The Trailside — Restaurant in West Newton

Blindsided with charges and refused service for no reason.

Until last month my friends and I were regulars at this restaurant. Every summer we work in the area for 2 months. We come in Sunday nights, usually a little later - due to work hours - but always well before the kitchen closes. We are not rowdy, party of usually 6, sometimes up to 8, we all tip 20% or higher and respect that the menu changes if we come in too late.

My complaints are about 2 nights of service. The first would not have mattered much, until the 2nd incident. The first weekend of September we came in with a larger party, but had relatively good service. I ordered a steak, but asked if the usual 2 veggie sides could be switched for sweet potato fries - the menu was written in such a way that implied this change could be made with an upcharge - a typical practice. When the bill came, I was not simply charged an upcharge, but rather the full price of a side of fries. I had not received any other sides with my steak. When I asked the waitress about this, she says it was correct and the price would not be lowered - despite the wording of the menu and the fact that I had received no other sides. In short, I paid for a steak, 2 veggie sides, and fries though I received only the steak and fries. I was informed that if I tried to raise an issue with management, my waitress would get in trouble. So rather than make an issue for her, I paid and moved on.

Our last night in town, 2 weeks later, we came it with a party of 8. It was well before closing and 1/2 hour before the kitchen closes. When I asked where my party could be seated, an older woman I assume to be the manager or owner told me it was very late and that the kitchen would be closing in 15 mins. I checked my watch and said "your hours say that the kitchen closes in 30 mins." She argued back "well it's late and we've switched to the late menu." To which I replied "that's fine, we know about the late menu and are not worried about it." She continued to argue with me, asking if I'd like to see how limited the late menu was, to which I replied "We're regulars, we're here every week, we know about the late menu." She continued to be very argumentative about the lateness of the hour and seeing that we were not welcome, I let her know we'd take our party and our business elsewhere.

It was incredibly upsetting to be made to feel so unwelcome in a place we had considered such a dear part of our post-work days. It was also rather frustrating to be faced with a management/owner who would prefer to turn away a party of genial regulars than maintain the hours and services their business advertises.

I am glad that I took the opportunity to use the restroom before being turned away as my urine will be the last thing this restaurant ever...

We ride bikes on the trail a few times a year and this used to be a nice convenient place to grab a good bite halfway on our trip. Well not anymore. Never will we go there again. We decided to stop in as usual for a bite to eat while bike riding along the GAP trail. We forgot to bring masks not thinking of it because we were biking. Well as soon as we walked inside the bartender girl announced to the entire restaurant yelling across the dining area we need masks. We explained we forgot them and can just sit quickly since they're not required while sitting. Mind you an open table was literally 5 paces away so we started making our way to the table. Continuing to have the conversation for everyone in there to hear she said we sell masks here for $2. At this point we were already starting to sit. She then started telling all the employees "dont wait on that table!" Shouting over to us "no ones going to wait on you!" Within 10seconds some older guy came out with an attitude right off the start telling us we didnt walk in with a mask so we need to leave. The so called "damage" was already done. We were already at a table half seated. I told him I know we're leaving. My fiance told him they're losing our business and he said "I dont care I've lost enough already". Keep in mind everyone in the restuarant is hearing the manager and staff berate us for something we admitted to forgetting to bring. So they wanted us to pay $4 for masks we would wear for less than 5 secs to the table then take off. If they weren't so incredibly rude about the entire thing we may have considered buying the masks but I will never go there again. Not because of the mask issue but because of ignorant and rude they were with how they handled it. Disgusting display of customer service and basic...

We ordered dinner here today for the first time and it was mediocre at best. I ordered online for take out, Saturday around 4:20, arrived at 5:10 to pick up. Got an buffalo chicken dip appetizer, a bacon cheeseburger provolone cheese, mustard, pickles and lettuce, a Jimmy burger with only American cheese, 2 gyros and a sicilian pizza with 1/2 pepperoni. All burgers were to be cooked thoroughly. All meals came with fries and a pickle spear. Parking was rough. There's like maybe 7 spaces by the building? I went in to get my food and I was directed to the bar. Had to wait about 5 minutes for someone to appear. She went to collect my order and packed it while I waited. I got in the car and counted my items, everything was there. After my 35 minute drive home I was very disappointed. The gyro meals were fine, not many veggies to be found and the container of tzatziki sauce is tiny, like a couple table spoons maybe... Tiny. So they're pretty dry, but there is a good portion of meat on them. The fries were good! My son didnt like the bacon cheeseburger, he said it was too greasy. Also they put mayonnaise on it instead of mustard, he hates mayonnaise. My other son who is autistic wouldn't touch his Jimmy burger because despite me ordering it well done and plain, they put lettuce, tomato, onion and mayonnaise on it. I scraped everything off and cut it into bite size pieces for him just to see the whole burger was pink inside. And not a pickle spear to be found for anybof the meals! They put 8 mini pepperoni on half of a large pizza... like what? The buffalo chicken dip was ok but not something I would go out of my way to get. The Trail Side is too far from home for me to call and complain because I'm not taking another hour+ to get new food... Just take the loss and...