The Lobster Shanty — Restaurant in Salem

The Lobster Shanty is a seasonal dive bar in Salem, MA. We were invited there last night as an impromptu get-together. I loved the wide-open porch with fans going to help the summer air move. We all started with some cocktails and lots of catching up; our server was great to let us go at our own pace. Later, we chose nachos, calamari, and a chicken tender basket with fries as appetizers to share. Nachos were dive bar worthy, hot and ok amount of toppings. The calamari was, eh, slightly overcooked, and the aioli was like a sweet honey mustard that was a huge turn-off. The chicken tenders and fries were surprisingly the hit! The chicken was juicy and well coated, and the fries were crispy and really well seasoned. For mains there were three different burger choices, all a hit. And the crab cake app was chosen as a main; this was an utter fail, salty, like burn your tongue salty, and again served with that weird honey mustard. This entree was not finished. But it appears burgers were downed, and the crispy tots served with them were another huge hit. For all the drinks and food we ordered, we thought the price was very good. However, they added an automatic gratuity, which was a bit of a slap in the face; we are a group of just five and all over 40 years old. We might have tipped more than they charged if we were given the chance. But without mentioning it, it seemed a bit odd.

Another bonus was live music on the patio, which started around 6 and went until 9. The performer was amazing and very engaged with the crowd!

I am torn between a 3 and 4 as a rating, but given that it is a dive bar and, we all had a really fun time, which is the whole point! I am going with a 4.

I think we would definitely give the Lobster Shanty another try; maybe we should actually try something with lobster in it...

It was a quiet Thursday afternoon. I brought my mother to Salem for the day where she unfortunately suffered a fall on a uneven sidewalk. Still in shock I led my 68 yr. old mother to the Lobster Shanty to sit on the shaded patio while we ordered drinks and ordered her an iced tea. I took my son to do some shopping and ordered food to be held until we returned. While away I received a phone call that they ordered my mom to leave the establishment. She had been there for 40 minutes and was taking up a table. She asked if she could buy another iced tea and they refused to sell her another. She asked if she could move to a smaller two person table and they refused. She explained to the man that she had just fallen and was trying to get over the shock, she just needed to sit and rest. He said this was not his problem and told her she had to leave. My mother called me to tell me what happened. I walked back and took the waitress aside and explained about the fall and said I left my mother there knowing she was in a safe place. The waitress told me it was not their fault that she fell and that they believed my son and I had gone elsewhere to get food. I said that was not true, we were walking around the shops. She argued with me and told me we need to be more considerate of the business we choose to eat at. I walked away, both the man and the waitress were rude to the point that there was no use continuing the conversation. I would like it to be noted that the restaurant was slow- the patio was half empty and there were no customers waiting to be seated. My mother sat on the sidewalk waiting for us to return and in the 15 minutes it took us to walk back nobody had been sat and the table still sat empty, it had not even...

I’ve been to this restaurant four times now. There’s usually a wait. Most of the seating is outdoors. I’ve had the cold lobster roll which I really liked. But, Last time I ordered the Mac n cheese to mix it up. Bad mistake. I did not like it at all. It just tasted like flour and water with small elbow noodles. I swear I did not taste any sort of cheese in it. There was a heavy layer of cracker crumble on top that was cold. Seemed sprinkled on top just before serving, but not actually put in the oven to toast or anything. The only thing good about it was the few big chunks of lobster. I just picked through it to get the lobster. I won’t order it again. I tried the warm lobster roll and I did not like it much. It had a weird flavor and I noticed the table next to ours two women had also ordered it and they only took one bite and only finished their fries. I ordered the sweet potato fries, but they came dark brown and tasted burned. The servers were all nice and the man who seats people was nice. If I go again, I’ll stick to the cold lobster roll with regular fries. So far it’s the only thing I like. I also tried the lobsterTini, I would not recommend it . the price is really high and it had no lobster flavor at all. Just straight vodka i believe with a lobster claw on top. I had hoped for a maybe slightly salty lobster brine like flavor. That was disappointing. I give it three stars because the service and staff were friendly, but the food is not all that good. Just ok. It’s in a great...