Olde Salt House — Restaurant in Cohasset

Sunday June 8, 2014

"There’s nothing that says summer like a leisurely lunch or dinner on the deck of the Olde Salt House. Enjoy gentle ocean breezes, watch the fishing boats cruise in and out of Cohasset Harbor, and dine on the freshest local seafood, abundant salads, hearty sandwiches and burgers, and icy cold beverages. The Salt House is the quintessential New England clam shack –updated with gourmet fare in an incredible waterfront setting." NOT SO MUCH It was supposed to be an early Father's Day celebration for me, by my Daughter, Son-in-Law and 3 grandchildren. We arrived at approx 7:30 PM and were seated on the deck. As we took in the beautiful setting and placed our order, it became more and more obvious that we were in the midst of a bug feeding frenzy. The entire deck of patrons was swatting and slapping at bugs, wait staff and guests. We spoke to the waiter and then what appeared to be a manager (dressed in coral shirt and brown pants) regarding the swarms of bugs. The initial request made to the waiter was for a citronella candle or something. He came back with the word, there was nothing available. I then went to the 'apparent manager', with a similar request. He said he would check. He came back with word from the 'Manager', that something had been ordered, but it hadn't come in, so nothing to offer us to help fight off the bug infestation. I think at this point, it is important to remind you, again, that the ENTIRE deck, staff and guests, are in a near life and death struggle, against the scourge you and your organization chose to turn a blind eye too. Since you supposedly had ordered something for the bug infestation, did it not occur to you, or anyone in a position of responsibility, to go to Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, et al and acquire something to deal with the problem, while you waited for your order of bug 'stuff'. Quite frankly, that just doesn't seem to make sense to me. In any event, the 'solutions' began to unfold from the 'apparent manager'. He would check to see if there was less of a BUG problem in the middle of the deck. Of course, the only tables available, were from guests that had already taken flight, in the face of this scourge of bugs. Then the suggestion was to move inside. Since the meals were already ordered, in we went. What a delightful surprise we had, when we were shown to a booth for four, to seat our party of six. Your folks just kept on rolling, and to your credit, not one of your staff even blinked, it was business as usual for them. Which makes me wonder, it probably was business as usual, unless these bugs had a thing for the Irish. So what does that tell us. Well here is my interpretation, you people just don't care, you are(I assume) trying to live off of a reputation, because I just can't believe those bugs knew we were Irish, or for that matter, everyone on the deck was Irish. I guess the crowning piece of disrespect and disregard you and your staff foisted on our party, on top of minimizing/ignoring the bug problem, and the transfer from a beautiful setting on the deck to a cramped booth, not one, not one suggestion of some level of compensation. Not a gift certificate, not a complimentary desert, not a small percentage off the bill, nothing. Just callous disregard for your guests. Please accept this note, as my commitment to make sure I share this miserable experience you provided, with everyone I can reach, word of mouth and through every website I can identify. And as you can see from the CC, the first organization is the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Clearly, the BBB version will need to be abbreviated. My business is not in your industry, but if my organization, performed in this manner, I would be humiliated and would do all I could to mitigate the miserable experience. A disgusted...

The view is very very nice. But ...

There is no hostess. We had to wait to be seated by a waiter. Upon seating we were given one menu for two people, so fine okay we can share. For the view and dining room we were expecting slightly different food. The menu gave off “lobster shack” vibes, again fine, but strange. We both both order an appetizer, entree, and drinks. The drinks came out very quickly and were delicious. Apps took about about forty minutes to arrive at the table. When they arrived at the table his was warm, mine was pretty cold, like they sat in the window for a bit. This was frustrating, but nobody else in our section had any food so who are we to complain. After about an hour our entrees arrived. I had a salad on a warm plate. He had very dry, overcooked cod with enough rice to feed three people. The rice looked like it had been dried out, like when it’s left on the stove too long without a lid or when it sits below a heat lamp for extended periods of time. Who knows? My partner is not a picky eater, and is not one to complain. But his exact words were “this is the worst meal I have ever had.” When all was said and done we spent $100 on a meal neither of us enjoyed. Zero stars would be appropriate. Throughout this two hour charade there was not a FOH manager in site. The young waitstaff looked stressed. We witnessed food being brought to the wrong tables. And an older couple who arrived before us did not receive any food until we were signing the check. Go for the drinks. Go for the view. Don’t bother...

I know a server here and she said she is embarrassed to serve the food every night. The food is either badly plated, unappetizing looking, or a portion small enough not even a small child would be satisfied. I came to visit her the other night and she was right to be embarrassed. I ordered a salad first and it was just a handful of shredded lettuce you would find on a burger, disgusting. The truck guy with blonde hair was also yelling at one of the servers for what I could see was for no reason. She was bringing food to a table that was supposedly not hers and he was yelling very loudly at her, very unprofessional. The trucks’ food would be fine say for an event or fair but not a nice restaurant. The guy Liam was very nice though, he seemed like he really cared. I ordered a drink too, the house mai tai or whatever. It was pretty gross, had my husband try it too and he didn’t like it either. Overall the service itself was good, everything else though was really really bad. Definitely would not come again and will be letting my friends and family in cohasset know. I mean come on who manages that place? They can’t be making any money and should just close down. you failed!! move on before you take ur employees...