Riptide Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in Newbury

Wish I could say that I had a good experience as I wanted to like this place, though that was not the case. The people in front of me in line must have been there for quite a while as they were complaining about the fact that nobody had greeted them. During that wait I watched a table of customers who were sat down complain to the wait staff that they were leaving because nobody had even came by to get their drink orders.

By the time I got to the front desk to place a to go order, the woman at the front made eye contact with me multiple times and did not say hello. Finally she asked me what I wanted and wrote my order down on a notepad, and walked away halfway through the ordering process. I believe she forgot to put the order into the computer as a supposed 15 minute wait turned into 30 minutes.

Finally someone else came out of the kitchen and handed me my order, then walked away without allowing me to pay. I waited for a couple of minutes for her to come back and ring me up, but she never came, so unfortunately for them I ended up walking out with free food.

I wish I could say the food was good but it was absolutely horrible. The smash burger I ordered was falling apart, and dripping with a horrendous amount of sauce. All I could taste was the sauce. The chicken tenders where extremely fatty and chewy, and the batter slid off the chicken The fries had the texture of caramelized onions, completely soggy, greasy, and no flavor.

I am happy that nobody rang me up, as I would have been extremely disappointed if I had to pay for this...

Loved it! My family and I had a yummy meal at the new RipTide Cafe and Bar Plum Island . The vibe is beachy fun, unpretentious, warm and welcoming. The food is inspired and tasty. You can tell a lot of thought was put into this menu, which should please all tastes.

Everything sounded amazing (the Roman pizzas, fried chicken, seared salmon and tuna, “Rip steak tips,” halibut sandwich, etc), but as a Vietnamese woman, I had to try the pork bánh mì and make sure it was legit. 🙂 It didn’t disappoint. The pork was nicely seasoned with a perfect touch of lemongrass and there was even pâté and the traditional veggies on the bánh mì (cucumber, cilantro, and pickled carrots and daikon radish - a sign of bánh mì legitimacy). My husband had the perfectly cooked fish and chips. The haddock was fresh and cooked perfectly flaky. We shared a few cocktails and those were also delicious. I literally wanted to try everything on the menu and have a feeling we’re going to be here again...

Went on a beautiful evening for dinner the first summer they opened, a Monday and not crowded. Menu has a lot of potential, great options, but food was only fine. We had 4 different entrees and we all felt it was good but sort of bland. The service was pretty terrible though. Servers were very nice but SO SLOW. We waited over 30 min to get drinks (which were great, best thing we had there!), then ordered food and was nearly an hour till we got it. Most tables full outside, very few inside, everyone waiting and several servers working so not sure why they are so slow. People next to us left it was so slow, nobody was getting orders. Was thinking maybe they are understaffed but the restaurant wasn’t full and several people working. I had high hopes, we live on PI in the summers, hoped it would be a great addition, but not wow’ed. We’ve been back a few time as sat at the bar, much more worth a visit, and at the bar...