Tavern 17

Celebrated my wife finishing her summer classes here. Stopped by for some drinks and snacks around 6pm. Waitress was here-and-there, not really there. Ate some sliders...they don't have buns anymore?! Served on oversized bread slices. Checked my bank account following night to see the staff thought they should add another 50% to my tip. Chk'd my copy of the bill to confirm. Don't feel like going here again. Better food, wine and staff in many places in the city. Pros: Good wine list ($$$$$) Cons: So-so food that is expensive, service lacks more

Unfortunately, I have been here twice, and I hated it both times, and will not go back. The first time I went was with about 5 people after work for Happy Hour. At a place called Tavern 17, I was expecting it to be a tavern-ish place, but the vibe it has is quite the opposite. I felt like they were trying to be some swank Rittenhouse bar, but falling exteremely short. The staff is less than friendly, the specials are awful, and we were given a hard time when it came to seating us. The 2nd time we went (again, a group of about 5-6 after work), they switched our table while we were still sitting there!! Pros: Center City location- easy to get to Cons: Service, bathroom is in the hotel next door, high prices for low quality more

I agree. The sliders are a deal and a half. Pros: DELICIOUS!! more

Want a beer and a good plate its the place to be. I went over to Tavern 17 with one of my friends for a happy hour drink and was pleasantly surprised. The selection was large and their sliders were awesome. I would definitely come back here to try dinner. Great find! Pros: Happy Hour Special $2 drafts Cons: pretty quiet atmosphere more

You know the feeling when you really want to be sick but can't? That's how I feel after just returning from Tavern 17. Everything was terrible. First we attempt to sit in a row of seats squished so they literally touch each other. Then, the ""family style"" appetizers arrived, consisting of 3-5 pieces of fried stuff per every 8-10 people. Some of us ate, others were left out. Then we wait. Then, the sauces for the appetizers came out, long after everyone had already finished the appetizers. I am fairly sure they were store-bought and microwaved, but it didn't matter since we were done with the over-fried, cardboard-like appetizers. Run out of the lovely luke-warm tap water that was already on the table before we arrived? Too bad! We wait some more. By the time we were getting ready to order a pizza to be delivered into the restaurant, we got our... BREAD! This was, of course, after they took away our small plates, so there was nowhere to put our bread. We wait some more. And more. Some people got their main dishes--the chicken (advertised as 1/2 chicken with pears and string potatoes) was different for everyone that ordered it, and resembled quail... though it wouldn't surprise me if it was pigeon. Uhh... I just almost threw up again. The vegetarians got panini sandwiches (normally a lunch food?), and others got dingy-looking salads that were wet and browning. We waited around, most of us left. Those that hung around got a ""dessert"", which was a pound cake from CVS with canned peaches on top and a spray of whipped cream. They ran out of canned peaches and gave others an unidentifiable canned replacement fruit. This cost $30. Un-freaking-believable! I have NEVER had such a bad meal before. Some people said this place has good happy hour sliders, but that is just not possible. NOTHING good could have ever come out of the same kitchen. It was like a Chef Jeff project (ex-convicts-turned-chefs) gone wrong, terribly wrong. Do not ever come here! Pros: Nothing, absolutely nothing. Perhaps the view out of the restaurant as we left. Cons: Everything more

This was so terrible. Pros: Delish sliders Cons: Service is atrocious - no one was there and we were asked if we had reservations!!! more

Went with a large group of people. The service was not very good and the food was worse. When I looked around the table of about 20, NO ONE was eating their food. I had turkey and it was dry and awful. I do recommend the strawberry basil drink, but everytime I ordered one, it came out different (???) Definitely will NOT go back! more

Our first clue should have been when we made the reservation, the host said, ""um, you do realize you are calling Tavern 17 right""? It was empty on a Saturday night. Service was blah, they were out of several beer selections. Food was mediocre at best. I had the roased chicken with squash and apples. The squash and apples were literally just chopped and maybe baked, no flavor at all. The chicken was extremely dry and also had no flavor. They were out of hummus for the appetizer we wanted. The tuna tartare was surprisingly good. The dishes had no creativity, no flair, and definitely not enough good flavor. The final straw was that in order to use the restroom, you have to go to the attached hotel and obtain a key from the fron desk clerk. seriously? We would not ever eat here again. Pros: cool decor Cons: food more

If this restaurant wasn't attached to a hotel, they would not have any customers, but they benefit mostly from unsuspecting hotel guests. The food is so bad that I had to write about it immediately upon finishing my lunch. My husband ordered a pork chowder soup that was actually fairly tasty, but overloaded with salt, so it was inedible. My Chopped Salad consisted of food of a ""funky"" consistency that I wondered whether the chopped pork was canned meat and the sliced avocado frozen from last year. It was quite unapetizing and I am the sort who will eat anything. My husband's turkey panini sandwitch was bland. It was hot and grilled on the outside, but the meat and cheese frozen on the inside. The waitress was some lazy zombie who looked like she would rather pump gas than serve. The place is very pretty and the decor very mod, but the clientele consists of foreign tourists and those who don't know that decent food is just around the corner. There is no reason to return here. Pros: Decor Cons: Bad food, lazy service more

We eat out a lot in Philly and Tavern 17 was the worst experience we've ever had! We arrived on Christmas Eve with a reservation - the place was pretty empty, maybe this should have been our first clue . We were seated right away and given menus and water - the only good part of the evening. Then after being seated for 20 minutes and no waiter even taking a drink order - we polited asked the hostess if we could just sit at the bar so that we could get a drink and order some food - we never received an apology for the poor service (it's not like they were busy). I asked the bartender about two of the specialty martinis on the menu and he suggested ""his specialty martini"" instead. Hts specialty was a glass of Irish cream with some choclate syrup - not exactly what I'd call a ""specialty martini"", another bartender did replace this with a cosmo, which was worse - it was all cranberry juice. The Seafood Cocktail Flight had rubbery scallops and a few broken pieces of baby shrimp with very bland sauces - one was just mayo. The Lamb Sheppard's Pie had NO lamb but did have one big chunk of grizzle. We let the bartender know as politely as possible without sounding liking constant complainers but he did nothing, except ask us at the end of the meal if my husband found any meat yet, to which we answered NO. The bartender then commented, ""Well, at least I didn't do anyting wrong."" Maybe if he had told the chef to give my husband some meat, he would have done something right! My steak was ordered medium rare (the waitress said to let her know if it's too rare and she can always have it done a bit more) but there was no need for that, it was more medium well than even medium and came with soggy mashed potatos and no veggies. Avoid this place at all costs, there are tons of great restaurants in the city - this one should be closed! I could tell you more about how bad the food and service were but I'm out of room. Pros: Nice looking place Cons: Bad Food, Bad Service and no one seems to care! more

****** Pros: GREAT BARTENDERS ""TO TO THE BAR ONLY"" Cons: BAD MUSIC more

My bridal shower was on Saturday so we planned Friday night for a bridesmaid dinner. A couple of the girls couldn't go so it was only 5 of us. Where do I begin? I have NEVER in my life had such an awful dining experience. If it weren't for the girls making each other laugh through it, I may have cried. It took 20 minutes for the server to even ask if we wanted a drink. We noticed the wine flights on the menu and thought it was a fun idea. Another 15 minutes and the waiter came over, putting down several flights, mumbling what they were and then walking away. Another 5 minutes and he took our order, never looking up from his notepad. Our appetizers came out about 40 minutes later- with no side plates. He ran by and put a stack of them down after we were done our apps! Our entrees came out AS we were eating the apps. Our flight and drink glasses were NEVER cleared, even though we ordered, or should I say begged for, several more glasses of wine. We asked to see the manager, who said he'd been slammed with restaurant week and would try to help us out with the bill and thanks for telling him. I told him that it wasn't about money and that I wanted him to know what was going on. Not one person, including the manager, said he/she was sorry. He left the table without clearing ONE glass or plate himself. 3 food-runners came over and each took a plate. The rest of the plates and glasses remained piled on the table. We had to go to the restroom and needed a hotel room key to do so, as it was located in the radisson, which the restaurant connects with. The flatbreads and appetizers were good- or maybe we were just starving, as our reservation was for 8 PM and we weren't served until at least 10 PM. The entrees were mediocre. My friend approached the manager for a 2nd time, in which he asked for the bill and took off $100. It was a nice thing to do- but I'd NEVER return. This place will never last and just lost some potentially VERY loyal customers. Pros: different foods to choose from Cons: horrible service, tries to do too many different things and gets lost, food mediocre at best more

The food, drinks, ambiance, decor, atmosphere, service and anything else were 2nd to none. Just one more place in Philly that we lucked into and loved everything about it. more