Essex House and Tavern

Our first family trip to Island Pond. Driving around saw Essex Tavern, went in and happily were seated. Our server was great, very attentive and food was very good. Glad we found.

My wife and I are staying in Brighton at an airbnb to photograph fall foliage and stopped here for dinner our first night in town. The service is great and the food is not only delicious but very visually presentable. I had the steak bites and my wife had the chicken vino. The steak was very juicy, ordered medium. The chicken was flavorful and juicy too. The place was decently packed but we had no wait and were sat as soon as we walked in. So far this is our most favorite place to eat in town.

Cool spot in a neat little town. Great food and drinks. Friendly staff!

We love this place! The rooms, the food and the staff, are always wonderful. This is the jewel of the Northeast Kingdom.

Have been here a couple of times now and each time has been great, great food, great service and great drinks!!!

Great visit for a late lunch. We didn't stay in the rooms but heard good things about the restaurant. Very friendly staff.

In town from MD, last-minute reservation. The food was wonderful and the staff was excellent!!

I live in Montreal and head over to Vermont every two weeks for an ATV riding weekend with my son. We have stayed in small hotels, Inns and lodges in rural areas all over Vermont. This is by far our favourite place to date. The room was clean, comfortable and cool (ac 👍🏻). The food was was really good, even my picky son finished his plate. The service couldn’t have been better, and the hotel host took such good care of us and made sure that we had everything we need. We will definitely return.

What a wonderful place to drink and have dinner!

Resturant was great! Quick service, and great food. Large servings, Haddock Ruben was fantastic. Will return!

Always a great experience here!
The food is excellent, with an ample and varied menu, so there's something for everyone (and I am vegan!)
The servers are super friendly and efficient, and the prices are what I would consider moderate.
So if you are visiting Island Pond, treat yourself to lunch or dinner here! Enjoy!

Best food and service in Vermont. If your service is slow, it's because they are slammed! Why are they slammed? Because this place is the best. Relax, enjoy. Don't leave bad reviews because you are impatient or you're just a typical Karen.

I have been driving by this place for a year and on Mother's Day I decided to stop. Glad I did. Lunch was busy but was able to find a seat at the bar. Had bacon wrapped scallops. Wish I had taken a picture. Also had the fish n chips. Expertly cooked. Not too much breading or over cooked. The only thing that I didn't like was the coleslaw as was lacking in taste and dressing.
Too bad I waited so long to stop

The food is always good and the service is good too !! The bartender was my favorite I forgot her name but she knows my dad Larry ,and a lot of people from what I saw, by name and it’s just good to have that personal experience

You will not leave this place hungry! Food is great, portions are huge, and staff is very friendly and attentive. We sat in the dining room area, and we had plenty of room. Note - the bathroom is just for 1 person so you have to keep an eye out for who's in there.

My family had dinner here one Friday evening. It was busy but there was a table ready for the 6 of us. All of the staff we meet were very friendly and helpful. We had a mix of vegitarian and meat dishes and they were all great. The craft beer selection is also great. We started with the pretzels and they were warm and delicious. We finished our meals and shared two desserts and they were out of this world! A great place in a small town and definitely worth a stop.

Food and service is excellent! We came with some friends that live near here and they come here a lot. We had the Cheese curds, Poutine, Haddock sandwich, veggie melt and onion rings. My girlfriend couldn’t stop raving about the veggie melt made with Havarti-dill cheese. Would definitely come back for any of those items but would like to try many items from the rest of the menu. Debbie B. was our outstanding server and was very nice and talkative. Great experience!

We have been to the Essex house, on a previous visit to island pond. It was delicious then! We went for lunch today. Our server, Diane took very good care of us! Food again, was delicious! Service was outstanding!! A fantastic place to go!!

We went here for lunch with our kids ages 2 and 6. Service was good and the food was great. Portion size was fine everything was cooked well and prices were fair. You can tell that they have worked really hard to update this place and it shows. We will definitely be back next time we are camping in IP.

Spontaneously stopped in while on a road trip to the NEK. Pleasantly surprised by the food and the service. Hot and on time. Delicious too. Definetley stopping in again