Fancy-ish pub that, while a bit late to the dark woods and "elevated" pub fare game, still puts out a solid product. The interior at this point is pretty nondescript. Its exactly what you'd expect a place called "Oak Barrel Tavern" to look like. The beer selection is decent and they have Be Hoppy, which is always a great fallback if you don't want a $9 pour of something dark and boozy. The food is better than I expected. The burgers are quite large and the toppings are well proportioned. The buns hold up to the challenge. Not a lifechanging burger by any means, but very satisfying. The Buffalo chicken sandwich is similarly large and about as good. They jumped on the tots train here and I can report that they know how to fry them. read more

We had a great lunch at Oak Barrel Tavern a few weeks ago. We loved the atmosphere of the place, all recently redone and very cozy. Love the exposed wood and high top bar & table area. They also have a good sized dining room area. As for the food, we split the Bavarian pretzel app which was great. The sauces were tasty. I got the Mediterranean salad with steak tips which was delicious and I can't wait to have it again. My fiancé got a turkey club which he really liked. Our bartender was friendly and the service was quick. I thought the drinks were a little pricey, but I understand that's where they make their money. Still though, it stopped me from getting a second drink when the drink was almost as much as my meal. Overall, great experience and I hope they make it, as they are a great addition to the Worcester dining experience. read more

Oak Barrel Tavern - Cranberry mule & Wormtown beer - Bars Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

I have orderd from here twice now. The meatloaf was so good I ordered it a second time and the burger was loved by my husband. It was still warmwhen delivered. I recommend the loaded potatoes and Brussel sprouts as sides. read more

Just a phenomenal restaurant. Best fish tacos in New England for me. My wife really enjoyed the tips and clam chowder. Great menu for my 9 yr old as well. Drink selection is insane and interesting. The owner came by to see how we were doing as it was our first of, I am sure, many visits to come. He was very pleasant and was genuinely concerned with our eating experience. Service was top notch and professional. Great atmosphere and clean. Definitely recommended. Will also sneak out to watch some of the football games as it seems like it's the place to be. read more

Whiskey aplenty and many menu items included bourbon touches. How can you go wrong if you are a whiskey lover? Service was good with nice decor. They have nice bar seating as well as sitting areas for apps and drinks in front of a fireplace. Family friendly and yet still a good place to hang out with friends and drink. I highly recommend the burgers and meatloaf. read more

Oak Barrel Tavern - Bourbon BBQ Meatloaf - Bars Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

Food was excellent service was incredible and the ambiance was comfortable was a great dinning experience

Really not worth the trip! Save your money and go somewhere else. They cannot make an old fashioned and charge Boston prices for crap drinks! read more

We just enjoyed dinner at OBT with 28 of our friends for New Years Eve. The service and food was excellent. Our servers did an amazing job managing the appetizers, drinks, food and all requests. The never wavered and had smiles the entire time. We'll be back ! read more

Oak Barrel Tavern - Bars Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

I've finally been able to make it back to the Oak Barrel Tavern, and I'm glad I did. The service and food are much better than when I first came by. The pretzel appetizer was fresh and the dips were good. I got the fish tacos, and they were excellent. We also got the steak tips, and they were cooked perfectly and were delicious, especially with the glaze served on the side. What brought the whole experience together is the expansive whiskey selection. The drinks are great and they have a huge selection of bourbon, Irish, and scotch whisky. I will be back. read more

Came here before a Halloween party last weekend. It was relatively busy but luckily I made a reservation. Even better, I was running late so I had to change the reservation a few times but they were so accommodating! Even though it was busy we got served really fast. I like the atmosphere here and all the different beers they have on tap. I had a chicken Caesar salad it was very good and filling. Would definitely come back in the future. read more

I got the oak barrel burger. It was awesome. The boneless buffalo chicken was also good.

Food was very good and service was friendly and effective. We did sit outside and noticed that the two young hostesses with time on their hands did not sanitize the tables between customers groups read more

No complaints. Great ambiance, great service, great food. I'll be back again and next time for the bourbon flights!

The food is fine, but that is where it ends. My daughter thought the waiter was cute, but they could use more staff. The waiter almost laughed when I ordered a Budweiser instead of one of the twenty beers (not into fruit beers or one of the endless IPA alternatives that are offered) they have on tap. My burger was fine and they were able to handle the gluten-free option for one person in our party, read more

5 of us met here for lunch as a midpoint between MA and CT. It is a busy place with plenty of parking. Our waiter was pleasant and helpful .The food was mostly very good, but all of the French fries were cold and limp. When this was reported, our waiter brought us a huge platter of very hot fries, but they were not crisp either. This is because they were pale and undercooked. It was thoughtful of the restaurant to give us complimentary desserts. If I ever returned to the area, I would dine there again. read more

My husband and I ordered take-out tonight. Beer battered fish and chips for him, baked salmon and chips for me. For the amount of money that this place charges, I expect to have real French fries, the kind that are freshly cut, not the type of crinkle cut fries you'd find in the frozen section of the grocery store next to the tator tots. The serving of cole slaw my husband received was in a container that you'd put ketchup in, and contained maybe two very small bites. That's not a side, that's a garnish. My salmon was a very small piece of fish, for the price it should have been double that size, and it was way overcooked, resulting in a very dry piece of fish. If decor means more to you than food, you'll love the way they've updated the place (it used to be Tweed's). It looks fabulous. But if the food matters, go somewhere else. read more

I ordered a chicken blt, chicken was dry and it had one tiny slice of tomato and 3 leafs of spring lettuce. I also ordered a a caesar with chicken, chicken was cold and dryyy, and the salad definitely not worth $15! That was my first time and I don't think it's worth my money to go again. read more

Before I write this review, I want to start by saying that the only positive part of this experience was our waiter for our table, he took on a big task of a party of 17 people and did an excellent job. I wish I remembered his name, he was a slender guy maybe in his 30s. He deserves all sorts of kudos. Last night, a group of 15 or so colleagues and I came to Oak Barrel Tavern to celebrate a couple of promotions in our work place. One of our party made the reservation days in advance for 7pm Friday night. A few of us arrived early and sat at the bar for a few drinks before we went on to dinner. As 7pm approached, we asked the host about the status of our table and were informed that the party seated in the back room prior to us was still eating and were not yet ready to leave. Our entire party had not quite arrived yet, so we remained settled at the bar and enjoyed our drinks. 7:30pm, still no status of our table, 15 of us were crowded together at the bar, uncomfortable and starving. We asked again of the status of our table, with no real response except that the other party was still seated. 8:30pm, our entire party (with the exception of a few who could no longer wait) is still at the bar and had not yet been seated. At one point the hosts gave us the option to sit at multiple tables, not next to eachother, which completely defeated the purpose of our celebrations, so we opted not to take this option. 8:45pm: 1 hour and 45 mins after our scheduled reservation we were finally able to be seated. We ate and drank, the food was fine. No complaints here. Afterward, a group of us stayed to have another drink at the bar before heading to another location. A friend of mine was cashing out at about 11:30pm and noticed there was an extra drink on her tab that she did not order, when she pointed this out the male bartended argued with her and tried to make her pay for a drink that she did not order and at the end of the discussion, told her to "shut the f**k up and get out", she was so upset that she went home and did not end up go out with the rest of us. This is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE and DEPLORABLE behavior. There is no excuse for this type of treatment of a patron in a restaurant and was the icing on the cake for me to never eat or drink at this establishment again. When a party calls DAYS in advance to make a reservation, there is absolutely NO reason for the party to wait almost 2 hours to be seated. This is absolutely unacceptable. I realize it was a Friday night and that it was busy, but this is the exact reason a reservation exists. If the establishment can not honor reservations, they should not elect to have this as an option for it's patrons. Typically, we celebrate work events at another restaurant in Worcester, and we had thought it would be nice to try somewhere different. We are all regretting this choice, and I know most of us will not be dining at Oak Barrel Tavern again. read more

I can't give any stars for this establishment ( yelp makes you put at least one star in order to post)Having to wait 1-1/2 hrs for a table even though we had a reservation is just ridiculous - our waiter was fine but definitely overwhelmed. The food was good but unfortunately that is not enough for a return trip. They need to go back to business school and learn about basic hospitality. read more

It is so sad. The restaurant doesn't deliver a pleasurable experience post pandemic. Drinks, even water is the last thing the restaurant cares about. A relaxing fun experience here is another casualty of the post pandemic era. read more

We all agree that the decor is beautiful and much improved over Tweeds. The hostess was pleasant. The waitress was nice but not very attentive. The menu is misleading. I ordered the buffalo chicken dip. It says it is piping hot. It came mildly warm and not hot on the "buffalo" side either. The pita chips were fried. Really? Why would you fry them Rather than baking them or just plain. If you need to fry them then list it on the menu. It was just ok. The menu says fresh brewed ice tea. Yet they did not have any when we arrived. During our stay the manager obtained the ice tea. So it's not brewed in house? Hubby had the turkey tips. He ordered the bbq on the side. The waitress brought it out with the bbq on the tips. She did acknowledge it was wrong immediately and asked if we wanted it to be redone. His meal was delicious. Prices were on the high side. I will try this place again but I was not impressed. read more

Oak Barrel Tavern - Buffalo chicken dip - Bars Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

This was my first time eating at OBT. We stared with the fried pickles and peppers which were delicious but it was a pretty small serving. My wife and I both had the country fried steak with mashed potatoes and green beans. A generous portion and very tasty. The dessert menu looked good but we were to full to get some. We really liked the atmosphere, they had a very large beer selection and the service was awesome!! We will definitely return and try another dish. read more

That was disappointing. Maybe we caught you on an off night because everyone else says good things about OBT but I can only award 2 popcorns to you because... ...first, service is poor, greeter at the front playing on his phone, waitress was busy eating her own dinner instead of bringing drinks. But poor service is becoming the standard at places now, I suppose we should all just be happy that someone getting paid is willing to take a food order from us and then carry said food to us. Dinner was ok, typical pub food, portions were big but I would sacrifice a smaller portion for better quality or more flavor. I would stop by for drinks at the bar but not for a meal. read more

I really hate to knock 2 Stars off, as the food here is overall pretty good, but we had a pretty odd experience here last weekend for a surprise birthday dinner for my boyfriend. We made a reservation for 7 a few days in advance. When the group arrived prior to the guest of honor, the hostess said the table wasn't ready and they would have to wait. No problem, but we had to stall the birthday guest 10 minutes past 7 to make it work. It was very busy, as it was a Saturday night, so one of our friends ordered 2 beers so he wouldn't have to keep bothering the waitress. She made a weird comment about it being for his "buddy" and kept going with the joke all night... We ordered food, which everyone enjoyed, but when it was all coming out, there was one plate that we were waiting on. The same guy that ordered 2 beers didn't have his meal yet. The waitress disappeared into the kitchen and didn't return. We sat there for about 5 minutes wondering where his meal was and saw her taking other table's orders and whatnot. Another employee brought his meal out after the 5 minutes of us all waiting to dig in. Pretty neglectful service if you ask me. As the time approached where we would get the birthday boy a dessert, the waitress made some odd maneuvers to ask me if we were doing dessert. I tried to discreetly nod my head yes, but she made an obvious request to see me around the corner. She brought me all the way across the restaurant and back to the front hall to say "Where's your cake?"...to which I replied that we did not bring a cake, we thought we would order a small dessert at the restaurant. She brought a dessert menu and tried to have me order 3 desserts for the whole group, when we really only needed 1 for the birthday boy. I ended up ordering 2 in case anyone wanted a few bites. It took about 20 minutes for the dessert to finally appear, and obviously the birthday boy had figured out by now what was going on. The waitress appeared carrying 2 desserts (both with candles) on one arm with one candle sitting in whipped cream about to fall over. She puts it down and says "Blow it out now!!!!" As to not set my boyfriend on fire....I can't make this stuff up. We end the night, pay for the bill, which was a pretty good price for 7 people, and move on with an odd story to tell. It's not that I wouldn't go back, but I wouldn't choose it on my own again. read more

Let me start by saying, first impressions were great. There are few places in the area that allowed us to put a reservation through yelp ahead of time and see the number of parties ahead of us! Thanks to the app integration, we saved quite some time in line. Although the atmosphere was pleasant and the wait was reasonable for a Saturday night, this might not be your first choice if anyone in your party has a nut allergy. We were informed by our server that the oil in the fryer may contain nuts or cross contamination. Given that we had an allergy to nuts, that pretty much limited our selection for appetizers and entrees. Apart from the limited choices, the fig and prosciutto flatbread was surprisingly robust and delicious! I would certainly recommend stopping in, but we hope to find a little more allergy consciousness stop the next time we are in the area. read more

Had a pretty good experience with OBT. Bartender was quick and polite. I didn't order drinks, I just sat at the bar because I was driving through and went in solo. Still, he paid attention to me and made sure I had everything I needed. I loved the atmosphere and the staff. Only thing I can say is that my burger was over cooked. I didn't mind too much because it was still a stinking good burger. Sweet potato tots were good. read more

Me and my husband went to eat there on two different occasions and I can say the first time was a better experience food wise. The second time most of our food was very good except my husbands fish and chips which he was very much looking forward to, the fish was a bit burnt and rubbery but he didn't want to be a bother so he didn't complain but in order for people to know you need to tell them so this review is not to be mean it's just so whoever orders that just keep an eye out. On a positive note the truffle Mac n cheese was good and the potato nachos was amazing. The service was good as well. read more

Oak Barrel Tavern - Potato Nachos, they are delicious and a huge app so if you get it just know it's filling - Bars Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

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Pretty great for American food, will be returning. Great service too. Recommend for anyone and suggest their mac and cheese.

First time here and the food was good but what really stood out was our very sweet waiter Wayne. We will be back!

I enjoyed my first visit here. There is plenty of parking and lots of seating at the bar. The place has a nice setup for date night or a family fun night. The cocktail menu is very creative. I had one of the seasonal specials, a caramel apple mule; it was awesome. I ordered the grilled shrimp appetizer and teriyaki chicken breast with potatoes and seasonal vegetable as an entree. It was delicious. The chicken breast were cooked to perfection. In addition to the great ambience and excellent food, the service was awesome. My waiter/bartender was extremely pleasant and patient when I changed my order twice. In my defense, the menu is great. I couldn't decide. read more

If you want to go to a restaurant that serves you frozen crinkle cut fries ,OBT is the way to go! read more

Oak Barrel Tavern - Bars Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

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My wife and stopped in for prime rib a few weeks ago. Place was very busy but we got seated quickly. We both ordered prime rib and it was by far one of the worst pieces I have had. You would have needed a powered knife to cut through it. The waitress didn't seem very genuine with her her concern about our thoughts. They replaced it with steak tips, which were ok, but not what we wanted. We have been here a few times with slightly better food. It will be very long time before (if) we go back. read more

Restaurant is very clean. Fast and friendly service. Food was excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed their wings that I had to order again!

Wow, the Old Tweeds is so nice! I went inside and expected it to have the same layout as Tweeds but that was not the case. The owner did a wonderful job with the renovation. We got seating instantly and was greeting by a fellow who was very nice. He needed to get comfortable with us because he seemed a bit shy but once we threw out jokes, he became much more relaxed. We got a bowl of clam chowder. It wasn't amazing but it wasn't horrible. Needed more flavor and the clams could have used a little less cooking. Other than that, no complaints. We got a flatbread and it was really good! Try this place out!!! read more

Enjoyed a nice lunch with the family. Food was good. Loved the pickles and peppers and the wings were tasty. The balsamic drizzle on my flatbread was a bit overwhelming. A little goes a long way ;). One thing we noticed that would add to the overall aesthetic is if the lights were down a bit and music was playing. read more

My mom and I have frequented Oak Barrel Tavern many times. Sad to say, after our visit this Saturday night, we may not be returning... We arrived a little before 6:00 p.m. so it was not very busy. James, our waiter, was very pleasant, and got us seated with menus and drinks pretty quickly. My mom ordered her usual fish and chips, but with sweet potato tots instead of french fries. I decided to choose something different this time...I ordered the fish tacos with baked haddock. James came with our food in about ten minutes. My mom's dish was good as usual. There was a good size piece of fish fried to a light and crisp texture. There were plenty of sweet potato tots, and, of course, it came with awesome tartar sauce and coleslaw. I got three flour fish tacos, filled with coleslaw, avocado, and, each one had a one inch piece of baked haddock in it...Seriously!! I was looking everywhere for the rest of the fish!! Now I am a rather small person. I do not eat much, but I do get hungry. I took the fish from the other tacos and put it the taco I planned on eating and made that my dinner. My mother then gave me pieces of her fish to supplement what I was served so I would have at least a few bites of fish... James had come over to our table right after he had served us our food to see if everything was ok. I showed him the amount of fish in each taco. I asked him if maybe the cook had peaked around the corner and seen that I was a small person and made a smaller portion for me since I was little (as a joke!). James apologized and said he would check on this for us. I ate my one taco; my mom finished her dinner, and we never saw James again until it was time for the check. I asked if he had spoken to someone about the teeny, weenie pieces of fish in my tacos and he said, "No, I did not." James then went and spoke with Shannon, the manager on that evening. She came over to our table and asked what the issue was. When I told her, she informed me that, "all of the tacos are weighed". Then asked if there was anything else she could do for us and said when we came back, if I ordered the tacos again, 'we will take care of you". I informed Shannon that I "would never be ordering the tacos again! ´ Would you? read more

A nice local spot with a cool bar. We ordered a ton of apps to include wings, buffalo chicken dip, onion rings, Brussel sprouts and the absolutely delicious soft pretzels. All were good but the pretzels and the warm pita chips for the buffalo chicken dip stood out. Our waiter wasn't all that enthused to be there and didn't really know anything about their decent beer selection. A good place to cozy up to the bar and enjoy a game and your favorite beverage. read more

Beyond disappointed. . . Though I didn't let our server know I was not happy. I ordered the turkey tips. We arrived at noon on Sunday. Maybe I received Saturday's leftovers. Don't know/don't care. The turkey was drier than paper. The green beans weren't cooked and the mashed potatoes MUST have been rehydrated from the night before. Full disclosure. . . We originally wanted to have lunch at The Fix but they were closed for staff appreciation day. Too bad for us. The Oak Barrel ended up with $125 of our hard earned money and my son's 32nd birthday celebration will go down in the books as a "bust!" Thanks for nothing OBT. read more

We have only been here once but the meal we had was great! Our food came out quickly and was delicious. Even my son who is a picky eater loved his meal. We will be back! read more

Love the atmosphere of the place the waitress was very attentive. The appetizer was So good it was very flavorful and fulsome but when it came to the Main course their fish and chips were subpar. It was robbery with a Burnt taste to it and also had no flavor. I would recommend her going to lunch there but not for the fish and chips. read more

Oak Barrel Tavern - Omg and that's the appetizer - Bars Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

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