Dev's On Main — Restaurant in East Lyme

My husband and I went to Dev’s for dinner recently after it was recommended to us by a friend. We had high expectations, as it was described as a nice local restaurant with excellent quality food. Unfortunately, this was not the impression we were left with after leaving Dev’s. For an appetizer, we ordered the tomato salad with mozzarella balls. We were expecting a caprese style salad with fresh mozzarella balls, a few sprigs of basil, and delicious fresh tomatoes. Instead, we received a very small bowl with 6 hard mozzerella balls and 6 tomatoes in a pool of balsamic vinegar. Yes, it was listed on the menu as a “small plate”, however, when you charge $7.00 for it, I expect at least a little more finesse and a few more tomatoes. However, it was not completely underwhelming and I was hopeful the entrees would compensate for the disappointing small plate. Unfortunately, we never had the chance to try our entrees. When I attempted to order a beet salad with grilled chicken instead of the fried and breaded option that was listed on their menu, the waitress told me that they only had fried breaded chicken and it would not be possible to fulfill my request. I said that was fine, then ordered it with salmon instead. Although it did irk me a bit that I would not have the option to get a healthy piece of grilled chicken instead of something fried when ordering a salad of all things. My husband ordered the steak and we patiently awaited for our plates to arrive. Our patience started to dwindle only slightly after waiting 30 minutes, but the waitress was apologetic and said our meals would be right out. We said great, no worries! After 45 minutes, and watching at least 3 other tables who sat down after us get served their entrees, our waitress again came over and told us that the cook overcooked my husband’s steak and that was why there was such a delay. After an hour of waiting and still not receiving our meals, we decided it was time to ask for the check and leave. My husband, being the respectable human he is, paid the bill. Yes, the waitress was apologetic, however, it was very disappointing to see that nothing would be done to at least try and make the customer happy. Overall, we will not be returning to Dev’s in the future after this experience, although we are hopeful it was...

Dev’s on Main is just a great dining experience and gets high ratings in all areas. We decided to go tapas style for this dinner experience. There were three of us which is a perfect number for this style eating as many of the small bites dishes have at least three pieces to share. We started by being offer a complementary sample of a Stomping Horse wine from Washington state along with a goat cheese spread on a crostini. This was enough to convince one in our party to get the red wine while I decided to partake in both types of sangria. The first round was Vegetable Purses with two dipping sauces (soy and spicy sambal) and Crispy Pork Meatballs also with dipping sauce. Everything was delicious including the dipping sauces. The sambal sauce was very nice and not very spicy. The meatballs were wrapped in linguini and deep fried which made them crispy. The next round consisted of Steak Florence, Fathead Chicken, Wu Chow Shrimp and Fried Scallops. The Steak Florence was served with a blueberry Chianti sauce. That was a great combination, blueberries and steak. The Fathead Chicken was “slathered with a honey drizzle- unbelievably great. The other two dishes, one shrimp and one scallop, were for the seafood lovers and satisfied that hankering. The accompanying dipping sauces were excellent especially the Tabasco garlic dipping sauce which we used for both seafood dishes. The last and final round consisted of the Tuscan Bruschetta, Garlic Shrimp and Mongolian Beef. The picture of the Garlic Shrimp does not do it justice because it is covered up by the bread. But the shrimp is being bathed in a garlic butter sauce and the bread is for soaking up all that delicious blend. We save room for two desserts and both very interesting and fun. The great thing about Dev’s is the great service and all those delicious dishes; shrimp, scallops, beef, chicken, pork, dipping sauces, signature drinks and desserts, can be experienced in one sitting. There is no better value in dining than that. I highly recommend this restaurant for great dining. Just be advised that if there is a show at the Niantic Playhouse down the street, then it might be advisable to plan your reservation time...

Have been wanting to eat here but haven't been able to get a table. Finally we were able to tonight but we called ahead and there were tables open. Asked for a bigger table due to a wheelchair. No problem we were told. Came in the front, handicap accessible. Was sat right away but the man was trying to sit us at a table that wouldn't fit a wheelchair. We told him we just called about this. So lack of communication between staff. He had to ask before seating us. We finally got to the table. Got drinks. I ordered Chicken Palermo and my boyfriend got NY Strip. We asked for the meat to be cut because we have trouble cutting meat due to disabilities. My boyfriend even showed her his disabled hands and she had asked if he wanted a different meal then because they didn't want to cut the meat. What ! Now this has never happened before at any restaurant but we were told that they wouldn't cut the meat for us to accommodate us. I said that's a first a restaurant not helping out when needed. She said she'd bring a knife and I could cut it. I said I also have difficulties due to my disabilities. I was so disappointed. I said fine ill try. Our meals came and my boyfriends meal was actually cut into strips so we were happyish that they attempted. Our meals though were totally delish and it made the night more enjoyable . The waitress was attentive and came by to see how we liked our meals and she had the chef attempt to cut the meat. We appreciated the effort. As we were leaving she opened the door and said hope we come back. Nice evening. Felt like the waitress try to redeem herself . Just...