Stir Martini Bar & Kitchen — Restaurant in Westford

We decided to try Stir out for a date night after seeing it mentioned in social media and driving past it many times. We made an 8:15 reservation and checked in right on time. The staff informed us that they were just waiting for someone to finish and then they'd seat us. No problem. The waiting area was occupied, so we took a seat in the enclave between the doors. Several parties left and they came out to get a group that was there before us after about 15 minutes. Their party wasn't all there yet, but no big deal. After 30 minutes at 8:45 we'd seen many people leave and another party walk straight in to be seated, so we went back inside and informed them we had an 8:15 reservation and had been waiting for 30 minutes. They asked for our name again and scrolled through their iPad for about a minute looking for something before escorting us to our table. We got a cursory "sorry about that" from the person at the desk as we were departing for our table and that was that, I guess.

We were seated and our server greeted us within a few minutes and took drink orders. We didn't see him again until we got our drinks at 9:05, when we were more than ready to place our entire appetizer and dinner order, because we were starving by that time, which was 50 minutes after our reservation. The apps came in 10 minutes, so that was great. The chips were unsalted, but the wontons were nicely seasoned. The crab dip was tasty, but the spinach artichoke and street corn dips were mostly tasteless and unseasoned. The fried Brussels sprouts weren't bad, but they were extremely sweet and over seasoned, literally dripping in balsamic vinegar.

We got our main dishes at 9:40 and they were fine. The pork shank was well-seasoned, but the tomato sauce had absolutely no place among the sweet pears and overdone gnocchi. The short rib ravioli was also fine, with a Thanksgiving-style gravy. The meat was very red, which is concerning, but the flavor was OK.

We only ended up getting 1 drink each. The bourbon berry smash was fine overall, but they used really cheap/harsh whiskey and it was very obvious. There was also a raspberry in it with a big black spot on one side - no idea what that was. I drank it anyway, but refrained from eating the raspberry. The spicy gherkin tasted like straight pickle juice. There was dill pickle on the spear, not the promised gherkin. The drink wasn't spicy, but there was a pepperoncini on the spear, so I guess that's the spice. I helped drink this one, but we could still only get about 1/3 of the way through it.

This place doesn't allow kids under 12, which I don't have a huge issue with. Even so, I don't think I've ever eaten dinner in a more unpleasant environment. The people at the tables next to use were literally screaming the entire night and slamming back against the booth, which physically moved it every time. I don't place the noise blame entirely on the people next to us, though. Stir makes 0 effort at noise abatement and it was very clear immediately upon walking into the building. The group next to us were also apparently friends with the staff and chef, as he came out to talk to them. The staff could do way more to manage noise and the behavior of their customers. To summarize: this restaurant doesn't allow children, but I guarantee my children would be more well-behaved than the adults there tonight.

For a restaurant that charges you $25pp if you don't show with just a 15-minute grace period, I was pretty unhappy that they made us wait for 30 minutes when we had a reservation with zero communication. I can't be sure, but I'm pretty sure they just forgot about us. Most places would have comp'd our drinks or offered a free app or something, but we barely got an apology, much less anything more.

Other than the strange 20-minute absence at the beginning, our server did a decent job, but failed to acknowledge the awful pickle juice martini that was clearly still mostly full at the end of the night. Overall, this was a pretty disappointing and miserable visit to a place I was hoping could be a...

I had been waiting all week to try this place, we finally went last night and it did not disappoint!!

NAME OF RESTAURANT: Stir Martini Bar & Kitchen

TYPE OF CUISINE: Martinis, libations, fine dining with lots of classic dishes that have a next level fusion vibe. They have everything from Salads, sandwiches, flatbreads, and pasta to wonderful entrees and Steak on a Stone, which you can't find everywhere, that's for sure!

LOCATION: 2 Powers Rd, Westford, MA. Super easy to find, right on the corner of a Rt 110 and Powers Rd and is well lit so you can see it.

HOURS: Currently Mon thru Sat 4-11pm

PARKING: The parking lot is a bit small, but we had no trouble finding a spot right across the street in a larger parking area. Very short walk.

WAIT TIME: The owner let us know that they are working on the online "waitlist" and hope to have it up and running so folks can add their names to the list before coming in, but for now, you are added when you arrive. We arrived at 730pm on a Friday night and were greeted by one of the owners who let us know it would be about 15 to 20 minutes- we were seated within that time frame, and the owner updated us that we would be next just before we were seated.

The tables and bar were full, and there was a nice area behind the bar stools with some other stools near the wall where you can order a drink and wait to be called. Although the place was hoppin, there was room to move around and I did not feel overwhelmed surrounded by people while we waited. We went outside for a bit to wait and the owner checked in with us out there- she was very nice.

AMBIANCE: The outside has a house feel with a nice lit up walkway and porch to the front door. Inside is small, but they make this space work so well! Like I said, I never felt it was too crowded to move around. There is small area of seating to the right when you walk in, the bar is to the left with the rest of the seating in that area. It is a darker vibe with pops of color in the wall art and lighting over the bar and most tables. I am finding as I get older, sometimes harder to read menus in that lighting, but we made it work just fine LOL. The tables are simply dressed with linen napkins, silverware, appetizer plate and a small candle.

WAITSTAFF: We had Jocelyn and she was an absolute pleasure! We got to chat with her about some of the dishes and she was very knowledgeable about the menu. The owners were very active in helping out their staff and bringing out items when needed, great teamwork vibe going!

PRICING: Prices have changed so much since Covid, but I would put this pretty on trend with other specialty places in the area. One martini, two beers, an appetizer, and 2 entrees (one being steak on a stone) came to about $127 and definitely worth it!

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: We had such a great night! My martini was on point- Raspberry Basil Lemon Drop! The beer selection is smaller, but they have some great choices! The "pan seared pork dumpling" appetizer... SO GOOD- the filling was fresh and the sauce was absolutely awesome! I have a lot of experience with dumplings and this may be my favorite sauce!!

The "short rib ravioli" was delicious! The sauce, the cheese- all so fresh and smelled wonderful! The raviolis are pretty big and can be cut into 2 and 3 pieces, so a pretty good portion size. There was nothing left on the plate and every inch of sauce had been scooped up with each bite!

The "steak on a stone" was NOTHING SHORT OF AMAZING!! I have been looking for a place that does this and was so excited to see it on the menu! It is served with a red wine demi-glaze sauce, smashed potatoes, and asparagus. You get a very generous portion of petit filet with garlic butter to cook it in on the stone they bring you. This filet melted in my mouth! The seasoning on the potatoes and asparagus was also absolutely delicious and the demi-glaze sauce also helped elevate this dish to next level goodness! I took some home and it was just as good as leftovers!

This new little place has big things happening and definitely recommend...

We took our friend out for her 21st birthday last night. To start… our server was fine but one of our friends didn’t like her meal. She ended up telling our server and the server took care of it and offered to get her something else. The (extremely rude and wildly inappropriate manager) brought over the new meal to my friend. She didn’t say a word and didn’t even care to ask why she didn’t like her meal. She just dropped it off at the table. (I assume she was a manager because she was in a sweater and not in waitress attire). THEN… we get up from the table and because it’s her 21st birthday and she wanted a green tea shot. We went to the bar and kindly asked if the bartender could make one for the 21st birthday girl. (Mind you- the birthday girl had 2 drinks at dinner and was by no means drunk or impaired… it was more of a fun birthday gesture. We asked the visibly annoyed bartender if she could make a green tea shot (they had shot glasses behind the bar, too). She looked over at her manager to seemingly get permission to do the shot (which is understandable- if you have some house rule or policy and don’t want to do that… that’s fine. But be polite and professional about it). The bartender ended up making the shot after she exchanged some words and dirty looks from the manager. The manager then sat there with a disgusted look on her face as if we just did something wrong. The entire 7 minutes we stood at the bar (while we were waiting for a ride)… she gave us and the bartender dirty and annoyed looks. I could not believe the lack of professionalism considering she’s a “manager”… and I couldn’t believe that she was a full grown woman acting like a bratty teenager. We were floored. I will never do business here again and I’ll ensure I tell people about this encounter, because NO ONE should be treated this way- ESPECIALLY on their birthday. The manager was blonde, wore a dark grey sweater and she was working January 9th around 8-9pm. I NEVER leave reviews considering I’m a 21 year old girl and also a waitress… but we were shocked and disappointed at...