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Boone Tavern Hotel
Categories: Event Planning & Services Hotels Hotels & Travel Hotels Restaurants American (Traditional) Hotels, American (Traditional) [Edit]
100 Main StBerea, KY 40403
(859) 985-3700
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 7 am - 8 pm
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
8 reviews for Boone Tavern Hotel
8 reviews in English
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Review from Peter H.
Berea, KY
My summer school classes started on Monday so I am treating myself to a dinner here in time for my 6:30pm evening class session. A new summer menu greets me with Local Lettuce (shaved radish, fennel, onion and feta cheese) and Scotch Egg,, Steak Tartare, or of course the Fried Green Tomato Salad. (I prefer lighter summer meals.) I went with the Scotch Egg and Local Lettuces with the new Orange Marmalade Dressing (Take a bottle home with you). Both were fabulous and just what I needed on his late spring early evening.
Be sure to check in to the Tavern for the Farm To Table which support and feature the local farmers and College farmers market.Listed in: Best Restaurants, Cultural Ventures
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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11/29/2010
Best Saturday night dinner in town. Try the Farm Stand Dinner. You will enjoy it immensely. Read more »
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Review from Kate F.
Astoria, NY
8/20/2011
We stayed here overnight and ate dinner and breakfast here.
The dinner was great. The service was really friendly and the food excellent. I took the waitress' suggestion of getting the specials (for all three courses) and it was spot on. I had an heirloom tomato salad (awesome), the hanger steak (I'm not all that crazy about beef and I loved it), and the strawberry shortcake for dessert.
My mom had a fried green tomato salad (hey, it's salad, so totally healthy, right?) and the chicken flakes in a bird's nest. The fried green tomatoes were excellent, but the chicken was the one misstep of the meal. It was too salty.
Finally, the spoonbread was excellent. I need to start making spoonbread for myself. It's pretty much the ultimate comfort food.
Breakfast was good, if not as memorable as dinner.
One downside is that there's no alcohol (despite the "tavern" name). That is unfortunate, but the food was still excellent. -
Review from Ed C.
Normal, IL
11/27/2010
This was incredibly disappointing. I'd spent a long day trying to occupy myself while my wife shopped for baubles at local craft stores. I didn't pick the restaurant, but my one solace was knowing I'd get to end my day at a place called the "Boone Tavern."
When I think of Daniel Boone, I think of a rough-and-tumble frontiersman and soldier ... the kind of guy who might like to hang out in a tavern after a long day of hunting, settling, and soldiering.
Let's try an experiment. Close your eyes and think to yourself what ol' Daniel Boone's favorite watering hole might look like. Got it? Good. Now imagine the complete OPPOSITE of that and you've got the Boone Tavern Hotel.
Perhaps I'm alone on this one, but if you call yourself a "tavern" then perhaps you ought to BE a tavern. Instead, this place offers small portions of pretentious food at ridiculous prices. Mint compote and pickled blackberries? Pears with mushrooms? Come on! Worst of all ... NO BAR!
I'm sure someone will argue that a bit of research on my part would have prevented this train-wreck. Still, I think it's completely reasonable to assume that a place that says "tavern" on the shingle would be one. I mean, it says "hotel" too and they have beds, right?
Honestly, I dare you to find a definition of "tavern" in any dictionary that doesn't contain the word "alcohol." It is, indeed, the one thing you absolutely EXPECT to find in a "tavern." Well, ... not here. Apparently, Berea, KY, is a dry town. Too bad, because a stiff drink might have dulled the sucker punch I got from the bill and the grumbling of my still-empty stomach. -
Review from Sarah W.
8/16/2010 1 Check-in Here
When work was sending me to the Historic Boone Tavern, I was a little apprehensive. I was thinking "we don't have hair dryers historic" a la Shaker Village, or possibly "we haven't changed out that fly paper in 20 years" a la certain state parks that shall not be named. But Boone Tavern is historic in a good way.
This was historic in the sense of delightfully thick paster walls, so you didn't hear your neighbors stirring. And historic in the sense of beautiful handcrafted wood furniture and artwork featuring prominent Kentuckians. With a historically grand porch overlooking charmingly historic Berea College. With honest to goodness historic keys to open the doors.
They had historic recipes for spoonbread and the lightest, most delicious historic banana nut muffin I have ever tasted for breakfast. All of the food was good, but I had an absolutely amazing historic (er, heirloom) tomato with lunch.
See, that is history I can work with.
The less historic bits were their brand new LEED certification. They did a really great job on the remodel of the hotel. You didn't feel like any of their efforts to be green were at the expense of guest comfort. Because let's be honest - I am all for low flow shower heads, but my first priority is getting all of the shampoo out of my hair. But the shower was great, the A/C was keeping things nice and cool and the ceiling fan was really nice to fall asleep to.Listed in: Kentucky Road Trip
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Review from Matt J.
Omaha, NE
2/18/2010
Not too shabby. To be honest when I heard the name I was thinking of some podunk place in the middle of nowhere. But the Boone Tavern is a National Historic Hotel and they just put in a $11 million renovation. Room are pretty large with King size beds, a jacuzzi tub and hand made wooden furniture.
The dining room is pretty good too. Not much to choose from on their menu but it's pretty good stuff. Not 5 stars, but not the normal crappy hotel food.
It's in the middle of and owned by the Berea college. Very nice area.
If you don't know (like I didn't) Berea is a dry town (the name Boone Tavern threw me for a loop). If you need a little bubbly, just jaunt up the road about 15 minutes to Richmond. They have huge liquor stores right off the interstate. -
Review from John R.
Lexington, KY
12/25/2010
We just returned from the "special" Christmas Dinner at the Boone Tavern. Ugh! What an experience... My sister and brother-in-law live in Lexington and have heard lots of good things about the Boone Tavern but had never been until now...
Being Christmas, we dressed somewhat nice with some nice winter coats (it has snowed a few inches on Christmas Eve). We asked the hostess about where to hang our coats, she looked at us like we were from Mars. Her expression was a "just put them on the back of your chair" look. We wanted a coat rack. She finally told us where to find it in the next room.
The Christmas menu was a limited menu (pick from 6 different appetizers, pick from 6 different entrees, pick from 4 different desserts). I had the shaved ham with arugula and melon. The ham wasn't too bad. My Mom's shrimp cocktail was pleasant enough, but the cocktail sauce was from a jar. My sister/bro-in-law like their squash bisque. However, my girlfriend ordered the pimento cheese in a small crock pot. There was just a hint of dried, crusty cheese in the bottom covered with some sort of crunchy bread topping. We were not impressed. Little did we know this would be the best part of the meal.
For entree, my Mom and I ordered the prime rib. It was clearly not fresh cut but some previously cut piece of meat. We did not have a choice of rare, medium rare, etc. It came medium. It was supposed to come with horseradish sauce, but we had to ask explicitly for it (also tasted like from a jar). Au-gratin potatoes and broccoli was adequate but nothing fancy.
My girlfriend and sister got the "traditional roast turkey breast" dinner. The "traditional" turkey breast was slices from some turkey roll. Certainly not from a fresh turkey. It was quite dry. The stuffing and mashed potatoes appeared to be scooped with an ice-cream scoop. Perfectly round. Poor presentation. Neither of them finished their entrees.
My bro-in-law got the salmon which actually seemed reasonable if not slightly overcooked.
For dessert, my girlfriend's silk pie was nothing more than chocolate Cool-whip in an uncooked (raw) crust. My derby pie wasn't much better. The bread pudding was a hit with my mother and bro-in-law.
The overall service was very poor. No centerpieces on the tables, had to ask for extra bread, nobody asked if we wanted coffee or tea prior to dessert, and some of the servers didn't seem to even understand basic restaurant terminology...well, like "plate."
I understand that the restaurant is connected with Berea College and that students were involved. However, they seemed to have very little training for doing restaurant work. I only saw one "adult" in the area for just a few minutes. I understand that most folks might be home on Christmas Day but you just can't let the inexperienced students run the place AND describe it as a special Christmas Dinner. We would have had better food at Cracker Barrel (if it was open).
The spoon-bread was the highlight, although we had to ask for seconds, twice. -
Review from David D.
Asheville, NC
4/12/2010
A lucky find a few miles off I-75. I've eaten here twice now. The first time was a few years back and I thought it was average. At most recent visit, they have remodeled the place and it is very elegant. But with students working the dining room, they make you feel very welcome and take good care of you. We had the Sunday Brunch buffet and it was plenty of good food. Just the right price at around $18. They have just about everything you could want and it's all pretty good. I'm not a big ham fan, but the carved ham was pretty good. Only thing I guess I wish they had was carved roast beef. The desserts were really good.
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Review from Don H.
Dayton, OH
11/10/2010
Stay in the hotel and eat in the dining room. The hotel is a completely renovated one and has lots of history. The food is fine and the spoon bread is unique. Worth a trip to see.
