CC Tomatoes — Restaurant in Concord

I have never publically written a bad review. I personally own a small business I know how it works, out of 100 people the 98 people who are happy with your service say nothing but the two who have complaints will certainly let you hear it and write a bad review. That being said as a business you need to roll with the punches and accept it for what it is.

This experience went above and beyond what I thought was possible, so I felt obligated to the community to share. It was certainly a interaction myself and the people I was with will truly never forget.

We arrived at the restaurant and they were ready to immediately seat us. We asked how long the wait would be to eat outside on the rear paddock where the band was playing. The hostess said she had no idea, I asked her if it would be 15 minutes or 3 hours, and she could not confirm. Since it was not my first time at a restaurant in my life I made an assumption and estimated about 30 minutes. So we put our name in and took a seat at the bar for a beverage while we waiting.

The bar tender took our drink orders in a normal fashion, and everything seemed pretty normal. As we were “hanging out” trying to relax and enjoy our drinks things started getting pretty odd. At first glance she appeared like a professional and was very kind to us, she was also wearing yoga pants. All of a sudden she started freaking out yelling at the waitresses literally saying “ I am going to freak out, I am going to freak out”. She was very overwhelmed! Since this was my first time here and meeting this woman I did not know if that meant whether she was armed and dangerous, whether she was going to smash a glass on the floor, or simply whether she was going to quit there on the spot while we were being served. It was certainly an awkward silence.

After about 30 minutes we were seated. We maneuvered ourselves through the forest of overgrown weeds and cigarette butts into the back patio. We sat there for about 15 minutes before the manager came and asked us if we were being helped. Knowing this was probably our only chance to get food we ordered right then and there.

After about 5 minutes the young hostesses who we originally encountered came by our table and asked us if another family/ party could sit with us! I have never been asked this before, so I simply said we do not feel comfortable with that type of scenario; she then replied “ so you’re ok with it”? We then said no thank you one more time and she got the message. Minutes later the party that was going to sit with us was seated at a 2 person table (there were 5 of them). Feeling bad the 3 of us got up, and offered to swap with the family; since 3 people on a 2 person table is more manageable than 5. The family/party was very thankful but the hostess said nothing.

We then got our food at our new table, brought out by another complete stranger. One of the calzone orders was completely wrong, but we dealt with it. Half way through eating our meals one of the random girls that worked there asked my girlfriend to get up and move so she could squeeze by with a chair! She was literally asked to move while eating her incorrect calzone!

After listening to the “live music” all we could think about was leaving. One of the people I was with even told the manager about of terrible happenings, and he simply gave us a blank stare as if he just took a huge hit from the pipe. We then knew we were done for.

My favorite part of the night was leaving in the parking lot only to get home and spend 30 minutes sick on the toilet. What a night! Stay clear...

DONT BOTHER.

The old bleached blonde bartender with the ring of dark eyeliner (you’ll know her when you see her) will absolutely ignore you to look at her phone, watch tv and stand around idly. Her name is LISA. At about 2pm, while sitting at the bar (not a full bar) I waited at least 20 minutes with my empty glass at the very edge of the bartop for another drink. I was staring at her, tried to flag her down, etc. nothing. And theres not a chance in Hell that she didn’t see it there. While I was waiting, there was a very drunk rude man yelling things a few feet away from me, making myself and the few other patrons uncomfortable. She obviously didn’t tell him to stop because she just doesn’t care. Let me reiterate THE BAR WAS NOT FULL. When she eventually looks over at me, I politely asked for my (about $8) tab instead of another drink and had to wait another 10min for her to break my $100 bill, that’s fine, BUT then she gives me $20s and $5s. At first I sat confused, waiting for smaller bills (did she really think she deserves a 62% tip for pouring one drink and ignoring me?! if I had smaller bills I wouldn’t have given her the 100 to begin with) but she never came back! I don’t know where she went! Cigarette break? I’m not opposed to tipping well for GOOD SERVICE, in fact I think 50% is usually fine. But this?! No. So after waiting a while and instead of leaving her absolutely nothing, I said screw it and left the $5 for her anyway. I also left my name and number at the hostess stand to receive a call from the manager which never came. This was frustrating. SO - I went back in that night to complain. The manager listened but clearly didn’t really care about her staffs service and I’m sure didn’t say anything to Lisa.

This is unfortunate because the previous times I had been there to eat on the restaurant side (we’re locals) the food was very good and the waitresses were absolutely lovely. I’ve never had problems like this in any of the local restaurants I’ve been in, that’s why when I was initially warned not to sit at the bar because of Lisa, I ignored it. Mistake! I’m thinking it’s just her attitude and lack of consideration for the people she’s serving. I’m a very introverted, shy person who was just looking for a close to home bar to feel comfortable drinking at a few times a week and this was NOT it.

SKIP THIS BAR and go to ALANS in Boscawen. The staff is nice, the food is good and there...

I lost my husband a few months ago and decided to treat myself to dinner out. As I was on my own, I asked for a table for one. The hostess looked at me as if I had two heads, said, "one minute" and continued talking to other staff members and completely ignored me. Eventually, someone else came over who had seen me standing there looking bewildered. She sat me in a booth. Immediately, I felt guilty taking up a four-seated table. Nevertheless, my waitress was attentive and I finally ordered the stuffed haddock - not the kind of fish I prefer. Haddock is probably the cheapest fish on the market, but this was the only kind of fish they had on the menu in varying dishes. And honestly, nothing on the menu seemed that appealing. I asked if the waitress knew the specials and she admitted that she didn't and had to go and check.

The stuffed haddock was disgusting. The stuffing tasted rancid, as if they had used expired cheap olive oil and the haddock was old and rubbery. It came with roasted rosemary potatoes, which was pretty much the same. The dish was all the same color and it all looked overcooked. I was told by the waitress that they use butter, not olive oil. I'm pretty sure that's not correct, but if it was then the butter was rancid. I ordered the beef tips with portobello mushrooms as a replacement. That came over pasta with a white sauce. The whole dish was grey and looked totally unappealing. That too had an overwhelming taste to it, not rancid, but whatever spice they had used is all you could taste. I couldn't quite put my finger on what the taste was. The tips were chewy and some of the pasta undercooked.

The waitress did her best to please me, but she sat down in my booth not once, but twice, to discuss my problem with me. She agreed that the restaurant was not a "seafood" restaurant and that the fish dinners leave an "after taste." I disagreed with the aftertaste and repeated that it tasted rancid. She did not suffer from a lousy tip because it was not her fault and she did not charge me for my dessert, which I felt I needed to have to take the taste away from my mouth. She said the dessert was "on her." I hope it really wasn't. The "chef" needs to pay for it and be fired as well.

I came home feeling sick to my stomach. I'll never go back there again. I think the board of health should make an inspection...