The Paddock on Market — Restaurant in Springettsbury Township

This was the most underwhelming dinner I can remember in years. If you read the reviews you would think this place served delicious food and had great service. That is simply not the case.

I had a dirty martini and she had two lemon drop martinis. $14 each, the standardized price for a mixed drink at a nice restaurant nowadays. I also had a Coors Light which was on the warm side; I guess they poured it into a hot glass? I tried to get a Stella however they didn't have that. Then I asked for a Pilsner Urquell and they didn't have that either...warm Coors Light it is for $6.

We ordered Oysters Rockefeller and that was when I knew this meal would be trash. After the oyster is opened, the sous chef should cut the abductor muscle from the shell so you can easily scoop out the oyster to eat it. This...didn't...happen...on all 5 oysters. To make this dish even worse, it was bland on all fronts. 3/5 stars on flavor, 2/5 because you didn't cut the abductor from the shell and forced the customer to do it. It is utterly amazing that this is normal for the prices at this place.

She ordered the Marco Island Salmon. It was in a dill cream sauce that was rich and flavorful. I had a bite and that was the only aspect of this meal that rose above mediocrity. 5/5 stars on the salmon.

I ordered the warm Lobster Roll with fries. This was horrible. The lobster had absolutely no flavor, almost as if it was frozen, thawed, then boiled to remove any flavor that resembled a lobster, and quickly placed under a heat lamp. It was hands down the worst lobster I have had that I can remember. The fries were hard and nasty, reinforcing my theory that this was placed under a heat lamp until the salmon above was finished. 1/5

At this point we would agree that this was a 3 out of 5 star meal so far. However, our waitress didn't check on us even one time while we were eating. We both made note of it because she was bouncing around other tables. Don't get me wrong, she was busy, but come on....take our order then pop in and ask if we want dessert? Right after the vapid Oysters Rockefailure, I finished my martini, a server removed it, and simply walked off. I waited 14 minutes before a completely different server asked if I would like another drink. At this point, her glass was also empty for a few minutes but after taking my order, they just walked off again. When a completely different third person came to the table, she finally could order another drink.

$144 total for undistinguished, dreary food and wholly negligent service. This is our first and last time going here. If you are thinking about this restaurant because you heard good things from people, look elsewhere. In any other location this place would go out of business...but in South Central PA where ignorance is bliss, they somehow are not shuttered yet. 2 out of 5 stars and nowhere near worth the prices they charge.

Thanks for your retort! Did you figure out who sent out Oysters Rockefeller without cutting the abductor for your guests? Is that a new addition in your 77th year, dropping the ball on a pathetically easy appetizer? I am also still curious about the three staff that waited on our every whim...did you ask them why they remove glasses without asking if you want a refill? Nah, too much trouble I guess, it's easier to be defensive and make it sound like THREE PEOPLE TENDED TO US when all they did was remove things from the table then disappear. Great service!!! Also, do you use fresh lobster for that $32 lobster roll or was I spot-on when I said it tasted like it was thawed then boiled (microwaved?) then placed under a heat lamp?

I also heard that you had a corpse upstairs and their bodily fluids were dripping onto the griddle. This was told to us AFTER we ate at your diner that sells overpriced and flavorless food. Nobody could figure out what that fluid was that was dripping on the food prep area was for days or weeks. Is that...

Five stars all around. I came with a Christmas group and we were all delighted with the best-quality food, never-annoying yet superbly helpful servers and genuinely warm, welcoming atmosphere! Menu items run from about $13 to $45. The higher-priced seafood choices are memorably extravagant enough to wow someone you love or seal a business deal and lower-end entrees are prepared with the same care and attention to quality. Portions are quite generous; they'll offer two different sizes of plastic containers for you to enjoy the remainder at home.

The Paddock specializes in super fresh, varied forms of shellfish -- particularly crab, and their crab cakes and cream of crab soup deserve a five-star rating of their own! 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀

Beef is well represented here as well. Prime rib, steak and many types of burgers live up to the Angus name. Juicy, perfectly-prepared chicken breasts made a dedicated leg-meat lover very happy indeed. Entreés come with two sides; our party enjoyed matchstick sweet-potato fries, perfectly-baked and smashed potatoes, cole slaw, apple sauce, a fluffy, generous portion of rice pilaf and sauteéd Baby Bella mushrooms as only some of what we could have selected.

Diners with food worries can easily find lovely things to eat. The crab cakes, which regularly win "Best Of" designations for good reason, were pointed out to be gluten free and the rich beef-stock onion soup can be ordered without croutons. The melted provolone fighting for real estate with a most generous portion of finely-diced onion is so thick that even breadless, this smallish but deep bowl could suffice as a meal in itself for a small appetite. Dairy-free diners are in luck as well, most of the selections have none and cheese can easily be left out of soup or salads.

This charmer of a dinner spot falls in two areas, though. Vegans will have almost nothing from which to select save salad or baked potato; most of the side dishes have a dairy component. Dessert lovers who don't want Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, chocolate cake or an extremely sweet Key Lime pie will have little here and the gluten or dairy avoiders will likely find nothing at all.

There is a long, very steep and winding wooden deck ramp for non-stairclimbers (be extremely wary of ice in winter); the short staircase to the front door has bannisters. I didn't check the bathroom for accessibility. There is a goodsized free parking area in back.

Despite the price range, you get real value for money here and the pleasant feeling that everyone seems happy to have you as an honored guest and not merely a source of tips in their workplace. Thank...

Went in with sisters for lunch. Only 2 other tables were full. Waitress for some reason had a terrible attitude. We ask if we could substitute french fries for something else, we were informed that is all she had and we can pay for another side if we wanted. Served onion rings without enough plates, no spoon or way to get sauce out of dish. Entree was served, 3 crab cakes. I would rate them a 5, they were runny inside and served on a bun that was nearly 2 times the size of the crab cake. We had to ask for ketchup, mustard & spoons. Then my sister discovers a hair in her crab cake. Gross! Called the waitress wanted to know if we wanted another crab cake. No thanks. They took the hairy crab cake off the bill. I sent a message to the owner. Did not request anything just wanted to informed him they have a problem. Response was, they will try harder next time. Reading through the complaints I can see whey they have a standard response to complaining customers. Never again.

Your response is completely off base. When your waitress picked up the crab cake she looked at it and we said the hair was removed and it was on the floor. It was black and it was curly. The first time I reached out to you was through a private message. I did not ask you for anything. Being a business owner I felt you would want to know what was going on in your establishment. There was only one visitor to our table and that was the miserable waitress. We never spoke to anyone else. A reply of "we will try harder" is hardly the correct response to a unhappy customer. Judging from your current reviews I can see that you just do not get it. We have the salmonella complaint, the hair in the french fries, the temperature within the restaurant that made it impossible to eat comfortably, smell of marijuana and generally a dirty restaurant, shows me you are not learning from your mistakes and are not making any effort to correct them. Professional and understanding was never a part of your reply. I want nothing from you. An apology would have solved this in the very beginning. Instead you accuse me of lying and trying to get "something from you". When dozens of customers have various complaints about your restaurant and you continue to blame the customer, you are in the wrong business. I will continue to complain two times, three times, whatever it takes, that is my right and I have many witnesses to your behavior. I can see there is nothing I can say that will make you see your error, but in all likely hood you will not be open a year from now and that will end the problem. Have a blessed day. (that is sarcasm...