Mountain Social Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Bethel

We were staying in Gorham, NH and discovered Salt (local restaurant in town) had closed down. There were no other places with top notch craft cocktails or the upscale food options we were looking for. We didn’t want pizza or BBQ with Gorham being limited with dining options. The host at our B&B recommended taking a 25min drive to Bethel, ME and going to explore the historical section of town that had shops and restaurants. After looking online in Google Maps, Mountain Social Kitchen & Bar popped up with photos of upscale cocktails and decorative food items. Thinking this place was too good to be true, checking the hours of operations, it was indeed open! With plenty of parking on site, we were eager to see the inside of the place. It was beautiful with touches of rustic elegance all throughout making any of the rooms attractive to dine in. We grabbed seats at the bar which felt very cozy with dim lighting. Kelsey our bartender provided excellent service and was great to talk to while having cocktails and small bites. We started off with the Pineapple Express (Mezcal lovers try this) it was beautifully presented and tasted delicious with a light frothy foam on top. Next I tried Fennel Destination (Mezcal lovers try this) also equally as delicious and was light and airy with tastes from the tropics. I tried the Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Soup and it was by far the best I’ve ever had. Recently opening for lunch, Mountain Social was going to be the highlight of our trip with tasting excellence while away in the mountains. Kelsey let us know it had just become Happy Hour and it was $2.00 off specialty cocktails and there were small bites to choose from on the menu. This was even more exciting! We selected the Mussels which were great! For foodies and craft cocktail lovers, you will not get the quality, presentation or ambiance anywhere else in town. It was worth the short drive from NH to discover this gem. Everything was accordingly priced for fresh foods and ingredients. I went back and told our host to let all other guests know if they didn’t mind traveling outside of Gorham to Bethel, they wouldn’t be disappointed. On great weather days, this is the place to be to sit outside on the big patio and enjoy your experience of outdoor dining. I’d come back to Bethel just to eat and drink here. We were so pleased and thrilled to be able to find a place that matched our tastes and qualities we were looking for. 100% recommended for all occasions, you’ll receive nothing less of amazing hospitality and...

This experience was one I'll remember for a very long time.

If I were to describe it simply, I'd unfortunately have to say that it was heinously bad.

Over the course of our meal, it became very evident that the chef and restaurateur behind Mountain Social care deeply for the place they work. The organization of the menu makes sense while reading, the dishes sound good, and the restaurant is generally cozy inside.

The problem lies entirely in culinary execution. I don't think I've ever eaten anything more poorly executed than the meal I ate here.

I had the displeasure of encountering their "Scallops and Risotto" - which unfortunately had nothing going for it. There were so many upsetting things on this plate that I'm going to have to resort to bullet points;

I've had al-dente arborio, and I've had overcooked arborio. The arborio served on my plate was closer to raw/shelf-dry than either of those. The risotto had no salt content whatsoever. I had to ask the kitchen for salt. The scallops also lacked any seasoning. The "celery puree" served as an accoutrement to my risotto was split - a pool of flavorless oil sat on top of it. The risotto was adorned with (NOT described on the menu) wedges of grapefruit, which, while cut beautifully did not work in any way with the (lacking) flavor profile of the dish. The pricing here is just nuts. I don't mind paying up for a well executed meal, but to pay $39 for 4 small U20 scallops on a plate of pain was just utterly upsetting.

Unfortunately, my partner's dish was even worse than mine. She ordered their fish special, an Asian inspired Cod-Loin that was served BURNT. This never should have made it past expo, but the kitchen clearly thought that it was fine to serve.

I hate to say it, but this restaurant feels like a passion project for someone who just does not have the ability to execute at the level that they think they can. I'd strongly recommend that you avoid this disappointing, expensive...

Absolutely, the only reason I am giving this place one star is because “0” stars are not possible. I am appalled at not only the service, but the quality of food. Reading the reviews before we went there, I felt confident that it would be a very good restaurant to take my family. When we walked in, I got a bit nervous because it is a bar atmosphere. And it felt dirty. While we waited for our table to be made ready, I went to the ladies room. The bathrooms are completely filthy. The floors felt filthy too. Never assume that if a restaurant is charging a lot, it will be good. My daughter and I ordered the lobster ravioli and it was cold. We sent it back. They brought it back and it was hot but it tasted fishy and wasn’t good at all. I am now worried that I may get food poisoning because my stomach hurts. A friend in our party ordered lamb bolognese. There was a piece of raw meat. We called this to the attention of the waitress but they denied that it was meat. It was raw meat. My husband could not cut it and it was fibrous. They claimed it was a tomato. I have never encountered a tomato that I could not cut. The manager was rude and shockingly dismissive and condescending. How in the world is this place still in business? They have no standard whatsoever. All of the food was mediocre at best. Dirty bathrooms, sub-par food, paper napkins, no hostess, exorbitant prices for mediocre-at-best food; this sums up our experience. I would not recommend this place and I am truly offended that they are allowed to serve people and charge such ridiculously high prices for the quality of food and overall experience. It is truly unethical. I have never written a review before about a restaurant but feel very strongly about this. The reviews I read before we went there were inaccurate. I don’t want another family to be duped. Spend your hard- earned...