High Horse

This was AWFUL! The food took forever to arrive, even though we only ordered very basic items (hot dogs, salad, steak). When we finally got it we were so hungry we devoured it, although it really was not very good. The caesar salad was inedible. The soup that my husband ordered never appeared. The best thing we had was the hot dog with a side of broccoli from the kids menu. The wine selection is virtually nonexistent. The beer (it’s a brewery) tasted like dishwater. We have had a good lunch here, and a good brunch as well, but we will certainly not be going back for dinner!

I went expecting decent poutine, but the fries were soggy and the cheese curds weren’t melted or good at all. It was something I could have made (better) myself at home. $ 9 for poutine is overpriced, especially when you can order a hamburger, which comes with bottomless fries (ask for some aioli on the side!)
The burgers were great. The meat is really good and thick. But if you upgrade to sweet potato fries, keep in mind they aren’t bottomless. I came with a friend who got the sweet potato fries and asked for more and the waitress denied her more and didn’t even offer her any regular fries. For lunch for 2 (including poutine) our meal came out to about $ 50 which was a bit much.
The ambiance here is nice. It’s dim lit and a good casual date location. They have a large drink selection here.

We’ve only ever sat at the bar at the High Horse and have been here several times. I think their Satisfaction IPA is underrated and deserves more attention. It is very juicy and indeed a great IPA. I love their garlic fries and sweet potato fries and they make a great drinking snack. This was also the place where I had my only pour of the extremely rare Hirsch 16 and boy was that delicious! We had the last 2 ounces of that bottle and heard from one from of the bartenders the next time that someone on the staff tried sipping the last drop in the bottle. Good times!

A-​OK sums it up pretty well. I like some of the ten or so beers that they brew themselves. The selection seems to remain the same throughout the year, though for variety, they do have a moderate-​sized selection of bottles downstairs, which are possible to access. In my experience, the food ranges from decent to excellent, though the selection itself isn’t huge or highly variable. But I have no serious complaints in the food/​drink department.
I do have two main criticisms with regard to other aspects. First, while the servers are nice, even friendly, they are on occasion puzzlingly slow or unresponsive. (Perhaps suspense is a technique in the hospitality industry? Or perhaps they’re just understaffed sometimes?) Second, while the upstairs offers the benefit of (coin-​operated) pool tables, it is bizarrely disconnected from the downstairs. A recent incident actually illustrates both of these points. The other night, I made the acquaintance of some friendly patrons upstairs. Soon after, HH staff came to point out that they had skipped their bill downstairs. They had been unaware that the upstairs was a separate area. This misunderstanding certainly would not have occurred, had the two areas been connected. I also wouldn’t be surprised if a server downstairs had given them the impression of not being particularly invested in whether or not they paid their bill.
One last notable feature of HH is that the upstairs area offers the advantage or disadvantage of many college-​age patrons on weekend nights. Anyway, overall, HH has its pros and cons, but there are other bars in this town that I am reluctant to set foot in, much less review on Unilocal.So make no mistake: I will return again, many times.

Surprised this place isn’t rated higher by others. Food is actually quite good, especially the burgers and fries. Great beer selection as well. Best outdoor seating area in Amherst center. A go-​to place for good pub grub any time.

upstairs review only:
been going here since opening night. some good bartenders, some good beers, some good food. it’s a bit pricey for a beer, three pool tables which is good. usually where I see other locals because we really don’t like a lot of the other bars in town.
that said, honestly I’m getting tired of this sort of establishment. The dark wood bar, red walls, dark lighting, tacky posters, higher price point I can live with, what gets to me is the pretentious servers. I get it, you think you’re cool.
I’ve watched a full bar here before, on a Friday, with all the bartenders but the new guy sitting down like a bunch of all stars too good to get up and earn their tips. service can be downright terrible.
so the scene element of this sort of place is a big problem and honestly it needs somebody to straighten that out. both the dirty truth and the moan and dove don’t seem to suffer nearly as much from this problem. that aside, there have been a couple of my favorite servers in there who are VERY good at their jobs, namely that dude Paul, who is always
friendly and very nicely bearded.
that said, owner or manager who reads these, please hire for substance over style.

There are so many places to choose to eat when I get to Amherst I often overlook this lovely place. Anywhere that has a decent poutine has a special place in my heart. I have tried a lot of things but I do enjoy the grilled cheese soup combo. The sandwich was hearty but not overwhelming and the tomato soup was delicate yet filling. It is hard to eat something here after the devouring of the poutine. I am not a huge beer fan but I do like a shandy and I happened to be there at the right season and got to try their version. I thought is was light and crispy — would totally recommend it.

We have visited the High Horse bar every Christmas eve for the past three years. We usually order whisky, but last night’s staff simply didn’t know what they had in stock and the whiskies were too high up and the bar too dark for us to pick from what they had. We stood awkwardly by the bar hoping for a way to discover their selection or to be guided in our choosing, but we finally had to reassess our predicament and so ordered some beers. I highly recommend preparing a list of the available whiskies, with a brief description of each. We were sorely disappointed with the bartenders’ competencies and the bar’s inefficient manner of displaying and promoting its whiskies. We may have to reassess our holiday destination next year.

Mark is the best bartender in town. As simple as that! Not only is he cute, he plays the best music and yprepares the best drinks! Def going back to high horse! Amazing experience! Love you Mark

I’ve heard good things about High Horse and finally got the chance to visit the other night.
Beer? Really good!
Food? Decent.
Service? Pretty dismal.
My friends and I really enjoyed their delicious beers and were pretty satisfied with our meals. Everyone got burgers and fries and we split a cheese plate. It wasn’t the best burger I’ve ever had, but they had a nice selection on the menu and it was well cooked.
My main issue was with the service. Our server was really nice, but terribly slow and inconsistent. For example, we asked for more bread to go with our cheese plate and it look 15 minutes to come out. When we asked about it after 10 minutes, she said the kitchen was backed up (hello? It’s bread).
Overall, I’d say this is a good place to hang out and get a few beers. Skip the dinner.

Went last night for a friend’s birthday, with a reservation, and it was horrible!
It took 30 minutes for the waitress to even bring us water and this didn’t happen until after we complained to the hostess. After 40 minutes of being seated, our orders were finally taken. Along with my steak and fried order, I asked for a mojito and was informed that, the bar had run out of mint. How does a bar run out of mint on a Saturday night? Well the waitress said that she was gonna come back to take my drink order, and of course, she never returned. I ended up just going up to the bar to get my drink myself. I paid $ 9 for a French 75 (gin, lemon juice, and persecco) and when she squeezed the lemon juice in the glass, she got lemon seeds in it, told me they were there, and shrugged it off like it was no big deal.
When I got up, I saw another friend of mine eating at the high horse too. They said that their part of 2 had to wait the same amount of time to be served and waited 30 minutes for their food to come out.
We then had to ask the waitress for napkins. Very annoyed like, she brought a star over. Then we had to ask for utensils, which she forcefully slammed on the table in front of us.
Finally, after waiting another 40 minutes after ordering our food, the orders came out. My steak was raw! I had to flag the waitress down so that I could get it cooked more and she was so pissed off with me. Since the food had taken so long to originally get to us, I asked her if she could take the steak back on a separate plate so I could still eat my fries and salad. Of course, this seemed to piss her off too. She then told me that she didn’t cook it so it wasn’t her fault, it was the kitchen that cooked it. Wow… I never said it was her fault or made any indication that I thought it was.
While waiting for my steak, I questioned others in our party about that food. I was told that the mac and cheese had no taste and the pasty was so mushy, that it was disintegrating, that the burger was unbelievably bland, and one girl paid $ 3 extra for three small slices of chicken to be added to her salad.
When I was just finishing up my fries (I couldn’t eat the salad because it tasted like dirt, literally like dirt) my steak came back. I ordered it medium rare. As I said earlier, it originally came out raw. This time it came out way over done and to top it off, it was bland beyond belief. When I was half way finished, the waitress actually came back and very rudely asked «is the steak finally cooked to your liking?» At this point, I was fed up with her rude behavior and replied «nope, now it’s well done but I’m hungry and don’t feel like waiting another 30 minutes for my food.» She rolled her eyes and walked away. The only thing that was taken off the check at the end of the night, was the disgusting mac and cheese.
Needless to say, we will not ever be going back there. We even said that Wendy’s would have been much better.

I’m surprised at other reviewers giving High Horse a negative review. I have been frequenting here for almost three years. In grad school at UMass, I hated the other bars in Amherst for being too loud and obnoxious, so this bar was a welcome sight for me as a graduate student and continues to bring me nostalgia when I visit as a young professional.
Pros:
If you and your date can’t get a downstairs seat, go upstairs to the upper bar and eat there. At earlier times of the day the upstairs bar is the place to be anyway when it’s not as crowded.
They have Good bar food. They have a small menu of pub food that even my foodie fiancé enjoys. The burgers are the best in downtown Amherst, as far as being consistently cooked well and served with both bottomless fries and a big pile of greens tossed with oil.
Their beer and mixed drinks are great, however you do pay more than other bars (I still think $ 6 – 8 for a mixed drink and ~$ 5 for a local beer is average pricing.)
The bar gets rowdy on the weekends, but not nearly as rowdy as the others. You can actually talk to people without screaming, if the music is at a reasonable volume (this depends on the bartender who sets the music.) The bar upstairs is conducive to meeting new people, if you so wish– I have had many random bar conversations that have made my night much more interesting here.
Contrary to other posts, I have actually never had a poor server downstairs, all have been pleasant and brought my food and drinks out in a relatively timely fashion.
Seating can be cramped at the bar– but again, I feel like this bar is structured for you to have to talk to new people.
Cons:
Hipsters can crowd the downstairs bar and may never leave a space for a long time.
The lighting is very dim, and the acoustics of the upstairs bar work to the customer’s disadvantage– you can’t be heard on busy nights when trying to order a drink.
The upstairs bar workers have a tougher job– this part of the bar gets crowded and hard to hear, and people don’t tip them well because of the pricier food/​drinks, from what I’ve observed. I feel like this sometimes affects the attitude of the bar on busy nights.
Unless you regularly frequent the bar, or you are ordering food, they will claim a $ 10 minimum for cards.
I feel like they would benefit from more cocktail tables or wall counters instead of some of the bigger tables, and having at least 4 bartenders upstairs at all times.
I enjoy High Horse on occasion when I feel like visiting a bar in Amherst. It’s not particularly fancy but you can go here dressed down or dressed up and have a casual time or play some pool. My fiancé and I go at 7 or 8, have a drink and split some food, and peace out before the major crowds on weekends.

I attended a house party in the second floor bar to watch the first Democratic presidential debate last night. We sat at the bar and order a basket of fries and drinks. The fries were excellent, very tasty. Their selection of beers was good, I ordered a white beer and received a tasty draft.
For my second drink, I thought I’d have a whiskey. I have never seen such a strange and unnecessarily top-​shelf selection of whiskies at any bar of this caliber. I thought I saw Bushmill’s on the shelf. Nope. Jameson? Jack Daniel’s? Dewers? Anyone, Ferris?
Nada, just a bunch of overly-​priced and pretentious brands. The bartender was patient and polite and even made a helpful suggestion. In the end I just said, «no thanks, I’m good.»

Great beer selection, chill atmosphere. ‘Nuff said.

I have been here a few times and I’ve had a very good experience. Went for brunch this morning and was very disappointed. Our service was awful. First we couldn’t eat outside for some reason, which was the reason we came to the restaurant in the first place because it was such a beautiful day. Hostess was rude and unwelcoming.
Then our waitress was very unfriendly. She acted annoyed to wait on us and when we asked for separate checks she rolled her eyes. She barely talked to us and when one of my friends was unhappy with her drink she never asked if she was satisfied again (which she was not).
The food took extremely long — when my burger was brought out it was not cooked to my order. I asked for it to be cooked well done and it was barely medium. Our waitress continuously made us feel as though we were a hassle and kept making my friends extremely uncomfortable.
Overall I recommend the restaurant. But beware if you have a waitress named Cassandra — she completely ruined my experiences that I’ve had at an otherwise great restaurant.

This is a dark place.
The look from how the tables are set up it looks slightly midevil…
Prices are extremely high for not great quality.
Definitely dark… that is a huge draw back for me.
Not kid friendly.
Staff not friendly either, as far as we were concerned. We sat and left because of the dark unfriendly atmosphere.
We won’t be back.

Was in Amherst to take my son and some of his college friends to brunch on a Sunday. The place was relatively quiet. First, ordered wings for an ap. Wings were way overcooked, though the sauces on the side were both pretty tasty. Half the table ordered burgers, the other half breakfast sandwiches. The breakfast sandwiches were good, the burgers were not. The burgers were cold and overcooked and dwarfed by the bun. I was surprised at how small the burger was for the price. Everyone’s fries were cold. Service was brutally slow and inattentive. It took over a half hour for the food to come out. We never saw our waitress from the time we ordered until the time we got our food, so our drinks were never refilled and chicken bones sat on our table.
All in all, a disappointment. Would not go back.

Pub food done wrong. Boring menu, bland and uninspiring food. There’s also a lot of kids here (the children kind, and the other children kind from UMass).

There is no meal good enough to counterbalance the deplorable customer service of the High Horse.
One of the servers, Jack, literally chased my husband down in the street (outside of the restaurant), and publicly told him off because he didn’t tip our server. After we told him that we didn’t tip because another person in our party picked up the tip, Jack proceeded to demand that we never come back. Jack wasn’t even our server.
When I walked back to the restaurant to inform management that one of their employees left the restaurant in the middle of his shift to shout at my husband in the streets, management defended the employee, and proceeded to condescendingly explain to me why I should tip wait staff… then told me that they don’t mind losing my business.
WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!
Since when was it not okay to let someone at your table cover the tip?
Furthermore, since when was it okay for servers to chase after you and publicly scold customers in the streets?

I have returned many times since my initial review, and I am changing my rating from 5 stars to 1. I am also changing from highly recommend to avoid. The food and service had been quite good. The food is Americana bar style food, but had previously been quite well done. I am not sure if there is new management or what is going on, but they have started running out of items lately. I recently stopped by with a small group upstairs for after dinner drinks, and after that experience I will never return.
Upon entering we immediately noticed a foul order, made worse by the excessive amounts of bleach used to unsuccessfully mask whatever the strange order was. It was gross. But not as disgusting as the insulting racist bartender. We were talking to the first bartender, who was great, and we were trying to figure out what we wanted. The first bartender said he wanted to make sure we got what we wanted. The second bartender, dripping with sarcasm and venom, said «We want to make sure you get what you want massa.» I considered addressing the racist, and strange, comment but I decided I wasn’t in the mood for a scene. We finished our drinks and left. Telling customers they are akin to 17^th century Southern slave masters for inquiring about menu items is not the way to attract or keep business. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.