My husband and I drove down from Holyoke, Mass in search of great seafood and boy did we find it…read moreplus much more! The owners were welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable. We bought Icelandic cod, swordfish, RI squid and their homemade salmon burgers. The seafood looked beautiful but I never expected it to taste sooooo good! We will go back and recommend it to anyone looking for top quality seafood sold with a smile. Sharon G.

Warm, friendly service, great use of limited space, took home and prepared: shrimp, smelts, smoked…read moresalmon, crab cakes, stuffed clams, calamari, more shrimp...everything was of excellent quality, worth the price and will revisit and recommend to anyone looking for good quality seafood in the area. Interior was clean and well lit.

This place is worth a detour from wherever you're headed. Super nice service. My husband had the…read morelobster roll & it was better and cheap than what we get on Cape Cod. Big pieces of lobster on a buttered roll. I had the best clam strips I've ever had & that includes in Maine. They start you off with homemade potato chips. Cole slaw delicious. Portions large

Very good food, great prices. Local hidden gem in Palmer. Great staff and wonderful owner.read more

Super cute lakeside attraction. Lots of tables and food options. I got the lobster club and hubby…read moregot the whole belly clam roll. No complaints except the coleslaw was dry. We also got some Gifford ice cream to go. It's a great New England gem.

Always really good food here! The clam strips and shrimp are…read morereally good. Next time I'm gonna try to clam chowder and lobster bisque if they have that on the menu.

We drive about 1 hr round trip to have this pizza and it holds up so well!…read more Tonight did not disappoint. Perfectly beautiful bubbly well done cheese pizza so so perfect. My daughter's Rodeo calzone she gobbled that up quick. We enjoyed it all and appreciate it always being ready on Time.

I always thought that a cheeseburger should have cheese on it. Oh well, I guess I was wrong. The…read moreburger was fine, the bacon was fine, the lettuce was fresh but there was no cheese to be found. My son had a Hawaiian pizza with sausage added. He won't order it with sausage again as the thin slices were on top and mostly burned. The rest of the pizza was above average. The bread part of the garlic bread was bread, the garlic was woefully lacking. He took and bite and the rest went into the trash. I can't believe they have received 5 star reviews. Makes me wonder if either they are fake or maybe there are some shifts where the staff know how to prepare food. My son has worked in several pizza shops in his teens and early 20's and knows what it takes. We used to have a good pizza place in Monson, Village Pizza, but since they closed a few years ago...

The scallops smelled like ammonia…read more Just got back from dinner at Russo's Lakeside in Palmer. I ordered the fried seafood combo. According to the internet, when I searched to see if they were safe to eat, it says "No -- throw them out. The ammonia smell is a clear sign of spoilage, and eating them puts you at risk of foodborne illness (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, etc.). Even if they were fried and look/taste okay otherwise, the decomposition has already started." The rest of the meal was "ok" but when I brought the potentially spoiled scallops to the attention of my server, she discussed it with her boss. The boss said they comp me a beer I had drank. Now, I don't own a restaurant, but I would assume that those scallops were a much larger portion of my bill than the draft beer. I mentioned that to the server and she went back to the boss lady, only to come back and offer a $10 discount. Perhaps if the boss lady would have come out and talked to me about it, I would have been ok with that but she stayed in her office because she was "very busy". This is when I started to get annoyed. I could hear them talking on the other side of the wall and mentioned to the server that I was really surprised she didn't come out to talk to me about this problem. She reiterated that the boss lady was very busy. However, the server wasn't able to apply the $10 discount so boss lady had to come out and do it. To add insult to injury, the woman completely ignored me as she stood about a foot or so in front of me. I had to ask her if she was the manager or the owner and her reply was just "I'm married to him." Then began telling me that the scallops my wife had were from the "same batch". I had smelled those scallops and they did smell fine but that doesn't mean there wasn't a problem with the ones in my order. I said I was surprised she didn't come out to talk to me and she just said "it's been a very long day!" I replied with "You serve FOOD to customers." Then she just threw her hands up and walked away. I wasn't rude, didn't raise my voice and was still disrespected as a customer. First time there, and will never return not do I recommend anyone else does. Hopefully I don't get sick from eating there.

My family ordered takeout from this place. We ordered burgers, Texas toast BLT's, Texas Toast…read moregrilled cheese, Buffalo chicken tenders, potato skins, fries, and onion petals. The food was really good. We haven't really found a lot of good restaurants out here in mid- Mass so this one is probably the best so far. When I called the order in, the person was friendly and accurate. She also took the time to ask the kitchen how long the order would take to make. 25 minutes. That's not bad considering anything out this way is a bit of a drive in comparison to where we live. So hats off the Russo's. We will be back!

We've never been 'steady customers' of the Steaming Tender, but we go there three or four times a…read moreyear. We've always had good experiences and have told others about it. We had an unfortunate experience this past weekend. I had scheduled a birthday party for about 45 guests at a local venue with a private room. About one hour before the guests were to arrive I received a call from the venue saying there was a catastrophic electrical failure and the facility had to close- including the kitchen, bar, and restrooms. I was now faced with 45 people milling around a closed facility waiting for a decision on how to continue the celebration. My stress level was the highest on record. I was considering a few places to move the event to, but being 6PM on a Saturday night I knew the chances were slim. It was then I thought of Steaming Tender and gave them a call. The hostess who answered was incredibly compassionate and spent a tremendous amount of time with me on the phone. She assured me that they would be able to accommodate us and started to reserve several tables. The entire group arrived about 25 minutes later and we were all greeted like old friends. We had to wait less than five minutes for the tables to be arranged and menus distributed. The evening couldn't have gone better. The food was as excellent as it's always been and the waitstaff was incredibly attentive. The guests were amazed at how quickly we were taken care of, and the quality of the food and service. The drinks were made perfectly and the food was served hot. About two thirds of the guests had never been to the Steaming Tender and were saying they would be returning. Kudos to the entire staff and management of the Steaming Tender at their professionalism and compassion at saving us from a total disaster of an important event. We will always be grateful and will continue to extend our recommendations. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Sat outside on the patio since we had our dogs with us. Patio sits under large overhangs (protected…read morefrom rain) plus many tables around the perimeter have Sun umbrellas. It seemed as if most people on the patio were there for the trains. We were able to watch an engineer switch tracks so he could pick up a load of cars stored nearby. We also were able to watch a long freight train go by. Lots of people were photographing, videoing, many with professional cameras and tripods. They gave a dog friendly menu. And bring water bowls for the dogs. We ordered burgers. Choice was "pink or no pink". I think they were understaffed. It took 90 minutes from arrival to departure.

Went with friends for dinner, sitting in outside area. I ordered a cup of soup and fish and chips…read more Fist was okay, but fries looked disgusting, were over cooked and greasy. They need to change their fryer oil. I did not want the coleslaw. The price of $26.00 was outrageous for what I got. My wife had a turkey club sandwich and our bill was $60.00!! You know, for retirees on a fixed income, this is damaging to our budget. They will not be seeing us again. BTW, our waitress was excellent.

Good prices, friendly staff. Came twice this week. Great service each time. Extensive menu…read more Everything we ordered was delicious!! Will definitely return!!!

Service was great and Left 20% cash tip, but was charged an extra 10$ after checking my bank…read morestatement.

Such an odd meal. We're new to the area and were looking for whole boiled lobster for my son's…read morebirthday and this place came up. Supposedly it's seafood with Cajun flair? He was pretty excited. We went on a Monday and there were only a few other people there. Major first issue, they no longer serve the boiled lobster that is front and center on their menu... only the lobster TALES for $41!! The menus are paper and could easily be marked to show they don't sell it... or at the very least the server could MENTION that it's not available when she brings the menus. I asked twice if the $41 was the price for JUST the lobster and she said that it was, so we ordered additional sides. The menu was unusual... SOME spicy seafood items mixed in with stuff you'd only ever see on a menu in an Asian Restaurant. Fried dumplings, crab rangoon... and the $14 "Cajun Spicy Rice w/Shrimp" was literally a bowl of Asian fried rice with shrimp, not the least bit spicy OR Cajun. The woman that seated and served us was absolutely FLAT in her demeanor. Everyone is human and people have bad days, but she didn't smile a single time. I told her we were celebrating his birthday and she didn't even NOD in acknowledgment, just stood silently waiting for us to order... it was awkward. We felt like we were putting her out, like she had somewhere else to be and couldn't be bothered. They cover the table with a piece of brown paper, but the areas it doesn't reach were sticky like old kitchen grease. They bring the absolutely cheapest plastic utensils, the forks were so flimsy that we had trouble getting the meat out of the shell with them and finally had to ask if they had any metal ones. (They did, which begs the question, why don't they bring them to start?) They don't bring a nut cracker or a pick either, or even a table knife. It was a pretty messy meal. The lobster tails INCLUDED corn on the cob and potatoes, so we ended up with enough food for an entire second meal. In terms of the meal itself, it was pretty good. The Cajun fries were great, the onion rings too. I had some of the best fried whole clams and scallops of my life. The fried dumplings were also spectacular, though they don't offer dumpling sauce, only packets of soy sauce. The Cajun Rice was meh... it was disappointing for $14 and really hard to eat with the tiny plastic fork. The bill came to $104 before tip. Crazy that those prices don't justify real tableware. We'll definitely try it at least once more (maybe as takeout)... hopefully there will be a new server or she'll be in a better mood.

Fantastic food, which is very reasonably priced for the massive portions that they give. Definitely…read morenot for the person that's on a diet.

Always the kindest service along with great food…read more Today was my first in trying the jalapeño bacon and OMG it was delish!! Along with a grilled English muffin and their homemade corned beef hash. Yum yum yum Clean tables, clean bathrooms to go with an awesome spot for breakfast/lunch

The food was delicious. The portions Large!…read moreService excellent. Pleasant and accommodating. We were seated promptly on a busy Friday night. Comfortable, friendly environment.

We love this place! Their Eggplant parm is one of the few I could actually taste the eggplant!!!!…read moreFood is great, always a line to get in and for take out. It was such a warm personal touch when the owner and his parents would walk around smiling and talking to everyone making everyone feel important to them and their family run business. Go early if you want to be seated in the more cozy location with the high tops unless you prefer the family style in the front room. We'll be back.