First, let me clarify that we visited the Black Cat Harbor Shack on an evening when there was a Tornado Watch, so it was windy and there were more staff than customers.

We nonetheless wanted to eat outdoors and choose the Harbor Shack over the sister restaurant next door. We were charmed by the helpfulness of our server and the other staff, but also disappointed.

Given the informal, outdoor nature of the "Shack", we were not surprised by all of the utensils and food being of plastic. We were surprised, however, by the quality of the food. We ordered a mixed greens salad and a burger. For the salad, the tomatoes were green, there was a lackluster house dressing and the quantity was disappointing. It was truly just a couple of green tomato slices, a very modest amount of mixed greens and an unremarkable house salad. We ordered the same fare, sitting at a similar table outside at the Hog Island Beer Co. the subsequent night and the differences could not be more stark. Everything was better for the same price.

Our main reason for choosing Black Cat was that they had some local beer on tap. I asked if they had a wheat beer and the response was no (from multiple levels of staff), but they mentioned that the summer beer was a Hefeweizen. This is pitiful training. Hefeweizen is the German word for wheat beer. It is truly tragic that their training does not include informing their staff of what Hefeweizen means in English.

The side that accompanies the (apparently straight out of the freezer) burger was a bag of Cape Cod potato chips. We asked if we could swap that out for something more natural. Unfortunately, the upcharge for the side salad did not reflect any credit for not receiving chips. A minor issue, but in a customer-centered industry, unfortunate.

Thanks to our server's charm, we had a pleasant evening, but if you seek quality food and staff who understand their offerings, there are better options at a similar price point. For starters, consider Hog Island Beer, Co. in Orleans.