Dog Watch Mystic — Restaurant in Stonington

Like many fans of the Dogwatch Café, I was excited when I heard that they were going to open a BBQ restaurant at the old Cove Seafood location on Rt 1. As someone who got hooked on BBQ food during my many business trips to San Antonio, TX, I couldn’t wait for the Dogwatch BBQ to open. I have been there three times now. My first visit was on Tuesday, the second day they were open, my second visit was Thursday, the fourth day they were open and my third visit was about two weeks later. First the food, very disappointing. I ordered the brisket on my first visit, the St Lewis ribs on my second visit and both the brisket and ribs on my third and last visit. On both occasions the brisket was dry, not tender, little to no smoke flavor and served at room temperature. The ribs were a little less dry and a little more moist but with little to no smoke flavor and also served at room temperature. On all three visits the meat portions were small. The BBQ sauces tasted like store brand (not sure if they make their own or not). The sides were a mixed bag. The kale salad was the best of the lot, the mac n cheese was very dry and loaded with too many bread crumbs and served at room temperature, the baked beans were, well, baked beans, nothing out of the ordinary and the cole slaw was dry and, you guessed it, served at room temperature! I didn’t try the chicken or the pulled-pork so I can’t comment on them. The whole ordering experience leaves much to be desired. You must first pick out your table and then head for the ordering counter with your table number. The first time I was there, by the time it was my turn to order, someone else had sat at my table (I was by myself). My second visit went without a hitch since it was not very busy at the time. On my third visit, by the time it was my turn to order I had forgotten my table number so I just pointed to it since it was one of the tables located close to the ordering counter. The person behind the counter said she did not know the number so I said I would quickly run back to get the number. In the five seconds it took me to get the number of the table and get back to the counter, she was already taking the order of the party that was just behind me in line! I almost left right then and there! Once you place your order and pay for it by credit card, the screen where you sign your name comes up with suggested tip amounts in case you missed the huge jars on the counter labeled “TIPS.” Tips for what, taking your order, isn’t that their job?! And finally, rather than just calling out your table number, someone brings you your order (I guess that’s where they “earn” your tips). I’m sure the place will do well during the summer tourist season with the just-passing-through, one-and-done crowd. However, locals like me will not come back any time soon once they’ve...

Great staff, great food, reasonable prices. VERY PET FRIENDLY. Nice outside seating, an area for young kids to play, another area with a giant jenga set, connect four or sit by one of the fire pits to keep busy while waiting. Even have some outdoor heating if it gets a little cold. Sorry no pictures of what we ordered, left phones in the car. For appetizers we ordered fried pickles and a double BBQ sampler plate. The fried pickles were excellent and the sauce that came with them tasted homemade. The sampler plate we ordered came with 6 or 8 slices of brisket, a couple ribs and a couple chicken wings. The brisket was so tender it just fell apart in your hands and then melted in your mouth. The ribs fell off the bone and were also very tender, the chicken wings were great as well, the aujou sauce was great and the BBQ sauce tasted hime made. For dinner I ordered a pulled pork platter with coleslaw and fries plus corn bread. My wife ordered a brisket grilled cheese "dogwich" with mac & cheese. My daughter ordered a brisket platter with mac & cheese and fries plus corn bread. Now having lived down south in Tennessee for many years I got spoiled with the Southern BBQ, so believe me when I say this was the absolute best and I mean best BBQ I have had in New England. Everything was so tender and just amazing, we sampled each others plates. I would go back just for the BBQ but everything on the menu sounds great. I wish I could give more than 5 stars. So if you have never been and you are in the Mystic, CT area be sure to check them out. They also have another location in...

Very disappointed, and it's expensive for what you get. We ordered the crab cake, of which you apparently only get one along with a salad with an unpleasant dressing. We also ordered the chips and guacamole, and the guacamole was quite tasteless. Definitely needed salt, among other things. I also ordered the fried oyster Meal, which was the entire reason we tried this place. The oysters were watery tasting and had a very strange flavor that I could not place. I sent them back and got pulled pork instead, but the pulled pork was pulverized, not pulled. It looked like somebody chewed it up already. The only bread it came with was a piece of dry cornbread that was not tasty. The mashed potatoes were way too buttery, to where you could taste nothing else. They were so buttery that they were a bright yellow color. The baked beans had cinnamon apples in it, which I found very strange. My husband got the seared tuna meal and was disappointed with that as well, as it was not traditional seared tuna. It was given some kind of Asian Flair which was unexpected for this kind of restaurant. All in all, it was a very disappointing meal, and ended up costing us $75 total for two adult meals and two kids meals. This is definitely a place we will not be...