1606 Restaurant & Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Gloucester

We really wanted an earlier reservation time but the best they could do was 8:45 so we took it realizing everyone is very busy. We arrived around 8:35 and told they were running behind due to all the outside tables having to move in earlier because of a storm. We ordered drinks at the bar (although bartender slurping up noodles while working was not inspiring) and was texted our table was ready at 8:47. Our server greeted us by pouring water and saying the kitchen is closing at 9:00 so are you ready to order! You take reservations for 8:45 and your kitchen closes at 9:00. She said nothing could be done about it and we needed to get our orders in. No chance to peruse the menu we ordered 2 cold appetizers and 4 entrees (2 entrees were salads). Appetizers came our quickly and were very good - oysters nice and fresh and shrimp cocktail done perfectly. Entrees arrived before anything cleared and even then appetizer empty plates sat. Filet done perfectly but potatoes ice cold. The rest of the meals were good. Waitress finally came to check on how things were and potatoes were sent back to the microwave. She never asked if we wanted another cocktail and we had to ask for water refills. Other guests in the restaurant were still enjoying desserts and drinks and bar was still open with guests. We ordered two desserts and two coffees but was told no coffee as the coffee machine had been shut down and cleaned for the night! This restaurant is in a beautiful hotel and there is no coffee1?1 At this point we asked to see a manager. He did bring 2 coffees to the table and apologized with lots of excused of how they got behind due to the storm, etc. But the whole point is who seats guests at a fine dining restaurant who have a reservation 15 minutes before the kitchen closes and expects them to have a relaxed meal. We were rushed, treated rudely by the waitress and given excuses by management. Totally unacceptable and, even though I usually give places more than one chance, this left such a bad taste that I don't know if I would...

We recently dined here this past weekend based on the recommendation of a relative that lives in Magnolia. They have been coming here for years so we all went here for dinner so we could try it. I also saw the rave review from The City Lists so I was really excited to try it. The hotel itself is beautiful! The restaurant and outdoor deck has stunning views. The service on this particular night was not good. We were seated and our waiter promptly came over with water & asked if we need a few minutes to review the drink menu to which we said yes. He returned after 15-20 minutes and took our order. Another 20 minutes later we finally received our drinks. It was Saturday night so perhaps the bar was busy. Our waiter came back to see if we had any questions & if we wanted to put in an order for an appetizer. We asked what oysters they had for the day & he did not know (yikes, it's an oyster bar!). He came back 10 minutes later and let us know which four varieties they had that evening. We put in our order right then as the service thus far was very slow. We also put in another drink order. 10 minutes later our waiter returned to our table & asked my husband to confirm his drink again. Another 15 minutes until our drinks arrived (dropped off by another employee). Shortly after our entrees arrived. Welp, my food came out burnt. I mean black. I've seen pictures of this particular dish & mine looked nothing like it. Everyone else's dish was great. We also never received bread which I didn't realize until my husband & I discussed our experience on the ride home. Super disappointed with the experience we had. I'm assuming it was isolated due to the waiter but unfortunately that can make or break your...

TLDR; expensive, mediocre food that tastes store bought and frozen, and very slow service.

My husband and I were there yesterday for our 1 year wedding anniversary. We actually dined here on our wedding night, a year ago- that’s why we chose this place. The ambiance is nice, great decor, view etc. however, the food is extremely sub par. We ordered the crab cakes for an app- which was good but is hard to mess up. My husband ordered a NY strip, and he stated that it was ok, but was overly salted and was difficult to eat as such. He also said he would have hoped for more out of a $48 steak…. He said that the fried onions tasted like the kind you can get out of a can at the grocery store. He also didn’t much care for the Italian cream soda, that was a very off tasting drink I had the lobster linguine (without pancetta) it was not great. And also for $48 I expected a lot more. It honestly tasted like frozen lobster and had the weirdest after taste. I found several shells in my meal too, which I wouldn’t have expected with those prices. I brought it home as leftovers and tried to save it with olive oil and Parmesan and it did not help. I couldn’t finish it which was a shame, since I hate wasting money and food. The server was nice enough but kind of scarce, and the service was incredibly slow. There were only 3 other parties there when we went and it took about 45 minutes for us to get our food. Also I did observe a lot of staff hanging around on their phones and chatting- which generally doesn’t bother me per se, but I am stating that for a restaurant of this caliber I did expect more. After $175 bill for 2 people, we were very disappointed and won’t be returning for our next anniversary as we had...