Minglewood Harborside — Restaurant in Gloucester

Unfortunately this was a bad experience almost from the get go. We called in when we were a few blocks away to see if there were tables available on the deck. A very pleasant young lady told us that it was starting to fill up, but the wait should be around 5 minutes. When we arrived a few minutes later, the women at the front said there were no tables available outside but we could sit inside. They seemed displeased when we said we would wait, but took my husbands phone number and said they would text us when it was ready. We got a confirmation text, but time passed and didn’t get anything else. 35 minutes later, we went back up to the desk to ask. They said yes, they could sit us now and walked us back to the deck which had no fewer than 15 empty tables. They sat us in an almost empty section outside of the covered area. Despite only one other table being taken, they put us in the only table with a view partially impeded by the emergency exit gate. Again, not a big problem, but a little uncomfortable. Since we did not have any of the shelter of the tent, it was quite chilly with the breeze off the water. It did make us question if we had done something to irritate the hostesses.

A short while later our server introduced himself and took our drink order. My husband got a mule and the kids and I got waters and soda. He brought those fairly quickly. My husbands mule was in a water glass. Strange, but not a huge deal. Unfortunately, it wasn’t great, but not the worst either.

He came back and took our orders. The food didn’t take too long, which was good. But my Diet Pepsi was getting low at this point and the server did not ask if I needed a refill.

My husband got fried scallops and truffle fries. Both were well fried and tasty. That’s where the good news ended. My house salad had rotten cucumbers. My son got the orange chicken which consisted of a single chicken tender on a half cup of sticky rice. My other son got wings which he said were over cooked and a sweet potato roll which was utterly awful. The sweet potato was so overcooked it felt like eating baby food. I got the fish taco, which was tasteless and came with undercooked (crunchy) rice with unseasoned black beans mixed in.

When we finished our food, the server finally checked in on us and asked if my husband would like something else from the bar but still did not ask if he could refill my completely empty soda. We paid our $200 bill for terrible food and left. Such a...

I'm really torn about this place. We came here once before when the tavern and restaurant were separate several years ago. At that time, I had the best meal of the trip. So much so that my husband and I still talk about. He always calls it, the fastest transformation that he's ever seen. It was such a hot day and we had walked around so much. I was tired and a little grumpy. We went into the Minglewood Tavern and took our seat. I had the most incredible steak tips and steak fries brought to me on a cutting board along with an ice cold tall beer. It was magical!. More then 5 stars!! Fast forward to yesterday. In all fairness I believe this place just reopened, so they are still working out a few things. Like putting toilet paper in the actual dispenser. I give the contracter a "C" as some of the work seemed subpar or unfinished. The place now is pretty much just a huge bar which can be good but as long as the food doesn't suffer and come secondary. My husband said his steak and cheese sub was good, but my cheeseburger wasn't. Even though I always ask for welldone, at other restaurants, I still get very juicy and good burgers, just not pink. This one, I can only describe as a hockey puck. I was so disappointed. All the staff seemed very nice but one. She was having a very bad day and let everybody know about it. Also, please put felt pads on the botton on the chair legs. The constant scraping sound of the metal legs on the floor was driving me a little crazy. My last thoughts are that next time we come to Gloucester, I will definitely try this place again. The memories from my 1st visit wont let me...

My husband and I were there a little over a week ago, but we have been there numerous times. Our server was nice but new, and wasn't very familiar with the menu. I ordered the Lobster (boiled), and when it arrived, I broke it open only to find a brown and black oozing mess. I grew up on Cape Ann and have consumed many many lobsters, and this is the first time I've seen this. I showed it to the waiter who acknowledged it looked distasteful, and he brought the plate to the chef. The manager appeared back at the table with the same plate stating it was normal, I then asked if I could have a bowl of hot water to clean the lobster meat. The manager and waiter obliged..although this thoroughly cleaned the tail, it left the lobster tasteless. The Lobster was $32 so this wasn't a cheap meal. I felt the manager was less than helpful.... Although this may be normal, I've never seen this in all the hundreds of lobsters I've consumed over the years. That being said, I feel the manager should've offered to prepare another one, as I hadn't touched that lobster at all. As an aside, I may be too used to the level of service at Opus (another Serenitee Group restaurant) where the manager and staff are well seasoned in customer service....I frequent Opus almost weekly and would expect Lat 43 (which I visit several times a year) to be of the same quality of customer service. I decided to write this review, as I see the GM reads these and hope some coaching can be done to improve customer...