Onset Beach Patio & Grille — Restaurant in Wareham

Summary: One of the worst experiences.

The Facts: My wife and I went here for the first time today. She ordered a veggie pizza. I ordered clam strips. We were told the pizza would be 30 minutes, which we appreciated. If something is going to take longer, it's good to set that expectation. We were in no rush and she wanted the pizza, so we said "no problem."

At about the 30-minute mark her pizza was brought to our table. The server asked if there was anything else she could bring us. I mentioned the clam strips I had ordered. She told us they'd be "right out."

Ten minutes later I flagged her down - "I'm still waiting on my meal" - her response "yup, I got you."'

Five minutes later she came over and said "we lost your receipt. What was it you ordered?"

At that point - my wife had been slowly picking at her pizza - we were told it would be 7-8 minutes for them to make my meal. This was 45 minutes after we had originally ordered with another 7-8 minutes still to go. So, I asked the server to cancel the order. No issue.

10 minutes later my clam strips arrived, brought by the owner. I told him I had already cancelled the order with the server. His response was "you paid for it. We don't allow cancellations. Here it is."

Note: In this restaurant, you order, tip and pay prior to any service. So I had, in fact, already purchased the meal ... and tipped for service we obviously never received.

I checked after the exchange with the owner happened - it took them 56 minutes to bring my meal. Said another way, 26 (ish) minutes after my wife's food was served, I received mine. When I pointed this out, I was told by the owner, "we bring the food when it's done, it's a beach bar." I replied, "you told us 30 minutes to make her pizza, it would have been good to tell us the food comes out when it's done - or 'it'll be 55 minutes for the clam strips."

At this point he told me in the five years he's owned the restaurant no one had ever complained about the service or the timing of the food, which is, to any reasonable person, preposterous and disingenuous. It devolved from there. He was insulting to me. I was to him. I'll never go back to this place.

Those are the facts.

Here's my take: I was lied to at least twice by the server and then clearly to by the owner several times, given the things he was saying to me. No one with any experience in the restaurant industry like I do - or heck, any person who has been out to eat more than a few times - would ever believe service issues don't happen. They happen every day. Just apparently not here.

Don't insult common sense. They lost our order ticket. The server eventually said so. Just own that and own it messed up the timing. It's as simple as that. Take my meal off the bill like I asked for. I didn't want it at that point. My meal was so late, my wife was finished. We'd have left happy if they had done that. Instead I was fed a bunch of bull and asked to eat it. These people lie to their customers and then treat them with disdain when they're called on it. Lousy experience. Ruined...

I’m writing this because I believe women deserve to feel safe when they go out and others deserve to be informed. Recently, a video of me dancing at this establishment was posted publicly on their social media without my knowledge or consent. I had been enjoying a night out with a friend, completely unaware I was being filmed by the owner himself.

I reached out privately and politely twice through Facebook. The owner responded and lead me to believe he would take the video down, and then… didn’t. I followed up again because it was still up, and I was ignored.

When I finally went in to speak to him face-to-face, I was met with condescension and a shocking lack of accountability. His response was essentially: “You were on private property. I can film whatever I want.” (GROSS.)

Let me be clear: This wasn’t security footage or a casual crowd shot. It was a focused video of two women dancing, used to generate social media engagement without their consent. That’s not harmless. That’s not professional. It speaks volumes about how women are treated in this space. This was footage taken by the man who owns the restaurant and encourages people to come out and dance there. To top it off, the caption on the post implied I should be embarrassed. Rude, considering my dance moves are amazing. I understand that we live in a world where phones are constantly out and people feel the need to film everything, but this wasn’t that. It felt invasive and deeply inappropriate.

The video only came down after I walked in and confronted him directly, in front of his staff and customers, at which point I called him exactly what he is: a giant creep.

If you’re a woman, especially a younger woman, just be aware: this kind of behavior is normalized here. And if you speak up, don’t expect basic decency or an apology. This man seems to believe he can do whatever he wants. But the power he thinks he holds? It's as weak and performative as his idea on how to run...

I wanted to enjoy this place bc I thought it was an owner getting a bad rap. We ordered 3 food items, each one didnt come out at same time. The grilled cheese barely looked held together, the cheeseburger is on an English muffin so my child didn't eat it. We got a quesadilla, when it arrived it was made with mozzarella cheese or American, on a spinach roll. We were just going to not eat it and say nothing, we had already paid and didnt want to cause issues. The waitress asks us about it and we just said we didnt like it and weren't going to eat it, no need to get the owner. ....then gets the owner. He proceeds to lean in and came over confrontational, as a woman it made me feel uncomfortable. I explained it was not at all like authentic Mexican food, I thought it would be prepared in the style of the culture it originates from. He told me I was racist and he doesn't tolerate that and " thats how we make it". If anything its lazy and cultural appropriation to butcher a simple easy thing to make, and maybe it should say made American style or be removed from menu. Friendlys has more flavor than what we were served in their quesadillas. I wasn't asking for money back and the altercation could've been avoided, I didnt ask want or need for him to approach us. I was not expecting the entire confrontation, it sent me into fight or flight.. I am not proud of the word I called him in front of kids ( although accurate) and others, and how I responded. I wish we just went to Marc Anthony's or any other place. I'd suggest you do the same. Looking at the reviews, it appears he has a history himself of discrimination and overcharging, and will argue if anyone wants their money back,one story where the customers were in the right and the police still had to ask them to leave. Another a customer assaulted, no wonder I felt unsafe. Sheisty business. I should have remembered what Gordon Ramsey said.. the bigger the menu the less quality, this fits...