Martell's Lobster House — Restaurant in Point Pleasant Beach

DISGUSTING! First of all, You walk in and the room just reeks of nasty old fish, not delicious seafood. The floor is littered with garbage.

The table we sat at had no silverware or Napkins or anything we needed for our meal. After they dropped off our appetizer, they still didn’t get us any so we had to take from another table, just unnecessarily embarrassing. After we ate, the appetizers and used plates sat at the corner of our table the rest of our meal, no one came and cleared the table at any point of our meal. This is like 5 dirty dishes piled on top of each other, that we had to strategically move around a few times to make room for our food. At one point I saw the waitress take a single plate from another table and the napkin and food fell on the ground. I kid you not, she stopped, looked at it, thought about picking it up, and decided to keep walking and leave it there. It stayed there the rest of the time we were there, about another hour and was still there when we walked out. They could not care less and show zero pride in what they do it seems.

Then we get our food and needed a drink refill. We ate half of our food before we had to find someone to help us because I kid you not, our waitress was too busy eating her dinner and looking at her phone to help us . She decided to eat a few tables away so we saw very clearly. I’m no snob but cmon now, help your tables before you break. At least make sure their food is ok and that they don’t need anything like, I don't know, SILVERWARE, Napkins, condiments. Being there with your 5-year-old child you just want them to be taken care of but that wasn’t even happening. Last, the food.

We got the spicy clams in a pot or whatever and there was 0.25 in of broth at the bottom and the top was filled with dry nasty clams. I had the lobster pot which was good, I really liked it, no complaints there. The sushi was decent too. Maybe If the restaurant wasn’t disgusting and the staff cared at all it would’ve been ok.

Summary - absolutely disgusting restaurant with genuinely the worst service I’ve ever experienced in my life. It’s pricey and food is average but if you’re considering taking your family to a nice meal, I’d highly recommend you skip this dump and get a slice instead. Save your hard earned money, they don’t deserve...

This review is largely about communication and general experience. Skip if you're interested in specific drink or food reviews.

TLDR: Plan to serve your customers or communicate that you won't be. I don't think that's unreasonable.

I realize Jenkinson's (and by association, Martell's) is privately owned which means they can behave like they dgaf about people. Hours are effectively "subject to whatever they want").

And I realize we are 6 days past labor day. But it is still in the 80s/90s out and there are still plenty of people coming to the beach. Particularly over the weekend.

I found it pretty surprising that on a Sunday afternoon that was really beautiful (after a morning storm) that the entire Martell's complex would close at 4:30.

My husband and I were hoping to go to Martell's tiki bar in the afternoon (they had a private event from 5-8 in the evening- lobster bake scholarship fundraiser)). Turns out the event got moved to the afternoon. Fine - we'll walk around the boardwalk til about 4 and check back.

At 4, we sit down at Martell's lobster bar (in the same building) and order a drink, figuring we'll let the event end and then we'll hop in. Between 4 and 4:30, we see TONS of people turned away from the (inside) entrance to the tiki bar.

Around 4:30 my husband goes back to one of the security guys who says "the event is ending but we're not open." Then our bartender comes over and is like "We're closing up bc it's slow and people have school tomorrow." It wasn't slow and I'd wager no one getting turned away from the bar had school tomorrow.

Maybe I'm annoyed bc this is one of the few stretches on the NJ shore that is privately owned (so there is also quite limited beach access, plus other restrictions).

But, I feel like...put a sign out? Tell people you're not going to be open? Or change your...

I visited Martel’s yesterday and ordered their Monday special, which included a lobster bucket (with added crab legs and shrimp), a salad, and coconut shrimp. My server, Madison, was absolutely wonderful — very attentive, polite, and checked in regularly. The manager also came by to check on me, so the service itself was excellent.

Unfortunately, the food was a different story. The only substantial item I ate from the seafood bucket was the lobster, along with a couple of crab legs. Shortly after finishing, I began sweating profusely, feeling lightheaded, and had to rush to the bathroom to vomit. When I returned to the table, the sweating was so severe I had to fan myself with the booklet on the table. I immediately informed the manager that the lobster was the only thing I had eaten. He said he would check with the chef and apologized for my experience, taking $15 off the bill. I was considering taking the food home but I couldn't bring myself to because of how sick I felt. So I left everything at the table.

However, the aftereffects have been unbearable. The rest of the day I felt extremely sick, and by the following morning, my symptoms had worsened, with gut inflammation, and continued lightheadedness and something else I'd rather not mention. I’ve never experienced food poisoning before, but this was absolutely awful, and I’m certain it was from the lobster I was served.

While I appreciate the staff’s attentiveness and apology, the fact that I became so ill immediately after eating points to serious concerns about food handling, cooking, or storage practices. Sadly, I cannot recommend this restaurant based on...