Portside Tavern — Restaurant in Barnstable

I think it's important that I start out by saying this... Do not let the word Tavern, deter you from stopping at this dining staple, that has long been apart of the Hyannis restaurant industry... Yes there is a huge bar as you walk in, but!!! Even though there were quite a few gentlemen, (I'm willing to bet, they are locals, that come there for a cold beer and some awesome food. ) they weren't the loud, slapping the bar for another type. I didn't even hear a loud conversation coming from their direction as we waited for our table to be put together... You don't have to worry about bringing the whole famil either. Even grandma and her hearing aids, because you don't sit near the bar, In fact, they bring you to a dining room. I mention this, because my mom (71), her sister (63, who just had her last dose of chemo, a week ago) thier cousin (71, with a hearing problem) and my daughter (typical 8 yr old girl) are picky and were sceptical, but it didn't last...

Im starting here because, this is where they lost it and had no control, their senses took over and instead of keeping thier noses in the air like snobs, their nose was the first to take over, then their eyes and then finally their taste...

Ohhh my God, the chowder is amazing... Which by the way is one of our traditions when we come to the Cape, we try to find the best chowder, The Portside Tavern is #1 on my list. (They don't skimp on the bacon, I got some in every bite) I can't just tell you either, you have to see for yourself!!!!

I also had the Mac and cheese with lobster. Talk about comfort food, it's made with lots of local cheese and even the lobster (which you feel like you know the cook and got a hook up, because they give you some much lobster ) were the big sweet claws, that weren't baked to a crisp either and overcooked dry and hard, like you typically get served when you order this as a meal from other restaurants.

My mom got the haddock, my Aunt got the steak and their cousin got the potato skins, which they loved and by the way... My daughter (who is 8 and was exausted from the drive in from NY) was the only one who complained because, she ordered the pasta and sauce. She wasn't used to eating that thick of a pasta and I felt bad sending it back, because I even tasted it and there was nothing wrong with it...

She ended up getting the steak though and shr loved it. (I tried it and I can't wait to turn her left over's into a sald, if she let's me,lol) It's definitely aged, so it falls apart easily, has that amazing taste and it's huge.

Just one more thing about the food... When we ordered our chowder, Candy (our perfect waitress) brought us some bread and butter, but, before you think, "boring"... The bread was fresh soft and it's not just "butter"... There is some special ingredients, that Jason ended up sharing with us. (But I'll never tell, lol) We almost ate the whole platter of it, before I finally bugged him enough into divulging the secret recipe. Which by the way, I bet you can't guess, unless you have a seriously sophisticated palate.

Speaking of Candy and Jason... Candy was our waitress who I didn't even have to ask for a refill by the way, because as soon as it got to that point, (you know what I mean) she brought me out a fresh, soda. Jason was our Host (I'm guessing also management/maybe even owner) They couldn't have been more attentive and genuinely showed a interest in our dining experience. There was another gentleman that came over a couple of times but, unfortunately I didn't catch his name.

So I took the time to write this to help you make that important, sometimes even expensive decision about where to go to eat. We couldn't have been happier, with everything, the food the service and atmosphere was perfect. Since I ate too at much for dinner, I ordered my dessert to go, all this talking has me starving so I'm going to have it for breakfast with my coffee, but I found feel guilty by ending this by not urging you to go see for yourself... Enjoy my...

Unfortunately my family and I had the worst experience ever! I don’t recommend this restaurant to anyone especially to those families with small children! We had a kind waiter who did his best to make our experience a good one, we also had a great host to welcome us to the business. This was our second time ever going to The Portside Tavern! The night was ruined for our family after the cook/co-owner made it a point to come to our table and yell at us for a asking for a replacement meal because we were served a meal we did not order! We ordered 3 tiny hamburgers for our two small kids, the waiter brought 3 tiny bbq pulled pork sandwiches which was not what we ordered! So I kindly asked if it would be possible to exchange for the burger that we originally ordered because our kids did not like the bbq pulled pork sandwiches and we don’t eat pork either. We would have had the bbq pulled pork if it was something any of us liked!

We apologized for having to switch that to the burger which we had originally ordered, the waiter said it would not be a problem at all! No big deal “WE THOUGHT” they’re busy we get it, it happens! As we waited for our meal and played tic tac toe with our 2 kids, a gentleman walked over to our table and asked … “ were you guys the table that ordered the slidders(bbq pulled pork sandwiches) ?? We had no clue what was going on, because he was not our waiter, but we continued to look at him as he kept on talking HE STARTED YELLING AT US and asked if WE KNEW HOW TO READ THE MENU BECAUSE NOW he had 3 mini pulled pork sandwiches that he could not sell to another customer and WHAT DID WE THINK HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THE bbq pulled pork sandwiches that we sent back? My husband and I apologized on behalf of our family and said we would pay for the pulled pork sandwiches so we did not harm there business in any way, which is never our intention at all!

HE CONTINUED to insult our family, and make remarks about people in a very disrespectful way in front 2 table full people and also in front of our two children! CONTINUED saying that people don’t know how to read the menu, and that THE PORTSIDE TAVERN changes their menu 3 times per year, and what I had ordered was no longer on the menu ( NO ONE TOLD US ) there were plenty of other options, if WE WERE AWARE we would certainly change to whatever else, mind you I asked for hamburgers with no cheese not once did I say “sliders or pulled pork sandwich to our waiter! After he finished yelling he left and said he was going to make the hamburgers! Well we got the burgers for our kids but it was all burned, charcoal burned, the steak tips burned , and burned corn! We paid $105 for the meal plus 20% tip, after the tornado over the $6 dollar bbq pulled pork sandwich episode!

I would have preferred being charged for the wrong meal versus being yelled at and treated like dirt in a room full of people and in front of our small kids!

I also would like to mention that this persons son saw me crying at the table and apologized on behalf of his dad which was the man that came to our table and yelled at us for switching a wrong meal, and said his dad was older and that he could not change the way he was or chooses to do things. I have family members that I love deeply but it would be tragic for my business if they ever worked for me or along side me!

I think positive comments are important for any business, but a honest review will help any business grow and improve! I hope I was the last mom/daughter/wife/sister/friend that leaves The Portside Tavern in tears along with my 2 small children who also cried, were scared and left hungry after leaving this nightmare dinner at The...

Edit: My husband called and asked to speak to the manager. He explained that our chicken was not seasoned, never mind blackened, and the avacodo was hard as a rock. The manager was rude, and kept saying "they were busy". Rather than apologizing for the off night, which would have been all we'd have wanted or needed to hear, this person told my husband to "come back here right now and get your money, then you can never come back here again". No need to worry about that! We certainly will not be returning. They can keep the 80 bucks, put it towards some customer service training, perhaps.

Disappointing experience tonight when getting take out. I had a delicious lunch here a few weeks ago. The blackened chicken rice bowl. First time, it was perfection. The seasoning on the chicken was so amazing that I saved 2 peices to being home for my son and husband to try. They loved it too. We got takeout tonight and my son and I both got the blackened chicken rice bowl. The chicken is not even REMOTELY seasoned at all. Literally chicken that's cooked. Such a massive disappointment. The rice bowl comes with avacodo in it, the avacodo was so hard my fork will not pierce it. Pointless to complain to restaurant, as I live in Dennis and there is no way im going BACK to Hyannis. It isn't a travel to home and food got cold, or old, or whatever issue. The 2 rice bowls were a completely waste of money. My husband got a burger and it was good. Asked if he'd order it again and he said " I'd not go searching for it, that's for sure". I imagine that it must be a different person that cooked the first meal I had here. That meal was so amazing that I couldn't wait to get it again. Now I don't know if we will ever go back. Not knowing will it be the good chicken or the not seasoned just cooked thru chicken.......