About six months ago, my husband and I moved to a town 10 minutes away from the Conway Inn. We had driven by a few times and wondered what it might be like. We'd love to find a low-key place for a beer and a bite of food close to home. I checked reviews and only found a handful, but most said that it was a decent place, and especially that "Barb" who is a bartender (maybe owner, not sure) was an absolute joy. Most also talked about the pizza served on Fridays and Saturdays.
We went in on a Friday at about 4:30. We opened the door, and it was like one of those movies where the jukebox comes to a shrieking halt and everyone looks at you. There were 4 men and a woman sitting at the bar. We walked in and took a seat, feeling like we made a big mistake, but we weren't going to give them the satisfaction of turning around and walking out. The older woman, who had been sitting at the bar, came over to us with a sour, purse-lipped face, didn't really say anything. My husband ordered a Steel Rail, she said "those are bottles." He asked which BBC was on draft, and I'm pretty sure she didn't answer, but I could see that it was the Berkshire Ale and said so, so that is what he asked for. She never asked me what I wanted, so I finally just piped up and told her I'd have a Bud. In a rusty voice, she said "draft or bottle." I said draft. She brought our beers without a word. As everyone else' eyes were glued to a Law and Order episode, Steve and I marveled at the unfriendliness exuding from the place. There was no mention of pizza, or would we like a menu. We had already decided early on that we wouldn't be eating there, or ordering another beer.
Soon thereafter we heard one of the other patrons call the purse-lipped woman "Barb." I was flabbergasted that this was the Barb that other reviewers had raved on about. Maybe we caught her on a bad day, or maybe she was upset that we had interrupted the ever-so-interesting episode of Law and Order she was watching.
As she was walking by our empty glasses to fetch beers for others, we waved her down with a $20.00 bill, which she took without a word. When she brought the change, I think she may have managed a half smile and a thank you, but I can't honestly be sure. We got up and left, not surprised that we didn't here a "thanks for coming," or "come again." Ha!
As you know if you've read other reviews of mine, we are not fancy people and prefer the "un-shiny" places. We only expect a little human decency. In that department, this place was a joke. read more
