Penny Lane Pub — Restaurant in Old Saybrook

Are dinner there Friday night 04/08/16....well, I tried to eat dinner is more accurate. My daughter ordered The Abbey's Poached Pear Salad while I went for the Hickory Smoked BBQ Baby Back Ribs with salad (balsamic vinaigrette) instead of the fries. Two minutes later, out comes my salad. With parmesan peppercorn, not balsamic. No biggie, back it goes.

5 minutes later, the waitress (who was very nice, to her credit) is back to inform me that I can't have my ribs because, well - the kitchen ran out of BBQ sauce. You're serious? (I actually asked her). BBQ sauce? That you can buy 1/4 mile away at the convenience store? Or 1/2 mile away at Stop & Shop? You're taking two entrees right off the menu tonight for that (the ribs and the pulled pork sandwich) because you're missing a $2.79 bottle of KC Masterpiece? Okay, so this kitchen is definitely not staffed with the best and the brightest. I was tempted to just go and buy it myself. So I have to choose something else, so I decided (since I was in a meat-y mood) to get the PLP Burger, rare, with avocado and jalapeno bacon.

3 minutes later (I was kinda shocked by how quickly it happened), she's back with the pear salad and the burger. I take a bite and it's cold. Like 'raw' cold. It was completely uncooked, you could see red through the TOP of the burger. You could smear the meat with your finger. It was un-freaking-cooked.

Don't misunderstand, I like rare beef. I like carpaccio and make steak tartare. But I'll only eat it that rare if I grind the meat myself, there is too much chance to get sick if you 'dine out' that way. I now get to spend the night waiting to see just how sanitary their kitchen is, and I'm not optimistic.

So this is like a slap in the face, this is the kitchen basically giving you the finger. What level of incompetence lets them a) run out of BBQ sauce, b) not quickly replace it, and c) send a piece of raw ground beef out to a table that is colder than room temperature? So I send it back of course, waitress says she'll tell the chef, I say 'Send him out, I'd like to tell him myself'.

The manager comes out, really tall guy, thin. He's just paying lip service, says he'll take it off the bill (duh, if he put it on I'd rip it up and walk out!) I ask him about the BBQ sauce, he says they tried to buy it next door at the market (Walt's) but they closed at 6 pm (it's 8pm now) and in the intervening 2 hours they did nothing about it. Morons.

Penny Lane Pub has a level of incompetence that takes your breath away. I'll...

Penny Lane Pub is a pub and eatery worthy of the hit song by the Fab Four from which it takes its name. There is plenty of seating in the appropriately pubby atmosphere on the ground floor, a delightful outdoor patio in the rear, and additional dining on the second floor (where you’ll find a mural of the Yellow Submarine - a fitting tribute to the song and local industry). The food includes a selection the ranges from traditional British pub fare to contemporary favorites. My spouse is from the UK, so a visit to the restaurant was mandatory to test out the authenticity of the pub and their food. The shepherds pie passed with flying colors, and received bonus points for the surprise accompaniment of green beans. I opted for the fish tacos - a favorite of mine that some place miss and others do really well. Penny Lane’s version was fresh, flavorful, and came with the right amount of fixings. There are several craft beers to choose from, as well as wines, and cocktails.

Tempting fate, and risking the ire of the Ghost of John Lennon who greeted us at the door, we sampled their bread pudding, which passed the test for authenticity (from my spouse’s perspective) and deliciousness from my pov. Well balanced vanilla, subtly spices, and just the right amount of sweetness. My only challenge? I cannot get the song...

The food was amazing and the drinks were unique and flavorful. However our waitress seemed distant and overwhelmed. She was pleasant but all over the place. We ordered the half rack of ribs entree and Shepard's pie entree and bread pudding and 3 cocktails the rib meal was $21 when we got our bill it said $31 for the ribs. We told our waitress who said well you said ribs so I put down a whole rack. We told her that he pointed to the rib meal and even showed her it was $21 and there was no option on the menu for a whole rack. She said OK but your going to take the rest home right but you don't want to pay for the whole rack? So he put the box on the table and said you can have it back and she said let me see what i can do. Comes back and offers a solution of taking one of the cocktails off. So that was good then when she comes back with the new check it had someone else's credit card in it we didn't even give her our card yet. That was so scary. The issues had gotten resolved but that was one of the worst wait staff experiences I have had. I would come back for the food but please train your staff. Thank you. I would give 5 Stars for food and...