Eddie Merlot's — Restaurant in Boston

I came here with my boss and team for a last minute dinner as every single other place in seaport was booked and I had previously been here with no issue. I would highly recommend that you avoid this place at all cost as the service was abyssmal (at no fault to our server) due to the lack of care and acknowledgement from management. After everything that happened this evening - we were still tacked with an automatic gratuity and only offered a $12 dessert comp. Read below for my full review.

This was the most comedic dinner I have ever attended and everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. Immediately as we were sat the fire alarm went off and we were all told to evacuate.

As we sit back down we notice the table cloth is dirty so we asked for it to be changed, and were offered another table instead. When we sit down at the new table, we notice the overhead lights were so glaringly bright. I would say comparable to a football stadium flood lights (to which the manager came over to explain that it’s connected to the building next door and they couldn’t control - fine.)

The table was also under blasting AC vents (mind you it’s also 35 degrees outside) and we asked for it to be turned down or off. It switched off for a few minutes but was turned right back on and was so cold my boss sat through dinner wearing a scarf the entire evening. This point will matter again when we get to the food.

We ordered our drinks and they all came out at varying times, 35-50 mins after we ordered them. The subsequent drinks we ordered also came out long after we had eaten and ordered them. Additionally, they ran out of casamigos (first order) and grapefruit (second order) during the night. Not everyone had their martini as it was too briny, even for a dirty martini (to which we learned one of the bartenders was new and that’s why the drinks were slow).

Appetizers were fine - however our individual plates for sharing the food were brought stacked and we had to pass our own plates around (sure, fine. - but at a nice steakhouse we shouldn’t be having to service ourselves). Then when the table was cleared, they only cleared half the table and our party had to (at a later time before the next course) pass the remaining plates to have them cleared.

The runners bring out the entrees and sit the food down by our table and we see the manager walk by without serving the food multiple times. Remember the AC vents? Our food is sitting on serving trays directly under the cold vents. The lights are so bright that we notice there’s no steam coming off any of the steaks that we order, and when later checked, is not hot to the touch.

The medallions is oozing red and one plate is sent back to get tossed back on the grill as the medium rare was near mooing. Most people didn’t not finish their meals as it was cold and the medium rare was basically raw. The sauces took so long to come out and were so cold the bernaise was essentially clumped and could not be poured out of the saucer.

The table again was partially cleared - and we had to do the dance of passing our own plates to get them removed. Once dessert was offered we were told they ran out of an ingredients for the bananas foster, as I see the cart wheel by us. At this point, you may think if they have any ingredients for anything on the menu!!

We get three desserts and they were so sweet that no one wanted to take any of leftovers home. Bill comes out and there’s an automatic gratuity. Apart from the one time the manager came to explain the lights, we had to flag people down to be serviced. Our server was new, the bartender was new, and yet management did not come to check in on our table at any other time during the entire meal.

To wrap, if you want a good story to tell to everyone where not to go, come to this restaurant. Otherwise a McRib from McDonalds might save you some money and embarrassment in front of your team for...

Boston, MA Visited: 6/16/25 (Detailed Review- Beware of Matt!!)

My wife and I were in town on business and decided to try Eddie Merlot’s for dinner. We usually enjoy upscale steakhouses and dine at places like Smith & Wollensky, but we wanted to try something new. Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of the most disappointing dining experiences we’ve had.

We arrived early for our 7:15 PM reservation and were seated right away. But from there, the service became noticeably slow. We didn’t get water until nearly 7:40, and that was after our server, Matt, finally came to the table. He didn’t properly introduce himself—I had to ask for his name—and told us the water would take a while because they were refilling bottles. When I said I preferred water before ordering any drinks, he still kept pushing the bar menu.

From there, the delays continued. Simple requests like napkins took 10–15 minutes. Matt would disappear for long stretches and gave us very little communication. At one point, I asked a gentleman in a pink shirt and black jeans—who we later learned was the floor manager—for help. When I asked Matt what his name was, he guessed “Quan” or “Brian” before eventually spelling “J-U-A-N.” That kind of uncertainty from a server about his own manager was disappointing.

We also noticed other tables were given bread and butter right after being seated. We weren’t. We had to ask the floor manager just to get some. Again, it was a pattern—other tables were being tended to quickly while we waited for the basics.

Adding to the frustration, Matt would occasionally rush past our table and say things like, “Thank you guys for being good sports.” But what does that even mean? We didn’t come to be “good sports”—we came expecting the same level of service as every other guest. We were spending just as much as the people around us and deserved the same attention and care. That kind of comment only made the experience feel more dismissive.

When it came to food, the crab bisque was the only real standout. The charbroiled oysters were overly salty and had to be sent back. We ordered the steak and lobster special, which came with a set of sauces that Matt couldn’t identify—he literally sniffed one and said he didn’t know what it was. One green sauce was so thick it didn’t even pour out when tipped—it had the consistency of mashed potatoes. The creamed spinach was also far too salty, and we left that untouched. The drinks we ordered were forgettable—we barely finished them.

It took nearly three hours to complete the meal, and by the time we were ready to leave, we were drained. I eventually had to get up and walk to the hostess stand to ask them to find our server so we could get the check. Instead, I asked for a manager. A woman came over, apologized, and we gave her our card directly. Matt returned and offered to take care of it, but we declined. At that point, we just didn’t want to wait another 15 minutes to close out.

This wasn’t about being picky or expecting VIP treatment. We dine like this often, and all we wanted was a smooth evening with good service. We weren’t asking for anything extra. But between the inattentiveness, the delays, and the feeling that we were being overlooked, it just wasn’t a pleasant experience.

We’re generally great tippers wherever we go. But for us, tipping is tied directly to the quality of service we receive. In this case, I wouldn’t have left anything at all—but my wife insisted we leave something, so we did—the bare minimum. And I want to be clear: this isn’t about the type of restaurant. It’s about the experience. I don’t tip based on where I’m dining—I tip based on how I’m treated. And in this experience, the service didn’t earn it.

I won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this location to others. I don’t need a second chance to be...

We went to Eddie Merlot's for Mother's Day dinner. We made our reservation on Opentable weeks in advance. When we arrived and checked in for our reservation I could see that there was some issue with where we would be seated. After getting our table a waiter finally arrived to take our orders. We ordered the shellfish tower, 2 glasses of white wine and our kids got softdrinks. We also ordered our dinners but requested that they come out well after our shellfish tower. The wine arrived promptly but the tower took a really long time. My glass of wine was almost gone by the time the tower made its appearance. We were 3/4ths done with the tower and our meals arrived. The meals sat in the middle of the dining area for a long time as the tower is quiet large. When the tower was finally gone our waiter appeared to plate our meals. When he was there I ordered a bottle of red wine to accompany our steaks and our kids requested refills. The waiter never returned with our wine, our waters were all empty and no one checked in to see how our steaks were or to explain the delay in the wine delivery. We all finished our meals, and were sitting for some time before our waiter made an appearance. He had the bottle of wine and some glasses. He apologized and said that they had trouble locating the wine. The entire time we were there we noticed that every other table was getting excellent service. We felt like we were completely neglected all evening. We requested to speak to the manager and were told he will come over at some point because he is tied up putting out several other fires. When the manager arrived he apologized and said that they were down a couple of servers and 2 managers. That's fine but all of the tables near us had constant service with plenty of bussers and servers. We really felt invisible and that is totally unacceptable at a top notch steak house. We were offered free dessert which I found insulting. I told the manager that we had such a terrible experience we just wanted our check so we could leave. After a few minutes of pondering the manager apologized again and offered to comp our meal. That was a nice gesture and even though the food was excellent, the service was so bad I don’t ever want to return to Eddie Merlot's. We left a tip for our server and went down the street to Morton's for dessert. We had some port wine, the chocolate lava cake and...