Rooster Co. — Restaurant in Newington

Average food with great staff. Items prepared fresh stand out, but plates offer a mix of the good and the less than good. Eaten there 3 Times now and they've never made good potatoes, but do very well with chicken. Most recently tried Brunch. Four people, walk in (no reservation) Restaurant was moderately busy with around 3/5 of tables filled. We were seated immediately. We came based on the high recommendation by our waitress on the last visit as well as the appealing menu. We all ordered the Lobster Eggs Benedict. This is listed as: Lobster Claw, Knuckle Lobster/poached egg/Thomas's English Muffin/sauce béarnaise. Out of 4 orders, three were special: 1 Gluten Free, which was readily accommodated, and 2 wanted to include spinach, this was also done. Wait staff was once again exceptional, we had a waiter this time and not the same person as we'd had on our prior visit. He was very friendly, cordial, attentive and fully professional and informed about menu items. He also was fully informed on Gluten Free requirements making us feel at ease of our guest who requires that. The food was rather slow in coming, with a wait of around 20 minutes or more. The food looked very pleasing. However potatoes were cold and seemed as though they'd been cooked earlier. The English muffin was also cold. The eggs benedict were perfectly prepared, as was the special ordered spinach. These items were clearly freshly cooked and perfectly done. The Lobster was not at all fresh, was 'gummy' chewy, and bland to taste. This was not fresh lobster. The meal was average to mediocre with substandard primary ingredients. This is the 2nd time we've found Rooster Company incapable of prepared a potato dish. The first time was dry tasteless scalloped potatoes and this time cold home fries. I think they choose to prepared these in advance and the lack of warms and freshness shows. Having tried the place 3 times now, I find it average with exceptional wait staff. I hope they can improve the deficiencies and become the restaurant we'd hoped for. Good Luck Rooster Co, not sure about giving it...

Heard great things about this place, so I stopped by Friday 10/20/2017 for lunch and ordered a salad at the bar. The bartender was friendly, I told him I was there to check the place out for our office holiday party. Surprisingly, it took 40 minutes to get my salad. The bartender apologized and said the kitchen was backed up. (Hmmm … I wondered. If they can’t handle a salad in a timely manner, how confident am I that they can handle a party?) I asked the folks sitting on either side of me at the bar what they thought of this place. They said the food was great and the service is normally better than this (I see a few other reviews here about slow service). The bartender apologized for the unreasonable wait time and ended up not charging me for the salad, which I appreciated. The quality of my salad (with grilled chicken) was indeed spectacular. High points for that. The bartender handed me a business card and asked me to contact Alex to book a party, so I immediately emailed Alex from my phone (willing to give them a chance to redeem themselves). But alas … 3 days have passed without a reply. I also submitted an inquiry via the website contact form the same day, but no response from that either. It’s too bad, because the food and atmosphere are perfect, but the slow service and lack of response have made me decide to have our party elsewhere.

UPDATED 10/24/2017 - I was back today at 1 p.m. and ordered another salad at the bar. I received it within 15 minutes. Alex, the event coordinator, was there. I shared my previous review and concerns with her. I found the food and the atmosphere impressive, but was concerned about service. Could they handle a party? She apologized and assured me they could. So I took a deep breath and booked the party. Hoping for a...

Wish could post pics of the delicious food our family has come to expect over time. But no, we ended up leaving as soon as we got there. Always great food & overall experience. It says they close at 11 but we called anyway since it was 9 PM, just in case long wait or...We were told kitchen closes @10 but if we can get there asap...Which we did in 5-10 min. Greeted very nicely but as we proceeded to the table accross from the kitchen, a tall waitress clad in all black, dark hair, hurried past us from another table she was waiting or clearing, with a disappointed, disdained look on her face. Alas! We soon learned she was assignedtoour table. Without introducing herself, three glasses of water started appearing one by one, so angrily placed that water splashed from one of the glasses! 😪 She then disappeared into the kitchen. We stood up to leave since she was so flustered about something prior or just by the way we looked, but no one was in sight to tell them we were leaving. Tbh, I don't think she cared. It'd have bn btr to say to us, "I am sorry, it's just too late or we're short staffed...." Always a great experience esp. the fresh, unique food combos n seasonal variations, ambience. We NEVER have a reason not to tip waiters or waitresses well. Always recommend to others. They even got me to eat polenta once and I loved it! However, last Saturday's (10/22/22) experience was unexpected and uncalled for. Left a "bad taste" in our mouths! Customer service is just as important as the...