Mix Restaurant & Rooftop Bar — Restaurant in Groton

We are huge fans of SIFT, so when we received notice of the reopening of their rooftop dining, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to celebrate my wife’s and good friend’s birthdays which occur a day a part. I made reservations more than a month in advance of the Saturday night affair (Aug 19th). We arrived early for our 6:30pm reservations so we could patron SIFT, something we do with great frequency year round. After spending upwards of $50 on pastry, we moved upstairs to be seated for dinner. Our Party of 5 (originally 6) were seated at the fire pit, which related low to the ground and on very short stools. Our guest are ages 71 and 72. I am 6’2” and my knees could not fit under the table and I had to sit sideways hunched over all night. This was certainly not the table service we expected and felt like we were seated at the kids table at holiday. When I approached the host, he could not have been less concerned for our comfort. Basically stating this is all he had and we could leave if we did not like it. We asked for the fire pit to be turned off and they stated it was ambiance for the other guest (no concern for our comfort) and reluctantly turned it off. The host, I believe having recognized how rude he initially was, came to us and offered to comp an appetizer recognizing we were celebrating birthdays and given our seating situation apologized. We ordered drinks, 10 minutes later appetizers, and 20 minutes later small plate selections. The small plates selections arrived before our appetizers as apparently the kitchen was over worked??? The appetizers finally arrived and we ordered main entrees. The meals were fine if not underwhelming. The staff however, were pretentious and at times condescending, as if we should be honored to have been seated at all. They clearly overbooked for the evening. They have two restrooms to service the bakery patrons and the upstairs dining guest. The wait was 15 minutes in line to use the facilities. Adam Young was in attendance and most certainly saw us struggle, hunched over eating our meals but did not have the courtesy to apologize, rather taking in how they “packed” the area with paying customers. Has Adam Young “bitten off more that he can chew” with the new restaurant? They certainly have a long way to go to compete with the local restaurants in the area like Bravo Bravo. We finished our night at Adam Young’s Martini and Bon Bon’s where my wife purchased $34 in chocolates. All in all, we spent more that $600 last evening for a far less than enjoyable experience. Has the SIFT owner grown to fast and into areas beyond his capabilities? Has he over extended himself financially that he had to pack paying patrons into the rooftop and utilize the fire pit for seating. Has his staff been trained at all or do they take on the owner’s personality (until last night I would not have presumed pretentiousness)?Maybe with the seasons changing and the rooftop closing for the Winter, it will provide time for Adam Young and his team to re-evaluate what he wants his brand to become and make the required changes to be successful. In the meantime, I would not rush to MIX for dinner and hope they figure it out…or close...

A Disheartening Experience at a Former Favorite

My husband and I recently visited this restaurant to celebrate our pregnancy. I've dined here many times before and have always had exceptional service, so I was looking forward to another great experience. Unfortunately, this visit was deeply disappointing and upsetting.

To give some context, I am white and my husband is Black. In all my previous visits, I’ve come with white friends—and never had an issue. This time, things felt markedly different.

We waited around 15 minutes before our server even acknowledged us. When I asked about one of the drinks on the menu, she described it as “strawberry, sweet, and creamy.” We went ahead and ordered both drinks and our food at the same time. However, when my drink finally arrived 15–20 minutes later, it had a pepper rim and was extremely strong—nothing like what was described. My husband’s bourbon was oddly served in a tall flute glass. I even had him taste my drink to make sure it contained alcohol because it was so off.

When I told the server it wasn’t what I expected, she took it back to the bar and returned with the exact same drink, saying, “This is what you ordered. If you wanted something creamier, we have other options on the menu.” I reminded her that I had asked beforehand and was told it would be sweet and creamy. Eventually, she brought me a cranberry juice instead.

At that point, I asked for bread and was told it would cost $4 unless we were ordering food. I reminded her we had already placed our food order—only for her to realize she had completely forgotten to send it to the kitchen. She walked off, came back with bread, and didn’t offer any apology.

We waited a full hour from when we sat down before receiving our food—and it wasn’t even brought by our server. She didn’t check in on us until we were nearly finished. I had to ask for a box and later flag her down again to get the bill.

What made this worse was watching her provide attentive, friendly service to other tables nearby, especially to the guests right next to us. She seemed overwhelmed, but it was clear she was prioritizing other patrons while neglecting our table.

Given how wonderful this restaurant has been in the past, this experience was heartbreaking. The only difference this time was that I was with my Black husband. It’s painful to think that may have influenced how we were treated—but after what we experienced, I can’t ignore the possibility.

I will not be returning, and I can’t in good conscience recommend this restaurant to others. No one should be made to feel unwelcome or overlooked, especially in a place that once felt...

Beautiful Ambience Overshadowed by Below Average Service and Below Average Cocktails.

Booked an 8:45 pm reservation. Was seated promptly. The Mix deck is very well appointed - beautiful colorful potted plants everywhere. Really pretty! Large modern gas fire place surrounded by rocking chairs. A covered bar with maybe six seats. A large lounge area overlooking Mystic river.

On food: We started with fresh cocktails. A Hibiscus Coconut Watermelon Margarita and Death by Strawberry. Both were good not amazing. I did not taste a hint of coconut but we discovered we could not tell one bit of difference between these 2 drinks. Found that really odd. Drinks were about 4 oz. and very light on alcohol.

Mix offers a diverse menu. We ordered the Mushroom Tart and Risitto Verde. Both were delicious. We were also given a wonderful bread basket. If you are a bread lover you will not be disappointed. It was overflowing with a delicious variety of breads. Perfectly baked and seasoned. Herb breads, focaccia, Portuguese sweet bread. Bread was served with a lovely herbed olive oil.

On service: This is where the disappointment and disillusion came in. At 9:45 we were asked by our server if she could get us anything else. I said yes - we’d love coffee. We were told no coffee was available although there was quite a large espresso machine clearly visible at the bar. After being told no coffee we asked for dessert - then we were told it was too late for dessert… the kitchen closed at 10. It was 9:50. We could tell by the busy waitstaff around - the restaurant was shutting down for the night and rather quickly. As guests who were nearing the end of our visit - we felt it was abrupt and rude.

Why not let it be known to guests in the reservation system that the restaurant has a hard stop at a certain time? Why not let guests with the latest evening reservations know upon being seated that service ends at 1 hour fifteen minutes.

After being told no coffee no dessert the server asked if we needed anything else? That was redundant - she clearly made it known there was nothing else available. Maybe a cocktail ? I’ll never know. We simply asked for the check and hurried out. So not a great ending to our evening.

Suggestions - please bring impeccable service back. Be the difference in Mystic not just for food. Make the experience complete for the guests. Beautiful ambience can be quickly overshadowed by rude service, meh pricey cocktails, and being told sorry the kitchen is closed - 15 minutes before the kitchen actually closes.

This local may...