This place is amazing... IF you go inside. However, they treat their takeout customers like most businesses. They'll give you whatever is lying around because they know it's hard to complain about takeout. My entrée was cold and it tasted sub-par. When I get a table, everything is incredible. read more

This place is a hidden gem right in our neighborhood. Went to Thorndale Inn with a large group of friends for HH during the week. The owner Sam was very accommodating. Our server did an excellent job tending to our large group. The food was incredible. The best potato skins I ever had. Prices were reasonable. Atmosphere was lovely with a fire in the fireplace. I will definitely go back. Highly recommend! Thank you Thorndale Inn read more

I always forget about Thorndale Inn as being a great place to get a nice dinner! Always good, warm and welcoming! Not many good restaurants out this way but Thorndale Inn! read more

We started with Bloody Marys & Dirty Martinis, little clams perfectly steamed with hot butter and lemon. Excellent Entrees Fish Combo & Crab Legs very fresh and tasty! We topped off with a slice of Carrot Cake & Getman Chocolate Cake while watching the Thursday night Phillies game & Eagles game Live music was super chill! read more

Great Happy Hour menu 4-6 pm! Huge Caesar salads at $5 each. We also split Cheesesteak Egg Rolls and a 12-inch pizza. Oof. Lots of food in the to-go boxes for tomorrow. The pizza was delicious with real kitchen ingredients, i.e. chopped quality mushrooms and olives, loads of cheese, and handmade crust. Same for the Caesar: homemade croutons and dressing. We had never had a "Philly Cheesesteak Eggroll," and it was a taste treat, especially with the bacon-cheese-catsup sauce. Service was quick, polite, and efficient. It's a casual sports bar atmosphere with mostly boomer age folks, (like us.) The attached restaurant looks very elegant, but we didn't check it out. read more

Thorndale Inn - Caesar Salad - Lounges Near Me - Downingtown, Pennsylvania

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The food at the Thorndale Inn was amazing! The service was ok, but only waitress there seemed unenthusiastic. The ambiance leaves a lot to be desired. Upon arriving into entry, it is quite musty smelling. Finishings are dated and carpeting could use a good cleaning, along with dated draperies. It would also do a lot if spent bulbs were replaced. It's a shame place has not updated since the 70s. read more

Came here for the Thanksgiving buffet since my sister had to work on the holiday. We called in advance to place reservation. The owner was nice. The day of we were able to be seated early and wow, so glad we did! By the time 3:00-3:30 rolled around, the buffet line was literally out the door! Might be a better practice to take phone numbers and have people wait in the car until a table is free. Customers also do what they want. The table next to us moved across the room without telling their server...just because they felt like it. There was also an elderly lady grabbing mini eclairs with her hands and munching on them on her way back to her table. (Obviously not the servers/employees fault but still worth noting) In regards to the food, I feel like it was average. I didn't get a photo of the regular buffet but it had turkey, ham, lasagna (meat), Shrimp/scallops/rice, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans, stuffing, The ham was cooked well (didn't like the sauce), lasagna was good, scallops were wonky, mashed potatoes were instant (needed gravy and salt). Dessert was okay but a little chaotic. Again, it might have been better to have precut slices of cake/pie ready to go on the plates to grab. The mini eclairs and cream puffs still had condensation from being defrosted. Even though there were tongs available, I saw an older woman grabbing mini eclairs with her hands and eating them on the way back to the table. (One of the reasons I hate buffets. People who touch stuff with their hands!) It's a shame because the staff was nice (but understandably overwhelmed). read more

Thorndale Inn - Thanksgiving dessert buffet - Lounges Near Me - Downingtown, Pennsylvania

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If you're not a local or regular be prepared to be ignored at the bar. Sat and waited for a drink refill and to order and bartender just would talk to/take care of the regulars. I left. read more

i was enjoying my hot roast beef sandwich until I was chewing and noticed something in my mouth. It was a small piece of wire. I mentioned it to the waitress who then called over the owner. Well let's just say he really didn't care. He did offer me another sandwich (which I declined) but told me that my sandwich was on the grill and the wire was from the brush they use to clean it. Didn't offer an apology and didn't comp my meal. Nothing at all except I can get you another sandwich. Horrible experience and rude person. read more

We came for dinner. Wait person was friendly and personable. I asked for brands of an alcohol and my partner ordered his drink. He drink was served and it took 10 minutes for her to bring the brand names and another 8 or 10 minutes to get my drink which had salt when I ordered no salt. The lobster bisque was ok but salty. My partner's lobster bisque was forgotten. We ordered pot roast and crab cakes. My partner liked his pot roast but it came with the wrong vegetable. My crab cakes were mediocre at best, again too salty and oily. I ordered creme brule which I waited 10 minutes for and we decided to leave and canceled it but was told it "was up" so we decided to get it to go. Then we were told it was burnt and was the last one! read more

Not impressed. Overpriced. The place had a distinct musty odor. Had a shrimp cocktail. Couldn't finish it, it tasted off. Nah. Never again.

Tried to eat here but no one came up to seat us and we rang the hostess bell and waited but no one came. The place smelled like an old musty carpet so we left. read more

Thanksgiving Dinner 2024 - For years I've heard that the Thorndale Inn had a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner buffet. I made a reservation by calling the restaurant and I asked what they would be serving. I was told they would have salads (plural), turkey, ham, roast beef, all the fixings, desserts, etc. Well,the buffet might have had all those things, but really it only had 1 salad, a large bowl of romaine lettuce with smaller bowls filled with grape tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, sliced red onion, cucumbers, cheese, croutons and choice of 3 dressings. The lettuce was not washed very well, I only had 3 bites of my salad which all had grit so that was that. The dinner buffet offered 1 large pan of pre-sliced turkey breast meat which was heated in a gravy. No dark meat, the sliced breast meat tasted like the pre-cooked Butterball turkey breast meat from the deli counter looked like it too. Cranberry sauce was good. Dressing - stovetop... Yep! And it still had crunchy bits of bread and un-rehydrated veggies. When I had called, they said they would have "roast beef"... When I think of roast beef being served at a buffet, I think of a carving station... My bad... It was a pan of cubed meat in gravy... Very tender and good flavor, but it wasn't "roast beef". They had a pasta dish on the buffet, not sure if it was supposed to be a lasagna, but it was a sloppy gooey mess, pasta was so over cooked and starchy and literally swimming in a sauce that came from a jar... Ragu I believe. Oh, they had ham, which was also precooked deli ham slices swimming on a fruit sauce of canned fruit. I tried the seafood Newburg which at first tasted good, but then the next few bites had a really unpleasant seafood flavor. It was also made with Surimi (fake crab). Husband tried the salmon but he said it was way over cooked and again the flavor a little too off for his liking. Green beans... Haricot Vert cooked perfectly!!!! Mashed potatoes, average, made from real potatoes not boxed, a little dry and hard to scoop, could have used some more half-n-half or milk to make them creamer. I passed on the sweet potatoes, and the gravy was very runny and unexciting... reminded me of something from a package mix. Desserts most were not house made I tried the carrot cake which I recognized as a Pellman's frozen cake, my husband had the pecan pie which was your average store-bought pie. Staff were attentive, but when we were leaving and I tried to talk to one of them, she wouldn't give me one moment of her time and told me I had to talk to my own server... So, we will not be dining at the Thorndale Inn again... Next Thanksgiving we will be back at the Stone Barn. read more

Tried THE THORNDALE INN for the first time. We loved our meal. They were very busy and short staffed.... but they managed to serve us A VERY TASTY AND TIMELY MEAL. We met the owner , Sam. He's owned the INN for 36 years ... his pride was showing! We will be certain to return and bring some friends. read more

This is a great little place to stop. My boyfriend's family and I stopped in today (a Sunday) around 3:30pm for a late lunch. It was our first time visiting. The place is sort of divided into two sides: dining room and sports bar. The entrances are on opposite sides of the restaurant. We did make the mistake of sitting in the dining room, but we were the only group there. The dining room is definitely finer dining, averaging $30/plate. We opted for the "lunch menu" which was honestly just the sports bar side's menu. There were a lot of options: soup, sandwiches, flatbreads, salads, and burgers. I had the roast beef sandwich and it was amazing! The au jus was very tasty. Another person in my party had the fish and chips. They were heavily beer-bartered, but it worked well. Two members of my party had soup--one was carrot ginger and the other was corn crab. Both were good. The corn soup was VERY heavy on crab, so it's a good value if you like seafood a lot! We will definitely be back. read more

OUTSTANDING MENU! Fine dining? You betcha! I wasn't expecting Surf and Turf. I wasn't expecting veal, crab imperial, fillet mignon or any of the other high end entrees that were available. They do have pub menu with wings, burgers, cheese steaks etc. Next time you are leaving looking for a nice night out, check out this local restaurant. Trivia nights, karaoke and murder mysteries too! read more

One of the worst dining experiences of our lives. Came here to try a local place and we were wanting to like this place. My wife is gluten-free. Not as a faddish thing; she gets genuinely sick for days after ingesting gluten in very small amounts. After 3 separate conversations with the server and also with a host who checked on us, we were assured her dish would be made without gluten. The server was actually pretty flippant about making sure - should have been our warning sign. It wasn't gluten free of course. Large piece of bread soaking in the sauce under the scallops. We ended up leaving without eating anymore. First time in my life I've had to leave a restaurant like that. But that was just the icing on the cake. The whole experience was probably 2 stars anyway. My martini wasn't dirty as I ordered. The extra brine for it took 10 minutes to deliver. A soda had an overly carbonated taste at first, and the replacement drink came in a chipped glass. The shrimp cocktail appetizer costing $10 was 5 shrimp about the size of an index finger each. And the service was very slow and she seemed very uninterested in helping us. Felt like we were bothering her. I've been a server, and I have extreme compassion for the hard work being a server is. But she was not into working for whatever reason. And the whole gluten thing... the server should be in the kitchen checking and double checking that her tables are getting exactly what they order - especially when she is told that someone at the table absolutely unable to have an ingredient. Pains me to leave this review, because I don't like to tear places down. But this was warranted unfortunately. We ended up at Chili's and had a good dinner with much more attentiveness - and at least as high of quality of food for a fraction of the price. read more

We hit the Thorndale Inn a few times the past few years, as we live close by and pass it daily. The food was good, but for the price it should be exceptional. The same should go for the waiting staff. When spending $130+ on dinner for two, I expect A+ food and service, but received a B-. Here was the problem. At the end of the night, the owner would not accept our $25 gift certificate. He stated that they no longer deal with Restaurants.com, even though the gift certificate was purchased less than a year ago and states that it "never expires." He became quite combative and embarrassed us, told us to get our money back from the website?!? It was a gift. Really Mr. Owner, you would not honor a $25 gift certificate on a $156 dinner?!? (Yes I still tipped our server 20%, since it was not her fault) I hope the $25 was worth it Mr. Owner, because we will not be back, even though we are local. It's evident by the empty tables for a Friday night that he needs every penny he can get. 2000hr and only three tables, including ours were filled. read more

This place was not great. The waiter who served us was friendly but I could see right through his polo shirt; it had been washed so many times it was becoming transparent. The dinner was okay but the portions did not reflect the price. On my next visit, I went to the bar and ordered the cheese fries thinking it was an easy dish not to be messed up. Touché, Thorndale Inn you got me! The fries were over cooked and the cheese was burned. I will not be retuning again. read more

My wife and I went here Thursday late afternoon. We went to the sports bar entrance to try an appetizer and get a drink. We were thinking of going there for dinner if we liked the place. Needless to say we are not going there for dinner. We ordered an artichoke and crab dip appetizer. That's what the menu said. What was delivered was a spinach cream cheesy sauce with cheese on the top that was put under the broiler to blacken. We could not find any artichoke or crab although there was a seafood taste probably with some artificial flavor. We asked to talk to the owner.... he did come over and offered to take the dish off our bill. After pointing out that what was delivered was not what was advertised on the menu the owner said they cannot list all of the ingredients on the menu. That was not the concern. The concern was there were none of the ingredients advertised on the menu. After discussing this again the owner then told us he could not deliver the ingredients at the price point on the menu and said it was their best seller. What??????? The price point does not allow them to put the real ingredients in the dish. WOW........ Fast forward to this afternoon. We were having dinner with another couple at our golf club and I brought up whether they had been to the Thorndale Inn. They said they were forced to go there with another couple. Needless to say their experience wasn't great either. If you decide to go be forewarned. read more

This was my first visit to the Thorndale Inn. We went with some family visiting from out of town. It was not my choice to go here, being from the area I knew this place had the reputation as an expensive place to dine. They have revamped their menu and now have entries around 15 bucks which is not bad. Service was solid but a bit slow. Food was of decent quality...A mix of American and Italian dishes. The place feels kinda dated inside, a bit dark and formal feeling. If they are going for a more casual menu the decour should be toned down a bit, I felt like I should have been wearing a suit rather than the shorts tee shirt and flip flops I wore in. read more

Came in here one night for dinner with my family. Our waiter was an older man but very attentive and wrote everything down to ensure he got everything we asked for. The food was delicious, very fresh. I ordered some sort of chicken with mushrooms and greens, it was awesome. Although it is a bit pricey, it is a great meal. Portion sizes big enough to bring home. Also, good soup! read more

Entrees come with a huge loaf of bread, salad, the best potatoes ever and a few pieces of vegetable. Medium price but I left full. The creme brulee was a downer. There was a stench I quickly got used to. Great service. Worth a try read more

We have been going to this place for two years for the trivia on Wednesdays. Let's just say that was the draw and certainly not the food or service. Over the course of the two years, we've on average brought in 6-15 people every Wednesday just in our group for this event. When we had larger numbers, we always broke up into smaller teams. We kept coming after they removed the special pub menu with lower-priced appetizers after 8:30pm and actually starting spending more on higher-priced dinners. Apparently, as we learned last night, the owner doesn't care about people coming in to spend money in his business and instead was quite overt in turning us away (the third week in a row) from trivia because we keep winning. Seriously?! We've collectively spent thousands of dollars at the place, always paid our bill in full and used the "prize money" as a generous tip for our server. The owner's plan is to move trivia to a different night and institute a size limit on teams starting in April. If that is the case, then why refuse to hold trivia last night with multiple teams in attendance? Obviously, they just wanted our party to leave - even after two members of our group, who live 30 minutes away, called earlier in the day to confirm that trivia was going to be held. The small-mindedness of this owner is shocking! Even after this shabby treatment, we were willing to stay, finish our drinks, and order dinner but then the server threw the bill for our drinks down on our table and didn't even ask if we wanted anything else. Then, upon hearing my unhappiness with how were being treated, our server and the bartender started starting sniping about us behind the bar. At that point I asked to speak to the manager and waited an excessive amount of time for him not to show up. Only, as we were heading out the door, did he make an appearance. He only showed up because part of our group paid with a gift certificate from a previous win. The amount more than covered the bill and a generous tip but the owner would not allow the server to cash out the balance for her tip and instead said she would have to hold onto the balance and use it as cash. Good Lord is this guy tight! We took the opportunity to express to him our displeasure about how we were treated that night but he really didn't care. He proceeded to lie and contradict statements made by the trivia host just minutes earlier. To suffer this discrimination after frequenting this establishment was appalling! We will not be going back EVER (which is what they want)! Not sure how you can sustain a business when your operating model is turning customers away?! read more

My buddy and i stopped in for lunch a week ago we never been there and thought we stopped in , we had lunch in the sports bar the food was very good not one complaint . The bar was well lit and tv's on each wall and booths were clean , the whole bar was clean . read more

Just had Thanksgiving dinner at the Thorndale Inn. The buffet meal was very good and plentiful, with a great selection for everyone. The dessert table was yummy, as was our coffee. read more

it's been two weeks and when I think about the food I still gag. Over priced and disgusting

Wanted to try something new so we decided to go to the Thorndale Inn. I summary, AMAZING! The food was absolutely delicious - well seasoned, creative, and cooked to perfection! The waiting staff was attentive, kind, and cheerful! What a great experience! We can't wait to go back! read more

Used to eat at Thorndale Inn a lot as we got consistently good food. We moved away for several years and then returned to the area. Been back a couple of times since then. Dissapointed. Food just OK but service spotty. Place all but deserted and we felt like afterthoughts. Largest issue is price/value relationship. Just not there. Sense is they are high priced. I have no issue with high prices if food and service is very good. Not seeing it at the Thorndale Inn right now. Hope they can turn it around as area could use a first class restaurant. read more

We had a group of ten, and the rest of the dining room was empty. Service was extremely slow. Our food came out in random stages. It took a long time to get a drink and if you were lucky it was the right one. The tortellini was over cooked and only had three scallops and three shrimp on it, for $26 not worth it. The linguini with seafood came out with angle hair pasta and it was just not good. In my opinion the food was overpriced and the place was outdated and smelly. We will not be going back ever. read more

We landed here because this place was close to home and wanted to go out for Valentines day. To start the decor in here has obviously not been updated since the 60's. Besides from that my boyfriends meal of the salmon was excellent. I got an appetizer and was less then thrilled. The service here is so so. Very friendly waitress but forgot our soup and also was pretty slow in getting refills and the basics. read more

The service was painfully slow. I thought our waitress went home mid service. They food was meh. We won't be back.

Went to a birthday party with a buffet set up. Food was great. Salad, ravioli, chicken, green beans and potatoes. Waitresses were great and efficient. Food was hot and ready to go when the birthday boy arrived. This is the 2nd time I have been to a party at the Thorndale Inn and would recommend it to everyone. read more

The bar in this inn is great. Large. When you sit down your not on top of anyone. They make the best BLT sandwich in Chester County!!

We were with a group of 8 and had a private room. The food was delicious. I had the beef wellington and it was done perfectly. The waitstaff was very attentive. We lingered over coffee and didn't feel rushed. I've been here before and received the same service and excellent meal. Can the place be spruced up a little? Sure but you're always willing to overlook that if you get a good meal. read more

Horrible. Welcome to Grandma's house. Overpriced. Dank atmosphere. Grilled chicken salad - half of the chicken tasted different than the other half. The good half tasted like rubber. The rest was cheap iceberg. They obviously think they can charge a premium for craft beer since grandma knows nothing except "wow that keg costs more money than bud light ". Paid $6.25 for a beer that was worth $4 anywhere else. Total waste of time and money unless you have no taste buds and don't care about wasting money. read more

Thank you Sammy for the great service from your waitresses, bar tender and seating arrangement for our group of thirty! The food was excellent and your prices were reasonable! Everyone had a great time! read more

My wife lives in Downingtown and actually worked here during a summer years ago. So recently while I'm home on the weekend visiting her and her parents babysit the kids, we go and check it out. We started at 5pm on a Saturday in Dec and there were maybe two the people at the bar. The guy behind the bar Mark was friendly and the atmosphere was laid back. We had a couple drinks and split to Victory ( a huge change in atmosphere). Sorry to say I don't have more but I'm sure we'll be back. read more

Omg went here for happy hour. Miserable people and you must sit at the bar to partake in happy hour. Not at the tables in the bar. Really?????? Wanted to go I the main dining room after for dinner. Instead we went to Pronto. Where they are kind and I can sit anywhere for their specials. It's really a shame. Loved this place. read more

First time experiencing the Thorndale Inn after recently moving to the area. The décor is definitely dated, but clean. Service was not so good. After being seated, the waitress came over to take our drink menus and immediately asked if we wanted to put in any appetizers, we haven't even had time to open our menus. MyGF's drink (Malibu bay breeze) came with no bar straw, not a big deal, just a detail. When ordering, the waitress was definitely confused. Gf ordered a shrimp cocktail, I ordered the Crab Martinique and then onion soup at which point the waitress thought that was all we were ordering. After telling her we then wanted to order entrees she took her pad back out to take our order. She then returned with our salads that came with the entrée, before the apps and soup. Then my soup and app came at the same time. The apps were okay, although the sweet and spicy mango remoulade served with the crab fritters was spicy, but lacking flavor. For entrees I had the rack of lamb, cooked a perfect rare. The menus states it's served with potato pancakes and red wine au jus. The au jus was tasty although it was sucked up by the one large potato pancake that was under the rack of lamb. The pancake it self was more like a pancake, lacking enough potato. My Gf had the crab cakes which she didn't finish due to the flavor and consistency. Definitely lacking JUMBO lump and mushy, not fried golden brown. If a restaurant's menu states JUMBO, I'd expect JUMBO, not backfin and lump. Either use JUMBO or change the menu and price. The sides were fresh broccoli and potatoes au gratin. Both were barely warm, warm enough not to be cool but not warm enough to enjoy. The presentation was as dated as the décor. Would love to see this place invest a little money to bring it up to 2015 with both décor and menu. All in, food and service was below expectations. When our waitress asked my GF if she wanted the crab cakes wrapped she told here that she didn't care for them, they weren't very good. The waitress apologized and walked away. She came back and handed the check to me opposed to placing it on the table. She always seemed to be distracted with the table behind her, as example she would set something down on our table and was already turning to go to the other table. Management/owners are definitely working the floor and evident, so I was really surprised no one came over to apologize about the crab cake, so either they didn't care or the waitress didn't tell anyone. My guess is the latter. Will we return? Probably not. From reading the other reviews, the Thorndale Inn is behind the times in décor and menu and execution all of which we experienced during our visit. It's unfortunate since this area lacks good restaurants without having to go into West Chester or Glen Mills. read more