This is the second time we have gone here. I couldn't remember much about it before except maybe that it was just ok and cheap. Nothing I was excited about. However, my husband and I ventured there late in the evening last night due to the few choices and it was truly horrible. We were forced to sit in the bar, which upon seeing the clientele there, we should have walked out then. If you want to hear drunk people shout obscenities throughout your meal then I guess this would be your place. Again, after looking at the menu, my husband tried to get us out of there by saying I wasn't feeling well but we decided to stick it out after the waitress informed us that our untouched sodas would be $4. We sat with out jackets in by the drafty windows and that's how we stayed. The selection of food is not good at all, mostly claiming to be BBQ. I ordered prime rib, figuring how bad could it be and my husband under the heading of chicken & pastas, chicken parm, the 1 pasta dish. I didn't try his meal but I can say that prime rib is NOT supposed to be grilled! Even after ordering it medium rare, it was hard as a rock. It must have taken me 5 minutes to chew each ridiculously tough piece and I'm pretty sure I consumed an entire bottle of A1 just to get it down. Mashed potatoes as well were horrible, even with an extra pad of butter added to it. Basically, the service wasn't good, atmosphere certainly didn't help much, they don't have anything here that any normal person couldn't easily prepare at home, and the food in a word is BLAND. we were never even asked if we wanted more bread (the only good thing I ate), drinks refilled, or desert. I will never go again. To add insult to injury, it did not sit well with me at all and I have a very angry stomach. read more

Still the worst Chinese in town. Drinks are awful. Alabama slamma tasted like straight cranberry. Chicken fingers were real doughy inside and chicken rubbery. Scorpion bowl was gross need to get a balance of ingredients. read more

Pretty sub par. Not sure what it's trying to be. Seafood? Chinese? Japanese? American? I got the sea food platter at market price. Giant plate of fried fish. Not bad but nothing special. Kind of boring. Then my bill was $35! The price was listed as market price. Since every thing else on the menu was around $15 I figured that is what I would pay. I learned my lesson! Had it been great fresh seafood I would understand but it wasn't. It was fried. Could have been frozen for all I know. Do not recommend. read more

My husband and I had dinner, for the first time, in this restaurant. We had no idea they serve traditional cuisine and also Chinese food, and we were surprised to be given both types of menus. The woman who waited on us turned out to be he owner. She is high-strung and rushes you when you are ordering. She does not give you enough tie to read the vast menus. On our first visit, my husband ordered the terrace chicken and it was good. I ordered shrimp with mixed vegetable from the Chinese menu. I asked no MSG be added to my food, and the owner was accommodating to my need. She said all the appetizers have MSG in them and for me not to order any of them. I appreciated her honesty. My dinner was good. The shrimp and vegetables were fresh. But the chicken fired rice was not good. Too much soy sauce in it and the chicken did not taste fresh. On our second visit, did not go as well as our first. My husband ordered one of the specials that said it came with "long fries". The owner-waitress, said it was a mistake on the written menu. The chicken parmesan did not come with french fries but with garlic bread which we thought was strange because it was a chicken parmesan sandwich--with garlic bread? He had difficulty communicating with the owner because she spoke too quickly and did not understand us very well. Since my shrimp with mixed vegetables was a success the first time, I reordered it because I especially enjoyed the Bok Choy mixed into the vegetable and no MSG. She said no problem and the food served was good. I decided to order a take away and order Chicken Kung Pao. Big mistake. When we got home, I tasted it. As I normally do, I ordered it with no MSG because I have an allergic reaction to it. When I tasted it, I immediately identified that MSG was added to it. The chicken did not taste fresh. As if they had some chicken that was already cooked and then added it to the rest of ingredients. There was no flavor to the dish as well. When I called and spoke to the owner, she never apogee and instead said do not order that again. She argued I was "picky" and I said, not true, I just know good Chinese, and I must be careful about MSG and other allergic food for me. She was unapologetic and ungracious. In fact, she is not a very gracious restaurant owner. In summary, we think some of their food is good, but not all. I imagine their fish and seafood dishes are fresh and good, but I can only speak to the shrimp dish I ordered and it was good. I would be very careful, though, about their other Chinese offerings. If you order Chinese and you do to like it, they will not take it off of you bill. The owner called the police on an elderly couple who said the egg rolls were inedible and they refused to pay for them. The owner-waitress said she would take them off of the bill, but when they went to pay, the egg rolls were still on the bill and they refused to pay for them. The owner called the police on them. Bottom Line: The Anglo food is good, but be careful when ordering from the Chinese Menu. The total experience was good to bad. Diane W. read more

We were at pilot house last night. It was nearing closing time and we had ordered drinks at last call. We got our drinks and five minutes later the manager came over to us and told us to chug our scorpion bowl or he was going to take it. Since I had already ran my card I was very upset because I spent money on this drink and I voiced my opinion. Last call means no more liquor can be sold not that we cannot finish our drinks. The manager proceeded to take my drink and have his host call the cops on me just for asking for a refund for the drink I never got to have. The cops basically laughed for him wasting their time. If you cannot handle an unhappy customer you should not own a restaurant. Horrible experience we made sure to tell all of our friends what had happened. read more

Favorite restaurant in gloucester !! I am writing this review on the food. I do not eat inside usually but if i I do the staff is very friendly.. I love the food it is always amazing!! :-) read more

I've ate here twice and both times, I was not disappointed. The recent dining experience came about after an afternoon of whale-watching. I was craving seafood (specifically crabs) but decided to stop by this place because my husband wanted to come back. Since there were no crab entrees, I decided to go with the good ol' surf and turf: a 10 oz rib-eye and a baked stuff lobster tail. My husband ordered the baked haddock with shrimp and scallops. The clam chowder side wasn't bad as it had a cheesy taste to it; not something I'm used to. I didnt think that was the New England style. My salad was alright, although I had to cut up the lettuce into smaller pieces. It was as if they just tore the leaves right off the cabbage. I felt rather awkward eating salad with a knife and fork. At last the entrees came. The rib-eye was very good and cooked to the degree that I wanted: medium. I wanted A-1 sauce with it but had a hard time flagging down our server. The lobster tail wasn't bad, although it was more stuffing than the actual lobster. I would've preferred it the other way around, more lobster and less stuffing. I was too busy eating my food to sample the haddock although my hubby said it was good. We were both too full to order dessert but there were about six types of pies/cakes. The parking lot is small but we found a space. It's a shared lot between the restaurant and a neighboring bar. Side note: my husband appeared to develop a mild case of food poisoning that night as he complained of nausea. Not exactly sure if it could be attributed to the dinner. read more

So I've been a customer of dragon light then the pilot house since I was born and I've been a gainfully customer of the owners since they bought dragon light and a faithful customer going on average of once a week You do the math 47 years 52 weeks a year 73,000 and trust me I was conservative on my math I've always loved the food and Winnie is great I'm not wanting to bash them I'm a chef and yelp is not my favorite sight because I am a chef and I get it I ordered food and I placed my order the same as always And they made a mistake I get it not a big deal So I called them and ask them to correct the problem Simple bring my missing items to my house because I paid for them and I paid for delivery they told me I could come pick it up While my other food gets cold Or I could have it another time Seems like I have to fix their mistake and they where very rude about it Leaving me on hold for 7min and 38 seconds on hold then the owner gets on phone says what the problem I said no problem would just like my missing food he says come get it or have it next time I said that not an option I would like my missing food so instead of taking a $3 loss and paying someone to send my food they told me if I didn't like it to bring the food back and they would give me my money back So I brought $32.38 since back Crazy so I paid for the food that was missing and they would rather give me all my money back instead of bring me my missing food and losing $3. Crazy So I brought my food back then when I show up staying calm Even though and fat mad at me and hung up the phone on a customer he ignored me grabbed the food out of my hand and brought it back to the kitchen to inspect that I returned all the food and I made sure that every single piece was there I didn't take one bite Then when he returned to the dining room I tried to have a discussion with him the owner that it didn't make since to correct your mistake instead make a customer upset and loose $33 I tried to talk with him and he just got mad he acted like I was treating him wrong by wanting what I paid for and I have known this guy and his wife since I was a kid My mom worked for him for years and I thought they liked me he knows me my wife my mother my whole family and none of that mattered he was mad at me because I wanted what I paid for I was so confused so I tried to talk with him and he just escalated telling if I didn't like it I could call the cops or he would call the cops on me At this point he was the only person who raised his voice I calming explained I only wanted my money back and was trying to explain why this was not good customer service he said to bad just get out I said please just pay me my money and he would not give it to me he just wanted to argue or call the cops I just wanted my money and to explain why this was not how to treat a guest or a long time customer I told him if you would like to call the cops that's ok but you would be wasting there time So when he tries to pay me he give me 25$ Remember my order was $32.38 not including $5 tip I was out and wasn't asking for I told him all I wanted was what I paid and I wasn't asking for my tip back and he says I was probably the type that doesn't tip I'm a 25% tipper and tipped my delivery guy $5 but he just had to insult me finally gave me my money and I left Got a awesome pizza from Sebastian's pizza it was great and I tipped her $5 I plan on trying to talk to Winnie and explain what happened and that not how customers should be treated But this has happened before I was having dinner with my wife and brother and his girl and they made a simple mistake and when he asked it be fixed she grabbed his plate and told him if he did t like it to get out and he was shocked Maybe the issue is the language barrier or maybe they just do t understand the expectation of good customer service but I do and I hope they figure it out I won't lie they have great food and good drinks but the owners and staff have the worse customer service I have seen in a while and I been a chef at a high level for 30years I don't even have a yelp app u til this point because I never wanted to hurt peoples business and still don't but I feel like they need to read this they need to understand that the guest are what makes their business and that some times to makes things right they may have to lose a cpl bucks and fix it I will never go back after the way I was treated their are to may other great places Like Thai choice or Many of the other great Asian food spots in this town Sorry Winnie but it's the truth and you should not allow this at your restaurant By my post and my order and you have all my info in your system you can reach out and I will explain and I plan on calling you to discuss but your husband was rude out of line and saying he was going to call the cops on me when nothing happened besides a discussion and your husband getting mad at me for his mistake read more

The food was alright. One of the women working yelled at us because she didn't think we left a decent enough tip (the service was poor to begin with). The other person I went with asked her to break a 100 dollar bill and told her she could keep 5. She decided 5 wasn't enough (on top of what he had already left) and kept 10 of it. If you're looking for good sushi and Chinese on the North Shore, there are plenty of different options. read more

Very cheap food here. It's is pretty good. The fish sandwich is very good. I tried some of the Chinese food and it was very good. My brother got sushi and he said it was the best he has ever had. I guess this place has 3 diffrent kitchens. So if you order American Chinese and sushi they come out at diffrent times. read more

Great Chinese and great sushi! I am looking forward to trying more. They also have a nice bar and friendly staff. I will definitely be trying them again. read more

This is not a BBQ place, lets get that out of the way up front. The decor is no-frills but the food is good (grilled and fried fish, shrimp, steak tips, ribs and burgers) for reasonable prices. Not a place to come for a romantic atmosphere, but if you are hanging out with a group of friends and want to eat, this is a good choice. Grilled shrimp are a favorite. Veggies are nothing extrordinary (steamed whatever) but not horribile. Desserts are tasty old school favorites (oreo cookie pie, chocolate cake, apple crumble, ice cream etc). None of their food will end up in a fancy magazine, but the basics are done well and the price is cheap. You can easly have dinner and a drink for less than $20 per person. read more

Not a bad place to go for lunch or dinner. The food isn't totally terrible like people are saying, although you do have to order right. The drinks are decent. The egg drop soup is delicious. The food is all around pretty good. Last time we went however, maybe 3 or 4 days ago, my son got the clam chowder and I have to say it was the most disgusting chowder I have ever tasted. One of the older waitresses was awesome with my son though. She gave him lots of attention and it was so great to watch when they weren't that busy to still be interacting with guests. She wasn't even our waitress! read more

Don't want to sound harsh here, but this place serves the single worst food I / my family has eaten in any restaurant in Gloucester. Swordfish, dry and tasteless. "Real" mashed potatoes tasted like they were prepared with water. No flavor. Chicken Parm. Aweful. Ribs. Tough, uneatable. Appetizers taste like they came from a box in the freezer. Now that they've merged with the Chinese Restaurant....I stick with the Chinese menu. We won't ever eat there again. (kudos however to the very friendly staff) read more

A Gloucester mainstay as far as restaurants go. Recently it was bought out and merged with another local chinese restaurant so now they serve both chinese and american food. Complete with two separate menus. This is awesome as you're able to have a greater variety. Also good as I have a friend who doesn't care for chinese food that much so he can order a burger while I'm getting my pu pu platter on. The staff is extremely friendly, and always ready to help you. They're on top of you for drinks, rolls and get your food out to you FAST. Shortest wait I have ever had for food was 5-7 minutes and I don't think I've ever waited longer than 15. The prices are fair and can be an outright bargain at lunch time. Even in busy stretches there is always plenty of room. While they serve seafood, this isn't my go to for seafood in Gloucester. I'll get the native shrimp when the mood strikes but that's about it, go for everything else though. I'm not going to comment on price because seafood in general is getting more and more expensive as time goes on. But overall, arguably the best lower cost sit down restaurant you can go to. read more

We went there for dinner. We ordered our food. My food came out within 15 minutes the waitress said to my fiancée yours will be out in a minute. The waitress must have forgotten the order because 20 minutes later she came back with the wrong food. I also got a bad salad that was brown and wilted. The owner came over with a half assed apology. read more

It merged with a favorite local Chinese place that I loved as a kid. We ordered the usual, bone and boneless ribs, chx fingers, beef teriyaki, and pork fried rice. Add a little duck sauce and away we go. Still eating left overs two days later. Tastes just like I remember it, wonderful. read more

when i was a little kid, the only place i could eat fish was at the pilot house. from the chicken fingers to the steak tips, all the meats are fantastic. the french fries are out of this world. i always liked the rice pilaf, even though it's just your standard rice pilaf. maybe the only thing i don't think is amazing is the vegetable selection. i'm pretty sure it's a day-by-day thing, but i feel like it's always veggies from a can. not a huge deal, considering everything is greatly priced and the portions are very generous. i'm just a vegetable person. great desserts, too. holy crap. awesome chocolate cake. i've been going here for a long time, as i mentioned earlier, and even though i don't live in gloucester anymore i'd go back. this place is no frills. i've seen people dressed nicely here but i wouldn't feel out of place if i were in ratty jeans. read more

Pilot house use to be notorious for it's wonderful food. Whenever I wanted steak tips, they were my go to place. Now, the quality of the food has decreased immensely and literally. The new owners buy from different distributors for cheaper merchandise and cheaper quality inevitably. The Chinese food is good, a go to place when nothing else is open (Chinese serves until 2am). But that's about it. Very sad. read more

Went for the first time a couple of months ago and have been one more time since. Service is great, prices are reasonable and the seafood is fresh. Best restaurant on the block. read more

These dudes always have my back when I need them. I lived in Gloucester for a few years and this place would always deliver no matter rain or shine. One time the delivery dude brought my order to me in a legit nor'easter. This was a storm straight out of the move The Day After Tomorrow. And on top of that I lived on a hill that was completely ice but did that stop this delivery guy? Hellll no - he threw that shit in 4 wheel drive and bombed up the hill to make sure I got my crab Rangoon's. Much love for this place read more

What a dreadful experience eating at the Pilot House. Forced by necessity and driving snow to find a restaurant, we wandered in to find the takiest of decor. Turnss out it was the best thing about the place. Sullen regulars hunkered over the formica bar, some ear-splitting construction was going on in back. Doughy rolls, a standard beer menu, iceberg lettuce and fish pulled from the bait bucket were our fate. It's hard to go on because it's the kind of experience best forgotten as soon after as possible. Avoid at all costs. read more

For decades we've gone to the Pilot House when we went out at all, for consistently good food. Whatever the heck they're thinking with this frankenfood mash-up of the worst Chinese restaurant in town with the Best homestyle american seafood, is beyond us. The swordfish in the pick-two combo was almost rotten it was so far gone. The chef must be nose-deaf. Unless he's used to smothering it in sauce and calling it after some long dead Chinese military leader. That won't fly, and we won't be back. So very sad. read more

Great Place. They serve Seafood and Chinese. Their Beef teriyaki is off the hook! One of my Favorite restaurants in Gloucester. Food also comes fast. Totally recommended read more

A pretty nice place to order from. They updated their Restaurant so now its apparently Chinese Food & "BBQ". There isnt much BBQ, they have a few things that are. But overall the food is good and very cheap for how much you get. I personally go for the chinese food more than the original menu, they deliver pretty fast. If youre looking for something quick and cheap for a midnight snack you cant go wrong with a house combination. They have like 20 house combos to take your pick. read more

I. Will. Never. Return. I agree that the atmosphere is dank and depressing. I could forgive that. But the food and drinks? Unforgivable. Ordered a Shirley Temple with my daughter. It was about 80% syrup and 20% ginger ale. They would not replace and remove from bill. Ordered a meal with 3 pieces of fish. They were all inedible. They were cold. The swordfish and yellowfin tuna were so rubbery and hard that I could stab it with a fork and lift it up in the air and wave it around, and the fish just stuck there like a flag. NO flakiness. Inedible. The ONLY thing I ate was my baked potato and they would not adjust my bill. Said it was MY responsibility to tell them the TEMPERATURE to which I wanted my fish cooked. ??????!!!!!! (This visit I was giving them a second chance, as the last visit I had fish that was FILLED with bones, both large and small. I was told that 'that is how we get them in'. Doesn't sound like fresh fish to me, unless they are being rudely sarcastic. also not a point in their favor.) Not good to leave dinner FURIOUS. They really didn't care that they lost customers. read more

This place gets 2 stars only because of the prices - they're great! The food, however, is not. And there's no BBQ either - it's all grilled stuff. I was going in hoping for some brisket and/or pulled pork but all I got were steaks, burgers, sausage, and chicken. Meh. read more

Easily the worse meal I ever had in Gloucester. If you cant fry fish in Gloucester, you better try something new. Sausage was nice and burned on one side, but they put that side down so no one would notice. Waitress was friendly, even warned us what not to order, guess the list was bigger than she thought. read more

The Pilot house has gone downhill since last year. Same menu new owners. Shrimp platter undercooked and smelled off. Grilled cheese for kid was burned. Prices have increased but food preparation has gone way down. The Pilot House used to be one of our favorite restaurants with excellent specials and value. We will give it one more chance and hopefully the new owners will step up. read more

Best haddock sandwich in town. Forget the decor. Pay 50% more elsewhere. So fresh you can't get fresher.

The one star is for the waitress who was a peach. We are a couple 70 and 74 and have never been to the dragon light Chinese portion of this restaurant. Decided to try it tonight. What a mistake! We began with a mai tai and tea. The tea was very good, the mai tai was undrinkable , very sour . So my friend told the waitress he could not drink it, he would have a beer instead. The beer was cold and refreshing. Then ordered boneless spareribs.They came high and piled in layers. First layer was edible, as you went lower they got very fatty and tough. Awful! Left more than half. Then came sesame chicken, I had specially asked if it was chicken breast, answer yes..Well the chicken was unrecognizable....dark , grizzly and disgusting. The coating was thick and tough! Inedible. So we told the waitress and she said no problem, they would take it off the bill. And then she asked would we want something else. We decided to wait and try the already ordered chow Mein before we ordered anything else. Chow mein was unfortunately tasteless, unacceptable. My friend refused to eat it. I said we can't send it back ,so I doused it with sweet sauce and tolerated it. I told my order egg rolls, they can't ruin egg rolls! Well guess what they outdid themselves and we took a look and then bite and even I couldn't eat them. The waitress was going to have a problem explaining this to the owner who seemed unfriendly but these were worse than the rest of it. Finally we asked for bill, egg rolls were still on the bill, we said they need to be taken off as we didn't eat them. I told her I would speak to the owner who watched this entire event and never came over to apologize for the disgusting food. When she approached him , he got very angry and stormed over to our table and accused us of ordering three items and not want to pay for them, which was not the case. We did not want to pay for what was completely inedible and was sent back. He turned his back on us and said he was going to call the police. Ridiculous, and certainly not to be believed.We had already given the money for the drinks and the chow mein and white rice which we ate some of. We included $10 for the waitress who tried to be accommodating ! On our way out to the car two cruises pulled in with lights blaring. I said to my friend, they are here for us, he said no way, I said I think so ! Sure enough we stopped to speak to them, they said they were going in, the owner called that he had a disorderly customer who would not pay the bill. Surprise, that was us! In all my years of going out to eat this was dinner that will be remembered forever. We then left laughing our bottoms off, the police didn't,t take us to jail and we went to captains dustys and had our dinner which consisted of wonderful ice cream! If you enjoy Chinese food made with fresh ingredients, this is certainly not the place for you! Needless to say we will never try it again! read more

I will never eat at the Pilot House again. Though their food may be decent and cheap, the way they treat their customers and their neighbors is more than appalling. read more

Okay, some might say Im biased. My husbands family owns the restaurant. I think its wonderful. I loved it before I knew or married my husband. The prices are always great, the food..there's a lot, and service..someone is always there to make you laugh and feel welcomed! read more

It's not bad, my dad and my wife like it better than I do. Not sure why just not wow'ed

love this place, never had a bad meal. steaktips are great, rice too.. wish they had mashed potato. prices are okay