Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co. - Fitchburg — Restaurant in Fitchburg

I'm normally a fan of the Great Dane. It's one of our neighborhood restaurants. We ordered out often during Covid and happy to be back when it opened back up. My favorite salad has been the Chimichurri Ranch Steak Salad. I've been eating this salad since before Covid. It's a pretty consistent dish and the light green chimichurri ranch dressing makes that salad really good. Tonight we ordered to go and the dressing I received was not a salad dressing. It was a beige color with flecks of what appeared to be seafood. We called but were basically told that was the right dressing and we were wrong. Drove back to the restaurant and the response was arguably worse. They insisted the dressing was the same as always. It's not the same color, texture, flavors. It was like a dip and lumpy - and has flaked seafood or some kind of meat. And when my husband pointed out the seafood/meat, they stated maybe something fell into it. What? Maybe? Something is in your "dressing" that you don't recognize and doesn't belong there and that's the response? While they gave us our money back for the salad, my bigger concern is the lack of concern, care or ownership over whatever that was. I've eaten that salad easily more than 30 times over many years. There is no doubt that wasn't normal and it wasn't any kind of ranch dressing. Trying to tell me that's it's normal when it isn't - don't do that to your customers. But again, the worst part - I can't imagine a restaurant team being okay with a mystery ingredient in their food. It could be a serious health risk to someone depending on...

I visited the Great Dane recently with a friend and left very disappointed in the way we were treated. We each ordered two drinks and intended to order food as well, but no one ever came by to ask us about food or offer menus, even while other people around us received full service. When my friend ordered a glass of wine, our service abruptly stopped. For over 10 minutes we were left without water, communication or visits, without the option to order food, and without a check, while staff passed us and mingled without acknowledgment.

Eventually, when we finally were given the check, the bartender abruptly explained we would not be served further. I respect the right of any establishment to make that decision (we’re both bartenders so we understand), but the way it was handled felt dismissive and inconsistent. If a guest is being cut off, it should come with clear communication, prompt water and the option for food, and a check. Absolutely not silence or avoidance. After waiting, another bartender eventually brought us water, which I appreciated and tipped well for (Emili was amazing, $18 on a $35 drink tab), but the overall experience left us feeling ignored and singled out.

I’ve always believed that good service is as much about communication as it is about policy. In this case, the lack of clarity and attention made what should have been a casual visit uncomfortable. I hope management considers addressing how situations like this are handled so guests feel respected and cared for even when service is...

One of the worst dining experiences I've ever had. While I am aware the quality and consistency of The Great Dane restaurants have been in decline the last few years the dish I had this evening was exceptionally bad. I had the shrimp and pork belly pasta, and just about every element of the dish had issues. The shrimp was overcooked, the pasta was slightly overcooked, the garlic bread was slightly undercooked, however while I can accept a few flaws in a dish, what was done to the pork belly was criminal, it was so hard, tough and overcooked it was borderline inedible, in fact I ended up picking it out of the dish because it was so bad. As our waitress never came back to ask how our meal was after serving us I was unable to inform her of the poor quality of the dish until she came to take away our plates, at which time I did inform her and advised her to inform the management or the kitchen as to the poor state of the dish, however I feel she did not care or relay my critique. As I did not want another diner to suffer through the same dish I was served I also informed the hostess on my way out, but she did not seem to care either. Perhaps that is why their food and service is suffering, they have a staff that just doesn't care? Needless to say this will most likely be the last meal my friends and I have at The Great Dane, we'll just go to Vintage where the quality of the food and service is exceptionally better. I actually ended up with a small case of food poisoning last night...