We stopped in last Friday (01/09/26) after having a mediocre experience on our last visit, which…read morewas approximately a year ago. I still feel the same way about the place. This is one of those unfortunate instances where I wish I could give a 3.5* rating. Everything was ok, but definitely not great.
The place is loud, and way too bright, especially for an intimate experience after 8:30pm or so. We would have loved to stick around for another couple cocktails, if the cocktails and ambience were good, they weren't.
The "craft cocktail" ol' fashioned was improperly garnished w/ a whole 1/4 of an orange slice, instead of the peel, it was improperly essenced, and had an improper amount of simple syrup. It was essentially a shot of bourbon with a cherry and an orange peel. Tasted terrible. The drink lacked all of the taste and trappings of the advertised craft "burnt sugar" old fashioned. Additionally, they use a 1/2 of an ice ball, which would not have been offensive, if the rest of the drink was up to par, but as it was, the cocktail seemed cheap and off-putting. 2.0/10
My date ordered a "figgy sweater," a citrusy cocktail with vodka, also off of the "craft cocktails" menu. Her drink had the opposite problem. It tasted like a lemonade with no alcohol at all, or watered down alcohol. She's a fairly lightweight that does not like strong drinks, gets tipsy off of two, and she complained throughout its consumption that the drink seemed weak and not worth ordering another. 2.0/10
We were both interested in another cocktail, but due to the loud nature of the place, the over abundance of light, and the poorly crafted cocktails, we drove to another establishment for our second round.
Food ordered:
Seafood Chowder - Great job, delicious, ample seafood throughout 9.5/10
Brisket Poutine - Good but it lacked cheese curds and gravy. 7.0/10
Beef tenderloin tips - terrible... the dish came out cold, we ordered the GF option, and the bread substitute was gross. The dish was overly salty, and the beef was way, way over cooked; not even medium well, most of it was well done, and tough; this was $30 wasted, we barely touched it and it's still in the fridge two days later. I'll likely throw it out. 2.0/10
Chicken Fried Lobster - nice dish, I hated the dill, but my date licked it. The dill aside, it was delicious; nice presentation, great tasting waffle, w/ well favored garnishes. However, the dish was barely warm when it came out, the ricotta/cream soaked into the waffle, and it was soggy. If it came out of the kitchen promptly it would have likely been better. 7.0/10
I'd consider ordering the chicken fried waffle again, but bad cocktails will likely keep me away. It's tough to pay $30+ in bad cocktails to accompany a $100+ meal.
I'd strongly suggest turning down the lights after 8:30pm or so, and installing some noise canceling/light panels to bring the ceiling height down, quiet the place down some, and make it seem more intimate.
The two tables opposite the the kitchen, in the damn hallway to the bathroom, should either be gotten rid of, made into high-tops, or install a lower counter-service along that wall for a "chef's experience." Those tables absolutely suck. We sat at them at our first visit, they tried to sit us there for our 2nd visit, but moved us after our objection. I laughed a bit throughout our meal as the people that were subsequently seated at those tables complained during their meal of the constant bumps, and interruptions that come with the territory.
Finally, our waitress did a great job. The food runner was late on a couple of our dishes, resulting in cold food, but the waitress' service seemed great.