dobbin house tavern

great dining spot. great food in delightful setting. excellent for tourists without being "touristy."

don't skip this historic tavern. i love the dobbin house. how many restuarants do you eat in that have a stream running through them? they have a nice menu, good service, and good food. don't miss the french onion soup!

definitely historic and fairly good food. friendly wait staff helps the place. draft beers downstairs in the cellar restaurant which is cozy but fun

good food but the atmosphere and confections are what really make this place. you eat in a large “spring cellar” that was part of the house and lit by candles servers in period appropriate garb

everything we got was devine. amazing dinner recommend to everyone

my husband and i had our wedding reception there in the abigail adams ballroom. i honestly don't remember what the food tasted like that day, so we decided to go back for an anniversary dinner. the dining experience was unique in that we were dining in the library section of the house. the wait staff was incredibly attentive, and the food was amazing. i ordered the gettystown shrimp and my husband ordered the steak. we were pleasantly surprised that not only did it taste great, but the portions were large as well. highly recommend this place.

unique,casual dining experience in the springhouse tavern. this colonial tavern, which is gettysburg oldest standing building, is set among 3 natural springs and 2 glowing fireplaces. there are candles at each table as well as at the bar, which is where we sat. the dining tables are communal style-like at hofbraus house if you are familiar with there. it opens at 11:30am, we arrived at 12:15pm, and were able to grab the last two seats at the bar. apparently the dining room was already on a 45 minute wait. going back to the history of the house, it was also used as a stop on the underground railroad and you can go tour upstairs and see the crawlspace that was the main hiding place. all of the walls are stone and the handcarved woodwork has been restored throughout the tavern to it's original 1800s appearance. all of the staff wears period clothing which is another neat point of interest. now onto the dining experience....
we each ordered a beer (troegs perpetual ipa for me and yuengling for him)and it came served in a goblet as it would have back during the civil war era. service was very friendly and quick. i chose to do the "gill of porridge and 1/2 sandwich". i chose to substitute the baked king's onion soup for the porridge. for the sandwich i chose 1/2 of a turkey sandwich on wheat with lettuce and tomato-dijon on the side. it came with a choice of side too and i chose potato salad (other choices were chips or coleslaw). the soup came first and instead of a cup it was a massive bowl! it was very freshly made with chunks of beef in the soup and lots of onions. the cheese ontop was plentiful and the pieces of bread in the soup were delicious too. this was handsdown the best french onion soup i have ever eaten! only way it could have been improved was if it were served a bit warmer. my boyfriend ended up finishing it for me since there was such a huge portion. the sandwich was basic-no explanation needed. it was ok. the potato salad was really,really tasty with a bit of a mustard taste to it which i enjoy. my boyfriend ordered th e dobbin's hot beef sandwich-tender roast beef piled high on a hearth baked roll. served up with its own juices for dipping. he chose coleslaw for his side. he said this is the sandwich he always gets and he was practically salivating coming into town looking forward to this sandwich! we will be back here the next time we are in gettysburg and i highly recommend this as a must-see destination while in town.

interesting history & decent food. it's a cool place to eat, the house itself has history & was part of the underground railroad. the food is ok. nothing great, but certainly not bad. the service is friendly. the experience can be fun (period dining) if you're in the mood for that. and honestly, there are limited options for eating in gettysburg & so if you want more than a casual dinner out, this is about as good as it gets.

go off season. generally i love this place always go there when in town, last visit was fair, the tavern in the basement is my favorite, must have new help, barmaid refused to acknowledge i wanted to check out, so when i took my bill to the cashier (after 10 minutes or so) she was right on it then she was adamant i was to pay thru her, it will be a while before i'm back.
(side note: prices need to be a lil more realistic)

location is great, food is so-so. we ate here due to the good reviews. the atmosphere is fantastic but the food was not great. we had the rueben, crab cakes and hot roast beef sandwich. they were mediocre at best. i would not recommend eating here unless you want to experience the history of the building.

open face reuben on rye (hot deli sandwich). this is a jewel for reuben lovers... as well as a bargain.
layers of delish wonderment!
with a side of potato salad, it was a great late dinner!

very unique, great menu, excellent service. great for large groups or dinner for 2.

we had high hopes for the tavern but were pretty disappointed. my clam chowder was too salty to eat and meg husbands french onion soup was just ok. the fruit tray appetizer was decent but i expected more out of the cheese (it was just a chunk of cream cheese) and the fruit selection. the crab cakes were decent. overall i think this place thrives on being a tourist trap and the food is disappointing.

excellent dinner. service was very attentive. 5 seafood meals at our table, all very good to excellent. very interesting building. give it a try.

reviews misleading. we were so looking forward to dinner in the alexander dobbins dining room (we were seated in the library). alas, the food did not live up to the hype. the onion soup was tasty if you like tons of cheese and a bit of soup. our entrees were mediocre at best. my husband had one of the crab dishes-just cooked lump crab with a taste of butter; not the menu description. i ordered the small portion of prime rib medium rare-it arrived cooked to medium at best, about a quarter-inch 'thick' slice, and almost cold.
our waitress was wonderful especially since she was doing everything-no one to bus tables, serve water or bread.
this is mainly a tourist trap with most of the 'crafts' made in china.