CREW Ogunquit — Restaurant in Ogunquit

Rarely, if ever do I leave a bad review. The Hostess on Monday evening was overwhelmed and not clear with her communication.

We called earlier in the day to make a reservation, but were told that the restaurant doesn’t accept reservations. Understandable.

We were a Party of 10. Upon arrival, We told the hostess that we’re willing to split tables up but wanted to at least be near each other, as there were 3 children in our party. Originally we were given a 45 minute wait time. After 35 mins of waiting, we decided to ask the hostess if she thinks we’d be sat in the next 10 mins, or else we’d gladly go somewhere else. No hard feelings at all. She vaguely responded “make it 15 mins, maybe 20” We decided to wait it out.

We noticed as multiple Smaller parties were being sat before us although they arrived after us, frustrating yet still understandable because of our request to sit near each others. We were patient despite the pleas of hunger from our little ones.

After 1:15 minutes have now gone by, we thought we were about to be sat. The hostess poked her head out of the entryway and said to me “sorry, this party of 8 was ahead of you, they will be seated before you”

The party of 8 was not there before us, yet we remained patient, thinking maybe they put their name down and took a stroll around the town while they waited.

But no. Come to find out the party of 8 had “Reservations” that’s when we decided to leave.

Before we left to go elsewhere, I waited on the hostess while she took a To-go order, to calmly express my dissatisfaction of how things unfolded. We understand that things happen, we understood that your restaurant cannot tell a party to leave after they’ve finished their food to accommodate others etc etc. Things do happen. But a “no reservation” should be adhered to for all, not just some.

I fully expect you to respond and defend your establishment. You may challenge the misuse of the word “reservation” that we overheard multiple times, but it’s just semantics at this point. That party of 8, was in the least, given preferential treatment.

Overtasked, and understaffed...

TLDR version: Be extremely careful if you have a food allergy in your party. If you have young children, maybe go elsewhere.

One of my daughters has several common food allergies, sesame being one of them. They are sever enough that we carry an epipen whenever we eat out. We disclosed this to our server and asked for a grilled cheese (nearly always a "safe option") on bread with no sesame seeds. We got an inverted hamburger bun with sesame seeds all over it. While we did eventually get another dish, we were treated dismissively and like an inconvenience by the two members of the staff with whom we interacted. I'm sure the original error was an honest oversight on behalf of either the waiter or the kitchen, but a genuine apology and an offer to comp our kid's meal would have been appreciated. Neither happened.

It seems they also dislike serving families now (kids menu is now a secret). I can understand that (we had large party of two families and 7 children), but keep in mind we were in there at 2pm on a Monday. The place was less than half full.

In the spirit of giving a balanced review, the food is good and the atmosphere is fun. Good beer list. If you are a smaller party of adults with no allergies, you'll most likely a decent time.

Ogunquit is a second home to my family and we have eaten at Crew several times before, with better experiences. We have a nearby property here that we rent to families all year long and this incident will make us think twice before returning or recommending it to others with young-ish children. For a $250 lunch tab one would hope for a slightly...

Everything about this meal screamed: how can we make this meal as cheap as possible. I call this the Grocery store Hannaford meal. And here is why...

After eating seafood for a few days, we were looking forward to an all American burger. According to the menu served with home cut garlic fries or Caesar salad. Red flag number one was at the moment of ordering the burger. When we said how we wanted the burger cooked the waitress let us know it comes only one way: smashed. Okay, I've had five guys and really enjoyed it. Why not? Well the food came and the presentation told us already everything we needed to know. The Ceasar salad was wilted, with powdered pecorino cheese and some bread crumbs. The French fries were probably bought at Hannaford in the Ore Ida freezer section. The patties were probably also bought in the same Hannaford trip. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to freezer fries from Hannaford. But when the menu says they are home made garlic fries, I expect the fries to be made fresh in the kitchen. Freezer needs to be involved to make good hand cut fries. But these were clearly from a bag. Smashed burger patties from Five guys is Ten times better. And their fries aren't made from powdered potato.

We looked at the table next to us to make sure we didn't just order the wrong thing. But lo and behold, there were the shrimp from the freezer section from Hannaford being sold as a shrimp cocktail. (4 jumbo freezer shrimp for $21)

I'm glad we only got hosed for the burgers and Caesar salad. Not for Hannaford freezer shrimp. Don't...