The Tipsy Toboggan — Restaurant in Fall River

Letter sent below 1 week ago. No response. Not even “we apologize@..

Hello. Hopefully this message reaches owner Karl Pelletier. I only spoke to our wonderful waitress Madison last night about our experience but did not voice my concerns to anyone else at the restaurant itself. I wanted to send this directly to him.

We have been coming to the Tipsy Toboggan ever since Karl bought the property. At that time we used to keep our boat at the marina near the Tipsy Seagull. We have been in Fairhaven now since 2021 but continue to frequent the Tobaggan, particularly in winter when we can accompany friends in the Igloos and enjoy a wonderful dinner in an amazing atmosphere. It was one during one of these most recent dinners that we realized that the Gristmill property had been taken over by the same owner and knowing that it was fully decorated for the holidays, and taking into account all of the amazing experiences we had had at other properties, we decided to make a reservation for my husband and I. (I am now very grateful that we were alone just the two of us for this experience since it became such a negative one.)

I also would like to mention that approximately 10 years ago, I lived in Seekonk for several years and was a patron of the Gristmill. We even hosted one of our Mother’s Day dinners there. I am one of eight children in various towns in the area and we always felt welcome and treated fairly there.

Upon entering the restaurant on Saturday evening for our reservation I took note of the beautiful decor and the items for sale. I was browsing several selections of items when our host called our name for seating. He proceeded to tell us that since it was so loud upstairs he would bring us downstairs for our reservation. Upon entering downstairs we realize this is not the environment we wanted to eat in or the reason we came. I am sure Mr. Pelletier would agree that a restaurant experience encompasses much more than just the food.

I explained to the host that I had made reservations and even saw a table for two open upstairs as we made our way down. He informed me that this was all that was available in a rather rude fashion.

At that moment I had a decision to make along with my husband. Should we leave or give it a chance? We decided purely on a conversation with two other patrons, as well as our wonderful waitress Madison, being so accommodating that we would stay. The rest of the experience was tainted by the atmosphere, and the way that we were treated by the other staff. This is not a fair or equitable situation for any guest.

Perhaps if you want to leave the downstairs open as an overflow room for people who do not have reservations or for functions, that of course makes sense. But no person who makes a reservation at a restaurant should be brought downstairs and then told they will not be allowed to have a table upstairs. I was also told by several other patrons that they were offered both upstairs or downstairs to dine. As I stated this was not the case with us, even as I voiced my displeasure.

We had our meal and tipped Madison very well for her wonderful service, took some photos outside and left. We will not be coming back to the Gristmill, nor will we be recommending this venue to family or friends. I have yet to decide if I will be posting a Google review of my experience.

We consider ourselves foodies and travel many places. Because we’ve had such great experiences at the Tipsy, I’m torn as to how to handle this further but I wanted to make it very clear to Mr. Pelletier about our experience with this restaurant and his staff. I think we may even have some mutual friends and so may reach out to him that way as well. If this email does not reach his own ears.

We decided not to purchase any of the items we had seen upstairs that we liked, and will likely find other venues where the treatment and atmosphere is there an equitable and matches our...

We walked in the door and there were people everywhere waiting. You have to search far and wide to check in. There is no designated spot. The staff just ignores you until you basically get in their face. They told us our table was upstairs. My mom is 82 and walks with a cane. I asked and they said sorry, but we had to go upstairs. It took a bit, but we made it. The wait staff was nowhere to be found. We waited and when someone finally came up, they told us our table was downstairs with no compassion whatsoever. My mom really had trouble climbing and going down the stairs. The waiter "Kevin" never smiled. He was annoyed to see we didn't have menus. He grabbed some, one short, and handed them out. I watched him notice he was short but never brought any more. We ordered drinks and an appetizer and stated we were ready to order our meals as well. He said no that the meals would come later so he would take the orders after the appetizer came. Not friendly at all. His name is Kevin by the way. He explained the Butcher shop meal for the night. My mom didn't hear him and when he came back, she asked him about that. He stated he had already told her what it was and then explained what the meal consisted of. Annoyed once again. Three of us ordered steak tips, two medium and 1 medium well. The girl came over with the meals and had no idea what was what. We had to figure it out. My mom's was supposed to be medium. It was hard as a rock. We sent it back and it came back wrong again. It was better so my mom said she was ok with it. The food on the whole was so so. Oh, did I say the waiter’s name was Kevin? The manager came over to us when he heard about us having to go up and down the stairs. His only concern seemed to be who exactly told us to go upstairs. Again, no smiles, no compassion. When the bill came, Kevin (our waiter) told us he took the appetizer off the bill with a tone like he was doing us a favor. We left and when we got home, the manager called us and told us we had a bar tab that was unpaid! How exactly does that happen? He told my wife he would put it on her credit card. We never got drinks from the bar, we were there for over an hour, and my mom has a cane. So we didn't exactly run out of the place!! Luckily, we paid with cash so there was nothing they could do. Other things to note: Parking is the worst. Extremely narrow two-way lanes that should be one. You can barely fit in a parking space. It was extremely loud, seats are uncomfortable, and the tables are way too close to each other. The prices were NOT worth what we got. If you dare venture to this rat hole, make sure KEVIN is NOT...

If I could give this place on this night ZERO STARS I would. If you’re hoping to enjoy the “heated” igloos, don’t get excited. It’s only for parties of 5 or more. So don’t come here expecting a romantic dinner with your partner… unless you “know the owner” then you will get a table for 2 in one of the 2 available igloos. This was said by one of the waiters when serving another party. Real professional thing to say. Great to know that if you’re “friends” with the owner, you can have advantages over other hard working and paying customers. Real respectable.

Secondly, we were seated in the log cabin since again the igloos are for 5 or more people. Noticed how I used “heated” in quotes above? Yeah there’s nothing heated or HOT about the cabin or igloos. We went on a 20-30 degree night and they supply you with the smallest heater known to mankind. No bigger than a bath n body works standard candle. Absolutely despicable, deplorable, disrespectful, and against human decency and service. THE CABIN IS NOT INSULATED. You are eating in a wooden shed allowing all the cold and elements inside. They seat you in there like wild animals. Absolutely disrespectful and deplorable conditions. The FDA will surely be hearing more about this as it’s unsafe and potentially life threatening to eat there on cold nights. They will be shutting this down 100%.

Tipsy Toboggan should not allow seating in the igloos or this cabin around December as it’s FREEZING. It’s a money grab. A sham. A bs place to eat at. It’s downright disrespectful and disgusting they would allow this type of condition when eating. And on top of that they charge you a full gratuity on the bill not even giving you any choice on the matter.

Now let me get to the good. TLDR - too lazy to read, it SUCKS. We had their baked mac n cheese and it tasted like something any of us could make at home. Simple pasta with melted Kraft single cheese for the cheese and RITZ crackers YES I SAID ritz crackers as the breadcrumbs and oh yeah that’ll be $22 BUCKS. Absolutely lazy and dishonest place. They need to shut down offering this food that is not even deserving of being called sub-par. The food is ATROCIOUS. Calamari is also the worse I’ve ever had. Not tasty no sauce with it sucks.

Also service is also atrocious when your waiter young kid tells his customers to drink shots and cracks jokes when all of us eating there that night were upset about how cold it was. Your restaurant, service, food, appeal, EVERYTHING SUCKS. Save your money and…

DO NOT EAT HERE EVER. FDA HAS...