Five-O Shore Road — Restaurant in Ogunquit

Terrible Service.

Our waiter, Sean (or Shawn?) had several gaffes. First, he spilled my wife’s drink with some of it splashing onto her. Sean made no apology at all, virtually laughed about it, stating “if I took a sip that wouldn’t have happened”, and just left the spill on the table and menu. Not much acknowledgement, NO sense of responsibility, NO corrective action until it was requested.

My wife had to ask for club soda and a cloth napkin to try to clean off what spilled onto her. Sean brought both - but again never seriously mentioned the spill - never cleaned the mess on the table. My wife did so with the cloth napkin.

That’s the worst of it, but not the only issue. I asked if a fish on the menu was local and Sean said he wasn’t sure but didn’t think it was because he didn’t recall seeing it on the menu much. Any decent waiter would have asked “would you like me to check on it?”. My wife noticed that the menu actually noted it was a local fish.

Sean gave us water, without us asking for any, which was good - but he never came to refill. It was a day we’ll into to 90’s.

My wife ordered a pasta dinner. She had to ask Sean for cheese. Most people like cheese with pasta! Sean should have offered it, we should not have had to ask.

As we were eating our dinner Sean quickly asked “how’s it tasting”, but did that while he briskly walked by us. I’m not sure he actually heard our reply. He didn’t ‘stop’ to REALLY ask in any interested way. Sean was busy but certainly not swamped. Again, seemed like he could care less.

He brought us bread covered with a cloth napkin that room temperature (wasn’t warm), so no real need to insulate it with a napkin. Maybe not Sean’s fault, but worth mentioning.

This was an fairly upscale restaurant. As soon as we sat down I thought it was odd that the napkins were black paper and not cloth. That’s not Sean’s fault but, again, worth mentioning.

I also thought it was odd that the table had no salt or pepper. I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere that didn’t. I had to ask for pepper for my clam chowder. Sean brought a pepper mill and kind of thrust it at me and said something to the affect of “this is a pepper mill, it’s the same as a shaker”. It’s actually better, but again, Sean was pretty odd about it.

I will say that other than the mediocre soup my meal was great. But it didn’t overcome the desire to just walk out because of Sean’s poor service.

I ALWAYS tip 20% or more. But given Sean’s terrible service it really made the experience one that I would have preferred to never have had, and I left him about 10%, maybe less.

At bare minimum he should have taken some - any - recognition AND regret for spilling the drink on out table...

Earlier this year my wife and I attended the January 18th Wine Dinner and cooking demonstration. We have been coming to the almost monthly Five-0 wine dinners since June of 2012 and they have all been truly wonderlul. Each dinner has a theme to it with spot on cuisine prepared by Chef James Walter. Great value, fun time meeting new dinner guests and amazing food with thoughtful wine pairings. You would be hard pressed to find a better dining experience anywhere near there. Last night began in the bar at 6:30 with complimentary sparkling wine (I believe it was a Cava) and delicious anti-pasti. About a half hour later we were escorted by the staff into the dining room. It was set up with two long inviting communal tables and a cooking table where Chef Walter was going to prepare a couple of the evening's courses for us. A representative from the wine distributorship was there to explain each pairing with each course. I'm sorry to say I did not catch his name but he was very enthusiastic and extremely knowledgable in his educational descriptions. The wines were all enjoyable and effective in allowing each wonderful course to present itself. The chef prepared handmade Strozzapreti with parmesan cream sauce and shaved white truffle. We haven't had pasta this good since we were in Italy too many years ago. This dish brought us right back. It was PERFECTLY balanced. He then prepared a crispy duck breast with duck confit, acorn squash cranberries and endive. His dishes are truly masterpieces. My wife had the duck and I ordered the lamb chops and in the middle of our entrees we switched to share. Both were fantastic. I haven't mentioned all of the other courses and although it was advertised as a four course dinner there was a Piccolo Aperitivo ( a gift from the chef) and intermezzo of apricot sorbetto in addition included. I have to mention the other courses because they too were so good. Antipasta of Seared Sea Scallop with charred chicory, blood orange and crisp prosciutto was beautiful visually and delicious to eat. The last course of the evening was a Kumquat Olive Oil Cake with sweet vanilla cream and candied orange prepared by sous chef Gillian Roun. She hit it out of the park. During the meal we were served four generous and perfect paired wines. Explanations were very helpful and the entire staff of Five-0 couldn't have been friendlier or more welcoming. I highly encourage you to dine there anytime, you will be...

.My Husband and I are local and back 5 years ago moved to Wells and dined at Five O probably 3 times a week . It was very good until Covid hit. The food portions ,service and Quality were definitely lacking and we found ourselves dining there less and less. We still now and then would give it a try and found it was slowly getting a bit better. I am extremely fussy as I love to cook. Salt,Acid,Fat. Hard to find the balance anywhere accept my home kitchen. However I need to leave this review because dining at Five O this Valentines Evening made for the BEST valentines my Husband and I have had in a very long time! It was absolutely perfect! Start to finish! Greeted and sat at a window seat. Our waitress was excellent! There wasn’t 1 time that we had to pour our own wine. We had a bottle of wine which is 2 glasses each and she was on it! That is a first any where we have been! It’s definitely noticed! Our apps were excellent ! The salad greens with chopped dates,pomegranate seeds, blue cheese crumbles and caramelized nuts were awesome! The fried oysters perfect! We both ordered filet mignon wrapped in prosciutto served with Broccolini , chopped parsnip . The filet was seasoned PERFECTLY! Salted perfectly! Beautiful Med rare a warm red center. It was like butter! Absolutely perfection! The Broccolini was not bitter or tough. It was Perfectly seasoned and tender ! The parsnip was tender and added a bite of bitter with a smooth cream . Amazing! To end we ordered Irish coffees. Omg! Seriously! The BEST we have had anywhere! Amazing! The Jamison’s whiskey was the star Followed by excellent coffee with a brown sugar rim and a frozen cream. It had a caramel note to it. Absolutely incredible! So with this being said ,We Thank you Five O because during a special occasion or just a night out the dining experience can really make or break one’s whole night. We can’t wait...