Groundwater Cafe — Restaurant in Scituate

After reading the reviews my wife and I decided to try this place for the first time. The decor is very nice. The service for the most part was good. A little slow and then all the food came at once instead of staggered. The restaurant was cold inside. The tapas portions were a good size most of the dishes presented extremely well. We ordered 6 tapas to start. Meatballs with Ricotta first dish to come out it was okay needed a little more seasoning. The 2nd dish Spicy Potatoes would have been better pan fried instead of deep fried the spicy sauce was good the dish needed a pinch of salt 3rd dish the Brisket in the picture. The brisket was cooked perfect same with the veggies but the food was cold and the brisket needed some seasoning. 4th dish the Street Corn Avocado. Looks great this dish had good seasoning but eating it out of an avocado that wasn't cut up made it messy and difficult to get a composed bite. The 5th dish was my favorite Chicken Skewers over Risotto. The chicken was well seasoned the risotto cooked perfect and complemented the spice on the chicken. Although the chicken was over cooked and a little dry. The 6th dish was the seared Ahi Tuna with Mango this dish was probably the best overall dish really no complaint just at this point I was disappointed with the food and the experience and surprisingly full. They had a local artist performing live the music was too loud for a casual dining experience. I really wanted to like this place. Overall The dishes looked good, some of the food needed more seasoning, the causal dining experience was ruined by being cold and the loud music. Maybe it was an off night on a 3 day holiday weekend. I would give...

Normally, I don’t write reviews—unless the service was either exceptionally good or exceptionally poor. In this case, unfortunately, I would have to say the service was exceptionally poor. My boyfriend and I were nothing but kind and patient to the staff, of who were, for the most part, great. However, the girl who brought our food out to us was beyond disrespectful; no eye contact was made, no smile, no warmth—just “do you need a bag?” And then proceeded to throw our food into the bag sideways and walk away without so much as another glance or response. I think this was my biggest gripe about my experience because I can’t understand what my boyfriend and I did to warrant such rudeness.

Also, as somebody who used to live and work in both Cape Cod and Newport, the prices at this cafe are beyond what I thought reasonable. The food was fine, but not so good that it would meet the total price point of $55 of which I would probably spend at a sit-down restaurant for dinner. I’ve never seen a cafe with prices so high before, for food that does not fit the description of “different” or “premium” (as in, asking premium prices for food that is not premium). So much of the foods on the menu are also sold and made elsewhere for far more affordable price, like the mushroom latte or the Caprese Panini ($16?!). Also, I cannot understand why it’s a $10 add-on charge for protein like chicken?

In any case, this is a cute spot with a great atmosphere, but service and prices leave much to be desired. Because of my experience here, I can’t say I will ever recommend this spot to anybody I know, nor will I...

We had dinner here recently with our daughter and 2 grandchildren. If a 4.5 rating were available, that’s what I’d give. But I don’t do ratings of 5 unless there are no problems at all. The tapas selections were all delicious and there was a great variety available. I especially liked the brussels sprouts, and the avocado stuffed with ricotta, pistachios, and cranberries. But, the skewered chicken was marred by incompletely cooked risotto (still a little crunchy in the middle). And the water glasses were really small, requiring frequent refilling. Service was friendly though a bit slow and disorganized. There are local food products available for sale in a small area as you enter and it was fun to browse through them. I am looking forward to returning here...