Compass Tavern

Place is great! Good food, good staff, nice location! I recommend the kettle chips and steak!!!

Food was okay, they were out of Sam Adams on tap and the waitress was pushing dessert before I finished my meal. Takes forever to pay your bill, we gave the waitress out credit card and went off waiting on other tables. We just wanted to pay and bounce, not impressed with my first visit.

About a year ago I would have given this restaurant 5 stars. But it has gone WAY downhill. After experiencing some fabulous meals here, we brought a friend and had the roast beef dip sandwiches which came out horrible, all grizzle and fat. We gave it another try last night and I will say, this is the last time we will be back. Not only are the wines way overpriced for the tiny bit they pour you, but the food just wasn’t the same either. The tenders which used to be phenominal were smaller and the yummy garlic dipping sauce came out with a garlic/​cheese blend, no oil. When I asked for some it was then like dipping the tenders in pure olive oil — wasn’t good! Then the french fries which used to be «better then hand cut» (owners words) were freezer burnt! The burger was ok — overcooked. The bun definitely wasn’t fresh. And the turkey sandwich was something we could have made at home — nothing special.
What a disappointment. Finally I had to ask if they had a new owner, and they do not, but there is a new head chef. It was almost painful having to pay the bill. I will say tho, the service was decent and the live music was nice. If they could put that effort into the food again, they’d stand a chance.

This place looked so great from the outside, and being new to the city, I couldn’t wait to try it! And it seemed It’s super convenient because I can walk there form my apartment. I met my boyfriend there for dinner after work and was immediately put off to see a cook smoking outside. I get it, people smoke and I know that’s the case in many restaurants, to each their own. But right out in the open, close to the front door, for customers to see was a little distasteful. Anyway, we got the buffalo dip app, which I really enjoyed and started getting excited for dinner. But then my steak tips came out way overcooked, with hardly any seasoning. The mashed potatoes tasted boxed and the mixed veggies were kind of a mushy mess. My boyfriend got a sandwich that he also did not enjoy. The place honestly seems best for drinks and night life, I don’t think I will be returning.

I have never been more disappointed to eat and drink at an establishment more than this place. Went in there with roughly 8 other guys on a slow Saturday lunch. Other than us there was probably only a handful of others in there. We wanted to eat and we wanted to drink, both of which were denied to us. We decided to get 2 of each appetizer on the menu including the special apps. They were running a buy one get one special on apps at the time. I honestly couldn’t tell you one good thing that I ate, they were all gross. Most of the food was unedited and everyone with me agreed. Not only was the food bad but the service was horrific. It took forever for us to get acknowledged and even after that it was like pulling teeth to get anything. It took at least 3 times asking to get some waters. Our first round of drinks were done after 10 minutes and we weren’t offered more until 15 minutes after we ordered food. We didn’t have enough silverware and it took multiple times asking to get that. All in all the service and food was terrible. We ended up leaving and going to smokestack to eat more and drink and found them to be phenomenal and accommodating. Compass Tavern has disappointed on multiple occasions but this might be the icing know the cake that makes me never return.

This is a restaurant thats puts its full 50% into its food and service.
It took forever to get waited on, till a busser finally took our drink order. When we finally got the bartender to take our food order, we had to wait another epoch or two for it to arrive. We both got medium rare steak tips which arrived with no hint of pink in them. They were overcooked and tough. The mashed potatoes were fine, but that’s hardly the main reason to go to a restaurant.
I remember when this place was Castellana’s and then Smokehouse. Both were far better than the current resident.

This is the best club in Worcester which is a bar so low it’s basically not worth mentioning. They actually have sufficient space for human beings to dance unlike some other clubs, however, since all those human beings are in Worcester it’s still fairly miserable.

Compass gets two stars because waitress was good and atmosphere was fun. Sat outside-​people playing games and outdoor bar service is nice. Lots of softball teams and others coming in for drinks and looked to be great hangout for a Wednesday night.
Food is awful at best and based on food should get no stars.
Friend ordered hot chicken wings and got fried chicken stripes heavily breaded and wet for some reason.
I ordered beef brisket sandwich and it was not edible. Very tough jerky like meat buried in awful sauce so much sauce it was leaking through bread-​paper and basket onto table. Half a bite was all I could stomach so decided to just eat the kettle chips-​which were soggy and tough.
Drinks we got were very basic –beer and jack and coke so no issues and was nice place to drink but with all great places in Worcester do not eat here.

First, the place is called Compass, bet yet has a sign with the geo points to go with a menu which features geo points that are different. Points to a general lack of attention for detail.
Bartender only talked to people she knew and the food was awful. Ordered a chicken quesadilla (yes our mistake) and it was processed chicken and processed cheese so basically a brick.
Would not ever come back… ever

I had my wedding rehearsal here on Friday. The staff was very attentive and they did a great job setting up the place. The space we sat in was perfect for our group and I loved that we had a separate bar in the same room. Dave was very accommodating and worked with us to make up a menu for our group. The food was delicious and everyone had a great time.

My boyfriend and I dont go out to very much. But we are very big foodies. We try a new restruants in different areas 1 night a week as our date night was in Worcester for a special occasion and decided to try this place since we never been before. Our waitress was very nice but it was clear that she has not been in the business long but she was still pleasant.
First we ordered our drinks my boyfriend got a beer and I chose a Bellini tonight. Which sounded amazing on the menu but what a disappointment in a glass when it got to the table. 1^st off what bar in the world have you ever been too that doesn’t serve garnishment on the martini. The drinks that I saw go out which weren’t many because the place looked like a desert didn’t have any garnishes either. So my tini, which could have been amazing looked like warm water in a glass cause mind you it wasn’t correctly shaken because it was served warm.
Food– my boyfriend got the steak tips which were bland and over cooked, but got a house salad 1^st with the most vinegar tasting balsamic I have ever had. If someone orders tips med rare it should have some pink but it was well done. I ordered a basket of fries and pork sliders. I was confused when I got my basket of fries served the same time as my boyfriend salad. This comes from lack of training, being in the business its common sense that if someone orders 2 appetizers you should as the customer would you like 1 first or both with meal. But that didn’t happen.
My pork slider, you might as well took beef jerky out of a bag poured a ton of bbq sauce heated it in the microwave because thats what it tasted like. It was so tough and it was literally like they took old pulled pork and tried to hide how old the meet was with a bottle of bbq.
Didn’t eat any of it, we would have said something to the waitress but once our food was dropped off we didn’t see her again until we asked for the check. Even when she dropped off the check she still didn’t ask us how everything was.
If I could give this place negative stars I would. I work in the industry of serving so I get it and have more understanding but jeez, get your stuff together. I took pictures of my drink and the food and I have shown allot of my friends how awful my experience was. You have a prime location and it could be so busy but this is probably backing up reasons why, clearly from the other comments.

We went to the Compass Tavern last night. It was awful! We had a reservation so we did not have a wait.
The other reviews commented on the service, our waitress was fine. It was just the food. The beef sliders and the brisket sandwich were so fatty. When we cut off the fat, there was hardly anything to eat. We also had wings and chowder, both were not worth eating. The only good thing we ordered was the soup special; Hungarian mushroom. Because of our experience, don’t expect us to return.

First the good news! The food way pretty good and filled us up!
Bad news is service! It took us over 15 minutes to get our first round of drinks! It took forever for our food to come out! Our second round of drinks pretty much came after a hour of being there! Server wasn’t overly friendly either! That and the place wasn’t overly busy at the time! 10 percent tip is what she got from us and she should be glad she for that!
I honestly wouldn’t go back

Where to start? We walk in and the hostess, who wasn’t very friendly, tells us we are going to have to wait a half hour or «more» if we want to be seated for two. We accept and go to the bar. As we are about to order a beer, the hostess comes back up to us and says she has a table ready. Confused, yet pleased, we take our beers and follow her to the table. She sits us at a high top table, next to two doors, where staff was going in and out of constantly.
A waitress approaches us and we order an appetizer (spinach and artichoke dip). After placing the appetizer order we wait for 15 minutes until the waitress comes back to take our entrée order.
The appetizer comes and the dip looks okay, but the dip is served with tons of broken chips on the side (seemed like it came from the bottom of a chip bag). Nothing special. We wait a good 40 minutes for our meal, which shouldn’t have taken that long as we only ordered a burger and a sandwich. I ordered a roast beef sandwich, my girlfriend ordered a burger.
The food finally comes out. My girlfriends burger was burnt and had soggy lettuce on it. My roast beef sandwich had way to much roast beef, the bread fell apart because of the amount of meat, and I had to pay 50 cents for adding a slice of cheese.
Service was terrible. The wait staff only cares about customers surrounding the bar. If you’re over 50 and want to grab drinks and be lushes at the bar after work, this might be the place for you, otherwise stay far away if you’re looking for a bite to eat on a Friday or Saturday night.

I have been to Compass many times since they have been open. It’s a fun atmosphere at times and one of the nicer bars in Worcester. The bar staff, or should I say some of them, are actually pretty good. Unfortunately, the restaurant and wait staff are just horrible. Unless you are eating at the bar, I wouldn’t bother stopping in for any food.
Back in December, I decided to have a dinner night with former coworkers (7 attractive women). Once we finally get seated, which one of us had to approach the hostess again and remind her, we then waited for a waitress. It seemed nobody wanted our business? When we finally put in our order, which we waited so long for, one of the girls had to send the burger back for being cold. Two of the other girls also didn’t like their burgers and just ate the fries. Also, it would have been quicker to order drinks and get silverware from the bar since we never saw our waitress! It was clear we had a terrible experience and I probably would have never gone back there for dinner until Paddy, the manager/​bartender, came over and apologized and handed me a $ 50 gift certificate. I was impressed and grateful and in fact did return. I used that gift certificate at the bar with my boyfriend and everything was fine.
Since then, I recently went back with another party of 8, 6 of which were eating. We put in our name with the hostess and she informs us that it would be about 30 min. No problem. Almost an hour later, I went to ask the hostess what the status was of a table and she was no longer there according to the bouncer. She went home! He then went to get the owner who sat us at a booth for 4 people. At this point we just sat down and didn’t complain. Our waitress finally shows up with an attitude as if we are inconveniencing her as she probably wanted to go home too or stay and flirt with the male bartenders. We put in our orders, mostly appetizers. Mine never came. She went to check on it in the kitchen when she realized I never got my meal when the rest of the table was done with theirs. When she finally brought it over I asked her if it was hot and that I don’t feel I should pay for it due to the awful service. She sighed and said she will get the manager. I barely had one quesadilla when he came over with an attitude himself. I explained to him our issues from the hostess to the waitress being so rude and reminded him that he had apologized before for the service there. All he said was that if I wanted my meal I would have to pay for it. If not, he would take it away. He also said he had to get back to the bar. He was willing to lose out on future business over $ 8.99? He then took my plate and left. What ever happened to the customer is always right? Shortly after, the waitress came over with the bill. Needless to say, she did not get a tip and we will NEVER, EVER return there.
They lost out on a lot of good business. It is unfortunate since I really liked going there for lunch, after work drinks, etc. My advice to the owner would be to either hire skilled, professional and friendly staff, including the cook, or get rid of the restaurant entirely and stick to the bar/​club scene. As a business owner myself, I would not be successful without customers. They should really value paying customers since they are the ones who keep the doors open. This place has absolutely unacceptable bad service. It’s actually embarrassing.

This place was horrendous. Before I even got my food I had to ask the manager to change the music because it was playing hop hop with all kinds of nasty, raunchy language – like the «F» word. We were shocked that we had to even do this – like really? We ordered the flatbread, which wasn’t that bad except it was super greasy. We got out food, the wife got a turkey sandwhich, which you really can’t mess that up, and got the roast beef sandwhich which they brag about. It was nothing to brag about. It was just nasty. We ordered the sweet potato fries and they were just saturated in grease – couldn’t even eat them. So, overall it was just a bad experience and not only will I never go back there, but I would actually try to talk you out of going!

Stopped in after work this past Friday to meet my GF and her coworkers. I had some fries and buffalo tenders both of which were quite delicious. The buffalo sauce had some heat to it which always makes me happy. The fries perfectly cooked and salted as well.
We were a table of 10 and the wait staff was very accommodating and friendly. I swear she was wearing the floor heading back and forth for all the food and drink we ordered and through it all maintained a very pleasant demeanor. I’ll certainly head back to maybe try the dinner menu

I had a nice mid week lunch with a friend at the Compass Tavern this week.
It was pretty much empty so not sure if this is a good sign.
We sat at the bar– and I got a burger — which was huge and came with fries. Very standard, but the bacon burger was cooked medium just the way I liked it.
I also ordered a cup of beef barley soup which was horrid and not good at all.
Service was fine– I would return more to try more things.

So slow. Food okay. Burger overdone. Details below.
I didn’t realize this place was brand new when I went. It certainly LOOKS new, it’s all very clean. So that’s good. It’s huge inside, with banks of TVs above the big central bar. The menu was short and looked good for a quick bite (though in no way vegetarian – be warned).
First, it took a few minutes for us to even get noticed/​attendd by the three staff present in the almost entirely empty front room (the one with the bar). Our waitress was painfully shy and apologetic from moment one. I felt bad for her, but also bad for us, because we were in a hurry and trying to be nice but she apologized so much it was actually difficult to interact with her. Anyway.
We ordered two drinks and two burgers. We told our nervous waitress we only had an hour, and she said it should be fine. Mostly empty place, burgers, what could go wrong. Well, drinks took about 15 minutes to come out (we’re talking soda and a draft beer, not gin fizzes here). May I note that there was a bartender in addition to our waitress, AND a woman who was either a manager or another, more senior server, who in any event wouldn’t make eye contact with me the couple times I tried. And there was exactly one other food table, and a couple folks at the bar.
Food didn’t come out until *FORTY* minutes after we had ordered. We were shoving burgers and sweet potato fries in our faces so fast I am, in retrospect, impressed with us. Didn’t have time to finish. Didn’t have time to ask management why they didn’t comp us anything. And my burger, which I had ordered medium, was so well done it was chalky. Tons of seemingly good-​quality meat on a nice (though untoasted or not spread with any condiment) bun, but soo dried out and under-​seasoned. We tipped well because it’s habit and because we didn’t want to make our waitress cry, but it may have been a tactical error.
Pros: Good sweet potato fries and pickles. Big space, if you need one. Clean.
Cons. Slowest service in a long, long time. Train your staff before you open, please.

Rolled into Compass Tavern for the 1^st time this Saturday night — don’t be fooled by the long line out front, it’s mostly smokers, and moves along quickly! Inside has a HUGE bar area, perfect for yelling conversations with friends over cinnamon-​sugar rimmed pumpkin beers.
*Of note: it’s very well lit, which seemed to ward off the usual handsy, cologne-​drenched, ceiling-​eyed Worcester bar lurkers! It was a decent crowd of fellas in party plaid, and ladies in jeggings.
The dance area off the main room is chaulk-​full of laser beams. The DJ played some solid 2000’s throwbacks, but his song ADD and techno interludes every 5 seconds salted my dance buzz.
With a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, I might have to say goodbye to José Murphy’s for good! Compass is the new spot!