Ritcey East — Restaurant in Watertown

The food was good, my salad was especially fresh and tasty and my burger was ok. Why was it only ok? Partly because it was difficult to order due to the absolutely terrible acoustics in the restaurant. I could barely hear the person I was sitting across from and we were leaning towards each other over the table, so maybe less than a foot and a half apart. The restaurant had maybe 4 dining parties at that time, at least three quarters of the tables were empty. It was hard for us to enjoy our food because the sound was so terrible - as in painfully loud. The music was playing too loud, and bouncing off all the hard, non sound-absorbing surfaces and creating a cacophony that people had to shout over to speak to the person next to them. All of this combined to create a terrible atmosphere. We couldn't hear our waitress, she couldn't hear us, we couldn't understand or recognize the songs blaring over the speakers, and we couldn't understand what the people on the other side of the restaurant were saying, but somehow their voices bounced off the walls over to us. I would never take anyone who suffers from hearing loss, or anyone who wears hearing aids, to this restaurant. I don't think I would ever take anyone I actually want to have a conversation with to this restaurant, because it's impossible. They need to get curtains, carpeting and sound dampening panels on the walls, and lower the volume of the music or everyone who works there will suffer from permanent hearing loss in less than 6 months. The noise level was easily above 100 decibels at its quietest, and sitting there was actually painful, which means the noise level was probably over 125 decibels. For reference, anything above 90 decibels causes permanent hearing loss. Normal conversation is around 60 decibels. When we arrived, it wasn't so bad, there was just another party of diners or drinkers at the bar, but when more people arrived, someone turned the music up irresponsibly high, perhaps to disguise the sounds of other patrons speaking and the bad acoustics. It only made the whole problem worse. My mother wears hearing aids, so I could never take her here because she would be unable to hear anything. Hearing aids do not amplify anything above 90 decibels, because that is unsafe. Imagine trying to go to dinner and being completely unable to follow the conversation or carry on one with the people around you - it's incredibly isolating and depressing. That's atmosphere of this restaurant. I also would not take small children or babies here, because the sound levels could permanently damage their hearing. This is all truly unfortunate because the food was pretty good, but I don't think I could ever go back to...

We love Ritcey East! We stopped over in late January of 2018 and it instantly felt like a second home to us. My fiancé used to go to the Ritcey in Waltham in high school and was super excited that RE is run and owner by their daughter - who used to serve him and his high school girlfriend they went! (In fact we’re bringing her with us for her birthday THIS January!)

They’re fabulous about my allergies and his strict keto diet. His endless glass of Diet Coke is almost magically refilled whenever we’re there. There is a constant selection of interesting beers, ciders, and cocktails that I absolutely enjoy! We can’t eat everything on the menu, but everything we have had or had altered, has been amazing! And many friends we have taken have tried other yummy things, and everyone has enjoyed it.

Ritcey East has become our welcome meal for guests coming to visit - friends with chronic IBD, family, and my fancy food critic friend have all loved the impressive collection of options on the curated menu and the interesting specials. We’ve also started giving their gift cards for weddings and birthdays to locals.

The owners are both wonderful and welcoming, we love the staff - the hosts, servers, and bartenders are all friendly, welcoming, and accommodating. We even have a favorite table! Sometimes we just drop by on game night for a snack, a drink, a round of connect four.

We’re super fans - owning t shirts, attending all the pop ups and parties we can! As an ex-beverage business owner, I am thrilled to support a lovely couple of women running a restaurant and creating a wonderful environment we feel at home in, and is our go to whenever we don’t...

We’ve been going to Ritcey East since they opened in 2017. This review is a longtime coming.

The cocktails and craft beers are what got us in the door. The burgers (Return of the Mac) and wings (wife loves the fish tacos) are our tried and true favs.

What truly sets them apart from other restaurants is the staff, caring, friendly, hospitable and real.

2020 has been a trying year for most. Ritcey really stepped up their game with the challenges facing the restaurant industry, they were agile and adapted - Michaela (Chelsea rocks too) and her staff created a cozy vibrant outdoor dining area. They launched some Fun/tasty partnerships with other local shops (s’more cheesecake and yum bunnies at Halloween), they expanded the menu with delectable pop-ups including Fried Chicken, Vegan, Cinco De Mayo and many more.

Did I mention they give back and support their local community too? Fundraisers for the Boston Food Bank, Canned food drives for local food pantries and supporting LGBTQ youth.

When you’re looking for a delicious adult beverage or want to satisfy your hunger with a fun twist on American Cuisine - Ritcey East is the place if you’re just...