Tuscan Sea Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Newburyport

A Deeply Disappointing Father’s Day Experience

I rarely leave reviews, but this experience truly warrants one. I made a reservation through OpenTable several weeks in advance for a Father’s Day lunch with seven family members. The day after booking, I called the restaurant to add a few more guests and specifically requested seating in the back area to accommodate our child with special needs, who enjoys watching the boats — something that helps him stay calm and allows our family to enjoy our time together. At the time, the staff assured me they would be happy to accommodate this request.

However, when we arrived today and I inquired about the seating, I was met with surprising rudeness. The general manager, Lori Parolisi — who was also acting as the hostess — responded with a condescending attitude, made no effort to listen, and offered no solution whatsoever. She was rude not only to me, but to my entire family — including our son with Down syndrome — which was particularly upsetting. Her behavior made my wife and in-laws extremely uncomfortable. When I told her she was acting childishly, she actually replied, “I am a child.” Who says that — especially in a professional setting? If I were the owner and witnessed how she treated us, I would certainly have a serious conversation with her about that out-of-line behavior.

Instead of being treated with basic courtesy, we were dismissed entirely. Her conduct was not only unprofessional but blatantly immature, setting a sour tone for what was meant to be a special family occasion.

Unfortunately, the food didn’t redeem the experience. We’ve dined here several times before, but this visit was incredibly disappointing. My lobster roll was served on hard, stale bread and was filled mostly with claw meat. Nothing tasted fresh, and the overall atmosphere made us feel like we were an inconvenience simply for being there.

The only bright spot was our waitress, Emily. She was kind, attentive, and made a sincere effort to improve the situation. When she realized the high-top seating wasn’t appropriate for our son, she brought over a lower table and chair so he could sit comfortably. Her attentiveness and compassion were the only redeeming parts of the visit.

Due to the poor customer service, disappointing food quality, and the mishandling of both our reservation and special request, we will not be returning. Furthermore, as a result of this experience, my wife's company will no longer consider Tuscan brand locations for any future private events. I strongly urge others to think twice before choosing to spend their time or money here.

6/15 UPDATE: I was contacted by the Director of Tuscan Brands, and I truly appreciate the kindness, professionalism, and empathy they showed in listening to my experience. It meant a lot. I know that one person's behavior doesn't define an entire brand, but I do hope this particular manager takes time to reflect on how deeply her actions affected me and my family. No one deserves to be treated that way, and I sincerely hope no one else has to go through...

Brief overview: The wait time was crazy - if your wait list is over 2 hours long you should just take reservations so people have some sort of concrete time to aim to arrive for planning purposes. Sunset view from the windows was beautiful, appetizer was terrible, service was just okay for the price.

My husband and I called ahead last weekend to come for our first time, since they don't take reservations. We were quoted 2+ hours wait time. We were already in the car driving there so we figured we would park the car, walk around and enjoy the nice day it wouldn't be too long. So we finally get there after the 2+ hour wait and were sat no problem. We were sat inside which was sad but at least near the window so we could see the sunset.

Our server was very nice, but once she took our order we did not see her until we finished our meals (someone else delivered them to the table and she didn't come back once until we were done eating). We figured they were short staffed with people not wanting to go back to work, etc, so we tried not to let it bother us, but for the price of this restaurant the service should be above and beyond.

Prior to the meal, we decided to try the daily 'crudo' which she said was scallop ceviche. (see photo) We've had seafood ceviche many times, and let me tell you, this was not ceviche. What we got was ONE scallop sliced into about 5 thin slices.... Yes, ONE SCALLOP for $15+ ... and it was sliced up on the plate basically sitting in a puddle of olive oil with a tiny bit of garnish. We tried it and it was terrible. I am not picky and I can't think of another time we've done this, but we actually asked the server later in the evening to take it off the bill and since we only took a few bites and decided it was not worth eating. Ceviche is normally strong citrus flavor with maybe some herbs, and NO olive oil. The scallop ceviche here literally just tasted like a plain scallop in olive oil and was not good.

I will say, on a more positive note, our meals were fantastic. My husband got swordfish which was flavored very well and delicious. I got the lobster ravioli type dish which was also unbelievable. We LOVED our entrees.

When the server came back after our meals were done we had mentioned that we did not like the appetizer and that was when she said she'd take it off the bill. Then we got the bill, and it was still on there. We asked her to remove it again and she did, but was flustered and rushing around and we had also tried to ask about making sure we could use our tuscan reward card but she never gave us a chance to ask to use it.

Overall, we WOULD go back but ONLY if we could sit outside on the deck. I would specifically ask when putting our name on the wait list to put it on the outside seating list with a view...

I recently went to a wine social with my wife. I was planning a surprise date for her. We got really dressed up but when we arrived we found out that most of the people there were dressed very casual. We were way overdressed. My wife had a cocktail dress and I was in dress slacks and a tucked in buttoned up shirt with dress shoes and a belt. My wife said most folks look like they were casually walking on the beach beforehand. Then again it is next to the beach. The wines they had that day were not the greatest and there were no wine bottles for sale afterward, which was disappointing. The food was incredible. Super big shrimp. The meatballs were to die for the crab cakes were amazing and warm. Everything so fresh but my favorite were the tuna nachos some woman said maybe there's salmon nachos. Either way they were amazing. I would go back just for that. Very worth the price but was not the most blind accessible place. If it were not for my wife I don't know how I would have walked around from table to table, getting to try wines and the food. It was very packed and hard to walk around. It was also hard to eat while standing up with a white cane in one hand. A plate in the other hand and trying to balance that plate to eat was a challenge with people brushing up against you. Then we went into the restaurant which was beautiful. My wife and I got married at the Tuscan in Burlington so our expectations were high and definitely were met. We would almost like to do an anniversary party here because of the scenery. The Tuscan Martini was great but I would prefer the one they make in Burlington. The basil felt much more fresh. The white chocolate macadamia with vanilla gelato was overly sweet but very good. The chocolate gelato was delicious. The server was nice, although he seemed confused by me asking if the Tuscan Martini had ice and almost came off as rude but didn't spoil the night immediately stepping outside. There were benches along the water and just the great atmosphere in general. I would definitely go back. I wish they had those tuna nachos back on the menu but apparently their special order for the event. Please get them...