McMenamins Sand Trap Pub — Restaurant in Gearhart

Ruined a Special Lunch with My Elderly Mother

I took my elderly mother out on Saturday for a late lunch — something we rarely get to do — and it turned out to be an incredibly disappointing and frankly upsetting experience.

We chose to sit by the window in the bar, picked up a couple menus, and got settled. After a few minutes, the bartender came over and, without greeting or warmth, simply asked if we were ready to order food. No offer of drinks. No real interaction. Just a dismissive tone that made it clear we weren’t worth the effort.

I said we weren’t ready to order food yet and asked if we could start with drinks. She sighed, turned away, and went to get them — no acknowledgment, no courtesy. The place wasn’t busy, so there’s no excuse for the attitude. It felt like we were being judged — maybe because we didn’t order quickly or didn’t appear to be a high-spending table. Either way, we were treated as an inconvenience.

We eventually received our Bloody Marys — a rare treat for us — and they were terrible. Weak, poorly made, and plopped down in front of us without a word. That’s when I decided we’d be getting food to go instead of trying to sit through the rest of the experience.

We ordered two crab and shrimp sandwiches, the mushroom and beef starter, and a side salad. I paid in advance just to avoid more interaction. Then we waited. And waited. The bartender was nowhere to be seen after she got the money.

When the food finally arrived, I checked it right there at the table. The sandwich fillings were warm, the buns soggy, the salad was warm, and the mushrooms and beef were congealed. It was unappetizing across the board.

I spent over $100 and left feeling dismissed, embarrassed, and angry. My mother almost cried — not because of the food, but because she saw how much I spent trying to do something nice for her, and it was a complete failure. She tried to eat a little of her food, but quietly said it tasted awful. I didn’t even bother.

I didn’t speak to the bartender because there was no one to speak to. She was gone. And frankly, it wouldn’t have mattered — the damage was done.

This wasn’t just bad service. It was thoughtless, careless, and degrading. I’m not just disappointed —...

Sadly I would never want to write a negative review about McMenamins; however, our last experience was slightly less than horrific. We came in to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary - we actually got married at the Gearhart Hotel and Carrie was fabulous. We thought it would be super special to cut our cake at the same venue that we were married in. They made us feel like a huge inconvenience when we asked to sit outside even though it was sunny and clear. We ended up basically serving ourselves. We had to open and POUR our own champagne. When a cold front moved in and my daughter almost got stung by a bee, we asked to go inside. We had to move in all of our plating and utensils, as if they went out of their way to ignore us and help because we had asked to sit outside in the first place. The food they brought us was cold and soggy, it was also the wrong order. The burger was in PIECES and they just threw it on the bun like we wouldn't notice. They did bring us fresh fries but they were overly salted almost intentionally. They did comp one of the burgers but failed to acknowledge that the whole meal was served cold and in poor fashion. They treated us like a huge inconvenience when we asked them to borrow a knife to cut the cake (which they never brought) and take our photo. The kicker of the whole afternoon, was when I while I was talking to the front desk agent (we purchased another bottle of wine for next year) our server walked by and POINTED at us and mouthed something to her co-worker! I wanted to go back and tear up the receipt with the 20% tip on it after that but I just left. I could not believe how awful this experience was. I don't usually write reviews but it needs to be known that customers deserve to be treated better. We love McMenamins and will continue to give them our business. We just won't be going to back to Gearhart...

The food was absolutely terrible. The table next to us had to send back their steak. I was so disappointed because the menu looked amazing the description of the food made it seem very fancy but was simply over priced bar food.

The dim lighting and old rug at entrance just made the place feel dirty. I did not waste my time asking our server to fix our food after watching how the table next to us was handled. After the table next to us was still not happy with their meal after sending it back the first time, they were told the reason the meat was “chewy” was because of the cut of steak. The sirloin was $30 and I thankfully did not order it.

My pasta had no flavor the white sauce was non existent the noodles were uncooked and the shrimp was over cooked. The clam chowder was watery and the Cajun tots were over spiced and the truffle fries were floppy. Just a huge disappointment for our $75 bill.

The staff was friendly but seemed under trained on how to deal with the expected...