Back Deck — Restaurant in Boston

Whatever you do, DON'T make a reservation! This will result in you getting much worse service.

I'm not sure I've ever had a weirder experience at a restaurant.

We'd made a reservation several days in advance, because we wanted to celebrate a special occasion. When we arrived, the restaurant was actually incredibly quiet, with a large number tables available, both inside and outside. Because it was a beautiful Summer night, we asked to be seated outside.

The person at the host stand told us that because we'd made a reservation, we wouldn't be allowed to sit outside, under any circumstances. Since it was so quiet, we asked to cancel our reservation and be seated as a a walk-in at an outdoor table. The host seemed to agree, then walked us to an indoor table. We asked again.

At one point, the host lied to us, and told us that the reason we couldn't be seated outside was that all of the outdoor tables were reserved for others (many of the outdoor tables remained empty the entire time we were there, so this was clearly not true).

We asked to speak to a manager, but they never got one for us. I briefly spoke to the bartender, with the end result of being seated outside, but at no point were we allowed to speak to the manager, and at no point did we receive any sort of apology.

Our waitress was absolutely great -- friendly, informative, and attentive. The food was very good. However, the uncomfortable and downright weird experience around getting seated put a pall over the...

Went for dinner with a group of ladies before "Moulin Rouge." It's practically next door to the theater. And for that reason, you should make reservations well in advance on show nights. Don't just drop by. The entire place was reserved. Service was cordial, and the server was able to keep up with our group, which had ladies arriving at various times over a 30-minute interval. And then we were not focused on the menu, but were catching up. Once ordered, our meals arrived quickly, and everyone seemed to enjoy their dinners. The server and kitchen were attentive to special requests, including for one of our party who is both gluten and dairy intolerant. Oh my! I can say my lobster mac and cheese was delish! I saw very little uneaten food when we left, and the server brought extra spoons and dishes for sharing one very large dessert. There was a wide variety of dishes, including small plates and full dinners, and ranging from a burger and fries to a complete strip steak dinner and broiled salmon. And the drinks were very good. Prices seemed typical for this kind of restaurant in this kind of location. I still get sticker shock over the price of alcoholic beverages everywhere, but since I rarely have one, and this was a special occasion, I could handle it. My lime and grapefruit margarita was great! I would highly recommend The Back Deck, just not on show nights, unless you've made a...

I would have given this place 5 stars, had it not been for the hostesses. The waiter was very friendly and quite speedy. The food was delicious and didn’t take too long to come out. The environment was very warm and welcoming all together. No complaints there! But again, those hostesses almost ruined it for us. They greeted us with sour faces and no words. I told them we had a reservation and they still didn’t say a word but proceeded to gesture us to follow one of them. She tried to seat us at a tight table in between two other families, when the other half of the restaurant was generally empty. My child has sensory issues sometimes so I asked to be seated in a quieter spot - to which they gave me attitude and said no. I told them we were leaving if we couldn’t be seated in a different location (due to said sensory issues) and they rolled their eyes. They then proceeded to seat us in the quieter section, again without any words, and continued looking at us throughout our stay. Safe to say we will not be returning unless they’re not there. They made us very uncomfortable. So sad to see host staff ruining such a great establishment. If management reads this, please note that this took place on Friday, Dec 30th...