Spirits Bar and Grill at the Old Alcohol Plant — Restaurant in Indian Island

Found this restaurant when looking for a place in the Port Townsend / Marrowstone area while we were up for the weekend. What a gem! The food was fantastic with generous servings, live music, good drinks, and most importantly for us they are extremely good with food allergies. They have a soy-free kitchen which is a huge challenge for my family since it is such a common ingredient and even a little soy (especially oil) can cause hives/itching and breathing issues for my wife - she carries an epipen for this reason. She had the pork, I had the risotto with prawns, and my son had a burger. All of our meals were exceptional but the pork was really outstanding. Very laid back but the service was solid and friendly. Also, the building is really cool with the historical alcohol mill having been owned by Charles Adams, the father of photographer Ansel Adams (so of course there are many of his beautiful pictures in the lobby). It was getting dark when we arrived so did not have a chance to see the views/gardens but we...

I want to like this place but overall it was disappointing.

The soups were very good. M had the French onion soup and I opted for the veggie soup. Both were flavorful.

The entrees came while we were just about finished with the soups. Why they don't space it out a bit and let one relax between is a mystery.

The entree I had, the salmon, was a bit overcooked and the curry sauce over the rice was gelatinous. M thought the crab cakes were 2 stars at best. They were deep fried with too much panko crust, taking away from the crab.

The wines were not very good either. The Pinot Noir was just Ok and the Viogner was somewhat sparkling.

Service was really poor. At one point, after several failed attempts to get more water, I just got up to get my own. Plates sat on the table for too long before being cleared and I had to hunt down the check. They were busy, but still, for those prices it was a less than great experience.

Would I go back? Not for dinner. Maybe a drink on the patio some sunny afternoon, but...

Stopped by on a Saturday at 750pm. Order is in by 8 pm. 7 people includes kids. Ordered 3 entries and two appetizers and one coke. An hour later at 9 pm no one got anything to eat. Water and Diet Coke did come. We were too hungry and walked out at 9:06pm. Other customers who finished their meals are leaving too. Feel like the place is about to close.

Our expectations are at least a heads up before us sit down that the food will be slow. If it is over an hour late, maybe an apologies and being some bread or crackers for snack.

7 of us (with our out of town guest) were left sitting and kids finished two Netflix shows on the cellphone LOL.

Two stars are for the good location and the fact that many restaurants are facing short stuff issue after COVID. I would suggest if no stuff, do a short hours or only serve drinks after hours. Communication to customers is...