Sea Level Oyster Bar NBPT — Restaurant in Newburyport

We’ve been here twice now and both times the food was excellent. The first time we ate a meal here was for an early dinner on a quiet day during the week. It was super nice outside and we asked to sit out back. They have two outdoor seating areas, one out front and one in the back overlooking the water. The view was lovely. The place wasn’t packed and we didn’t have to wait for anything.

Anyway, this place has a massive menu. Besides the regular menu, they have a whole specials menu each day. (See pics for menu.) We ordered fried calamari Italian style and they were so fresh and delicious. You get used to places over frying calamari, so that was a huge winner. For the main course, I ordered the specials blackberry bbq sauce baby back ribs. They were so good! They served them with yucca fries, which I love. I wish it was a regular menu item. My husband had the haddock with crab cake crust on potatoes. It was delicious. I loved it so much, the next time we visited, that’s what I ordered. During our first visit, we kept seeing these beautiful sushi dishes delivered to other tables, so we got some of that the next visit. It was good too. My kids had the chicken skewers that came with an island sauce and the baked scallops. The chicken was tasty and not overcooked. And the scallops were baked perfectly and still tender. Overall, we were really happy with all the dishes served to us both times.

The people that work here are all super nice, and the service was excellent both visits. Prices are on the higher side and portions aren’t super large. Be sure to ask for market prices if that’s something you’re concerned about. The restaurant is noisy. I don’t know why that is, but even without being packed, it was. The place is kid friendly and they do have a menu specifically tailored to them. We parked in the lot next door and walked behind the restaurant. They charge during the day, but it’s not much. Otherwise you can find parking on the street if it’s not a busy day.

I see there are a few mixed reviews on here, but I would confidently suggest you visit this place and try them out for yourself.

(If the restaurant reads this, please consider that blackberry baby back bbq ribs special permanently 🤞🏻 It was...

UPDATE 1: Thank you Toby for reaching out! While the pasta wasn’t ideal for me, it was great to hear that the shrimp scampi would be coming back! The service and time we spent in the restaurant was a lot better than the time we went before.

tldr: food recommendations by server was a miss, rotating menus, seafood restaurant out of clams, clam chowder fries might be best fries i’ve had in my life.

Overall very disappointed in everything. My girlfriend and I came ten minutes early and asked to be sat. Obviously a friday night so we weren’t expecting to but figured it was worth a shot. However, we were told to sit and then waited ten minutes after our reservation to be sat.

We then were sat and it took another 15 minutes for a server to come to us and ask us what we wanted to drink. We put in our drinks and apps which took 40 (fourty!) minutes to come out.

After that, I asked if they still had their shrimp scampi (we had been here perviously and that pasta was the best thing i’ve had). They said they didn’t have it anymore, but the server recommended the shrimp pasta with a candied lemon basil pesto sauce. I was a little hesitant because the sauces sounded very different (savory vs sour?) but decided to go with it because it was their recommendation.

My partner went to go order the clam linguine and was told that they were out of clams. How is a seafood restaurant out of clams? She had to take even longer and order a seasonal item, the trout with a horseradish sauce and a bacon hash.

The entrees took another 30 minutes to come out after we had ordered. I had to send back the shrimp pasta because there was ZERO flavor. If you’re a fan of sweet and sour pasta, then congrats you found your favorite. However, I was expecting a savory pasta and was so disappointed I had to send it back to the kitchen.

I’m not a picky eater, I love to eat and go out with my partner and try new things. However the recommendations should’ve been better thought out and you either need to hire more servers or seat less people so servers can be more attentive to people. It felt like I was asking the staff to go to war whenever I asked a question when I should feel...

A large group of friends and I, all adults over 40, went in for a cocktail last night and were met with one of the biggest displays of ridiculousness I have ever encountered. A couple friends and I who are non-drinkers were literally refused service at the bar and snarked at for trying to order Waters. Something I find completely unacceptable, what if we were recovering alcoholics, what if we had finally gotten up the courage to go out in a social situation and just have a water with friends and we had been shamed at a bar and made to feel like we were unwelcome and a burden for asking for a complimentary beverage that we were willing to give a gratuity for? If this wasn't bad enough one of the members in our group chose to buy a round and placed cash for his tab with a generous gratuity on the bar when leaving. This woman was so irate with us as a group because I was upset at being refused my water that she flew into a rage, didn't even double check to see that the money was in the business and instead, without management approval left the business walked down the street to another competitive bar, walked up to us as a group and began yelling at him and accusing him of walking out on his tab, embarrassing him in front of his friends! I have never seen anything like this. He explained to her over and over I did pay you, I did leave the money on the bar and I gave you a great tip. She refused to believe him and then further tried to slander his reputation by telling the owner of the bar that we were at that he walks out on a tab! When I called the restaurant to let the management know what had taken place the manager was not even aware that she had left her post at 10 p.m. on a busy Saturday. I am a business owner and if I ever knew that one of my staff chose to take matters into their own hands and represent my business like this I would be Absolutely floored. This was some of the most outrageously terrible service I could literally...