato, rice or veggie options. When you put that together with my very small seafood entry today was pretty disappointing.

Great food but it’s sometimes cold we go there about once a week though strongly recommend this to other people and the service is fantastic

One of our favorite places to go to lunch when we are able to get out of the office. I love that they always have new specials and their onion rings are the best in the area. The owner is nice guy and trys to say hello if he is not busy. The staff is intentive to your needs even when they too are busy. A great local place to get a good dinner or lunch.

My wife and I went here on Christmas Eve. We were greeted by two young (8 – 10 yr old) kids on the restaurant side saying that side was closed, goto the lounge. So we did. Then the lady on the lounge side, which was PACKED with people drinking, asked us loudly in front of everyone from across the room, «food or drink?!» We said food and she said, «nope, all done cooking for the day! Try again another time.» It was 1pm…
Like another person also posted a review and said about the same day, either open or don’t open. A sign would have been nice and not being rudely yelled at from across the room would have been even better.
Haven’t decided if we will come back again yet.

Went in with the family for lunch. Was told the dining room was closed and only the lounge side was open and the menu was limited (it was Christmas Eve). Found our own table, and was greeted with the «waitress» throwing 2 pieces of paper on our table, which turned out to be the «limited menu», written in chicken scratch. We got up and left.
Granted, it was Christmas Eve, but either open your restaraunt, or don’t.
Won’t be back.

I’ve been back several times since my initial review and I must say I like this place for what it is. Unpretentious good ol’ American food. You get store-​bought Parker House rolls and butter with your meal, they only have one craft-​brew on tap but at least it’s been a Wachusett Country Ale and the food is stick-​to-​your-​ribs good. I’ve lucked out two Fridays in a row and been waited on by cutie-​patootie Emily who has admirably dealt with the good-​natured ribbing that our party of old geezers has laid on her. If she waits on you, be sure to inquire about the side-​order vegetables option of mashed carrot and turnip.

Love this place! Atmosphere is friendly, Food is always wonderful and Pete makes the best Cosmo!

What a dump!
I have driven past this place many times, but tonight, I thought I’d stop in for a drink and maybe a bite to eat. Upon entering the lounge, I was greeted by the oldest, lamest décor I have seen in a long, long time. I sat at the bar and ordered a simple drink, which the bartender messed up. When I questioned him about it, he corrected it, but with a healthy dose of attitude. I picked up the menu. Once this dirty, disgusting thing slid through my fingers and rested on the equally gross bartop, I was able to read a tired, out-​dated, very lame menu. That was enough. I tried to settle up the bar tab, and was again met with attitude from the bartender. What a dump. Never again.