Weathervane Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Chichester

My family and I visited this establishment yesterday September 4th and we must've hit it on a bad day. We had just come from Chucksters and the restaurant was a minute down the road which was nice as we were starving. Our experience here wasn't the greatest. The hostess that greeted us was nice and pleasant and sat us right away in the smaller dining area in a booth per my sons choosing. We were given menus and told the bar tender would be our server. It took a few minutes for her to acknowledge us even though there were a total of 2 tables and 2 people at the bar (7) people total in her area including us. Our table was sticky and there were dead flies on the window still next to us. I had asked the waitress to clean the table, even told her I would do it because she looked annoyed that I even asked. We ordered our drinks and my husband and I opted for beers which to our surprise the two we ordered on tap were in fact kicked and his wasn't even the right beer. We had to wait for the keg to be changed for mine and he had to switch his choice. Not a big deal it happens, we made due. We placed an order for Oysters which on the menu were $1 EA and we were excited. We ordered 2 dozen as that was going to be mine and my husbands meal. Our waitress/bar tender came back and said they only had 18 in the place so we took the 18. Upon bringing them out she said the cook miscounted and they only had 16.. We ate them most were good but we did get one or two really bad ones in that 16 we received. We decided to order our meals, my husband got the potato skins, my son, the kids cheese pizza and I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich. My sandwich was disappointing the bread was bigger than the actual piece of chicken so much so I had to open it to see if it was in there, despite the size it was good just wish it was more meat for the price they charge. The Cole slaw was good but I found a hair in it two bites in so that was set side. Upon finishing our meals the waitress/bartender brought us our check, but never offered coffee or dessert or even another drink, we weren't in any rush and we were enjoying the conversation we were having so I asked if my sons meal came with an ice cream she said no but we ordered one anyhow and I had another drink, she looked very annoyed that we were ordering more and took the check and walked away to fulfill our request. Overall our experience was okay but I know we won't be back at least to this particular location. This was our first time visiting this restaurant so the first impression wasn't a good one. I will say this however, the French Fry Seasoning they make is...

I used to go to the weathervane for years now, and recently went there to have my yearly boiled lobster. When our food arrived, I started to eat the lobster. When I cracked open the tail area, it was completely black. yuk,yuk,yuk! I could not eat a bite of any food after that. I asked for the manager, and she told us that the lobster was a female, and it was undercooked, so the eggs were there, black eggs......there must have been a million of them then. I had some of my husbands fish and chips, and it was cut into exact squares. It tasted too firm, and not soft and yummy like fresh fish, so I asked the manager if the fish was fresh.........she said yes, it was......so, I said to her........are you sure, because the fish is in perfect squares,......so then she said to me "well, it's fresh-frozen". I then said, either it's fresh or frozen, and fresh fish usually has a long uneven shape to it, not a perfect square. It is also very soft inside with a crispy outside shell. It is not fresh. They took our food away and did not charge us for it, except the chowders and drinks we had. They also apologized for our bad experience. They offered us other food, but we refused. Even my husband, who never says anything about the food in a restaurant, said YUK.........when he saw all that blackness in the lobster. OK......maybe the chef was new, or young and did not know how to cook a lobster. But the thought did occur to me,......what if that lobster was dead when they boiled it in the pot......honestly I have been eating lobsters for 50 years, and never had one like that, ever. I am now disgusted with Lobsters. In New England, and being an ocean state, we should always have privy to fresh scrod or haddock and fresh lobster too! They were kind enough to us about the bad food, and the waitress was really good and very nice. The restaurant was clean and well put together. We left the waitress a 12.00 tip for her courtesy. I wrote the corporate offices and the CEO (who were very hard to find on the internet) about our experience, and they sent me a nice letter of apology, and a 50.00 gift certificate, which I will probably give to my sister, who frequents the restaurant. I don't think I will go there again. I will probably search for a small type place that has fish and chips on Friday, where I know it will be fresh. This visit cannot rate it very high. Just don't get the lobster, maybe the square fish will...

I am posting this review, based on our last experience in October 2020. This restaurant would have gotten 4-5 stars in the past from us but our last experience soured it for us.

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We previously loved eating here. My husband ordered us takeout. We live within the vicinity of the restaurant. He ordered us two fish and chips and two clam chowders.

The food was ice cold when he got it back home. He had to wait at the restaurant for the clam chowder to be finished (they told him on the phone the food would be ready in 15 minutes, but it wasn't). The chowder contained zero clams and was full of onions, which I can't eat. It was also not fully cooked and had zero flavor. We have ordered the clam chowder in the past and it was delicious but sadly, no more. We had to throw it out. The chowder also isn't cheap since it's $9 a bowl and yeah, it was a complete waste of money.

The fish and chips also weren't good. They didn't have any flavor.

This is the first time we have had issues with the food here and sadly won't be returning. My husband also left a generous tip because of the current world situation but he regrets doing so.

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Again, in the past, we have had nothing but amazing food here. The clam chowder always tasted delicious (no onions and full of clams), the fish and chips were flavorful, etc. The only negative experience was during trivia nights when a member of the staff gave answers to a team, resulting in that team winning. Not a huge fan of cheating when it comes to trivia nights (we had enjoyed the experience...