Red Heat Tavern — Restaurant in Westborough

We are huge fans of the Wilmington location of Red Heat Tavern. This location in Westborough appears to be brand new. It has a nice outside area and inside looks reminiscent of the Wilmington location. I think management here needs to inquire with the Wilmington management for advice. Now for my experience:

We arrived and stood at the Hostess counter for more than 5 minutes with no greeting or letting us know they will be with us shortly or anything, though there were several waiters inside the restaurant who saw us. It wasn't until 5:31pm an employee walked through the door, who was either on break or just checking in. She had some belongings she needed to put down, regardless, she respectfully and politely walked us right in and seated us outside. We then sat outside for a long time without waitstaff coming to take our order or anything at all. Then a table got seated next to us and a waitress immediately went over to them to ask them if they wanted anything. They responded "We just sat down, we haven't had a chance to look at anything" So then I said that we had been waiting a while and the waitress apologetically came over and too our order. We had been there long enough that we ordered drinks and food at the same time. She did bring our drinks in a timely manner. But we were waiting so long for our food, that I finished my water and she offered to bring me more, but didn't bring more until well after our food had come and I was almost done eating. Thankfully my dinner partner had a water they weren't drinking and had shared theirs with me. AGAIN the table next to us got their food before we got ours. They were halfway finished eating when our food finally came and they only knew which table to bring it to bc we had both ordered our meals at the other Red Heat Tavern so we knw what they looked like and waved the woman over. She then said something about the table not being numbered and we heard her go over to someone and say that when slips aren't numbered meals don't get cooked (hence the long wait for our food). Everyone was polite but even the food wasn't made as well as it is at the Wilmington Location. Too many tortillas on the Southwest avocado bowl, and I couldn't even taste the dressing. The Farmhouse burger was supposed to be cooked medium but came out medium-well, closer to well. The other location is our "Go to" restaurant and we went here for a "safe bet" when we were eating out of our usual dining area. I think its obvious, this was not a safe bet. It was terribly disappointing and if it were the first time I ate at a Red Heat Tavern I would not return. The service was terrible and the food was mediocre. It's the same menu but not executed at well. Hopefully they will work some kinks out and bring this gem of a franchise restaurant location up to par with where it has the potential to be. We have always been impressed with how fast our food comes no matter how busy the Wilmington location is. They are a well...

I'd like to give this place 3 1/2 stars, mostly for a bunch of little things that add up.

I went there at about 4pm on a Sunday, hoping to catch my teams game on one of the advertised TV's. Sadly, when I asked if one of the TV's could be switched to my game, as that the place was far from full. The bartender explained that there was some problem with the cable from some storm that happened over a month prior. Kind of hard to advertise as a sports bar and not have multiple games on. Maybe, that's why the place was almost empty.

I had ordered simple bar food, just before asking about the game and TV, so I decided to roll with it versus going to someplace that functional TV and more than one game on.

The Jimbo tater tots were basically mashed potatoes surrounding cheese and the tiniest piece of bacon. They were alright, and probably the kind of thing that's amazing, if you were plastered. The Nachos I got was definitely worth it. These would almost make a meal for two people. Also, I'm so impressed with places that still use real cheese and not cheese sauce.

Based on where I was sitting, it was easy to see where the wait staff was at most of the time, in back chatting it up. The bartender was just attentive enough to be reasonable, but honestly thought he was just right, given the lack of people.

The lack of a solid crowd on game day makes me me ask, why? If some reviews are to be believed, the staff is not prompt. I didn't see this, there wasn't enough people there to make that likely to happen. If anything, it was overstaffed. This place has a lot of potential but it's not being...

This place was amazing! The service is quickly and they are very friendly. Despite it being fairly busy when we went (dinner time) our server took the time to help us pick our food. Walked us through her favorite items and let us know what was popular!

The food was perfect! My sandwich was great, juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. It was also pretty spicy, tasted like a buffalo or hot sauce on the outside of the chicken. The server also was happy to switch out the blue cheese dressing for ranch dressing for me. The Southern Fried Chicken was also great and much better than my expectations! It had a crispy skin and very juicy meat, the sauce was so flavorful! I thought it tasted similar to a thanksgiving meal. The gravy was thick without being clumpy and had a great flavor. The mashed potatoes were thick and creamy and had no chunks or skin in it!

The jumbo tater tots were very good! SO CRISPY!! I loved the inside it was very creamy and tasted great with ranch as a dipping sauce, though it comes with ketchup and that also pairs well. We also got the fry rub wings (75¢ per wing!) and they were so good. Don't judge by the picture they were so juicy inside! I was worried when they arrived because the outside looked so crispy and dark but it was just due to the spices on the skin. The meat tasted great and was moist while the skin was crispy and very tasty. I highly recommend going when they have the 75¢ wing deal!

Overall we loved the food and the service. I would...