Warrens Seafood & More — Restaurant in Kittery

I am going to add to the many favorable reviews that I have seen posted about Warren's. We were here the end of September on our first trip to New England. The first night we passed through Kittery on our way to our hotel in Ogunquit but the restaurant was closed because we were traveling quite late. Due to the wide selection of the menu and the fact that they have a salad bar, my wife and I really wanted to come for dinner, so the next night we drove back the half hour to Kittery, and I'm so glad we did. We arrived about 6:15PM and the restaurant closed at 7:00, but our waitress Clare did not rush us one bit. She was absolutely fantastic, even reminding me of the process of how to get the meat out of a whole lobster because it had been a long time since I had eaten one. I had the twin lobster so I actually had two. Everything was fantastic. I ordered a bowl of fish chowder and it was very large and absolutely delicious. I don't eat wheat but my wife said the pumpkin bread was superb. Literally, there were about 20 different things on the menu I wanted to try. And one of the things that I have found most restaurants don't do, or cannot do, is cook French fries well done. I always ask for them extra crispy and invariably I either have to request that they be re-cooked or I just don't even bother bringing it up. I will usually take them back home and microwave them. I hate soggy potatoes. Hats off to the cook who did it perfectly the first time! It may seem like a small thing to some but it's a big deal to me. I thought the dining room setting was just fine; the environment doesn't matter to me as much as excellent food and great service, and that is what we received. I actually liked all the cool stuff on the walls that were on the way to the restroom. We ate at a lot of places during our almost 2 weeks in New England, and Warren's was one of the most memorable. They do it right. I highly recommend coming here for a delicious satisfying meal. I suspect we will be coming out to Maine again at some point in the future. If and when we do, dinner at Warren's will definitely be...

You'll enjoy this place if you're 65+, for sure.

Before the rant, the waitress was helpful and attentive, and had nothing to do with what follows.

The place feels like a fledgling necromancer resurrected Yokens, but fudged the incantation and just slapped some spare parts on it to finish. Dated, hollow, and confused.

The "famous" salad bar is not above average in any way we could figure out. It's not particularly large, nothing out of the ordinary, and to top it off, missing some pretty obvious things. Maybe it's famous in that they're brave enough to not include Caesar or Italian dressing? Or how famously stale and small their croutons are? Or maybe it's trying to put more than two toppings on a plate clearly meant for a dinner roll. We aren't sure. Also, it should be kind of a red flag that a seafood restaurant....in New England.... on the coast.....less than 5 miles from the freshest possible seafood....is famous for a salad bar.

I had the Memorial Bridget Platter, and paid almost $30 for a smallish plate of subpar clams and calamari. Unseasoned and overcooked. My wife had salmon, which turned out to be a shade of pink one expects on a faded stop sign rather than a fresh piece of fish one could buy at a local market in literally any direction from Warrens in a 10 mile radius. We both grew up less than 15 miles from here, now in our 30s, and this was seriously embarrassing.

We spent $100 on a shrimp cocktail, a small fried platter, and a single portion of salmon with obviously microwaved, unseasoned zucchini slices. The diet coke was almost $8.

This is a tourist trap, and anyone looking for authentic seafood is better off elsewhere. You can get exactly what we got anywhere else for less than half the price, and guaranteed it'll surpass whatever you get here.

You'll miss out on the "famous" salad bar....

Our first time back since the re opening. My lobster roll was amazing, fries were perfecting seasoned. Salad bar was well stocked and very appealing. Fish and chips for my partner which he thoroughly enjoyed. Cleanliness five stars.

Our server Jenn was amazing. The whole team worked well together, she wasn’t able to get to us immediately which was fine, she dropped by the table to say she’d be with us in a minute or two. Which in my opinion is very important to touch base so you don’t feel like you’re being ignored. I did witness one woman being very irritated and rude, complaining about how long her wait was. A manager stepped in and he was able to make her happy. After the fact I told him good job, because I had watched the whole thing transpire, He introduced himself as Paul and was super friendly. He clearly knew how to diffuse the situation.

I will say it was a bit chaotic because it appeared to me people were getting seated way too quickly for the amount of actual staff on hand. I’m in the business myself and recognize things people who aren’t in the business get upset about! Having a bit of a “wait time” from the hosts, makes everyone’s job a bit easier and ultimately gives the guests an overall better experience. They all were working so hard to make things as pleasant as possible but you can only do so much when you’re being over stretched in every direction. That also could be why food wait time takes a bit, so many orders at the same time. Just an observation.

Kinks take a little while to work through so to all the people not being kind, give them a chance to fix things before berating what is essentially a new business to them at least. I for one will be returning for...