A mainstay of downtown Yellow Springs since 1847, Ye Olde Train Tavern is an old log cabin converted into a local dive bar. With a small menu of tasty food and a giant outdoor space for relaxing with friends. Now, all of Yellow Springs is pretty laid back, the whole town could be considered a dive, really. So, in that regard, this place really fits in to the rest of the town. Overall this is a nice place to pay a visit, but I’m not sure exactly about the food.
The menu is, relatively speaking, very small. There’s a very small menu of appetizers which are typical bar food, like cheesy potato wedges and chicken wings, most of the other fried bar food classics you’re used to, like fried mushrooms, cheeseballs, fried pickles and jalapeno poppers. The main courses on the menu are pretty basic by themselves, there is a small menu of build-your-own pizzas which seem to be popular. There are two salads and a few choices for soup for some lighter food.
The things to try, though, are the burgers and “stuffed sandwiches.” To call them stuffed sandwiches is technically inaccurate. That name evokes the famous Pittsburgh original which is a full sandwich filled with fries and cole slaw. These are just big sandwiches. They’re good, though, particularly the Philly steak, which is filled with Angus beef and vegetables and served with an au jus sauce. Then there’s the massive Reuben which has about all of the meat in the world; seriously it’s huge. I wasn’t as impressed with the burgers though. They’re frozen patties. More importantly, they’re dreadfully generic; vegetables on top cost extra, and even the “jerk burger” didn’t stand out terribly; it was just a burger with some jalapenos and some dry rub. A little disappointing.
It’s the little things that sort of sink the experience like that. The prices for everything are above normal which would be okay if the food was exceptional, but it’s neither overly creative nor are the ingredients any higher quality than normal. There aren’t many beers on tap, and of them few are local. Then of course I seem to come on bad days, the food takes 30 minutes or more for a dine-in, and frequent small errors on the part of the service leave me constantly sending something or another back.
So, Ye Olde Trail Tavern is generally a nice place and the food shows promise, but the little annoyances here and there whittle you down a little. I don’t know that I found anything spectacular or unique enough in this former stagecoach house to make me want to come back.
Recommendations
- The outdoor dining really makes the place nice and I would suggest it, considering the cramped interior.
- You won’t find a lot of local or unique beers on tap here, but I do see a few interesting things now and then.
- Try the stuffed sandwiches first. They’re the best of the food.
Another Food Critic 
I agree with almost everything in your review. You liked the food a bit more than I did. The poor service and the lousy values combined with the cachet of the place make it a tourist trap. You’re paying to sit in a historic building. The service is almost always inattentive and bad and some of the food items (you nailed the jerk burger) are overpriced crud. I remember getting pizza with anchovies that was pretty good a few years ago. I love the building – in the winter, the old interior with a fire roaring in the fireplace is the place to be. Even though it’s drafty it feels cozy. But the building is wasted on the food and the level of service that the Trail offers.
I have to agree. All in all I feel like there’s a lot of wasted potential in the place right now.