Thanks to Facebook, and someone who is security conscious, I now have a birthday that never quits! (You never really know how many “friends” you have until complete strangers start wishing you a happy birthday on FB…the day before and after!)
Now…
Let me state for the record, for all of you “Scott, you should open a restaurant in (name your town here)” that I will NEVER open one at the beach.
Side Note: I hate using the phrase “never”, AND, when I say “restaurant” I define that in such a way, that, should I change my mind about the above statment, I can always say… “I didn’t mean THIS when I said “restaurant”. That folks, is called “wiggle room”)
Back to the nightmare of beach area restaurants.
Seriously folks…it is hard enough to get restaurant employees in a YEAR AROUND restaurant trained to get to work on time, greet the table quickly, know the menu, recite the specials, clear the dirty dishes, check the glassware for spots, be nice to people, get the order right, pay close attention to EVERYTHING, remember to refill, remember the ketchup…I could go on…
And we spend all of our time, YEAR AROUND trying to get all of the above ingrained in the minds of our staff.
BUT…Having to hire people, and train them correctly, for only TWO (INCREDIBLY BUSY) MONTHS?! No thanks.
If you ever wonder why service at the beach sucks, there’s your answer. P/T employees with no time to train, evaluate, replace, etc.
Clam shacks and pizza? All day baby. Full service, high prices, big menu? Not this guy.
RON’S LANDING
With the above said, that’s why we were so impressed by the quality at Ron’s Landing.
And, while it was true, the “just hired” bartender did not:
*Know the beers
*Know the menu
*Know where the oysters were from (“Somewhere in Maine I think”)
*Know the Chef’s name… (“Um, Andrew something…I think…” )
OR…
*Never heard of “potato vodka”
*Forgot the bread
*Never cleared empty glasses
*And brought us enough wasabi when we aksed for more, to choke a Clydesdale…she was pleasant, funny and brought us our food.
Whoever “Ron” actually is, he is smart enough to keep the prices reasonable and the portions huge, so less than stellar service is forgiveable. The menu is huge. Actually, there were two menus. And, I was certain that because of the size of the menu, the food would not be very good.
WRONG.
The food was excellent.
My guess? Ron has the same chef year around. We had a great dinner and would go back. It is the only great food I have EVER had at the beach in years of going–and that includes Newburyport–unless I was at a picnic table dipping shit in butter or slathering on tartare sauce.
The next night…
THE SEA GLASS
Looking for a nice place to go for dinner on my (real) birthday, Kathy and I pulled into the parking lot of The Sea Glass, Salisbury.
(I was thinking maybe Tens for a birthday nightcap… but that shit wasn’t happening)
Anyway, back to the Sea Glass.
There was a parking lot attendant.
He asked: “Where are you going?”
We said: “The Sea Glass”
He said: “Have you been here before?”
We said: “Yes”
He said: “So, you liked it, then?”
We said: (after a delay) “Um, it was ok”
(Then, as we drove around looking for the right space, we discussed further how, the last time it actually wasn’t that good. The servers were more interested in cleaning up to go home than re filling our drinks.
It was foggy out on this night with no view…and there was no outdoor seating. So, we decided at that point to change direction and head to Stripers in Newburyport for the deck and the view. As we drove past the guard 1 minute later and waved good bye, we snickered and remarked to each other that he should have quit after “Have you been here before”)
STRIPERS
Don’t go.
That’s my professional advice.
FYI, we had a great time. So, if you have great company, who really cares.
BUT…If you mind:
Bathroom style tiles in the lobby.
No hostess
Dirty tables
Tables set wrong.
No attention.
(Eventually) slow service.
Many (many) bugs
A lame beer and wine selection.
Small glasses.
Old, boring, predictable menus with missing pages.
Barely average food.
Well, then, this is not for you.
We, personally, felt a little spoiled by our assessment–and recognized that most of the world is ok with non-excellent restaurants
(Case in point: Olive Garden, Applebees and The 99’s are all still open)
But, we had the remedy to ensure a great time.
Each other…and alot of beer!
THE NIGHTCAP
We drove right past Tens…and back to the Sea Glass. Both the guard, and the fog, were gone, and it was on the way “home”.
We shared an excellent piece of chocolate birthday cake, and received friendly service for our 1st drink.
Then, it was clean up time. Just sayin’
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