Boat House Grille — Restaurant in Essex

Super disappointing experience. Sadly my second in a row here... My wife and I drove almost an hour looking forward to lunch at what used to be one of our favorite spots. We were seated quickly by a lovely hostess on Saturday just after 1pm & were pleasantly surprised by how quiet it was. That was all we got though; silence.

We sat for 15 minutes without ever being acknowledged. I know this because I started my phone's stopwatch after waiting at least 5 minutes with a drink in mind I never got to order. We both work in the service industry and noted that there were at least 3 different servers and they were being very attentive to the few patrons around us. With empty tables all around.

I got pissed when I heard a server right behind us ask how someone was enjoying their drink while we clearly sat without any. We decided to leave once an employee started to set a table directly next to us, not 3 feet away, and never acknowledged us or noted our lack of accommodations and the situation honestly just got uncomfortable. We were shocked and literally laughed on our way out after being completely ignored. One of the worst displays of service I've ever seen. We literally wondered, "Did we do something..?" But we sincerely had zero exchanges with anyone outside of the hostess.

My previous visit a few weeks back I had the pleasure of ordering some food from the bar. Only to sit and listen to a server talk to a regular about how the "new chef doesn't really know what he's doing" and proceeded to bad mouth her own staff. Made me super excited for my meal, lemme tell ya. My lobster roll was hearty but under-dressed, and frankly, bland as hell. So, I guess the server was right about the chef. Fool me twice...shame on me.

My family had been going here for a decade plus, but no more. The massive portions are now overshadowed by the...

I’ve driven by this venue dozens of times on our way to Gloucester and finally gave it a try. It’s Boat House Grille on Rte 133 Essex. It’s just over 30 min. from No. Andovers. No res just walked in Sunday evening about 5:30. Place was packed and thought we might have a wait. The wait was literally 5 min. as the greeter hunted for a table. Just my wife and I. Got a table in the bar area which we preferred anyway because it’s always livelier. Not to noisy considering every seat both at the bar and the tables were taken. As fast as we got seated was as fast as the waitress Elyse got us waters with lemon and a hot small loaf of bread w/butter and right off took our drink order. The lemon martini and strawberry Belgian ale came soon after and Elyse took our dinner order. Wife and I looked at each other like we haven’t seen service like this in an age. Keeping in mind how busy it all was. My date got the broiled Haddock w/baked potato and a side of broccoli. It was a healthy portion enough so to doggy bag half. She thoroughly enjoyed and said it was broiled just right. I sampled and had to agree. I opted for the Haddock Parmesan with provolone cheese topping on a bed of small penne pasta with fresh chopped basil and fresh marinara sauce. What was most impressive with my dish was how fantastic the sauce was. We do a lot of cooking at home and this sauce was right up there for taste and consistency. The portion of haddock was also generous enough to bag half for home. Things quieted down both in the bar and dining room by about 6:30. Elyse was as good as you can get for a waitress and the whole experience with tip was $100. Don’t know why it took so long to try it but it just quickly jumped up to a top regular spot. I know I know it’s a long post but just try this place. It’s...

As a place for lunch, a bust. Possibly better at dinnertime?

Both fish 'n' chips and fried oysters looked good and the first few bites were satisfying but as we ate we began to realize that both were tasteless. Even with an unhealthy dose of salt, it was hard to get the food to taste good.

The portions were WAY too big and we would have felt better if we had ordered one or the other and split it two ways. They filled the ketchup bottles so that it was real work to get at the contents.

The onion rings that came with the oysters were the high point of both plates and the fries included with the F'n'C and the oysters were pretty good though more than I could finish. (I have a big appetite, relish french fries and abhor food waste but this was absurd.)

The wait staff was pleasant enough (could have been more attentive) and the order arrived quickly and hot from the kitchen but that didn't mitigate its other deficiencies.

I will return once more if I can convince someone to split The Lighthouse with me; it's a raw tower Of 22 oysters, 8 cherrystones, 6 jumbo shrimp, lobster claws, lobster tail and warm Alaskan king crab leg for $75. This close to the fishing industry, surely they can't botch this can they?

We consoled ourselves by going across the street (to Downriver Ice Cream) and got a couple of pints to take home with...