William Penn Inn

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#1 of 2 Restaurants in Gwynedd$$$$, American, Vegetarian friendly

+1 215-699-9272+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

3:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Wed

11:30 AM - 2:00 PM5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Thu

11:30 AM - 2:00 PM5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Fri

11:30 AM - 2:00 PM5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Sat

11:30 AM - 2:00 PM4:30 PM - 10:00 PM

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What is Travelers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.5

558 reviews

#1 of 2 Restaurants in Gwynedd

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Details

Someone from this business manages this listing.

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CUISINES

American

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

features

Location and contact

Rte. 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd, PA 19436

+1 215-699-9272

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Does this restaurant have live music

Yes

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Details

Manage this business?

CUISINES

American

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

FEATURES

Reservations, Buffet, Private Dining, Seating, Parking Available, Valet Parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Live Music

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4.5

558 reviews

Excellent

355

Very good

112

Average

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Terrible

SMXCCoach

Eagleville172 contributions

A "Fine Dining" experience

Jan 2024 • family

If You are in a position in these difficult economic times to enjoy some "Fine Dining", you owe it to yourself to make a reservation at get to the William Penn Inn. We were seated immediately for our 7:15 reservation in the upstairs Commonwealth Club a very nice setting for "Fine Dining". Our Server-Amy-was fantastic during our meal. We were started with an amazing breadbasket filled with 3 or 4 different choices. I didn't leave any in the basket. My Petite Filet Gorgonzola was incredible and perfectly cooked to order. My wife's Crabcake was delicious and more than enough for her. We saved room for dessert (a Snowed 'Inn" Cake and an ample slice of cheesecake) and these choices did not disappoint. Our drinks, a glass of Merlot and a domestic beer, were appropriately priced. Everything about a "Fine Dining" experience at the William Penn Inn is top notch.

Written January 28, 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Carn1vore

471 contributions

Lunch on a hot Saturday

May 2024 • couples

After attending our grandson's soccer games on a hot Saturday in May, my wife and I decided we deserved to be pampered. So we headed to the William Penn Inn for lunch. Our waitress Regina was fantastic and helped us navigate the luncheon menu. We ordered the lobster roll and crab quiche. I must say that the lobster roll was wonderful with the amount of lobster being comparable to the Hotel Bethlehem's lobster which for us is the standard for lobster rolls. We topped the lunch with dessert, ordering key lime pie and creme brulee. The atmosphere, the food, and the personnel were all wonderful.

Written June 12, 2024

Bryce S

New Hope2309 contributions

As good as ever!

Jun 2024 • couples

We had dinner at the William Penn Inn about ten days ago.m this is one of our favorite restaurants. It’s an ideal destination if want an elegant night out. They have an excellent three course price fixed menu with plenty of selections. My favorite is the prime rib. The size is 8-10 ounces and comes with potato and vegetables. The appetizers include snapper soup, another of my favorites. They did not have their spectacular mango sorbet that night, but they have other good desserts. My selections run $50, which is quite a good deal. However, if you stop at the nearby Costco beforehand and buy their William Penn Inn restaurant certificates, you get $100 in value for $80. The drink prices are very reasonable. This is a restaurant that ticks all the boxes. Are there negatives? This is the sort of place that has a very elegant feel. Some people are more interested in casual dining. This is ideal for special nights, which could be every week if you choose.

Written June 23, 2024

jerseyshorelover

Bensalem19 contributions

A little bit of a let down

Jan 2024 • couples

We come to the William Penn inn for their Sunday brunch buffet more than a few times a year, so when looking for a place to dine on New Year’s Eve we decided on trying their dinner buffet. Sunday brunch price is around 40.00, New Year’s Eve buffet was 65.00 a person. Dinner buffet was just about the same items minus breakfast items. The food is quality without a doubt but I don’t understand why NYE buffet is 25.00 more with less items except for the fact that it is NYE. We arrived right on time with a reservation and only waited like 3 minutes to be shown to our table. After a few minutes the waitress came over and asked if we needed something to drink, we placed our order and she came back to give us water. We then got up to check out the buffet, came back, still no drinks. Waitress informed us bar was really busy. The weight for a glass of champagne and a bottle of beer was over 15 min. Both drinks were warm, just saying! Waitress got over a 20% tip only because it was NYE, not because of great service. One of our favorite items to get is the beef tenderloin. If you could get it. They ran out of it more than once and had long lines once they brought more out. By the time we got 2 slices it was the very end of the tenderloin and looked and tasted like it. We love coming here for the Sunday brunch but will go somewhere else for NYE next year. It was not a bad meal at all but the price just was too high for us knowing what is on the regular Sunday brunch compared to the NYE menu. 25.00 more just because it’s NYE is just wrong. Include a glass of champagne or some crab legs on buffet for 25.00 more per person

Written December 31, 2023

Bryce S

New Hope2309 contributions

A great restaurant, but the seafood buffet was disappointing

Feb 2024 • couples

We are loyal; fans of the William Penn Inn. When we got the e-mail about the seafood buffet on Thursday, February 22nd, we called for a booking minutes later. We got the 5:15 PM timeslot, which was fine. We brought another couple with us. We love the a la carte menu at the William Penn Inn, but the buffet was disappointing. The selection lived up to the advance menu, so everything was there. One of the problems with buffets is the quality and taste trends towards the low end. There was crab bisque on the buffet, but it was very thin. There were glazed salmon fillets, but they were very dry. There was a beef dish, but my wife observed it was overdone. On the plus side, we were seated promptly and the service was attentive. Our guests observed we should not have needed to keep out silverware in a restaurant of this high level of quality. It should have been cleared with the plates they collected. We still love the William Penn Inn, but we will stick with the a la carte menu in the main dining room in the future.

Written February 25, 2024

75dj

84 contributions

Room for improvement

Aug 2023 • family

The William Penn Inn is an old line restaurant and party event location with plenty of parking. It attracts an upscale crowd and has a good reputation. A reservation is highly recommended as they are sometimes completely booked. I went in a party of three for dinner and although the food was great and my steak was cooked to perfection there were some deficits in the service. The dining room we were taken to was pretty noisy even though I had specifically requested a quiet corner to accommodate a guest with hearing aids. Our waitress was a very nice person who tried very hard but was simply lacking in training (not the waitress's fault- the restaurant should have trained her better before putting her on the floor). Her wine service revealed that she had not been shown the subtleties of being a sommelier. Not that I know all the subtleties but even I noticed. She did come back to the table to check on us from time to time which many waitresses neglect and I appreciated that. There was a lot of shuttling stacks of plates and glasses back and forth across the dining room with occasional dropping and breaking of glasses. And then there was the price. The total was over $93 per person after tip. Considering the many customers trouping through the dining room as we ate, the noise level, and the service I felt that that was a very high price. Instead of approaching $300, the total should have been closer to $150-200. I know running a restaurant is expensive and good staff is expensive but I did not feel the price was in line with the experience.

Written August 7, 2023

linkphilly

Conshohocken170 contributions

First time in 20 years I was disappointed in my meal

Aug 2023 • couples

Wm Penn inn ran a Rib special rack of ribs, slow roasted for 12 hours,corn off the cob, Mack and cheese, coleslaw,and a salad. My mouth was watering so I called and made a reservation for Myself and my wife ,service by David was excellent ,bread and a great ice cold salad and wine chilled to perfection our meals were delivered and we started in WOW the ribs were not tender at all after 12 hours roasting the bones should be pulled out without trouble instead we had to knaw the meat off the bone somebody needs a course in rib cooking I said to my wife we got the ribs wrapped to go and had dessert , peach cherry pie was excellent and superb ice cream at 100 + for lunch I expected much more from WPInn. Incidentally I took the ribs home and wrapped in foil slathered them in BS and cooked them for 4 hours at 250 NOW they were like they should have been

Written August 27, 2023

Jackie C

1 contribution

William Penn Inn Thanksgiving Buffet

Nov 2022 • none

The turkey was cut up into small pieces sitting in pans. There was no stringbean casserole, no sweet potato marshmallow dish, and no real desserts - just bite size pieces of desserts. The 20% tip (added onto your bill if you have a party of 6 or more) is ridiculous. They did nothing but bring drinks. In fairness the many different sides were very good but the white meat turkey pieces were dry and unappetizing. Cranberry sauce and stuffing were ok, not great. Salad bar was ok. Disappointing.

Written November 25, 2022

Bryce S

New Hope2309 contributions

Lobster on Friday nights in August!

Aug 2022 • none

We returned to the William Penn Inn once again on Friday evening. It is a favorite place and we visit about once a month. The major reason for visiting this time was the e-mail we received about lobster on Friday nights in August. They serve 1.5 pound lobsters for $50.00. This includes a choice of house or spinach salad (go for the spinach salad with the warm dressing!). The lobster is accompanied by drawn butter, fingerling potatoes and really excellent corn! I think there was a green vegetable in there too. As an added note, their bread is excellent. They do an excellent zucchini bread. Our friends liked it Donny had they wanted some to take home. They sell it. We bought it. The lobster was already cracked, which helps quite a bit. It was steamed, so it was warm. It was excellent. The local Costco sells silver gift cards for the William Penn Inn. $100 in gift cards costs $80.00. This brings our $50 lobster down to $40. That’s a good savings. Drinks are reasonable and the wine list is reasonable too. We like the William Penn Inn. We keep coming back. I cannot think of any negatives. It is popular. Call for reservations. We prefer the Monet Room.

Written August 7, 2022

GDowling

Thank you so much for your kind words - so happy that you enjoyed your lobster dinner!

Written August 10, 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Bryce S

New Hope2309 contributions

A great birthday dinner!

Aug 2024 • couples

We had dinner at the William Penn Inn a week ago Wednesday. We were celebrating my wife’s birthday and had a great time. The restaurant is very elegant. Impressionist artwork on the walls and soft mightily. The uniformed wait staff are efficient and friendly. Drinks are pretty reasonably priced. I think they are about $11, which for a martini is not bad. They have a three course menu available in the earlier part of most evenings. The timing varies by day. This is probably listed on the menu. The snapper soup is my favorite appetizer, but this time I went for the wedge salad. For my entree I chose the pr8me rib. They do a very good job. The three course menu is priced by the entree you choose. My prime rib was the 8-10 oz size. The three course version is $50. They have three other sizes of prime rib on the a la carte menu. The dessert selection usually included ice cream or sorbet. Sometimes you need to ask. The mango sorbet is the standout. They make it on the premises. They vary the selection. We usually ask about the dessert sorbet upon arrival! It factors into our decision making - will we need to save room for dessert that day. One people don’t like the formal atmosphere, but we do.

Written August 10, 2024

KiraRS57

Huntingdon Valley80 contributions

Wednesday night lobster schnitzel is worth the trip!

Nov 2022 • none

My friend and I were recommended to try the lobster schnitzel and it did not disappoint. It is only served on Wednesday evenings. We have been back three times now and it is always amazing. It is a bit pricey ($42) but it comes with a spinach salad with warm bacon dressing, several large spears of asparagus, and mashed potatoes. The specialty cocktails are always delicious. The bread basket is very eclectic. We have always been too full to try dessert, but they look delicious.

Written December 2, 2022

DonH

Philadelphia621 contributions

Excellent dinner

Aug 2022 • none

We have been coming to the William Penn for a good many years on special occasions and have generally been very satisfied. So I am somewhat alarmed at the numerous critical reviews that have recently appeared, and I hope that corrective actions are taken. We are registered as frequent diners and get discount cards for birthdays and our anniversary. On our last visit, we very much enjoyed our dinners. I had barbecued pork chops, and my wife had tangerine salmon. We followed it up with a lemon meringue parfait. All was delicious, and the service was excellent. With a glass of wine, our bill was $93 with tax but not including the tip. We look forward to future visits.

Written January 14, 2023

Bryce S

New Hope2309 contributions

We are back at our favorite local restaurant

Mar 2022 • none

We visit the William Penn Inn about once a month for dinner. We always ask to be seated in the Monet Room, which is elegant with soft lighting and Impressionist paintings. The restaurant has linen tablecloths and uniformed wait staff. They are attentive yet do not rush you. If you hit the timing right, they have a three course priced fixed menu. The menu price is determined by your entree I usually start with the snapper soup. They bring a cruet of sherry too. Since I am a creature of habit, I usually order the prime rib. It is about $46 as the three course dinner. It comes topped with onion rings plus potato and vegetable. It is always great. They offer various desserts, but their homemade sorbets are the standout. They make their own mango sorbet, but they don’t have it all the time. At the time of our last visit, they have a Chassange Montrachet on the wine list for the incredibly cheap price of $42/bottle. White Burgundies are generally expensive. Are there negatives? We always ask to be seated in the Monet Room. This sometimes requires an early or late reservation time. We are ok with being seated at 5:30. As an FYI, there are various discount programs you can use. The silver certificates from the local Costco give you $100 for a price of $80. We like the William Penn Inn and keep coming back.

Written April 29, 2022

GDowling

Thank you so much for your lovely review. We are so happy to be open and serving our guests!

Written May 3, 2022

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Pepperone

Gilbertsville54 contributions

Prix Fixe Fabulous

Oct 2022 • family

Well worth eating an early dinner for the Prix Fixe menu (prices started at $32). We arrived at 3:15 and ate in the Monet Room and were served by an excellent waiter (Ryan). The meal started with delicious warm bread (a couple of varieties). We chose soups—French Onion and Tomato Bisque—and a Caesar salad—all were superb! Our main entree was Chicken Parm with pasta and garlic sautéed spinach; and the Crab cake platter, which came with whipped potatoes and green bean almondine. Servings were plentiful and some take home was wrapped up for later. We had asked for our desserts to go—Key Lime pie, Tiramisu and a Peanut Butter mouse pie. From start to finish we were certainly pleased. We had not been here for many years and hope not to wait too long before returning!

Written October 16, 2022

Bryce S

New Hope2309 contributions

One of our favorites! We keep coming back!

Dec 2021 • none

We had dinner with another couple at the William Penn Inn. It’s one of our favorite places. They do a fine job decorating for the holidays. The trees are lit with white lights year round, which is very dramatic in wintertime. We started with drinks, which are very reasonably priced for a fancy restaurant. They do a nice three course menu, but you need to be aware the availability hours vary by day of the week. Put another way, it’s better to come for dinner on a weekday than on Saturday or Sunday. You figure it out! The entree I chose was the calves liver. It was excellent and came with side dishes. I was happy with it. Everyone else in our group was happy too. We skipped dessert, but the other couple didn’t. We ordered two cheesecake slices and sent them off with our guests as take out. The food and drinks at the william Penn inn are fairly priced and even better when you buy the restaurant’s gift cards at the local Costco. $80 buys $100 worth, meaning you can get a 20% discount. I think this only works on weekdays. This might sound like penny pinching, but it’s good value. The smaller size prime rib is $50 on the menu, but $46 as part of a three course menu. Are there negatives? The only one we can find is you need to figure out all the rules to get the best deal.

Written December 19, 2021