The Steakhouse — Restaurant in Wells

Welcome to The Steakhouse, the one place in Maine that is NOT the way life should be.

We usually look forward to our family dinner here while vacationing, but we will not be back after our horrible experience tonight. We had a large group and were all in the building when the head of our party checked in with the hostess. Some of the party was still making their way up the stairs (we had 19 people including two great grandmothers and 8 kids under 8 in our party so moving as one "cohesive unit" up the stairs in a mobbed restaurant isn't really possible). The hostess said she'd get tables pushed together for us (we also offered to be split up if it was easier) and they'd let us know our table was ready. We moved to the side waiting area, grabbed some bar drinks and waited for the tables to be ready. After seeing so many parties that arrived after us, including other large parties, get seated, we checked in with the hostess who seemingly forgot we existed and told us it would be 70 minutes for our table. Not 70 minutes from the time we originally checked in (30 minutes prior), but 70 minutes from the time we went up to see how much longer it would be to be seated (because how long does it really take to push some tables together like we were originally told? The answer is a long time when you forget about our party and seat a bunch of other parties at those tables instead.) We asked why it went from "we will get your tables set up" to an additional 70 minute on top of the 30 minutes we waited (1hr 40 mins total wait time), we were rudely told it was because we were a large party. If they didn't have room, they should have told us that initially instead if saying they'd get tables together for us. When we said we told them we originally offered to and still would be willing to be split up at different tables, the hostess said "but that would take up all the open tables". The logic here is lacking- if we had checked in as three parties of 5 and one party of 4 we could have been sat, but seating a party of 19 at 4 different tables is a no because it would take all the tables. When we asked to speak to a manager, he was rude and told us we didn't get a table because we weren't at the host stand as a "cohesive unit" when we initially checked in. If that was the issue (we were all making our way up the stairs) why would the hostess tell us they'd start to get tables pushed together for us? Wouldn't they say they couldn't seat us until all 19 of us were standing in the 4 square foot area in front of the host stand? They forgot about us and then instead of trying to make things right, the manager thought he'd try to blame us instead. We left and will never return. Maybe they should start working as a "cohesive unit" and not forgetting about parties instead of trying to place the blame on paying guests. Times are tough, people make mistakes and we are usually very understanding of most circumstances. Being rude is not a mistake and trying to blame customers instead is not a good look. I'm sure they don't care about this 1 star review because they didn't care about us while we were there, but this was just too awful of an experience...

I will start off by saying we have dined here countless times over the years and have never been disappointed with our food or service. This past Friday evening was another story. Our server was busy, yet friendly, although we were never offered a refill on our drinks in two hours. The wait for apps, then salads, then our entree's was exceptionally long. I understand to a degree, it's summer, it's busy. However, while you're sitting, waiting, and watching the 4 other parties surrounding you with the same displeasure on their faces, that says something. Not one party sitting in our vicinity appeared to be enjoying themselves. Everyone sitting in silence, looking all around....waiting. My husband had the ribeye special which was cooked perfectly and he enjoyed. The crab cakes were dry, flavorless, with a heavily mayonnaise based "aioli". We ate one of the two, that was enough. I ordered the seafood casserole, something I have ordered many times in the past. The casserole was nothing more than a creamy soup loaded with the tiniest shrimp I have ever seen, a couple of "flakes", not pieces of haddock, no scallops, no lobster, topped with some breadcrumbs. I literally ate two bites and was done with that, in fact I would have needed to find a server to ask for a spoon to eat the casserole soup with. The loaded baked potato I received with my soup had giant black and burnt cubes....yes burnt cubes of bacon on it. I had to look twice when it was placed in from of me because I didn't know what could possibly be black on a baked potato. Absolutely atrocious for $30!!! We spent $120 on dinner for two and added a $30 gratuity. That's $150 for a diet coke, an iced tea, two side salads and a ribeye! The server did ask "what's the matter? You don't like it?" At that point, I couldn't even say anything, I just told her that I was full from my salad. Also, why complain to her when she's clearly extremely busy and it's not her fault that my meal was inedible? I have never in my life written a review for a restaurant, good or bad. I felt this time was different as we know how great the food and service has been in the past. We live locally and certainly won't be back at least for the rest of this season. Sorry Steakhouse, a complete...

We were looking forward to a delicious steak dinner. The wife's tenderloin with stuffed lobster tail was cooked as ordered, and she enjoyed her meal. Unfortunately, my dinner was very disappointing. I started with a cup of beef barley soup, and it was delicious. It was the best beef barley soup I have ever eaten! I then ordered a 14 oz ribeye steak (MEDIUM) with broiled scallops, beans, and house potato. When our server put my plate in front of me, my wife and I both looked at each other and said how thin the ribeye was, and we both said I bet it is well done. We were right. The ribeye was well done, as you can see into the picture. I ordered it medium. When our server, who was excellent, I showed her my well-done ribeye. She transferred the ribeye to another plate to take to the kitchen and have a new one cooked. While waiting for the new steak, I ate my beans, which were excellent! My broiled scallops were overdone and a bit chewy. My new ribeye arrived, and it was much thicker than the previous one and was a good-looking cut. Unfortunately, it was cooked rare. I ordered my ribeye medium. Our server came back and said she would have them cook it some more. At this point, I said to the server that I did not want it cooked more. I said they had 2 opportunities to get it right, and I did not want to continue to wait, and my wife had finished eating her meal for quite some time now. Our server said she would have the ribeye removed from our bill. We decided to try the blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. It was not very good and I would not recommend it. In closing, our server Tristan was excellent, my wife's meal was excellent, the beef barley soup and baked beans also excellent. Unfortunately, with 2 opportunities, my ribeye was not cooked to the right temp either time. Ordered medium, first try was well done, second try was rare. I expected better temping from a Steakhouse. Even though my ribeye was taken off the bill after trying to get it cooked medium twice and not cooked to right temp twice, I left only eating my side dishes. Very...