Bolton Street Tavern — Restaurant in Marlborough

I don't write reviews very often, and when I do they are positive. Unfortunately this one is not positive. I felt it was worth it so that others are aware when they go to Bolton St. And they should go there, but I will not.

I have been to Bolton street a handful of times and have always loved the service and the food. Today I had a wonderful bartender - funny, chatty, working hard and on top of her game. I also have no complaints about the food. Everything was fine there.

The issue was I was handed a specials menu, which I ordered from. It included "Game Day Specials", and I was watching the NCAA tournament, so that made sense. While I was eating, I overheard another party asking about the specials and they were told it was only during Celtics and Bruins games. I figured I must have missed that disclaimer on the menu. I asked the bartender if what I ordered was on special and she explained to me that it wasn't because no Celtics and Bruins game, and she showed me the menu - which had no such disclaimer. It did have C's and B's logos on it (plus an NFL logo), but no other mention of when these specials were valid.

I told her I wasn't looking for an adjustment on my bill, but maybe let management know that it was misleading, and maybe add a sentence to the menu to clarify. She apologized and said she would talk to the manger or owner, I'm not sure which one - who was sitting in the dining area.

I gave her my card to cash out and asked what he had to say about the specials. She said she didn't have a chance to ask him because he had been in the back. Again, he was in the dining area for the entire time that I was there. I would rather not be told what someone thinks I want to hear.

I heard 3 other parties confused by the specials menu during my short time there, but the restaurant chose not to address it. The difference in my bill was about $20. Not the end of the world, but not insignificant. And the principal of it will keep me from going back there again.

As I was walking out the bartender and manger/owner were talking about the situation. I mentioned on my way by that I wouldn't be back again - they will survive just fine. Bait and switch is not a good business practice, and that's...

Not happy with today's visit. Yes, they have a very good selection of beer but no popcorn to go with the beer while waiting for our meals. We ordered potato skins for an app. They were slightly larger than red bliss potatoes and only 6 quarter slices and didn't have much flavor and were served warm not hot. The spinach pies (2) had minimal spinach and much feta cheese which made them very salty. The grilled meatloaf, usually good, wasn't tasty and not worth taking the left overs home. The Ruben sandwich was toasted and not grilled as it is usually done. It didn't have much taste even with the sauerkraut.

All the meals came out warm.

We attempted dessert and THAT finally came out hot. It was to come with vanilla ice cream but there was only chocolate ice cream available.

Enough about the food, now for the service. Our wait staff was scattered and forgetful. She was managing 3 tables and was very slow with her service. She delivered 2 meals and the came back 5 minutes later with the 3rd meal and said she forgot about it. When we were getting ready to pay the bill we commented on the slow delivery of the food/ service and she blamed it on the kitchen. She claimed the kitchen was cooking and serving 3 groups of 11 who came in before us. I saw 2 of the groups arrive after we ordered our food and they still were waiting to be served when we were leaving. No matter the reason the service was poor.

If you don't mind sitting waiting with an empty beer they go and...

We had a unique experience here as we had our small, 45 person wedding out back the restaurant in their green space by the reservoir. The space itself was beautiful. The management and ownership were terrible. The communication was horrible, and we had to chase him down for every piece of the event. They never wrote anything down at our various meetings and failed to follow through on many of our questions along the way. The day of, the manager came up to me, the bride, to tell me that they wanted us to remove our stuff earlier than contracted, out of the function hall we had paid to rent. Turns out the owner had decided to double book an event last minute, even though our wedding was booked 4 months in advance. They were extremely inconsiderate and did not honor our event as I would have expected any decent restaurant or bar to. I've worked in the food industry for years, and never have I seen such horrible service and communication. Thankfully we had a great wedding party that saved the day, and overall it was a lovely day. The food was tasty and the space beautiful, but due to the service, I cannot give this place any higher than a 1 star. They went back on many of their agreements, which was not only disappointing but also unprofessional. I will never go...