Newick's Lobster House — Restaurant in Dover

Newick’s has been a sea coast mainstay since…? it’s been there forever! Newick’s is a barn of a place and it is never not empty. When we went, there was a birthday for a party of 30 people, and the rest of the place had many diners, but there wasn’t a full house. There is no air conditioning and large, open windows that surrounded the building and fans serve to cool down the cavernous space. We had asked for a table at the corner window and was turned down, but persisted and got our seats there (the middle of the room is cooled down by an industrial sized fan…our original table was there…and I don’t know about you but, it was a hard pass for us). We appreciated being there because it was cooler with the occasional sea breeze from the windows (not ocean…estuary…) There are also picnic tables outside, but I can’t vouch for the accessibility, service or cleanliness of that area. Our server set our plastic draped table for 5 with plastic cutlery wrapped in a napkin informed us of a possible wait (eating seafood can be a messy business!) Drinks arrived in tall paper cups and our server took our order, coming back at least twice to apologize for the wait, drink refills and bring appetizers (deep fried pickles…meh…and clam chowder…yum! ). The wait was so long (at least 1 hour) that I started eating some emergency almonds I had tucked away in my bag. Finally the food arrived! The servings were generous: the fish and chips included home prepped French fries and 2 portions of breaded fish with a small cup of coleslaw, and the order of lobster salad in a bun also included potato of choice….in this case, a baked potato. I had a one pound lobster with coleslaw and a baked potato. Lobster and clams are priced according to the daily market price so be sure to ask your server. Lobster shells vary in hardness according to the season, so it being July, the shell was soft and easy to open. The lobster was absolutely mouth watering! The baked potato was not bad, albeit a victim of having sat around for a while. To finish, a lava cake and lemon cake for dining in and 2 strawberry shortcakes to go were ordered. The lava cake got a mouth full of yumminess and a thumbs up. Upon arriving home, it was discovered that the strawberry shortcake was not assembled, with cream and strawberries packed in small, plastic cups and the shortcake was a flaky bun of some kind, so that was disappointing. Overall however, the meal was enjoyed by all. Newick’s is a humble restaurant and the food is simple, yet it is tasty and satisfying fare, although, the baked potato and pickle fries weren’t the best. The server did her best to accommodate us and brought extra condiments and drinks upon request. I’d say…and I’m just guessing from our wait time, that Newick’s suffers from what seems to be an industry-wide problem…not enough staff…or at least, not enough kitchen staff…or experienced kitchen staff. We have been to this restaurant many times before and have seen way more diners but had at least 1/2 the wait time. As a result, you get baked potatoes that have been wrapped up in foil for a long time (I’m guessing a large number of these are pre-prepped). The freshest of the food…especially the lobster is never disappointing. Pre-covid, there was a killer gift shop at the front of the restaurant that has since been closed and replaced with an ice cream parlour along with self-serve candy. The gift shop in the other hand had so many interesting local crafts and gifts for sale as well as t-shirts…much of it stuff that was better than anything offered in Portsmouth! This part of the restaurant has been under development for the last two years and now It’s a huge space occupied by not much…except empty space…it’s very unappealing and nobody was there. Lacking in atmosphere, there were no seats and there were half-empty shelves of candy in jars. I can’t see how this has made an improvement and I think it was a mistake to put this in…it would have been better to wait it out and carry on as usual. I mean, who wants to get ice cream and candy from a...

Came here for Mothers Day late lunch purposely to avoid the wait and crowds. A gorgeous sunny day in a restaurant located on the water. The host handed us off to a young guy to seat us who brought us to the darkest farthest booth from a window behind the bar so I, the mom who was obviously with my kids, asked for a seat near a window so we could enjoy the view (and half the place was empty at this point, many open tables right along the wall of water-facing windows). He rolled his eyes and sighed, then pointed to a table overlooking a side dirt lot where cars were parked. I pushed back again asking if any of the open tables near the water were options and he flat out said no, due to the server rotation. Then I watched as the family right behind us got walked to a window table on the water. I asked again if we could ask the desk if we could have a water view seat as I figured it was t within his authority was was probably told where to seat us (but come on, was 2:45 in the afternoon, it was NOT busy!) and he again said no and then proceeded to tell me we “would sit where he told us to sit”, walked over to the dirt view table and threw the menus down on the table and walked away. My kids were so horrified, I felt so bad. I honestly didn’t know how to react. It was late and we were all hungry so I didn’t want to make everyone leave and go somewhere else. I had been looking forward to this afternoon with my family for Mother’s Day. It turns out our server was the bartender and he was wonderful and friendly but the boy who seated us was just horrible. When my husband walked in (he missed the whole exchange because he was parking), he wanted to say something but I didn’t want to make a scene or embarrass my teen kids. But that boy who seated us was just plain awful and so insulting. It was Mother’s Day and I just wanted a nice view while I enjoyed my meal (and several people kept being seated at the open tables I suggested right after we sat down). And for what turned out to be a very expensive meal (my boiled lobster dinner alone was $55, which of course we didn’t know til we got the check) to be treated like that, I will not ask my family to go back there ever again. I’m trying to give that kid grace that he didn’t know better but the way he spoke to me was inexcusable. I should have said something to management but was trying to salvage the rest of the experience and not let a...

Myself and my family have been coming here for over 35 years and always enjoyed the food, atmosphere and the great employees! My last family meal here wasn’t so enjoyable. I understand that Covid has really affected the restaurant industry and trying to get back to normal operations is understandably hard. Fewer employees, navigating seating etc.. we were a party of 10 and were seated at a table that we’ve sat at many times as we are a large family! After being seated we waited 15+ minutes for a server to even acknowledge our presence. Understanding it was busy, I went to the bar like I’ve done a dozen times before to order some drinks while we waited for our server. I was the only customer standing at the bar. I quietly stood and watched the bartender make drinks for other servers. I said nothing and waited for the bartender to at least say “ I will be with as soon as I can” or any kind of acknowledgment.. I literally stood there for 8 minutes being totally ignored. Finally the bartender, turned to me and snapped “ you are going to have to wait and order your drinks through your server, I don’t have time to deal with you” those were his exact words! I asked him as nicely as possible if he saw me standing here this whole time and he said “ yes but I’m too busy to take your order, go sit down and your server will take your order “ As mad as I was, I sat with my family and waited for the server. Finally the server came and took our drink order. We all sat and watched the bartender make our drinks and set them on the bar which is where they sat for another 10 minutes. I finally did speak with a passing Mgr and simply asked if we could at least get our drinks. He was kind and did get our server to bring them right over. It was then I found out she was new and it was her first day. I let her know that I completely understand and to take her time. She ended up being very sweet. She did make a few mistakes but for her first day she did great! We gave her a great tip. My problem was with the rude bartender. I sat and watched him chat it up with other servers and completely ignoring our waitress, rolling his eyes at her like she was an idiot for not knowing the ropes. As much as we like the food because of the rude actions and words not only towards me but towards a new co worker, we will not be returning to this restaurant again. It’s a shame that one rude bartender can end decades...