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November 2023 by Sarah Catherman
I've had my eye on this restaurant for quite some time, but having two young children doesn't allow us much opportunity to try new places as a couple. Well, tonight we had a babysitter and I saw that the Village had fondue night. What an awesome experience! From the super friendly woman who answered the phone when I called to make reservations, to the complimentary desert, to the cozy atmosphere and everything in between, I was so impressed. I cannot wait to bring my sister back for another fondue night. Highly recommend!!
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October 2023 by Michaela
Horrible, horrible, horrible!!!! We went to celebrate my 51st birthday with my family, there were 10 of us. We started with two appetizers. The pigs in blanket and the French bread. The pigs in a blanket had approximately 7ish mini hotdogs in the order for $15.95. The French bread pizza was decent and the only good food that we were served all evening. Our main meals were, the shrimp cocktail was decent.. 5 lasagnas that consist of one layer of noodle, a layer of ricotta, sauce and cheese. Two burgers that were hockey pucks. A ribeye that was order med well came out completely black and blue which means burnt on the outside and raw in the middle. The duck was luke warm, dry and the sides were cold. This wasn't a cheap dinner. We didn't complain about the food (which was our mistake). I had read in previous comments of similar happenings there. But I wanted to give them a try for the benefit of doubt ... we paid the bill and will never return. Save your money folks!
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October 2023 by A Hayes
My friend was slandered after having a horrible experience at the restaurant, by the restaurant’s owner. Just horrible
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October 2023 by PZFLY
Great Romantic spot on a river. Pleasant atmosphere, great service and very good food. Duck is difficult to cook properly and they nailed it. What's not to like. The Village Inn is a nice contribution to the area.
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October 2023 by Nancy M
This restaurant has been a favorite of my family for years. As we close our lakeside camp each fall, we look forward to our duck meal at the inn for celebration at the end of a season. Our recent experience was a huge disappointment. We ordered chowder that arrived cold. When we asked for it to be reheated, it came back luke warm. My husband spilled his wine and we asked for a spare napkin. The hostess swung by and handed him a towel. No new napkin, no offer to help clean up, no refill. The puddle and towel sat mounded up for our entire meal. The duck we ordered was to have had the flambe sauce. When it arrived, we were told that there was no liquor to make if flame. And the duck was luke warm at best, and quite tasteless. The staff were inattentive and the meal took forever. We twice had to leave our seats to ask for attention for the above issues. The hostess at the desk welcomed one new diner as we sat for 1.5 hours. Yet she showed zero interest in helping the wait staff or responding to diners trying to wave for her attention. Our water glasses stayed empty with no visits from staff for to check in about the meal or offer a refill. It's time for us to find a new venue for our farewell dinner in Maine.
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October 2023 by Matthew M
Absolutely mortified by the ignorant, arrogant and belligerent behavior of co-owner, Kate Beales. I arrived at 7 PM for a 7 PM reservation. Apple Maps and Trip Adviser show that the place was open till 9 PM. My friend was supposed to meet me, but she was lost and running late. The waitress said that guests were supposed to be out by 9, but where my friend was running late, we could stay as late as 9:30 p.m as she was going to be working there cashing out. However, I should get my order in as soon as possible and she should put it on the table by 830 at the latest, which meant they needed to start the meal by 8 p.m. Well, by 8 p.m, my friend still hadn’t arrived, so I put in an order for two drinks, two salads, the half duck, and a filet mignon, which cost about $150 before tip. Thankful for her kindness and her offer to let me and my friend stay until 9:30, if need be, I gave her a $50 bill, and I gave her another $20 bill to give to the cook who might also have to stay late. My friend just kept getting lost and more lost, and at 8:30 she still hadn’t arrived. At 8:45, I’m talking to my friend on the phone who is saying she will be there in about ten or 15 minutes out. Co-Owner Kate Beales was apparently eavesdropping around the corner, and comes around the corner and interrupts me in mid-conversation with my friend on the phone and says: “That’s not gonna work, man. We are closing. We need you out by nine.” Shocked, I explained that I had tipped her workers $70 to thank them for offering to stay a little later, and she actually responded by saying: “You can’t buy our workers, man. We will take that off of your bill.” Apparently, “Sir” is not part of her vocabulary. Indicating she would take a $70 tip off of a bill for food that I hadn’t even received yet meant both that she expected me to pay for the food. Now, I suppose I could have gotten up and just left, but in Belgrade, the general store closes at 7 PM, and the nearest grocery stores are 20 miles away in Augusta. And, most grocery stores don’t stay open past nine. I was hungry. I knew my friend was going to be hungry. She was lost. And by the time we finally met up, the last thing I really wanted to do was try to Augusta to try to get some food. Neither one of us had eaten all day. I left straight from work at 5 PM in Camden, which was an hour and 15 minutes away, and she left from southern Maine, an hour and 15 minutes away. Besides, if you think Kates behavior is inappropriate up until now, just read on. I have no idea what was about unfold. Kate leaves, and the nice young waitress comes out with the food. I ask her to just box it up as the owner said she wanted us out by 9. It had to be about 9:52 at that point because about 4 minutes later I would actually begin videoing Kate as she literally harassed me out of her place, and the that video is time stamped 8:56 p.m,. The waitress felt really bad and encouraged me to just eat the steak while it was hot. She said: “It’s a filet mignon. Enjoy it!” So, I was like, “OK. I’ll eat this really quick….just box up the duck.” If being given a $50 steak with less than ten minutes to eat it and be sent out was not bad enough, Kate somehow actually managed to make things even worse. This was about 10 or 15 minutes after the last other guest had left, mind you, so it’s not like I’m the only one there. And, contrary to what Kate says in the video, I was not there two hours after closing time. I arrived at seven or 7 PM reservation, and it was not yet even 9. I begin eating my food, and Kate comes out ostensibly to tidy up tables. I intentionally made no eye contact with her and said nothing to her. Most people would have just left it at that and just let the person have their 8 minutes to finish their $50 steak. But, not Kate. I guess she felt she needed to make me understand. She starts telling me that her employees needed to get home, and it really wasn’t acceptable to keep them there two hours after they closed. Of course this is an untrue, offensive accusation. It said on Apple and TripAdvisor that they were open until nin
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September 2023 by LizBiz123
My family and I had the pleasure of visiting the Village Inn recently and I cannot say enough wonderful things about our experience. The food was outstanding, our server was top tier and the views of the lake were breathtaking. I don’t understand some of these negative reviews I am seeing, as our experience was incredible and we are already planning our next visit to this establishment.
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September 2023 by Tourist591515
The owner was eavesdropping as I spoke to the bartender about ordering a bottle of wine. The bartender was about to get it when the owner Kate came out of nowhere and told me to go back to my seat. She then told me that the bartender is too busy. (We hadn’t seen a waitress in several minutes.) She then stalked me and wanted my name and more. I told her to get out of my space and walked away as the waitress came up to rescue me. Kate then stalked my sister and told her she was thinking of kicking me out! I have never experienced a more rude, creepy, and quite mentally disturbed as this person.
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September 2023 by Casey S
Have been coming to the village inn with family for years and have always loved it, taking the boat to dinner -so incredibly cool, the lodgey charm of the place, and always really good food- especially the famous duck! We heard they had gone through a few different chefs this year and that things weren't as good as in the past, and boy, after reading some of the reviews on here from this summer I have to say I was a little worried myself! But let me just tell you, whoever they ended up hiring in the kitchen, is totally CRUSHING IT! We went in August and we've never had a better meal at the village inn -ever! We had such an awesome time, we went for our anniversary and the ambiance was so fun, looks like they redecorated it, plaid everything like a retro ll bean lodge, so cute and pretty right on the water, our server was quick, friendly and knowledgeable, and both of our dinners from start to finish were totally AMAZING. I had an Incredible swordfish dish that was the prob best fish I've ever had and the lobster shrimp and clams over linguini was seriously TO DIE FOR! Loved the presentation too, it even came out in the actual pan, too cute! Drinks and desserts were awesome too. And we both felt like the food and the vibe there has truly never been better. Also kudos to them after reading some of the negative posts on here because it looks like whatever issues they had in the kitchen this summer, they sure figured it out -because everything was utterly delicious and outstanding! We definitely can't wait to come back. Like -go here now, because places like this are worth their weight in gold!
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September 2023 by Matty B
Had to try the the Village Inn and Tavern after hearing so many good things about the place for years. The food and service was excellent, and the atmosphere was welcomeing and cozy! Got the duck and it was delicious! Don't understand why some of the reviews here are so negative, my experience was the complete opposite. Wil definitely come back soon!
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September 2023 by Elizabeth Areyzaga
Nice atmosphere, cozy and comfortable. Great staff! View of the lake and wildlife. A bit more expensive than some, but well worth it!
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August 2023 by Thomas Kelly
Had another anniversary dinner the other night and was very disappointed. Ate early at 6:00 PM and ordered the half duck. Extremely dry and overdone. Also ordered the stuffing for an extra $3.50. Also, very dry and hard/ Seemed like the meal had been under the warming lights for a long time. After mentioning it to the waitress nothing was done other than" I'll tell the chef!" very disappointing to say the least.
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August 2023 by Andy A
This is one of the only sit down restaurants in this small lake town in Maine. Its prices indicate fine dining. 22$ burger with potato chips 40$ steak 44$+ roast duck(their signature dish). No kid’s menu. Our dinner experience Thursday night … we made reservations for dinner 7:30 PM. We arrived on time the hostess told us they just needed the bus the table and we would be seated. 30 minutes later we asked when we were going to be seated and she said as soon as we bus the tables, this level of service continued throughout the meal. Once we were finally seated, we were given printed paper menus.Two people in our party had different entrées on their menus. Our server noticeably had not come to our table. We didn’t know which was the correct one for the evening, so I went back to the host to stand, which was empty for about 10 minutes. I waited for someone to tell us which menu to order from , at this point had I not been with my family who is nostalgic for this restaurant I would’ve left. Our server did not come to our table to get a drink or dinner order for over 20 minutes. She was nice when she finally came but it was extremely offputting. No apologies , no we were really busy, because they were not. 6 tables were seated 3 were eating 1 finished. There were two servers in the main dining room indoors and several outdoors. Our drinks came quickly as well as French bread with blueberry butter. I am sorry to say the French bread was cold and stale and the butter had a funny taste, as if it was old. You can get better French bread at the grocery store. The no kids menu was a problem because we were dining with two children, so one of my daughters ordered the $22 burger asked to cook medium well to well. It came out almost raw. Seeing as service was so delayed she ate the chips . My other daughter ordered clam chowder , which came out lukewarm and she said it was no better than from the can. I, being a vegetarian was disappointing as there were no vegetarian entrées, so I ordered a salad without bacon, which was good. the other entrées we ordered Aji tuna, and rib eye were mediocre at best. Nothing better than you could have made at home. Even with nostalgia I will not be returning. I would say your money would be better spent at Applebees in Waterville. Location seems to be all this place had going for it. We used to go here quite a bit but have not had a positive experience in the last 5 years.
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August 2023 by Janice Mccullough
We went for dinner. Our food was delicious, it was the swordfish, and our waitress was friendly, attentive and we enjoyed having her wait on us.Noteworthy details: Our waitress, Marnie was excellent.
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July 2023 by Michael Wenzel
My wife and I recently celebrated her birthday at this restaurant, which holds a special place in our hearts as we have been residents of the area for over 45 years. However, this visit left us quite disappointed, as it didn't live up to the exceptional experiences we had enjoyed in the past.The disappointment began with the individual who served our water. In a rushed and careless manner, he ended up spilling some water on the wooden floor. We brought this to the attention of the staff, but unfortunately, nobody attended to the spill, and shortly after, a woman walked by and slipped. Concerned for her safety and that of others, I quickly grabbed my napkin to clean up the mess. When I requested another napkin, the hostess provided a paper one instead of the cloth napkin that was typically given with our table setting.Adding to the unpleasant experience, another patron decided to bring her large dog into the dining area. She even left the dog on the floor next to two older women, seemingly disregarding any potential discomfort it might cause to other patrons. I expressed my concern about this situation to our waitress, who said she would address it with someone upstairs, and the dog was eventually removed. It's unfortunate that this simple request seemed to be a cultural faux-pas, as it left us feeling slightly uneasy during our meal.To our surprise, after addressing the dog issue, the service became subpar. When we requested a water refill from one of the hostesses, it never arrived at our table. The waitress appeared to ignore us while attentively serving other patrons, which unfortunately meant our beverages went unfilled for an extended period. It was clear that the attention to our table diminished significantly.In the end, after waiting for an extended period without any improvement in the service, we decided to request the check and leave. This visit was truly a departure from the wonderful experiences we had in the past, and we hope the restaurant can address these issues to maintain the reputation they once had for excellent meals and service.
