McKay's Public House — Restaurant in Bar Harbor

I’d say the best thing about the place is the ambience. With Covid, we wanted to sit outside to be safe and it was really cute with the lights. Even with the heaters it was cold in mid September, so dress accordingly. The apps were fine, nothing memorable. I would not recommend the Brie; it’s basic and something you can easily do at home. The nachos were good. Everything was very expensive but it is Bar Harbor. It’s hard for me to judge precisely because three out of our four entrées came out and then we waited 15 minutes for the last person’s, so my 30 dollar halibut and potatoes got cold, so they weren’t great. Two of the worst things to eat cold but we kept waiting for our friends meal to be polite, but all because the waitress first said told us the last meal would be right out, then later when we inquired again, she admitted she forgot to put the order in, hence why we waited 15 for pasta. I understand this happens, but then we ended up eating cold fish and burgers. The flavors were fine, although I had to add salt because the fish was underwhelming flavor wise. I should also note that I’m not a picky eater; however, when you’re paying that much for a meal and you know you’re going to tip well, you would expect better. She gave us a free beer, but I’d still rather take a hot meal. Anyway, cute, cozy right in town but definitely some downsides. Not as fancy, but if you’re trying to choose a meal out, I’d recommend Side Street Cafe for a buzzy, fun ambience with great food and beer selection and...

Disclaimer- the ONLY reason this place has ANY stars was because once we actually got our food it was delicious.

Now to the tale of our evening. It started off well. The hostess' and a gentleman who appeared to be a manager sat us in a beautiful garden seating where me and my wife proceeded to wait for about 30 minutes for our server to finally grace us with her prescence. (I say that because that was her attitude) by this time my wife and i had plenty of time to figure out what we wanted. I ordered a beer (important to the story) and appetizers and we ordered our dinners. The server takes our order and goes to get the beer and promises bread and water upon her return. Now keep in mind it's been about 40 mins now. The server returns and says that they were out of the beer i ordered. (Which is ok... nothing wrong with a popular item) i ask to try something she brought me a sample of another one and i ended up ordering it and then she brought it to me and i enjoyed it. Now that is 3 trips to the table and my wife STILL has not gotten her water. It was only upon a kitchen runner who brought us our appetizers that when my wife asked her for a water that she finally brought it. 25- 30 mins later our food finaly came. When the food finally came we asked her for the check and it took her a solid 15 mins to even bring that!

Do not recommend at all. If any of the food on the menu sounds appealing (which to reiterate only reason i didn't give a zero) support your...

#1. The owner is involved in the best way: he helps out and actually does the WORK he asks of his staff. An industry insider myself who has worked for corporate restaurants, I can say this makes a big difference.. maybe not from a diners perspective that you might notice right away. But if you have happy servers, you're going to have a much better experience overall. #2. Service was outstanding. We had the joy of Tyson (yes, named after the fighter). We were one of his last tables of the night, but he was definitely into making sure we had a good time regardless of what time he might've thought he would be out of there (there's the happy employee thing working out). I told him I would share the photo I took of him, so give it lots of love. #3. THERE WERE AT LEAST -- AT LEAST-- 3 FULL CLAWS IN THE LOBSTER RISOTTO. AND AT LEAST ONE, FULL TAIL. #4. The patio area is the single most delightful place I've dined outside in a long time. And that's saying something because we have only been allowed to dine outside for months. A lot of places are clearly making the best of the worst. Brian is crushing the patio game at McKays. #5. The bartender knows her craft, you'll get a chance to say hi when you quickly grab your drink inside before waiting in the outdoor lounge, all equipped with efficient space heaters for when the colder temps eventually set in. #6. The grilled halloumi cheese might change your life. You're welcome for...