The Mad Hatter Winery & Smoke House

+1 570-325-9633

111 Broadway, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229 United States of America

Open Today: Closed

Quick Facts About The Mad Hatter Winery & Smoke House

The Mad Hatter Winery & Smoke House receives a mix of positive and negative reviews from customers. These comments provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the establishment:

Strengths: 1. Unique and welcoming ambiance: The Mad Hatter is praised for its wild and eclectic look, creating good vibes and a pleasant atmosphere. The presence of playable acoustic guitar and live piano music adds to the overall charm of the place.

2. Excellent breakfast and coffee: Customers appreciate the quality of breakfast and the excellent coffee served at the Mad Hatter. The pancakes and sandwiches are particularly praised for their taste and presentation.

3. Variety of food and specialty cocktails: Despite having a small menu, the Mad Hatter offers enough variety for each customer to find something they like. Additionally, customers mention the availability of specialty cocktails and the establishment's own wine.

4. Friendly and attentive staff: The maitre d'hotel, Cosgrove, is highly praised for the excellent service provided. Customers highlight the efficient service and friendly attitude of the staff.

Weaknesses: 1. Unfriendly and slow service: Some reviewers had negative experiences with the service at the Mad Hatter, with one customer expressing that they had "friendlier service at a toll booth." The service is described as slow, and there are complaints about the staff being inhospitable and not making an effort to be welcoming.

2. Uncomfortable seating and dilapidated furniture: Multiple customers mention that the tables and chairs at the Mad Hatter are child-sized, dilapidated, and uncomfortable. This negatively impacts the dining experience.

3. Lack of cleanliness: Several comments indicate that the establishment lacks cleanliness. Customers mention encountering dirty tables and crumbs on tablecloths.

4. Overpriced and underwhelming food: Some customers express disappointment with the quality of the food for the price they paid. They mention that the food is mediocre, tasteless, or missing essential ingredients such as dressing on salads. Additionally, there are complaints about the portion sizes being small.

5. Poor reservation system and long wait times: One customer shares a negative experience with their reservation, stating that their confirmed reservation was not honored upon arrival. Others mention long wait times to be seated, despite the establishment being busy.

6. Limited menu options: A few customers find the menu at the Mad Hatter to be skimpy and unimpressive. They express a desire for more diverse options.

In summary, the Mad Hatter Winery & Smoke House has strengths in its unique ambiance, excellent breakfast, and coffee, as well as a variety of food and specialty cocktails. Positive comments also highlight the friendly and attentive staff. However, the establishment faces weaknesses in terms of unfriendly and slow service, uncomfortable seating and dilapidated furniture, lack of cleanliness, overpriced and underwhelming food, a poor reservation system, long wait times, and a limited menu.

Best TL Reviews

Had a great breakfast at the Mad Hatter! Excellent coffee, good service and a really wild and eclectic look. Always nice to see a playable acoustic guitar in the corner! Very good vibes from the place. All the food looked excellent. ( We sat next to a large party and the pancakes and sandwiches looked amazing!) Next time we will go later to try the wine. Will return. And Cosgrove was a most excellent maitre d'hotel!

Wasn't sure what to expect with this place as it is relatively new and couldn't find anything online about it or a menu, but decided to check it out anyways. Small menu but enough variety for each of us to find something. The food was good and had a variety of specialty cocktails and their own wine. We had the pulled brisket sandwich, trio sampler of pulled pork, brisket and chicken sandwiches plus a sirloin and shrimp salad.

Went here for a quick bite and some drinks over my birthday weekend and really enjoyed our time here. We had chicken quesadillas which were awesome and listened to Dave play Beatles songs on the piano. Will definitely come back

I had friendlier service at a toll booth. There are signs promoting violence against the President inside. NOT PRO 2ND AMENDMENT, JUST OBNOXIOUS. It is not for tourists or adults. The tables & chairs are child-sized and dilapidated. This place feels creepy and not welcoming. The service is deathly slow. They let their dog roam through the restaurant & it kept rubbing against me while I tried to eat the food that took 45+ minutes to arrive.

They're still blaming the past pandemic for their lack of hospitality. Food is served in baskets with paper lining. Drinks are served like WAWA in the can without a glass or ice. Side dishes are served in thimble sized dixie cups. No effort is made to be slightly hospitable.

This place was unfriendly & uncomfortable and definitely not somewhere I would ever return.

Took my family to Jim Thorpe for a visit. We were hungry, so stopped in The Mad Hatter. First impression, was it was a dump, but we're in a tourist town, let's give it a shot. It got worse from there. The seats hurt our rears, and we are smallish to average size people. The tables were barely standing, rickety, with table clothes thrown over them. Ours was still dirty with crumbs. Gave our orders, and sat there for at least 45 minutes before we saw our food. All during this time, the table next to me sat full of paper plates full of food from the previous guests. After all this, the bill came.... $76 bucks for 2 kids, 2 adults. We had pulled pork sandwiches , and watered down tea, 2 cans of soda. Never again, and wouldn't recommend to anyone. This place is a complete dump, and using it's location to make a fortune of cheap pulled pork. They try to dress it up with the blind guy playing the piano, but it doesn't help. If you're hungry, I'd try eating your shoe before coming here. I can't even comprehend the positive reviews to this place, as unless you're a homeless person, this wouldn't be an acceptable place to eat anywhere.

It took me a lot of deliberation in writing this review. I don't like writing bad reviews for small businesses, so I'll start with the good and end with a good. First off, if I could give the server/host/bartender a separate rating, I'd give him a 5+!! He hosted, waited and served 10 tables plus manned a bar and still had a great attitude. Now to the rest of our experience. I ordered the half rack of ribs and it looked amazing!!! If only it tasted as good as it looked.... I wouldnt have minded the 1.5 hours of sipping on my $2.75 12oz of Canada Dry ginger ale (yes...same can you can buy in a soda machine for 75 cent). But there was no taste at all....no hint of seasoning or rub. It was as if the rack was oven "smoked", possibly with liquid smoke and then charred on a grill and sweet potato fries (actually really good, but I would have loved them better with a sprinkle of brown sugar). Maybe I got a bad one....there's always a bad rack or 2 in every batch now and then. My wife ordered a salad (which most places can't mess up), however, when hers came out it, it looked delicious but missing a vital ingredient for the taste buds.....it was missing the DRESSING. Smh one good thing about being in there for 2 hours while waiting on drinks, food and then the check, was we conversed and made new friends with several other tables that braved the wait and didn't get up after 30 minutes of waiting on drink orders to be made. We've been visiting Jim Thorpe for the past 3 years and we've passed this establishment every time and always saw the long wait and thought it must be good! We didn't get to experience any of that goodness, except the calm and very busy host/server/bartender one man show. So would I visit again? Yes....but would only order the sweet potato fries.

I absolutely agree with the abysmal reviews of this location as of late. My family had a reservation on a busy Saturday, confirmed 3 times by the MANAGER via email, and yet we arrive to be told "I have no idea what you're talking about, we don't have your reservation". There was a bare minimum 30 minute wait to be seated, and only ONE person managing the hostess stand, waiting on tables, and clearing tables. The place was packed to the gills so no excuse whatsoever as to not being able to staff the restaurant, as they are clearly making plenty of money. I never even got to eat there as we had a train to catch, but the menu was skimpy and unimpressive upon first glance. Go elsewhere without question!!

What an amazing place! We came to Jim Thorpe for the weekend and couldn’t find a place to eat. Luckily, we ran across this café/restaurant that serves delicious home cooked food. The owner is very nice! Will definitely come back once we get to Jim Thorpe again!