Johnson's Seafood and Steak — Restaurant in New Durham

My husband, stepdaughter, and I visited Johnsons twice today. Once for lunch on the way out to Augusta, Maine, and once for ice cream on our way back to Vermont. There was a lot to like. And a lot to not like.

We spent $85, including tip, on lunch comprised of a lobster roll, fried scallops, chicken tenders, a side order of fried pickles, a side order of fried mushrooms, and 3 iced teas. Really expensive. On the way back, we spent $18, with tip, for 3 “kiddie-sized” ice creams.

The staff was cheerful, friendly and polite on both of our visits.

I expected the lobster roll to be warm and buttery. It was actually a cold lobster salad roll – which they called a lobster roll - with lots of lobster, but not very much flavor. The scallop order included 6 scallops (my husband gave them a “C”), and l-o-t-s of french fries. The chicken tenders were as you would expect. The side order of fried pickles was salty, but decent and there was a mountain of fried mushrooms for a side dish. It was truly a mixed bag. Portion sizing is a mystery at Johnsons. The iced teas were great.

While waiting ½ an hour for our ice cream order to be fulfilled at the window, I finished the leftovers we saved from lunch, 6 hours earlier. The three kiddie-sized ice cream cones were each the size of a pint of ice cream. We saw other people order large portions. At Johnson’s, large translates as epic. Expect ¾ of a gallon of ice cream. In a bucket. Forget the cone. Bring your defibrillator. Unless you have a massive appetite for ice cream, all portions, even the kiddie-sized portions, are impossible to finish. We had to go back to the counter to ask for dishes to collect the ice cream we couldn’t eat so that we could throw it away. My 6’3”, 230lb husband dropped the ice cream out of his cone but luckily was able to refill it from the excess pile of ice cream we had accumulated in the discard bowl.

There is an organized order and fulfillment system, social distancing is observed, and most people adhere to the mask requirement. There is a new covered picnic table area which is quite nice. There are napkins a-plenty, numerous trash receptacles, and foaming hand sanitizer stations.

Bonus: Unexpected entertainment included an impromptu Trump supporter cavalcade of a few dozen monster trucks, jeeps, and American brand cars of all types cruising by, honking and toting enormously oversized, rippling American flags and Trump banners. And a few folks sporting spurs strolled by casually while we grappled with mounds of ice cream.

I gave Johnsons 3 stars because the good comes with the bad along with splashes of the unclassifiable. Johnsons is a must-visit as it represents a slice of America. And I came to understand during my visit that Trump will, most likely, win our next election.

You never know what you’re going to get...

This is for the New Durham location.

3 strikes for this place unfortunately, it used to be really good years back. Not sure what happened but I feel like ever since they put in the bar on the back half of the restaurant the food quality has gone in the toilet.

We like this place because it is close to home, has a good summer cruise night vibe and the ice cream is good, but the last 3 visits have left us disappointed.

My daughter really doesn't eat much besides chicken tenders no matter where we go, I can't believe they can never get them right. All 3 times they have been dry and tasteless, she needed tons of ketchup just to get them down. The fries were ok.

I have tried their average burgers, their unseasoned steak and their overcooked seafood. Most recently I tried to change it up by ordering the Prime Rib. Unfortunately for some reason they didn't have it. I was bummed because I was reluctant to order the dishes that didn't do it for me before, so I instead ordered chicken scampi. I was disappointed the second it hit the table. It looked as bad as it tasted. 4 greasy pieces of boiled chicken slathered with garlic paste and dropped into a stew of buttery salad dressing (that's the best way to describe it). I am no chef, but I make a killer shrimp scampi and I know how it should look and taste. This looked like it came from under a heating lamp at the Market Basket premade meal counter and tasted like naked pasta in butter and garlic. Oh and the "garlic bread"? looked like those pieces of Texas toast you get from the frozen section.

No I didn't send it back, for two reasons: It had already taken nearly 45 minutes to get it The waitress was super nice and I felt bad

In fact let me take a moment here and say that the best part of our most recent experience was our waitress. She was attentive, quick with the appetizers and drink refills and was very helpful to my wife in navigating the menu for gluten free options. The poor quality of the food was not her fault nor was the long wait from the kitchen.

For what they are charging the food should really be better than mediocre takeout. It's such a shame to see how far the quality standards here have dropped, years ago this was my favorite place to eat and lunch or dinner here was a real treat. I don't know who is responsible but hopefully more reviews like this will encourage them to do better. Maybe I have just visited on 3 bad days, but I'm starting to think otherwise. The New Durham location is the perfect spot for lakes region travelers, bikers and car cruises but the food here is just plain bad. Thankfully they cant screw up ice cream so if you need a place to go for a cone or a dish AFTER you eat a better dinner elsewhere I would encourage...

I've been going to Johnson's since I was a very young girl. Johnson's is close by for me and my family so it's convenient to go out for a quick meal and it's generally been good food. The past several years there's been a change in Johnson's. The quality and quantity of food have gone down while the pricing has gone up drastically. The bread has now been taken away, one of the best parts of the experience at Johnson's. Their beer is good for the most part but it's slightly overpriced. The pizza is good but once again, it's overpriced. The one thing that is always great is the people that work there. Last night my family and I had our regular dinner at Johnson's. One of the drinks we received tasted like dirty dish water. It was the second time this has happened. The side dish of squash is generally good but last night, it was three shades darker than it usually is, it tasted burnt and there were seeds and hard particles that had to be spit out every bite. Our waitress was awesome as usual but there's only so much the wait staff can do about poor quality, overpriced food. We don't go there as much as we used to, which makes me sad because Johnson's was part of my youth and I want it to be part of my son's youth also, but with the steady progression and direction Johnson's seems to be heading in, it's only my fault at this point if I keep going back. I don't understand how some families can go out to eat at a place like Johnson's. Just for three people, our meals consisted of two haddock sandwich meals and a chicken finger meal, one kiddie ice cream and the bill was pushing $80. I know there's inflation and I know pricing goes up, but I don't understand how the quality and quantity of food goes down and the pricing disproportionately goes up. I'm sure we'll still go there for something easy and quick, and as I said before, the people that work there make everything better, they have all been so wonderful and accommodating in every way. Johnson's is lucky to have such great staff because it makes swallowing the poorer quality, overpriced food a...