The Pickled Wrinkle — Restaurant in Gouldsboro

I had such high hopes for this place, but it just really wasn’t good, and I’m really scratching my head trying to figure out how they got ANY 5 star reviews. Has to be a lot of locals or something, trying to support a subpar small business . Doing research on visiting Schoodic Peninsula, this place is advertised everywhere! Seemed kind of quirky online, and even wanted to try the pickled snails for an adventure. The hostess was nice, and the blueberry ale was good. That’s about it. We visited on August 8th in the early evening, and according to an employee, they were “slow.” Thought maybe if they were slammed, I would blame my dislike on a bad day. Not so. They seated us outside. The waitress does not take your order. You have to get up and go to a counter on deck by grill. No one told us specials are on a board, at a counter on back deck, by grill. So of course, everyone scrutinized the basic menu, without knowing about lobster rolls, etc., and after waiting in a long line to order what we decided on from the menu, my husband didn’t want to get out of line to come back and tell us what was on “Specials” menu. Seems waitress or hostess should have mentioned, don’t you think? We wanted to try something different, and ordered the local vegetable salted, sea chips. The waitress gave a look of disgust in putting them on the table, and said she’d never eat those. I can see why. Looked gross, drenched in oil. Didn’t know we had to go ask for a carafe of water at ordering counter because, of course, no one told us. The burgers were very, very well done, too-small- for- bun, well done. BBQ burger had like a teaspoon of bbq sauce (which also wasn’t good, homemade, maybe?), so had to walk up to counter to ask for more. The steak sandwiches had a handful of steak tips, on a hotdog bun with a Kraft single as cheese. Mine did not have any horseradish on it (the two other ones ordered did, albeit minuscule amount). So once again had to go up and request the sauce. The meat was tender, but not really seasoned. We did want to try the snails (gimmicky). They are not even in the menu, despite being all over the website, and no one mentions them, so you have to inquire about them, and order at counter. $4.00 each. Pale yellow, on a toothpick. At least we can say we tried the “delicacy” of Maine. Chewy, and gross, the “pickling” was not flavorful. So disappointed that we wasted one of our dinners on this place. At least we got something good at the ice cream place right across the parking lot, something tasty. Please…. Save your money and go somewhere….anywhere else. Stay far, far away. I should also add the stuff was overpriced for the quality.

**If you cannot take criticism in a Google review, maybe you shouldn’t be on Google for reviews. I am absolutely not the only one who has given you a bad review recently. So maybe, instead of writing a very long paragraph about all the good reviews you’ve received in the past, and how people should be kind because you’re a small business, you use that time to figure out how to improve. Not once did you address the food quality mentioned. I gave an honest critique about my experience at your restaurant. It was not unkind, it was subjective. And guess what? People work hard for their money, and want to spend it on good, quality food/restaurant experience, ESPECIALLY when they are visiting from out of town. My money is just as important as your money, and I guarantee if you had a similar experience at a different place, you would feel the same way. So put on your big boy pants, accept the constructive criticism, and figure out how to do better, instead of crying about how people that write a bad review are unkind. Your food wasn’t good, and if you were the one cooking it,...

I wasn't a fan of this place. I know a lot of people posted very positive reviews and I'm sure it deserves it, but I had a very low quality experience and my review is to hopefully let the owners know some things just weren't right. I rated this two stars because it indicates "I disliked it" (per Google's rating system).

Granted I visited when the place was definitely not at its best - middle of a pandemic so limited experience - but despite that it could have been improved with a little extra care. Keep in mind I'm aware of this with every point.

The ordering process was a bit slow. It was probably due to limited staff but we were waiting for quite some time at a window with no indication we were going to be helped. It's nice to just get a "just a moment" or an index finger held straight up to let us know we were acknowledged at least.

The food wasn't bad but I had an issue with the wings we ordered: half teriyaki, half buffalo. The menu read "no breading just crispy air fried wings" (not sure about the air fried part) but I was expecting nice dry crispy wings. Instead they came drenched in the sauces. Pretty soggy and unlike the description. It just seemed like they were slathered with a ton of sauce without care. It's preference of course, but just enough sauce to coat the wing would have gone miles toward improving the dish.

Dishes and silverware. We were dining "in" (outdoor seating) and the wait staff handed us our meal in a few to go boxes. The boxes were fine (in fact I liked that) but we realized quickly we wanted some utensils and didn't want to eat off of the table which during a pandemic is prob not a good idea, sanitization or not. The fact that we were just expected to eat over the to go boxes as plates, or use napkins, or just...the table? seemed strange considering they had plenty of other pandemic measures. Long story short we had to ask for them, which included a long wait at the window. Regarding the utensils we got food other than wings.

The bathroom was a porta potty. Ok fine I'm no stranger to them but wow was this a massively horrible experience. It was absolutely terrifying in there, I couldn't take a breath for fear of gagging, and leaving it left a stench on my person. It was pitch black in there, despite being still light out. Not the place I want to be in before eating food. I get that it's a pandemic measure but it's really not a big deal to allow patrons in the building one at a time to use the restroom. I don't think it's a major safety risk and many other restaurants have that option.

We opted to pay after our meal and had to wait in the only line again. We were waiting about ten minutes before someone even appeared. We were about to leave cash on the window and leave but someone finally showed up (though not for the window we had to flag her down as she whizzed by for something else). This all said, the place wasn't exactly packed. In any case it would just be nice if someone would acknowledge the people waiting in line to give you business. It goes a long long way for a simple gesture.

-- So those were my issues. If you got this far hopefully you understand that I'm not trying to bash the place but offer some feedback. The other food we got was very tasty and the prices were reasonable. The vibe was nice and the heatlamps were a huge plus, esp on this chilly October night. The staff seemed very nice and was friendly. This seems like a place I'd like to grab a drink at sometime with some friends, if I'm every lucky enough to visit the Schoodic area again. Thanks...

Relaxed, almost beach-y kind of atmosphere. Very laid back. We were greeted promptly and picked whatever seating we wanted. The service was friendly and attentive without being overbearing. We ordered appetizers and beer. We had some local Maine IPAs, and they were both delicious. For food, we had the onion rings, and the haddock nuggets. The onion rings are very thin (don’t know how they do that) and very crunchy. They are served with a slightly spicy remoulade which I could have eaten with a spoon. We devoured these. The haddock nuggets were nicely fried but a little fishy tasting. We’ll definitely be back.

Visited again in October 2020 - It was carry out only when we visited. There are covered picnic tables. They also have heaters but when the wind blows they aren’t much help. Ordering and receiving your order is a bit confusing. We had several parties. You order at one window and pick up at another or they deliver to you. It was different for each party in our group. Although we all ordered within minutes of each other, we ended up waiting a very long time for ours. In fact, everyone else was basically finished and heading next door for some very good ice cream. The steak and cheese pizza was tasty but it had these very large chunks of steak. It was the same with the steak sub. Not necessarily a bad thing just not what we expected. The chicken salad was pretty good as far as salad goes. The greens were fresh with plenty of blue cheese crumbles but the chicken was on the dry side. Good selection of beer. We would return if...