The Proprietors Bar & Table — Restaurant in Nantucket

The food was lovely, service was fine, but the night took a sour turn from the moment we got there when we were greeted by a very rude and curt older female hostess. Not only did she scoff at our polite question to the people near the podium if they had checked in, but then pushed us out of the way and told us rudely to sit across the street to wait.

Despite this, we decided to try the restaurant again, but due to circumstances had to cancel at 1pm the day of the reservation. The same hostess was the phone operator for the restaurant and told me she would be charging my card $100 because I didn’t call earlier. It’s a shame such a good establishment is run by people who don’t know courtesy and kindness. Should really have someone else managing the front of the house.

Update: As a small business owner, perhaps replying over this platform in such a wordy fashion and leaving a 1 minute voicemail (which I promptly deleted) on my phone shows a lack of professionalism. My party noticed someone who pushed their way past us to ask about the wallet they had left the night before, and clearly, since no one said anything, we asked if the people in front of us had already checked in. Had you been minding the line and doing your job, things may not have progressed to where they did. But quite frankly, looking at other reviews on this platform and yelp, this is not the first time someone has complained about the host. Even the family who you directed to the waiting area after us couldn’t help but loudly complain about how rude you were to them.

I will not deny that you have the right to charge me, and as such you have, but I also have the right to write a review on the lack of courtesy that was extended to me both during my actual dine-in experience, and my dealings afterward. And make no mistake, rude is rude, your sex or age has no bearing on that. I was just hoping that you were not the only one in the host position and was merely giving...

2023, 3 stars: Proprietors has lost most of what made it great 2 years ago. Instead of having small plates of phenomenal food, they now have tiny plates of off-the-wall food. It's good but drastically overpriced and undersized. $28 for 4 golf ball sized rolls and 6 thin slices of duck breast. Are you kidding me? We had a good selection off the menu and each plate left us more befuddled than the one before. The lamb belly was practically shaved. The sweet potatoes were great but it's not like they were drowned in caviar vs their price point. Feels too much like they're trying to earn a Michelin star and missing the mark.

Good news is that the cocktails are still exceptional. Stop by for a drink and a snack, but I recommend looking elsewhere for a meal.

2021, 5 stars: A phenomenal small plate experience. The atmosphere is unlike anything else on the island. We started with hot house tomatoes and roasted beets. Course two was cold sesame noodles - delish and halloumi (the only photos I remembered to snap). Our third course was the squid and cavatelli which were each mind blowing. Where most places simply do cripsy calamari, the proprietors pan seared theirs and served it in a decadent cream sauce topped with chili crisp. Topped it all off with a home made chocolate twinkie for dessert

Highly recommend dining here. The staff is friendly, the food is amazing, and you couldn't go wrong with...

Update: My first critique came off rather uncharitable. While I completely understand everyone is adapting to the new normal, my complaint was not so much the changing conditions as the incorrect or bad information we got when attempting to place our orders....which changed from "not taking pre-orders.....to......only taking pre orders up until X time......to....... you must call before Y time to place your order (which was not reflected on the website or our printed menu.)

That said we set our frustrations aside and tried again and we were rewarded with a variety of exceptional plates with wonderful and wildly distinctive flavors. Clearly there's a reason why Proprietors finds itself in such demand on this little Island. The plates were exceptional and the clear attention to both subtle and bold flavor combinations that made each plate distinctive was readily apparent. (Truth be told each plate made me feel like more and more of a jerk for my initial critique!!)

Well done Proprietors!

My recommendation: Don't give up! Find a way to get a table or get your order in.....it's 100%...