The Hawk’s Head Public House

We have continued to eat here about once a month for years. The ambiance is fantastic. They have live music, candlelight and a fire going on cool days. Our current favorite item is the chicken pot pie. It’s amazing! I’m not a fan of the green beans but the rest of my family can’t get enough of them. The potato salad is perfect and I always ask for extra apple sauce. The pewter tankards are frozen before they put the water in them, so my husband who doesn’t like to drink water always orders it here. My husband and I always order the Stilton cheese appetizer with Granny Smith apples and Sally Lunn bread and then we split a chicken pot pie. It’s always more than we can eat.

Came here for breakfast and it wasn’t that good the Country potatoes were still kind of hard and my eggs were cold. I guess your just paying for the atmosphere because it was fantastic! The place itself is beautiful and love that colonial feeling! Next time I’ll come for just a slice of apple pie and apple cider because they were delicious!

The servers are very quick and pleasant! It’s always a joy to come up to the farm and have a great meal at the tavern. The people who run this place really care about every aspect of your experience. From the atmosphere, the service, the food, to the management. Riley’s Farm cannot be beat. If you are looking for a place that is truly a blast from the past, I would definitely recommend taking a visit to this fine establishment.

I came here with my family and I thought the food was just okay. My husband and I agreed we wouldn’t come back for the food but would come back to explore the grounds. The restaurant is located on beautiful grounds. Everything inside the restaurant takes you back to the colonial period. That was the best part. My kids didn’t really care for their Mac and cheese and I regretted getting the pot roast. The only decent (but not great) part of the meal was the chicken pot pie. It was just okay.

This is good stuff people. Don’t be influenced by the haters! It takes a long time to get to Oak Glen for most of us and things cost money here but they do a great job and it’s fun.
For my family this replaces Apple cider mills we would go to in fall for fresh cider and donuts in the Midwest.
The area is beautiful and there are activities for all.
Appreciate it for what it is!

We did a family day at Riley’s Farm in Oak Glen last fall, and decided to do it again this year. We were pretty hungry when we arrived and saw this great restaurant right on the property. As we walked by the windows, the food inside looked great! We had our dog with us so we couldn’t go in, but they have a window where you can order food and eat outside. The woman working was very friendly and helpful, and even brought out a cup of water for our dog without us even having to ask. So nice! She brought out our food moments later and it was very good. We had a large sandwich as well as the apple turnover, which was delicious and fresh. The staff dress in colonial clothing, which adds to the neat ambiance here.

This was an awesome meal, one of the best chicken pot pies ever, the green beans snapped and were delicious. The theme of an old public house was right on too. Great day trip destination from L.A.

Great food… I can’t stop dreaming about there pot pie… it’s si flake and yummy and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy

Great historic styled tavern with incredibly delicious chicken pot pie and garlicky green beans.

Wonderful food, excellent service (Caroline was so kind and efficient), incomparable atmosphere!
Riley’s Farm is beautiful and relaxing itself. We love American history and enjoy the different areas that are specific to different time periods. The Hawk’s Head is the perfect jewel in the crown! You really feel like you’ve stepped back in time. The menu offerings are appropriate to the time and very reasonably priced (which surprised us). We are a family of five and ordered five different things — every single one was perfect. The bread is fresh and hot, the pot pie is to-​die-​for, and my cider-​glazed ham with mashed potatoes could not have been tastier.
I recommend going on a weekday, if possible. During apple-​picking season, the Farm is packed with tourists. As with any tourist attraction, the incredible amount of people makes service less personal, food and drink delivery slower, tankard less cold… Obviously you can’t go on an insanely busy day and expect individualized attention. But we have done both a Saturday and a Thursday, and the staff we have encountered on both trips to Riley’s were respectful and caring. And dedicated to the preservation of a real Colonial experience.
Go to Hawk’s Head, and don’t skip the mashed potatoes! They are awesome!

Best chicken pot pies I’ve ever had. I have delicious dreams about them. I want to marry them and have little pot pie babies with them. ORDER THE CHICKEN POT PIE.

tl;dr: Amusement park lines (90 min wait for two). Maeloc and Stilton were terrific, pot pie disappointing, chowder in bread bowl horrible. Service felt surprisingly xenophobic. Perhaps only decent pitstop for miles…
The lure of having a decent sit down meal amidst a day of visiting apple orchards was too good to pass up, but I guess everyone else knows that too. Nestled within the confines of Riley’s Farm (NOT Riley’s Apple Farm — confusing I know), people were drawn by the carriage load it seemed to this 18^th century recreation of a tavern, complete with wenches and stewards in colonial garb…
The menu offerings were lightweight in number but attractive nevertheless. We had plenty of time to contemplate what we wanted because of the long hour and a half wait, there was no apparent advantage in being a party of two. Once we were seated, everything on the menu started looking even better, but annoyingly they seemed to forget about us. The minutes seemed to go tic tock as we each had time to go to the loo and enjoy the live musicians playing in the background before someone finally took notice that we were sitting there with our menus and no settings…
We got our settings and ordered a couple of Maeloc (non-​alcoholic) hard dry ciders that iced up thin when poured into the ice cold pewter mugs. The Stilton Cheese was served warmed with nice seasonal apple wedges and toasty English bread. Then it seems we were ignored once more…
Other guests that were seated after us were getting much better attention and service, having their food brought to them and finishing their meals before another one of the lasses took notice of us at which time I had the opportunity to ask what had become of the rest of our meal. Shortly thereafter they brought out half of our remaining order the celebrated Chicken Pot Pie. Hesitating because they hadn’t brought out our corn chowder yet, I thought to wait until it came out. It took another ten minutes but not before I had to flag down the steward to go check on the bread bowl. People we shared the dining room with were finished and starting to leave…
After yet another server brought out the Corn Chowder in a Bread Bowl, I looked at the poor excuse of a chowder. It was mostly potatoes and corn with very little chowder, it was obvious to me that they scraped what was left in the pot and presented it to us in a shallow hollowed out loaf. Then I had my first bite of the pot pie. I had expected something wonderful but the flavors and textures seemed muddled. Peeling back the top crust revealed a disappointing commercial pie tin but I probably shouldn’t be too surprised, the whole experience started to reek of an amusement park experience where the help didn’t seem to want to serve us and barely seemed to care…
I would give this place only one star but I have to admit we loved the cold cider and the stilton and fresh apples. Tons of wasted potential…

Absolutely love this place!!! The pot pie, green beans and the applesauce is my favorite! And best ever Mac n cheese!!!

I was really excited to visit this place. I love colonial history and any restaurant where people dress up to serve you food. Riley’s Farm is lovely and this seemed like the perfect way to spend a Saturday.
The Good: The interior of the restaurant is magnificent. I loved it! Everything from the seating (even though they are ungodly uncomfortable) to the menus (so perfect). The musicians that were played were fantastic, and the concept is amazing.
The Bad: It was pretty busy there. A host sat us in the middle of the restaurant and then we got completely ignored. Even after the owner saw that we hadn’t been served and grabbed a busboy to get our drink order, we still waited another good fifteen to twenty minutes to get our order in and then our server asked what we wanted to drink (the busboy obviously didn’t tell her). When she brought our drinks she gave us the wrong tankards (my husbands beer should have come with a chilled one, but she put my ginger ale in that one).
Just observing the servers and busboys, it was obvious to me most of them lacked the training it takes to treat your entire station like a single table. They were extremely inefficient and the busboys were unhelpful. They spent most of their time looking around aimlessly when they could have been clearing plates from the table to help the servers out. They were a hot mess.
Guests that were sat long after us got their food before we did with no apology. The food was nothing to write home about. The corn chowder was runny and too sweet — more of a soup and less of chowder. We shared the bratwurst sandwich which was rather light on the bratwurst. The pasta salad was decent.
The owner was kind enough to comp our drinks, but the damage was done. I would like to come back and give it another chance, but we felt uncomfortable and ignored, so I’m not sure if we will.
I think that they need to train their servers and up the quality of their food. They have all the other ingredients to make their restaurant a really amazing experience.

SPOILER ALERT: you’re entering an historical re-​creation of a colonial publick house complete with candle light only for the dining area.
But what a gem! Absolutely charming when it’s sunny out. A little dark and ominous on a cloudy day though which was our first experience.
The sausage and apples appetizer was a surprise winner. It’s a must try if you’re a fan of sweet and savory. CHICKEN POT PIE. Great flavor and ridiculous crust. The open-​faced roast beef was pretty tasty, too. Oh and you get a ginormous pile of green beans as your side.
It’s on the far end of Oak Glen but worth the drive. And wandering around Riley Farm is an added bonus (and possibly necessary exercise if you over-​ate like me).

The chicken pot pie here is truly AMAZING!!! Lots of white meat chicken, delicious flakey crust w/​fresh, tender veggies. Probably the best I’ve ever had!
It’s served with green beans that are sautéed in garlic, butter & lemon pepper… too die for!!!
It also come with applesauce that is scrumptious… tastes like apple pie :)
The bread they served beforehand was ok but the butter they served with it was so cold you couldn’t spread it but the pot pie made up for it!!!
Huge portions and delicious, fresh food!

Ordered:
Corn Chowder — best part of the meal!
Chicken Pot Pie — rather just have saved it for Marie Callender’s
Mac & Cheese — rather have Kraft than hard cheddar cheese on top of pasta
Apple Pie — good, wasn’t amazing, but good. Probably should have ordered it a la mode!
Note, I did visit on a quite busy day in 4^th of July, so maybe they were just really busy and not everything was on point? This does not stop me from eating here though because I love everything that Riley’s Farm represent and teaches!
The restaurant is cute! The use candles to light up the room. There was a band that played old Americana music and no air conditioner. Really made you feel like you were in the 1700’s :)

Will definitely come back here during the fall! This place was so fun. We came for lunch in the middle of the summer, so it was hot inside the building and there’s no air conditioning. The solid pewter steins that the drinks are served in are outstanding, however, and all of our drinks stayed ice cold throughout the meal. They have an excellent beer and cider list for $ 5 a bottle, which is pretty great. Need to come back when their homemade cold apple cider is in season.
The food is fantastic. We got the hot stilton cheese dip to start, which was insane. A must get! And of course, the chicken pot pie. Best damn pot pie I’ve ever had in my life. Buttery, flaky crust, savory filling of shredded tender chicken, peas and carrots. The portions are gigantic, so I’m going to have leftovers for weeks. We were so full after the appetizer and entrée that we couldn’t even fathom any of their amazing-​looking desserts. Coming back for sure!

Apple picking in Oak Glen made me so ridiculously hungry, I damn near contemplated cannibalism. Yes… I was down to eat humans. Grab your kids! Cause they’re running around looking like turkeys.
Good thing Hawk’s Head was right up the street.
Look…for those of you who’ve eaten here before and thought your food was average, I apologize your experience sucked. Cause my Chicken Pot Pie was 37 stars. Buttery pie crust, pot pie chicken stock FULL of chicken soup-​like flavor, packed full of chicken and veggies and potatoes… I don’t remember breathing, blinking or speaking to anyone. I was so hungry, I blacked out while eating.
And the green beans were those crunchy stringbeans with snap to them. Oh I was in Heaven.
And they served drinks in those wonderful FREEZING metal cups that ALWAYS stay cold. They never seem to unfreeze! What are those things?!
Pewter?!
I LOVE YOU. I shit you not. I love you, Hawk’s Head.

You may not notice it at first, but you’ve been transformed back in time. From the dining room with no electricity, to the live old band playing colonial tunes, to the colonial period dress, you’re going to be a part of an in-​person time travel.
The food is good, and I hope you like apples. There’s a lot of apples in the food, and some are served with apple sauce. I guess being on an apple farm, you have to use what you got. They even serve spiced, regular, and hard apple cider.
The staff are very friendly and I may be getting older, because they seem quite young… like late teens to early twenties. But they make you feel welcomed and can tell you a bit about the colonial period.
They have a lot of parking on their farm, so you don’t have to park on the street if you don’t want to. They allow dogs outside. :)