The Summerside Shipyard — Restaurant in Summerside

We arrived at Shipyard at 8:45 PM with two guests visiting from Europe, well before the posted 10 PM kitchen close. It was their first time in PEI and Canada, and we’d been told to expect the region’s famous hospitality at "Shipyard". After a full day kayaking without a proper meal, we were eager to end their trip on a pleasant note.

There were at least four empty tables outside and several inside. Yet the hostess told us there was a wait-list. I pointed out no one else was waiting; we’d been at the entrance for 10 minutes – and prior to that we were told to go to the front entrance instead of the terrace entrance (!?) so we went round. She replied others might be “arriving in 15 minutes” — "not reservations", just people "waitlisted earlier" . I explained it made no sense to hold tables for absent people when paying customers were standing there, especially with several empty four- and six-seat tables that could fit both groups (and more) regardless. Another hostess claimed those tables were “dirty and need wiping.” I said fine, we can sit and can be wiped no problem — but the more experienced hostess said there was “no time now.”

I asked the two hostesses to check with the manager if we could sit. To our disbelief, the manager made a very visible cut-throat hand gesture to the hostess — a clear order not to take more customers — despite the restaurant being open with plenty of space.

If you want to close a kitchen early due to running out of ingredients or being short-staffed, be honest. Don’t lie and blame “space” when it’s obviously untrue. And certainly don’t make crude gestures to refuse service. That’s unprofessional and unacceptable.

We asked about takeout instead. One hostess said “sure,” another immediately contradicted her: “No, we don’t.” I explained this was our guests’ last night here and they hoped to try local food. The answer was a cold, flat “no.”

As we walked away, a local group entered, and we overheard the chat at the entrance with the same hostesses — no reservation, no wait-list — and they were seated immediately. Another group walked out carrying takeout boxes of their leftovers. The issue was clearly not space, timing, or policy. The problem was us.

We were dressed appropriately: summer shirts, shorts, shoes. We were polite. But we were lied to, turned away, treated with indifference that left our guests embarrassed. Whether favoritism, prejudice, or sheer poor management, it's opposite of hospitality.

We ended up eating at a roadside diner in Aulac NB — great hospitality, nothing fancy, but at least we weren’t starving after a day on the water. Everyone in the car kept talking about how amateur the Summerside tourism industry felt compared to Europe.

The most welcoming place we visited in PEI was Lennox, where every single person was cordial. Charlottetown was sweet but too big for a personal connection. Summerside, at the end of our trip, left a bitter taste. I will never bring friends from Europe to dine there again. Maybe for a promenade stroll — but never to eat.

Encountering what felt like “face control” at the entrance of a Summerside restaurant is out of line. Even if the issue was shortage of kitchen materials or short staffing, this was not the way to handle it. And for the record: this is not an “upper-class” restaurant — by European standards, it’s a tavern. They need to get their act together. They are at one of the most prominent spots on the entire island, facing the sunset and the ocean, and yet somehow have turned that advantage into an embarrassment for PEI for foreign tourists coming from around the world.

If you want great service, go to North Cape where there's great service anywhere you go, and don't forget to say hi to people on Lennox Island on the way there. You can kayak all around Lennox, our most favorite spot on PEI (there are no services for tourists there yet, but the local people offer the warmest welcome – the friendliest people we've encountered on PEI celebrating life. We'd gladly give our money to a restaurant in Lennox when/if they...

I feel like our night started off kind of odd as the hosts weren’t overly friendly and our table felt out of place. The vibe is kind of modern but felt cheap? It seemed like there was a lot of wasted space and potential as there really isn’t a whole lot to the dining room. Waited 15 minutes for our server (who was kind and apologetic the whole time) to come by. Drinks were decent but didn’t taste like there was any alcohol? Was going to ask because maybe they were rung in as virgins since she didn’t ID us? Muscles were pretty fast and tasty. Our server looked like she had been running around yet everyone else seemed like they were doing nothing. Main course came out and there were still no waters at the table which was odd considering we asked for them at the beginning (came out 10 mins before we got the bill because they were forgotten). Sticky chicken sandwich was drenched in sauce. Fish tacos were so bland and dry (needs salt in batter, pickled onions or pico de gallo and a sauce IMO), coleslaw was clearly not made in house but thats fine, fries were cold and you could tell they are either frozen or pretty old. Crazy the fries aren't fresh cut considering we are in the potato province. Our server could tell we didn’t enjoy our food and really we did feel bad because we work in the restaurant industry and understand the pressure and heat. We explained what was wrong and she agreed and told us the worst reviews are about the tacos. I wasn't sure if it made me more upset that she wasn’t honest in the first place about them when I was ordering. She took them off the bill without hesitation and apologized again. I know you are new, but I hope in the future your cooks are asked to taste as they go and have a second pair of eyes before food goes out. And for your foh staff to be more attentive and support each other. It doesn’t look good when tables aren’t being bussed for a long period of time and no one is taking laps to check...

They did not have the wine that we wanted to begin with. And when she brought the wine, she dropped it at the table and ran because she did not have the time to open the bottle for us. When we ordered our meals, she didn't say that she was missing any items. However, when we got our food which took well over 45 minutes ,She kept coming to apologize, we got the wrong pasta for my gluten Free pasta which it in the menu It said penne, but it was like a spiral pasta that I really don't eat so after such a long time , I did not really get to eat with my family who had their meal well before me. ... the orders that have fries came without fries because they were in the process of making them and the fries came 10 minutes later. The sliders were horrible. They cut a hamburger into 3 pieces and put a piece in each slider. And the cheese was completely non visible. I think it had been there for quite a while and the bottom of the burgers were completely burnt. My husband's seafood linguiny was really good. The only thing that was satisfying ....to replace my pasta dish I ordered a spinach dip with corn chips. And the dip was very sour tasting and I couldn't eat it at all. She was apologetic and said that they have only been open for a month. But in my opinion, a month is enough to know that you need to satisfy your customer and instead of taken them to town with your prices feed them horrible food. All in all, a very disappointing experience ...at the end , the manager, which had actually been trying to seven our table, as they were too busy and short of staff , took the food out of our bill, which was much...