Joseph's By the Sea — Restaurant in Old Orchard Beach

This restaurant is in an ideal location with wonderful ocean views on both the upper and lower levels. The food was vey good and well presented. The prices fair - considering this is an oceanfront dining establishment. Sadly the service was very disappointing. Some friends and I went there for dinner 2 nights in a row...

The first night we dined, one of my friends asked our waitress about the baked stuffed lobster, whether it is similar to a lazy lobster. The waitress had never heard this term before (which was surprising considering she is working at a beachfront upscale restaurant in ME) so my friend explained that it refers to lobster that is served out of its shell, requiring no work from the diner. The waitress said that the baked stuffed lobster would fall under this description because the chef would be removing the meat and using it as part of the stuffing. Because of this, my friend and I decided to order it - we were not at all interested in trying to take the meat out ourselves... I tend to be clumsy with these sort of things. When our meals arrived we found that only the meat from the main body of the lobster had been removed but the claws required disassembling. I cut my finger on the shell in the process of trying to tackle the lobster claws. I asked the waitress for an alcohol wipe, as I was bleeding and didn't want germs from the meat to cause an infection. Our waitress agreed to get me one and then never did. She also brought us an opened bottle of $60 wine that we had not chosen - we had requested a different bottle. When this was brought to her attention, she said they were out of the one we had ordered. Seeing that it had already been opened she encouraged us to keep it... it was not to any of our liking.

The second night we dined things went much better. I was,however, quite displeased when our waitress (different from the one we had the night before) completely dismissed something I brought to her attention. My friend and I had both ordered meals that included mashed potatoes and the daily vegetable. I had asked for an extra serving of vegetables in lieu of the potatoes. When our meals came out I noticed that I had not received a double portion of vegetables, or even extra for that matter. It was very obvious because my friend and I both had the same amount of vegetables, except she also had potatoes. I politely mentioned this to our waitress who quickly, barely even looking at my plate, assured me that there was two servings of vegetables but that I just didn't realize it because some were hidden beneath my salmon. I moved my salmon to the side of the vegetables... I had 9 green beans and my friend had 8, and we had the exact same amount of what I believe was a type of cabbage. It was insulting to be told I was wrong - which I was clearly not - without even taking the time to look into what I had said. It was also poor workmanship on the part of the worker who assembled my meal - giving me half of what I was supposed to receive and what I paid for.

For the prices this restaurant charges, the service should be...

Last Friday we (my wife, adult daughter and 2 teenage children) decided to try Josephs for an early dinner on the outdoor deck. Called ahead around 4:30pm and they were able to promise us a table on the deck if we could get there in 10 minutes. Fortunately, I live within a half mile, we made it in 5!

Josephs has had a complete facelift after the fire last year. New signage out front greets you and ample private parking lot make it convenient and a lot easier than many other downtown OOB restaurants. The lobby bar and decor is all new - fresh, clean and inviting. The second floor bar and dinning area looks fantastic. Josephs was pretty dated so out of the ashes they have had a new and exciting rebirth. The first thing I thought after seeing the modern and stylish second floor bar; Fantastic! Now my wife and I don't need to uber into Portland for martinis and appetizers at a classy, atmospheric cocktail bar.

Our hostess showed us to a lovely table with a panaramic view of the beach and bay. We ordered our drinks. They had a new cocktail menu. I ordered a custom drink that the bartender made perfectly. My wife ordered one of the house cocktails that was okay. I'd stick with the classics that you know...unless you're in an adventurous mood...and don't mind taking a gamble.

We ordered our appetizers of Calamari and Edamme dumpings. They both came out within 10 minutes. The Calamari was well seasoned, crunchy on the outside and tender without any chewiness. What you'd expect at a good seafood restaurant. The Edamme dumplings came with a delicious soy glaze dipping sauce. However, the dumplings themselves, were undercooked and the filling was hard and unappealing... I think these are on the menu to check the vegan box. Drop these and add crabcakes please!

For main course my wife and I both ordered the Jamaican charred Salmon($32), our daughters decided on the Statler Chicken ($32) and my son the Korean Barbecue steak tips ($34).

All of our entrees were delicious and cooked perfectly. Salmon had the right amount of char and spice and was served with a mango salsa, rice and vegetables. The Chicken looked delicious...roasted skin with a slice of crispy prosciutto. The meat was white and juicy. I'm getting that next time. My sons Steak Tips were gone in flash but his verdict was thumbs up.

The prices have always been at the high end to match the quality... however this year it looks like the another Joseph we know is causing further menu price increases for the 2022.season for this all local eateries.

Josephs has reinvented itself with a fresh menu that still has the old favorites such as baked stuffed lobster... but adds some exciting new dishes. The new decor is inviting, fresh and elegant. Look forward to our next visit.

Update: We've been back 4 or 5 times this season. Without a doubt you have to try the Lobster Pancake appetizer. Crunchy potato and lobster and you get two! Could be a main...

I won’t be coming back and would NOT recommend this place to anyone! Go to MYST Oceanside Restaurant & Lounge instead!!!

I had been in touch with the owner to plan a romantic surprise dinner for my husband to start off our vacation and requested for a bottle of champagne to be waiting for us at our table. We were supposed to sit on the rooftop, but due to rain had to sit indoors… however, our table was still facing the ocean!

I was really hoping to love this place and have a great experience based on the reviews. Unfortunately, we had a pretty terrible experience and will never come back.

We got caught in the rain but still made it about 10 mins late. When we got there and they sat us, the ice for the champagne had completely melted and water was overflowing onto the table. It took our server a while to come by and I had to request for the ice to be changed because of the water. Even the person sitting us seemed indifferent about the melted ice and water overflowing (how could no one have cared about this?!!)

We placed our order fairly quickly. The appetizers took maybe 15-20 mins to come out. Our entrees, however, took an hour to come out! After 40 minutes of waiting for our entrees, the server came by and said our food would come out “shortly” and we still had to wait another 20 minutes! Almost felt like she had completely forgotten to place our order. The server only stopped twice or three times by our table too… People who were sat after us received their meals before us!! It felt like we were completely forgotten.

I ordered the lobster roll and the bread wasn’t buttered at all. In fact, it was so dry I couldn’t even finish it. By the time our food came out, the french fries were also dry and cold- definitely not worth $34! We also ordered the calamari which was just ok. We were so close to just walking out and paying for our appetizers and champagne because the food was taking so long.

This was supposed to be a lovely dinner to start our vacation and instead we left very upset and highly dissatisfied with the food and service (and paid over $175!!!) To me, the amount we paid for our meal wasn’t even worth it because we had to wait so long and part of our food came out cold. I have no problem paying good money for amazing food- but this was not that.

I even emailed the owner about our experience and SHE DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER TO EMAIL BACK OR APOLOGIZE for the horrible service and even worse food!!! I would NEVER come back here again!!!

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR- SKIP THIS PLACE & GO TO MYST OCEANSIDE RESTAURANT & LOUNGE! The food there is superb 🤤👌🏽 & the service is even better (& we went on a...