The Wharf Tavern: Restaurant Review

"The Wharf fails to make a Splash"

The Wharf Tavern, located in Warren, Rhode Island is minutes away from the high class town of Barrington. Although this restaurant has a gorgeous location on the bay including dock side access for boaters, the entrees lack taste and quality.

The restaurant has a calm and warm ambiance with its frothy caramel and grayish blue wall colors. Surrounding the restaurant are large portrait windows overlooking the water. The Wharf Tavern provides dim lighting from wall sconces. Also, the piano and live band that provides the music for the guests makes it feel like you're at a millionaire's restaurant.

Although The Wharf Tavern was at its full capacity the night I dined, the waitress I had was very attentive. She wasted no time asking for drink orders and gave the table a plate of crackers with a cream cheese spread along with a basket of bread which was lightly seasoned with cracked pepper and an assortment of cheeses melted on top. She continuously refilled out water glasses and asked how everything was.

The menu had some variety to it, but nothing that stood out. Seafood, chicken, and pasta were the choices. The label "market price"- which was listed on approximately 50% of the menu items implied the food was quite expensive.

The chicken parmigiana-fresh boneless breast of chicken lightly breaded, fried and served with marinara sauce and melted cheese is what I chose to order. The meal also came with a salad which had spinach leaves and other greens that looked like it belonged on a tree branch rather than on my dinner plate. The dark purple spinach leaf was lightly coated with French dressing that left a toxic taste in my mouth.

The chicken parmigiana presentation was disappointing. The marinara sauce that coated the chicken looked as if it had been sitting on the shelf for an hour waiting to be picked up by the server. Although the waitress claimed the plate to be "very hot," the food was lukewarm.

Cutting into the chicken was effortless. The interior of the chicken was juicy and tender but completely lacked the "fried" description that was provided on the menu. The exterior of the chicken was soggy and tasted like it had just come out of a microwave from a "Hungry Man" TV dinner container. The bed of pasta that the chicken was lying on tasted like it had just gone through the strainer and had no flavor whatsoever.

Other meals that I tasted were: calamari, chicken cordon bleu, and chicken marsala. The calamari was nicely fried and sat on a bed of linguini with a mixture of banana peppers, red peppers, and black olives. The chicken cordon bleu was over cooked and the chicken was very dry and the outside layer that is supposed to be crispy was soggy. The chicken marsala was a large chicken breast soaked in wine sauce and cream that also came with linguini. From all of those choices, the calamari was the best.

Overall, the atmosphere was elegant and charming and the service was decent. However, the food was mediocre at best. The Wharf Tavern is located on 215 Water Street in Warren, Rhode Island.