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    Colonial Grille

    3.5 (46 reviews)
    ModerateAmerican, Seafood, Pizza
    Closed 4:00 pm - 9:00 PM

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    Pan seared scallops Steak tips

    We were a party of 8, though I will only be writing on behalf of two of us. The opened at 4. We were arrived early, and waiting in the sitting area outside the Grille until the remainder of our party arrived. We were the first 8 people in the restaurant, with a group of 3 immediately behind us. The greeting staff member was exceptionally friendly, having even offered to let us enter shortly before opening time. Unfortunately, our service was painfully slow, especially considering the lack of other patrons. This includes everything from the original drink order, all the way up through the desert order. On to the food!: Jennie had a Peach Sangria & I had a Summer Fever (w/ Hendrick's). Both were very good. We opted for the Fried Calamari appetizer. We both found it to be fairly good, but definitely too oily. It came with an aioli. We wished we had asked for some marinara with it. I opted for the Steak Tip with peppers/onions, sweet potato fries, and rice pilaf. The steak tips & veggies were cooked to perfection with phenomenal flavor! The rice pilaf was your typical rice pilaf... nothing special. The sweet potato fries were cook to perfection, unfortunately I there was far too much salt on them... almost making them inedible. Jennie chose the pan seared scallops, which came on a bed of risotto. This dish came with 5, rather small, scallops. They were quite flavorful. The risotto may as well have been a bed of salt. The risotto was absolutely inedible due to the salt. It looks good, but neither of us could bear to eat more than two bites of it. Another member of our party had the onion rings. They looked great, portion was great, but they were heavy on the grease, and also were too heavily salted for anyone to eat. For desert, I ordered the lava cake with ice cream and Jennie ordered the cheese cake with strawberries. We both found our desert to be quite good. I did find it odd that the lava cake was served with a fork rather than a spoon. Both I and another party member had to ask for spoons because the forks just couldn't pick up the lava! Having not been to the Colonial Grille in years I was looking rather forward to it. For what you get for your money, it's really a toss-up if it's worth it. I doubt we'll be back.

    The only decent part of my dining stop: very memorable scallops in bacon. Prime rib was by far the worst I can remember having.
    Kim K.

    Was practically empty when I went Sunday night. They had lots of bar selections. The scallops with bacon were so amazing, I got very excited that I had stumbled on a gem. Extremely disappointed when my prime rib arrived with the wrong side. Plus the mixed veggies were abysmal... the worst part was the prime rib. It was a bad cut that I ordered medium rare. It was more like medium and was completely dry. There was no au juice or horseradish sauce. After a few bites I cut it up and took for my dog. Totally a waste of money.

    Elegant and casual at the same time.
    Tony M.

    A favorite of mine. The specials are always a treat and more impotantly, the service. Every staff member has always made us feel like regulars long before we were. You need to come here. Let me know when you're going so we can meet there.

    Website photo of their beautiful well stocked bar.
    Steven B.

    INSIDE COLONIAL HOTEL In the Gardner/Westminster area there are not a lot of nice restaurant/bars. Although the Colonial Hotel has been a well-known wedding venue for decades the restaurant/bar side is increasingly becoming a destination for locals looking for a nicely appointed place to have a good time. The lovely wife and I have relatives in the area and have been staying at the hotel and eating/drinking here for many years. Let's begin with the bar. It's beautifully appointed and likely the best stocked bar in the area. It seats about twenty and is located inside the restaurant. The full restaurant menus are available which is very convenient. During the wedding season there are often weekend bands. Note that there is a strict NO SHOTS policy which I've found to be common near wedding venues. Even without the food, this is a very nice place to have a few drinks and watch a game. Speaking of the food, here you will find classic American fare done well. There is a breakfast buffet every day of the week. Monday-Saturday it will set you back about $10. On Sundays they increase the price by $1 and add an omelet station. The have a large lunch menu with excellent burgers. On a recent visit I was surprised to see I had a choice between from-the-bag frozen fries or fresh cut fries! That wasn't much of a choice for me! When is comes to dinner they have a Friday night all-you-can-eat Prime Rib & Shrimp buffet and baked potato bar. Not bad for about $22. Sometimes folks write off bars and restaurants inside hotels and in this case that would be a mistake. To me this is a 3 1/2 star place. In this case, considering the completion in the area, I'm going for 4.

    Scallops Risotto
    Betty Y.

    I stay at the Colonial Hotel for business a lot. This restaurant is really good. I've had the scallops risotto, chili, chicken quesadilla which are all great. The bartender, Mary and Jason are super nice. I'd eat here even if I wasn't staying at the hotel.

    Desert is a must

    This place wasn't much on the outside, but the service and food make it worth it. Check it out!

    Pumpkinhead with a sugared rim please

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    11 years ago

    Good hotel restaurant. Hot, tasty meal. Decent wine and friendly service. Very date decor, but food hits the spot.

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    Angler Fish Market & Chowder - Excellent clam chowder on the platter.

    Angler Fish Market & Chowder

    4.1(173 reviews)
    2.1 mi
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    Ordered take-out of baked stuffed shrimp. Receipt showed baked stuffed $33, but we received grilled…read moremarinated shrimp $28 (not to our liking). Called and explain the issued and asked for a refund of only the difference in cost between the two. Even offered to send a picture of what we received. Sadly, the manager kept arguing the receipts shows baked stuffed shrimp, as if we were lying, and hung up on us. Called back and she agreed to refund the difference. BIG SURPRISE...no refund!!! Poor way to treat customers and conduct business.

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    3.7(342 reviews)
    3.3 mi
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    Not sure how or why this place doesn't have better ratings. Everything was 5 stars here.. the…read moreservice, all the food, drinks and the setting of the restaurant was so nice. My boyfriend, 1 year old daughter & I came in to try the food as we were staying less than 10 mins down the road at Great Wolf Lodge. The pecan rolls & corn fritters were amazing!!! Especially dipped in the maple syrup! We got a kids chicken tenders & fries which was a great portion! Fish & chips & teriyaki steak tips with fries. We were starving after swimming all day and ate every bit because of how great all the food was. Nice beers to choose from & I had a yummy pomegranate marg. They were so accommodating of our overtired toddler as well. Thank you to our server Cera for doing a great job! When we're in the area, we will definitely return. We almost didn't come here because the reviews didn't all look great but we are SO glad we tried it! If you have a good experience here definitely urging you to leave a nice review (: Also love the ambiance of downstairs with cozy tables , warm lighting and the nice fireplace. Beautiful little spot in the winter and if you listen you can hear the brook running outside

    Just a gem of a spot. From the gorgeously maintained historic property, to the pecan rolls,…read moreeverything was just amazing for our Mother's Day lunch. Our server, Justin, was fantastic and made it an even better experience! It was well worth the drive. Chicken vegetable pie was fantastic.

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    3.9(370 reviews)
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    Gardner Ale House at Moon Hill Brewing gave us a nice evening of good music, cold brews, good food,…read moredollar oysters! (Apr 2026). We came here to try out their Monday Blues, and happened on their Monday Buck-a-Shuck oysters! We found a long room with over 70 seats set up at tables for four that looked combine-able, about 20 seats at the bar and at 2-seat hightops, both rooms with a wall of windows. The band set up in the bar window, but sit where you like, we found that we could hear the band everywhere! There's also a small enclosed outdoor patio with about 30 more seats at umbrellaed tables. The Jim Atkinson band is a foursome of Boston-area musicians that has been cranking out great blues, rock, & roots since 2017. We loved them, especially enjoying the creative keyboard and a real live sax! Their music selection was amazing, more their favorite solid blues than old-standbys, so we didn't recognize every song. But that's real music :-) The $1 New England oysters were big and juicy! They started at 4pm before we got there, and they still had plenty for us after 7pm! They say the variety changes with availability. These were not overly salty. This was dinner for us, and we started with their hot-skillet "Mexican Corn Dip" with zingy pico de gallo salsa and fresh crisp corn tortilla chips. We got a "warm energy" bowl of quinoa, fresh tart cranberries, baby spinach, roasted sweet potato, and goat cheese, flavored with some scallions and garlic-butter. Huge, delicious, and very satisfying! The Fish 'n Chips was a full-foot-long full of their own Moon-Hill-beer beer-battered haddock, piping-hot fries, fresh crunchy coleslaw, with tartar sauce. Yep, Huge, delicious, and satisfying! We tried their parmesan-garlic wings, but that wasn't our favorite. They were ok, but not crispy which we expected. Came with crunchy celery and creamy bleu cheese. Of course we leaned on their in-house Moon Hill brewery for several dry IPAs, their luscious Candy Mountain blueberry sour, (which could have been colder), and a very tasty non-alcohol Blueberry (Not)-tini, a bubbly beverage crafted with "Reàl Blueberry Purée", fresh lemon juice and lemonade. This is a nice community bar, brewery, restaurant, and patio. We are already looking forward to their big Octoberfest!

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    Colonial Grille - tradamerican - Updated May 2026

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