The food was good, but the service was so unnecessarily rude, passive-aggressive, and unwelcoming…read morethat it completely overshadowed the experience. For a place where you're ordering food by the pier, you'd expect at least a basic level of courtesy. Unfortunately, that was nowhere to be found.
The employee who took our order never even asked whether we were dining in or taking the food to go, which immediately created confusion.
We ordered two double cheeseburgers and one cold-style lobster roll. Somehow, we ended up with two lobster rolls instead: one warm with butter and one cold. I suspect the order was rung up incorrectly, but by that point, the interaction had already been so unpleasant that I didn't feel like prolonging it or making a scene. We simply cut everything in half and shared what we received.
The pickup experience was somehow even more uncomfortable. When I picked up the food, the employee looked at me strangely and asked, "Oh, you're taking this outside?" I explained that we were sitting just outside the restaurant at the pier and even asked if that was okay. His response? "I suppose." The tone was condescending and completely unnecessary.
The food had been left on one of their large serving trays, which I accidentally grabbed while collecting our order. Rather than simply saying something politely, he sharply told me, "Please don't grab the tray." I immediately apologized, but the entire interaction felt so hostile and awkward that I was left wondering why a basic customer interaction had to be this unpleasant.
To be clear, I'm not expecting anyone to roll out a red carpet or bend over backward for customers. Basic politeness, clear communication, and a welcoming attitude are not unreasonable expectations. We even left a tip, yet the overall experience made us feel like we were inconveniencing the employee simply by being there.
The food was good. The service was not. A wrong order can happen, and an honest mistake is understandable. What is not acceptable is making customers feel uncomfortable through sarcasm, condescension, and an unnecessarily hostile attitude. We came to enjoy some food by the water, not to navigate an awkward interaction with someone who seemed completely uninterested in providing a pleasant customer experience.
If you're visiting Broad Street Oyster Co., hopefully you'll have a better experience with the staff than we did. Because based on this interaction, the service seriously needs work. Good food can bring people through the door, but consistently poor customer service is what will make them think twice about coming back.
