Shields Tavern

Spectacular! Seated in the parlor room main level. Had a fantastic meal of squash soup, shrimp, ham biscuit, and a terrific glaze on chicken. Actually took home my bourbon pecan pie as I was so stuffed but knew I wanted it too! Excellent attentive friendly service offered up with the history of this tavern. Saw the original gigantic fireplace in the lower level as I passed by on the way to the nice ladies restroom. The mandolin player who came in to our room to entertain was good and had an excellent singing voice as well as telling us some history of how the original tavern rented violins etc to tavern goers and then they played and possibly got free drinks from others. A great experience here tonight. Be sure you make reservations. I did mine on open table.

My wife and I were on a well bedded vacation and celebration of our second anniversary. We went to Williamsburg because I’ve fallen in love with the culture there. We went to the Shields Tavern last night and it was a wonderful experience. We had a Southern dish and it was quite delightful, and they gave us the history of of the Tavern and I’m a old history buff. Great experience for all.

Paid $30 for a fist size portion of pork and probably a half a cup of cabbage, the waitress was fantastic and the little bit of food I had was really good. My husband got the fried chicken which was plentiful so he shared with me. Everything was fine until I got home and checked my bank statement... they CHARGED ME TWICE for the dinner !!! Which means we were out $71, our gas money for the week. I called right away and was told their “manager” would call me back. Two days later no phone call, so I call again and left a message. And then again. And finally I got a call back and was basically told tough luck , I don’t what to tell you, call your bank. So I called my bank, they aid there was no refund. She sent me an email showing me some paper from the restaurant that shows they “opened the ticked” which should have produced a refund... but I clearly didn’t so then I was told I don’t know what to tell you , that’s what it says. Was offered no compensation for the incredible hassle, check your bank account after you eat here!

I ate here with my family for dinner. We had a reservation for five. However, even though there were many larger tables open we were seated at a table for four and the staff just added a chair to the end. This made the table much too crowded and really was unnecessary when there were other options. The food was fine but nothing amazing. Even though on their menu online they had a less expensive chicken dish option that choice wasn’t on the menu the night we were there. In its place was a $35 fried chicken dinner that came with soup and a dish of ice cream for dessert. Everyone else in my family ordered that and the felt everything was just “ok”. I order a seafood pasta dish that came out lukewarm which made the sauce goopy and unappetizing. There were no dinner options less than $35. For a family of five, with only one person ordering any alcohol, the bill came to $250. Even accounting for the fact that we understood we would be paying extra for the atmosphere prices were way too much to justify. The wait staff was fine. However, with prices being so high expectations rise. When I’m leaving a $50 tip on a normal length meal I would expect there to be attention to detail. There was a rushed feeling from our waitress and questions were brushed off. A highlight was the musician strolling around. He sang and played his instrument well.