Yella on the Water — Restaurant in Gloucester

TLDR: Rude manager, meh food and service missteps have taken Yella off of our list of restaurants to patronize. The good: location, drink menu and some service staff. The bad: location (extremely limited parking), rude on duty manager, meh food, limited outdoor seating with heat.

Thank you Yella! As a result of a rude manager and spotty service I do not have to dine here again. I have never been a fan of the menu, but my family is (was?) until last night. My daughter chose Yella for her birthday dinner, so my spouse made a reservation for 7pm. We arrived just before 7, and were asked to wait at the bar as the restaurant was very busy due to the Gloucester Block Party. Totally understandable! We were seated outside (even though we had requested inside and tables were available) around 7:15pm. It was chilly, so we requested a table with a heater (one was available). The hostess said that another party was coming for that table, but she would ask the manager about getting a heater for our table. Ten minutes after we were seated the other party arrived. We had no issue with another party getting the heated table until we realized it was a group of the managers friends (the manager actually sat down with them for a few minutes). Hmmm…

Our appetizers came out quickly, and were ok. My spouse and daughters were getting cold when the hostess came around the corner dragging a heat lamp to our table. Wow, great service! This young lady was the shining star that almost saved the night! I say almost because the manager wasn’t done ruining the night yet. Our food came (mine being meh, the others ok+) and we ordered a couple more drinks. Rather than stay for desert (it was still too cold for our daughters) we decided to go to another establishment. My wife and daughter still had wine, so stayed at the table while I walked to get the car. It was a bit of a walk since Yella has extremely limited parking and the Block party was still going on. The manager came up to the table after I had left to inform my spouse that another party was coming and they needed the table. The manager wasn’t apologetic or friendly, she was very direct (borderline rude). At this time we had been seated for one hour and ten minutes, TOTAL. We appreciate a restaurant’s need to turn tables, but what did we spend $280 on? Some ok at best food, good drinks, spotty service and to be cold? Yella’s selling point (IMHO) is its location, but location alone is not enough to keep me coming back. I can live with the ok food, as this is my opinion and is subjective. Poor customer service though is easy to spot. While the hostess was great and deserves 5 stars, the manager’s poor attitude doomed our experience. We will...

Made reservations for 11 weeks prior for an important family celebration. Traveled 3 hrs from out of the state. When we arrived to Yella we were separated and seated at 2 different tables not even facing eachother. Leaving 6 of us having our backs to eachother. This was not ideal and very uncomfortable, making it impossible to all be in on the same conversation. This was upsetting to us so we spoke first with the waitress and then with the manager and asked if he would accommodate us, explaining the importance of this family meal. He quickly and unapologetically said no. Even though the inside of the restaurant only had 2 other occupied tables the entire time we were there. We even offered suggestions on how we could sit because there were many possibilities. He would not even make any effort to try to make it better for us. That was very disappointing to all of us. For this reason we were all unable to fully enjoy our celebration as a family andbiur experienceat Yella. Please consider informing your guest who make reservations ahead of time if you are not able to accommodate. As well as remembering your customers are your bread and butter and be alittle more open to making them feel welcomed and...

My organization recently hosted a team dinner at Yella on the Water, and I want to share how great of an experience we had. We worked with Matt to plan our menu and flow of the evening. We hosted a short and informal arrival/cocktail gathering on the patio. The view overlooks the water and was perfect on a transitional summer-to-fall night. We ordered a few appetizers which were setup as a station and the servers took drink orders. It was a lovely ambiance. We then had entrees and dessert inside. Our team pre-selected meals ahead of arriving, though the team was able to make adjustments on-site, and this made for a smooth and quick transition. The food was delicious. Notably, they accommodated several dietary restrictions including a gluten allergy, vegetarians, and dairy free guests. All of the allergens are clearly noted on the menu, so it made planning and selecting easy, too. Throughout the entire night, Matt and the service team were fantastic. They were so kind and nice to engage with. Our team raved about the location, food, service, and ambiance. I highly recommend Yella on the Water for a group dinner or just as a...