Morse Tavern — Restaurant in Natick

My Dad and I had an absolutely terrible experience at this restaurant. Not only was the manager incredibly rude and unprofessional, but she also refused to allow me to bring in outside food despite my medical condition.

As someone with celiac disease, I have been advised by my doctors not to eat in restaurants due to the risk of cross-contamination. However, when I attempted to explain my situation to the manager, she was completely dismissive and refused to accommodate me in any way.

Until now I've never been to a restaurant who's been anything but welcome to the idea of bringing in food. I simply carry in a plain turkey sandwich made myself, Boar's Head turkey on Schär gluten free bread, 100% gluten free. Normally I ask if they mind, I eat my own food, elsewhere the answer is always, absolutely. Not at Morse Tavern, here it was a big problem, one she could offer no solution.

I asked the manager to call the owner, requesting if it would be at all possible to allow my normal routine. She called and after a minute came back denying my accommodation request. She said the strict policy was due to Natick having an no outside food law from the local board of health. Wondering if this was true, I called the Natick health department. They said no such town bylaw exists. She also used the excuse "it could be contaminated".

Next, I asked about gluten free options on the menu. She suggested their salad with salmon. I asked, "how is it cooked, in a pan or open grill?" She replied with an attitude "I don't understand why have to be so mean to me" and stormed off to the kitchen. Clearly her response indicated a complete lack of understanding of the situation. I always ask questions to gauge my confidence in their ability to produce a safe meal. As the grill is contaminated and off limits to celiacs. Every bite I eat must be strictly monitored, no exceptions. As eating even a gram of gluten would result in permanent damage to my digestive system and take up to a month to heal. Why should I take this risk?

If she can't effectively understand my needs and communicate how can this manager communicate my needs to the kitchen. At that point we decided to leave after a two-minute unnecessarily stress filled visit. After a two-hour drive to get there, this completely ruined my day off from work. My Dad is also disabled and relies on a scooter, it takes ten minutes to get him and the scooter in or out of the car. We had to cancel our lunch with our friend as unfortunately Natick has very limited lunch options. Thus, all that work to get in the door wasted by the manager's lack of thought and inability to listen. We were shocked and disappointed since at any other restaurant they are accommodating.

How dare this restaurant owner and manager dictate what I should eat without having a proper two-way conversation about the allergy precautions and cooking methods used. Especially given I had an ideal 100% safe gluten free lunch sitting in a cooler in the car. Living in a world filled with wheat is hard enough. Social events are stressful for people with celiac disease and made exponentially more difficult with uncooperative and inconsiderate management not willing to adapt.

It is truly unacceptable for a restaurant to have such a callous attitude towards customers with medical needs. I would strongly advise anyone with dietary restrictions or medical conditions to steer clear of this establishment. The management is completely intolerant and unhelpful, and their disregard for customer health and safety is truly disturbing. Save yourself the trouble and find somewhere...

TL;DR: Terrible customer service and attitude from everyone we interacted with.

FYI, dogs are not allowed on the patio, which is not advertised on any of their sites/pages. I came in from out of state early in the day with my dog for a nearby event and ended up at Morse to meet a large group of friends afterward. I noticed the "no dogs allowed on patio" signs and went inside to ask someone about it. After hunting someone down near the bar, I explained my situation. Understandably, they can't allow it, but there was no effort to accommodate or present alternatives, just a short no.

We still wanted to sit on the patio to keep an eye on the puppy who had to wait in the car with the windows cracked. It had rained earlier, so we asked for some napkins to wipe the seats down. We were straight up denied any paper or cloth, which makes absolutely no sense. As we tried to problem solve outside, we got rude glares as if we were causing some sort of issue around their almost empty restaurant.

They ended up seating us at the cramped high tops near the bar that did not have enough stools for our party, so we had to grab some from neighboring tables. (We didn't bother asking for permission that time.) The service was acceptable but rushed, even though nearly no one else was in the restaurant. Our check for 15 people came as one, and she refused to take more than 2 or 3 cards and also refused to let us pay separately. Very unpleasant from start to finish.

I have been here before during their live music, and it was so horribly loud that two people couldn't hold a conversation. They set the music up in the dining area; as a result, those who are coming for dinner get the brunt of the speakers. The fried pickles were the worst I've ever had and seemed like they were thrown in JUST flour and fried. The pizza...

I had my first and last shift yesterday on Sunday. I walked out, I was pretty baffled at how the kitchen runs and that probably explains everyones reviews on the food. I was working with the owner/manager on the line for pretty much the whole time of my shift, and not once did he use gloves. They pick up raw meat, such as chicken, steak, fish, etc. barehanded to put on the grill, not wash their hands after, and proceed to touch everything else with raw meat residue left on their hands. They did have gloves though, and I was the only one using them and the manager seemed to give looks when I would change my gloves. At one point, I tried to grab raw chicken from the drawer where they keep it, the manager kind of stops me to grab it for me but then tosses it to me and then tosses it on the bench aggressively but the chicken lands in the bowl of freshly cooked fries… Oh, also asked multiple times for a new rag or for anything I needed if we ran out of fries, etc. They basically would say “it’s in the basement” and have me find things in a place that I’m unfamiliar of. No one really taught me or shown me where everything is but expected me to know. For example: The owners son tells me to stock up the fridge, but he nor his father showed me anything in the fridge but even when I go to look in the fridge to see what I can possibly stock, only one thing was labeled. Other than that, no labels; just recycled containers from other products being used for something else with plastic wrap over it. I’ve worked in a kitchen before and I’m pretty sure that yesterday, I actually experienced a kitchen nightmare. Wear your gloves when handling other people’s food!!! I could say a lot more but I think raw meat is more than enough reason...