Orleans Restaurant — Restaurant in Somerville

I came to Orleans for the first time tonight and had a decidedly unpleasant experience. My friends and I got two seats at the bar at 7pm. It was trivia night so the place filled up shortly after we arrived. We ordered two sodas and nachos. The food the prompt, generously portioned, and tasty. We finished our drinks by 7:20 and waited 40 minutes until the bartender asked to get us another round. I asked for a beer and a soda. She IDed me, which I only note because I noticed she did failed to do so to any other patron. I had forgotten my ID so I asked for just the soda. It never came. We sat with empty cups in front of us for a full hour after that before we got her attention again at 9pm. At that point we were able to order more food and get the drinks we had ordered an hour before. The buffalo chicken mac n cheese we ordered was prompt and tasty, too. When refilling the sodas, however, the bartender reused our dirty cups. This could have been okay had she not grabbed the glasses by the rim (a huge sanitary/ service industry no no) and also switched our cups. We let it go because we were just grateful to have a beverage for the first time in 90 minutes. We sat at the bar for another hour after that playing trivia. During that time, I watched the bartender hit her vape directly in front of us. Wild to witness, given that it's prohibited in MA to vape inside restaurants/bars. When we were ready to leave at 10pm, both thoroughly annoyed at this point, we were once again unable to get the bartenders attention and opted to ask a server to print out our check (thanks queen). Paid cash just so we could get out of there quickly. This place has the potential to be quite enjoyable had the service not been exceptionally bad. I can understand a bartender being busy with a full bar and making drinks for service, it's hard work for sure. But this was next level incompetence. The management staff could have assisted her more but instead they mostly just watched while she drowned in drink tickets. With help, the bartender may have been able to provide better service to patrons seated at the bar. We were not the only guests who were neglected during the 3 hours we spent there. I hope this was just an off night for Orleans because they have the potential to be a really fun spot in Somerville. It might be time though to give the bar staff a refresher course on basic service industry standards and health codes. Loved the trivia guy and the music he played. Would come back for him,...

Worst Restaurant Experience of My Life!

I have been a weekly customer of Orleans for the past 8 years. On the evening of May 14th, 2024 all that changed. A misunderstanding regarding a food order led to an interaction with the manager of the restaurant during which he displayed incredibly unprofessional behavior. He raised his voice and swore at me, physically touched me while arguing with me, and was extremely condescending towards me.

I contacted the ownership group of the restaurant to submit a formal complaint about the behavior of their restaurant manager. In this formal complaint I provided details of the interaction and I offered the contact info of the people who witnessed this interaction. The ownership group got back to me and told that they talked to their manager and that they are confident that the manager’s behavior won’t happen again in the future. The ownership group also said that they had never received this type of complaint about their manager in the past.

Due to the severity of the display of unprofessional behavior of their manager, I feel obligated to share this review with the patrons of Orleans restaurant. I want to leave a public record about the awful behavior of their manager towards me so that if anyone experiences the same treatment in the future, you can see this review and know that this is not the first time that the manager displays unprofessional/awful behavior towards a customer.

I would like to advise you to be aware that if the manager is having a bad day, you could experience an interaction similar to mine. If you want to avoid this possibility, please go somewhere else. You will save yourself from an awful dinning experience, probably the worst in your life, like the one I have...

Food: hit or miss Drinks: strong Service: 1/5 Atmosphere: 3.5/5

If you have to travel far to get here, don’t. Unless you are coming for the $1 oysters.

Food Depends on what you get. I didn’t like the tacos. From what I’ve tried, I recommend wings, smash burger, or fish and chips. They are ok. I heard the brussel sprouts are good but I haven’t tried so can’t confirm.

However, what I want everyone to try is the apple pudding cake. That one is crave worthy

Service Not good. If you are at the tables, I think its a staffing issue that you won’t see your server again for a very long time. If you are at the bar, bartender does ignore you, disappear to the backroom for a long while, comes back with his back turned and disappear again.

I prefer getting pick up orders for...