The West End — Restaurant in Barnstable

This is not entirely fair, because it was a meeting with dinner in a seperate room. The room was exquisite, light and elegant as were the table settings. The menu was creative and yet many delightful American comfort favorites sprinkled throughout. But mostly astounding were the many options for fresh and local vegetables creatively cooked while not erasing the vegetable flavor or value. The meat and fish options were adequately explained, sources, as well as accompanying sauce, which again enhanced and didn't detract from it's essence. I had a stuffed quohog which was excellent, dry crusty top but moist and flavorful underneath with just the right spicy chorizo. Then a filet, medium rare with beaulinaise sauce on the side and asparagus. Meat was cooked to perfection with slight blackening outer and warm pink buttery tender center. Asparagus was 4 sprigs, I think, not the thin kind, but crisp and flavorful, bright green and not a chewy piece. I traded mashed, risoto or rice choices to a side order; mac and cheese in an individual small baking dish, bigger than a ramekin. Very tasty, but a little dry and loud crunchy on top. I didn't have dessert because, here's the part where they get 3 stars instead of 4 or 4.5. We all had our appetizers about 7:30. But no dinner was served until 8:30. We were told "they", were "waiting until people were through with salads". There was one person of 15 people, eating a large salad slowly because that was his entre. Some people left because the talk was finished at 8 and we were politely trying to fill the time with questiins and anecdotes. I did have to ask for a box to take mine home. One had to get the dinner sauce and all, dig out the baking dish( almost took it with) into simple thin brown cardboard box with no lining and balance carrying it hoping it didn't pop open(hard to close tab and slit) or drip and leak. But, I am grateful they opted out of Styrofoam. So maybe this was a onetime early season, just getting started blunder. I hope so, because even taking the food home it was delightful. So also, I think they will be better at valet parking. Cones were up in a confusing way, such that I couldnt see my way to the front entrance for driving up. So I waited at the cone with the sign valet parking. No one came so i drive in and parked. Then an attendant came flying over to say "its valet parking only. We save these middle spaces for other people". I said fine but I'll walk to the entrance from here and he gave me a tag. When leaving the poor young guy had to run all around the perimeter looking for the tag number, until I called out for him to press the unlock button on the key so my lights would flash. He did and brought my car apologetically. He did not want a tip but I gave him $5, anyway. It's a bit crazy after memorial day on Cape Cod and there are high expectations both for making some money hopefully but also from fussy customers. I wish the West End good fortune they certainly have good food and good people, the rest can be worked out. Oh, prices, I don't know because we had a menu...

I am really so sad to give this negative review, as I’m a local resident n super foodie who is eaten all over the country. but I went there for my anniversary dinner last night and the service was great, the guy was so friendly and sweet. but the food was not good and so not worth the money. I went there in July in although their spicy chicken appetizer was over fried, the rest of the food seemed OK. Last night we paid $45 for a little beach tower which consisted of way over cooked cocktail shrimp, metal tasting clams, the six oysters on there were good, but it seemed as though that was prepared ahead of time and stuck in the walk-in as it was hard n did not taste fresh. The shrimp Were so hard I couldn’t believe someone would serve cocktail shrimp that overcooked. Moving onto the calamari, which was super tiny and small, way over salted, and not enough meat to the calamari itself- it was basically all breading. No flavor except salt Moving on to the entrées, I got the salmon entrée, the the dish I would rate a 5 and my husband got a sirloin. He would also give it a 5 out of 10 the mashed potatoes are OK. I feel like they try to do way too much to make the plate look good and make it look high end, but they are seriously lacking on the quality. Next time I’m ready to pay $280 for a meal. I certainly won’t go there. I even considered go in there for Thanksgiving as this is the first year My husband and I are not going to be cooking and for the $65 price of their Buffet you won’t find me anywhere near that place. I feel bad is the place was completely dead on a Friday night and maybe that’s why because it’s overpriced and not good. I’ve spent 20 years in the cooking industry my husband’s a major foodie with a crazy ability to cook. When we go out, we really saver and enjoy our food and we notice immediately if stuff is not well or just not good and I hate to say that our anniversary dinner was so bad but literally in the middle of eating, I told him I’d have been happier with cheeseburgers and fries. You can’t go wrong with cheeseburgers and fries. Maybe my expectations were high just because of the price tag on the menus. I want to clarify that the place itself is absolutely adorable inside extremely nice and whoever is picking the music is definitely picking the right stuff. The champagne was absolutely phenomenal.!!!! Here’s some pictures and once again, everything looked good, but looks don’t make up...

The PERFECT place for a wedding reception! My wife and I recently got married on the Cape in July 2024. We were in search of a smaller, intimate venue for our reception, which as you can imagine is not the easiest thing to find in middle of the summer on Cape Cod. From our first interaction with the event staff, we were sold. What really drew us to this venue was their event coordinator, Meghann. From our first meeting through our special day, she was accommodating, kind, insightful, and gave us the reception of our dreams. As many of you know, planning for a wedding can be stressful, especially ensuring everything goes as planned day of. My wife had many ideas for decor, arrangements, etc but it was Meghann who brought it all to life. Her expertise in planning events put our minds at ease and we could not have felt more comfortable giving her the reigns to guide us throughout every phase of planning. We were lucky enough to have our reception in the Sun Room, an intimate setting with a private bar and plenty of room for a dance floor. The flower arrangements and decor were set up to perfection, just how we had them pictured. The service we and our guests received from the staff was nothing short of exceptional. Most importantly for our guests, the food (which we selected from some pre planned options) was outstanding. In my experience, wedding food has always been mediocre, due to the difficulty of preparing everything for a large group. The kitchen staff far exceeded the expectations we had and our guests were raving about the food for weeks after. If I could give more than five stars I would. Highly recommend the West End for wedding receptions or any other event. Meghann, huge thank you to you and your team for your commitment to making our special day one to remember for the rest...