Red 36 — Restaurant in Stonington

An almost 10 year wait to visit this place and incredibly disappointed and let down. I have worked in the Hospitality and Tourism industry for 15+ years, from amusement parks, hotel management, casino and even the aquarium. Red 36 has ALWAYS been a recommendation of mine to numerous guest for YEARS. Never personally had the chance or time to go on my own. I decided to go with my family for my 6 year anniversary/WEDDING DAY and I’ve never felt more uncomfortable in any setting in my life. let’s start with the call to try and book a reservation—- the response I received was “We don’t do summer reservations” okay, completely understandable but I called over a week prior and was looking to bring up to 10 guests and it was a Tuesday. The young lady I spoke to on the phone was dismissive and I had to ask twice if she was sure they didn’t want to notate my self and 10 topper coming in on a Tuesday. I even asked how the volume was on Tuesdays I was told it was the least busiest day and “it would be fine”…. Good thing they granted the reservation cause it was SWARMING with folks. My party and I walked in and nobody said anything to us, there were 3-4 staff standing at the hostess station and only ONE turned around and say hello. Then, we were eventually seated. IN THE DEAD CENTER OF THE BUSY RESTAURANT AS A BRIDEL PARTY OF 8. The table they sat us at we could even all communicate to each other. I was in my wedding dress and I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life. Only one person said “Congratulations” and that was our waiter. (Billy) although he did his very best he was clearly stretched thin which was confusing as there was a HIGH VOLUME of staff floating around that place. Why not put 2 servers on our party ? My newlywed husband and I have over 20 years combined in Food & Beverage and we both felt like the smallest people in the room. I was not looking to be treated “Specially” but I was also not expecting to be so uncomfortable the entire time we were there after 10+ years of wanting to go there and picking RED 36 as my WEDDING DAY dinner. The restaurant is so crowed every time a patron or server walked by me I got bumped into. Being seated, we were also bumping into others at their table cause there is 0 elbow room. We spent a significant amount of money on food and desserts, I will pay credit where credit is due… the food was PHENOMENAL. The presentation was impeccable and the one thing my party and I could agree on was it was delicious. Thank goodness for that cause otherwise it would’ve been a total bust. The deserts however took longer than our food to come out and my strawberry shortcake biscuits were borderline burnt. I couldn’t understand how we were treated to mediocre when there was an ABUNDANCE of staff. Very hurt that restaurant I’ve recommended for over a decade to my Mystic clientele could make me feel so small. My Husband and I ended up walking out of the restaurant before the rest of my party. I wish I could take back what was suppose to be a lovely meal and celebration with my family. If customers are being treated like that on a Tuesday I cannot imagine how it would be...

Let's start by reviewing the space. It's really nice and pretty, right by the water, it's a big restaurant with two levels, an outside bar and lots of tables. We arrived as soon as they opened basically and the waitress was really kind. The menu is ok, they don't have anything mind-blowing that you won't find anywhere else but the options are diverse and many dishes caught my attention. I was really happy to try their caipirinha, as a Brazilian myself, I can say their drink is authentic. I ordered a ceviche (sorry, did not take a pic) and oysters, my husband ordered crab cakes. The oysters were really fresh, although I was disappointed when I noticed they had different types in a little separate menu and the waitress did not confirm with us before placing the order, so they sent a random selection. The ceviche was inedible unfortunately, I believe they left the fish in the citrus marinade for too long and it completely overcooked, it was rubbery, bitter, fishy, not good at all, and it lacked acidity, which is imperative in any ceviche. My husband told me his crab cakes were good, I did not try so I can't really review them. The tuna tartare (in the pic) was really good, the texture contrast between the fish, the seaweed salad, the wasabi caviar and the the fried tortilla worked really well, that was probably the best dish of my lunch. Now apart from the food, the reason why I'm giving the place 2 stars (if it were only for the food I'd give it 3) is because the waitress asked us to leave because they have a 2 hour limit, even though we were constantly ordering something here and there. I totally understand that there are people waiting for a table (we did not know this place was that popular) but if they have a 2-hour policy, it would be nice to know that in advance, because we thought that as a restaurant/bar by the waterfront we could enjoy a nice summer afternoon having food and drinks. It sounded like this rule doesn't really exist for all costumers or else they would have it written somewhere or at least informed us in advance. So we left and went to another restaurant in which we stayed for longer and did not have to worry about how long we were there. Unfortunately not the best experience I've had in the New London /...

Gluten-free eaters, beware.

I have Celiac Disease. I can’t have gluten, full stop. When I walked into Red 36, I saw a sign on the wall identifying not only the 9 major food allergies, but also the safe handling practices a kitchen should follow for each one. Great! This is a sign that tells people with intolerances that we will be taken care of here.

Once seated, I told the waitress about my intolerance, and she immediately brought me a gluten-free menu. Another good sign. I ordered the gluten-free tuna burger, which (according to the gluten-free menu) is supposed to omit the bun, fries, and anything else containing gluten. When my plate came out with fries, I knew something was off. I asked the waitress, and she apologized, confirmed that the fries were not gluten-free and offered to bring me a side salad instead. Separately, I started eating the tuna, but was surprised to find (buried beneath the fish and a pile of coleslaw) crispy egg noodles. I stopped eating and again asked the waitress if my order was gluten free. She returned to the kitchen and informed me that, (1) the crispy noodles were not gluten free, (2) despite having apparently put “gluten free” on my order, the whole meal was not gluten free, (3) the same thing happened at the table next to ours, despite having notified the kitchen accordingly. So, having unknowingly eaten gluten, I now have to wait out a week or more of painful symptoms of my Celiac Disease.

I expect a lot more from restaurants that purport to exercise care for people with food allergies. It’s one thing if a kitchen is not equipped to cook according to dietary restrictions—I can manage my expectations. It is quite another when a restaurant is equipped to safely serve people with intolerances, communicates this to the patrons, and then fails to do so twice in a matter of an hour. There’s a lot of trust I have to put into restaurants, and I regret doing so in this instance.

I’m beyond grateful that my intolerance doesn’t send me into anaphylaxis. I hope that, wherever the breakdown happened between ordering and serving, it gets resolved before other folks with food intolerances get sick.

TL;DR gluten free diners, proceed...