Porter Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Freeport

Had lunch with 2 friends yesterday, & while the atmosphere is quietly charming, unfortunately, we were all disappointed. Two of us had the mini crab cakes which did not feature much crab & were universally over cooked. I found the sauce, however, to be the best feature of the dish, as it was complex in flavor, & featured some tiny pickled red peppers which I found delightfully piquant, but my friend found spicy. We each also had a salad. Mine was billed a beet & frisee salad, yet there were precious few tiny cubes of beet & a lot more cubes of watermelon that tasted as if they'd been cut a couple days before. The dressing was pleasant, but if you're calling something a beet salad, it should have some beets in it, not twice as much tired watermelon. The third member of our party had the lobster roll which she found disappointing because the lobster wasn't fresh. One could actually see it looked dry & old. She said the fries were tasty tho, but I don't think one pays nearly $40 just for some good french fries. Dessert was the only thing that really shined in this meal which is why it got 2 stars. One friend had bread pudding with some ice cream & it was indeed moist (almost a little too moist for my taste) with good flavor. Another had the creme brulee which she thought was the highlight of the meal. I tasted both & agreed with them that these were certainly the better executed of the luncheon items. But I don't think people go to lunch just for dessert. The service was adequate, though our server, Billy, seemed a bit distracted. All of us agreed we would not be coming back. I was sad that memories of some lovely lunches from a number of years ago were a thing of the past at the...

Miserable experience. Undercooked AND overcooked food, small portions, inattentive server. We set up a reservation as they said they're not seating for an hour and when we got there the place was empty except for one table. Someone else walked right in behind us. The place had big "sports bar" energy with large TVs behind the bar playing games, even though it is trying to sell itself as a nicer dining establishment.

We ordered the steak and crisp onions. There were literally 4 little onion ringlets on the plate, and they were completely cold. The steak ordered medium rare came out well done, not a hint of pink in sight.

Then to top it all off my partner was asked to remove part of their attire due to some customers complaining that it was "wicked" (it was the weekend of Halloween - we were in town to see the pumpkin festival). We were well dressed with a cute adornment that was festive for the season. There is no stated dress code. Other guests were wearing raggy jeans and baseball caps, yet somehow this festive clothing was too much and needed to be removed?

At the end of the meal we let the server know that it was rude and disrespectful to ask us to remove it and instead of apologizing they doubled down and said it was not appropriate for the establishment (apparently looking like I just came in from the field is OK though?). We will never visit this place again and sorely miss the Broad Arrow Tavern. Worst dining experience I have had in years.

The waitress got a...

All marketing no substance. We tried to order takeout originally but were told they were too busy so we showed up in person only to find it mostly empty.

The 50 and up crowd on a Friday night should have been a warning sign but we tried it anyway

Got the muscles appetizer, fish and chips entree and porkchop entree.

The muscles were terrible. Watery thin broth with no flavor. The bread on top had more flavor.

Our server didn't check on us until after I complained about the muscles and he took it off the bill which was appreciated.

The fish and chips were probably dropped same time as the porkchop because it arrived with cold fries and slightly overcooked fish.

The porkchop was a dry disappointment small and pre cut before plating. Was not left to rest obviously before cutting as it was hard as leather.

Wasn't planning on getting drinks but at that point I needed something to take the edge off.

The drinks took forever and tasted like my frat house days.

I can see why they dont do take out orders if that is what the kitchen is producing on a slow night.

All in all a very confusing and lack luster dining experience I would not recommend. Maybe we are spoiled by portland dining but I expected a little more...