Lobster Pound Disaster
 

Dining out is sometimes a convenience, sometimes a gourmet extravaganza, and sometimes a social event. Last night my party of three sought a quick dinner out prior to attending a concert at Meadowbrook. We were seated at a table on the deck at the Lobster Pound at Weirs Beach at 6:55PM. We told our waitress that we had concert tickets and would like to be given attentive service.

We ordered promptly, one round of drinks, an appetizer and an entree. The service was outrageously slow. There was one period when our waitress was not in sight for what seemed like one-half hour. Our drinks arrived within a reasonable time, but certainly not promptly. Our appetizers took forever (peel-and-eat shrimp should take a lot of time)? What really ticked us off was that, incredible as it may seem, we encountered peel-and-eat shrimp that were literally inedible. They were chewy and tough, like cardboard. We chose not to complain and left the shrimp uneaten, and instead focused on getting our entrees.

Another arduous wait for our waitress with the three of us craning our necks trying to locate some sign of her. We asked a bus boy, and then another waitress, to please locate ours and send her to our table. It was now after 8PM and we still hadn't seen our entrees. Eventually the waitress came to our table and informed us that there was a 30 minute wait between the placing of our order and the delivery of the food, and she announced that our appetizers arrived 28 minutes after our order. She also informed us that our entree order was sixth in line at the kitchen. She never informed us of that timing when we first ordered, and when we told her of our need to make the concert. She spoke with the manager and they were able to advance our order, and the entrees did indeed arrive five minutes later.

My cajun grouper was so dry that I left more than half of it uneaten. And I am an inveterate "clean plate" kind of guy. My son's ahi tuna was of inferior quality and was tough and tasteless, although the risotto was passable.

We paid our bill of $113 for the pain and suffering that we endured and left a 10% gratuity and vowed never to return.

We had dined at the Lobster Pound two or three time previously and enjoyed the ability to dine outdoors, and accepted the fact that their fare was not goumet quality....but we never had an experience quite like this. Last night was, without any close competition at all, the absolute worst restaurant experience of my entire life. Congratulations Lobster Pound.

But it was a great concert
 

Hopefully the bad experience did not ruin your show. Jason Aldean did a great job!

Shoulda gone to
 

I am truly sorry about your experience at Lobster Pound. You shoulda gone to Weirs The Beef in the Weirs. It would have been prompt and delicious!:liplick:

Inaccurate is putting it mildly
 

Skisox, I'm sorry to hear that you had the "worst dining experience of your life , by far" at the Lobster Pound. These are tough words for my family and my staff to swallow. I feel I am obligated to respond to such, harsh criticisim.
Let me start off by saying, if you want a quick meal before a concert, on a Friday night, in season, at 7pm, you definately picked the wrong restaurant. We have never claimed to be a fast food restaurant. Everything we make at The Lobster Pound is made fresh by hand, and cooked to order. From the chicken fingers and french fries, to our daily specials prepared by chef Dog Moyer (formerly of abondante). Our deserts are made in house by our pastry chef. We bread our own fresh clams and calmari. We do not consider The Pound to be a gourmet restaurant, we are upscale/casual. By this I mean our food is a bit upscale with items like sushi grade ahi tuna, prime steaks, and steamed lobsters, but feel free to dine in a bathing suit and flip flops. The average cook time for any of our meals is around 30mins, from the time it is placed by our server, untill it reaches your table.
I would like to talk about your experience more specifically. The server you had that evening was Amanda. She has been with us a year now, and we have never had any complaints about her service. To the contrary, she has been praised by many customers, and has a lot of regulars who request her. I printed out a copy of your complaint and sat down with Amanda to ask her what had happened with your table. She said you never informed her before ordering that you were in a rush to get to meadowbrook. Amanda asked me if I remebered expediting your entrees to the front of the line that night so you could make the concert, and I did remember as I was floating from the front to the back of the house to make sure the evening was flowing smoothly. I remeber asking her at that time, both of us standing in the kitchen, did they tell you they were in a hurry, they were headed to meadowbrook before they ordered? She replied "no."
28 minutes for your peel and eat shrimp is unacceptable. That was a mistake on our part. But you said they were like cardboard and unedible. I asked Amanda if you said anything about this to her, and if the shrimp had been eaten, and she said every shrimp on the plate was eaten. No complaints. Our waitresses are trained to bring any food that isn't eaten by a customer to a manager before it is disposed of, so the manager can check and see if the food was ok, Amanda said there was nothing but shells on the plate.
Your entrees were out in less than 35mins. On a night where we servered over 400 meals, I think that is very reasonable. You stated that the cajun grouper special was dry, we served 48 cajun grouper specials that evening, yours is the only one we recieved a complaint on. The ahi tuna your son had is a sushi grade ahi tuna, and is a staple on our menu. I apologize if it wasn't too you liking but we never get complaints on that dish. When I asked Amanda why she didnt bring the uneaten meals to a manager, she told me that the food had been completely eaten. You failed to mention the mussels and ceasar salad that you had, I hope those were ok. I was told the plates wear completly cleaned so I can only assume they were. This brings me to one obvious question, if things had gone so terribly wrong, why didn't you ask to see a manager? The worst dining experience of your life, yet you chose not to say anything to anyone, including your server?
I chose to respond to your complaint because of it's inconsistancies, and the malice with which it was written. I appreciate feedback and constructive criticisim, but to say "worst dining exprience of my life, congragultions Lobster Pound" is not warrented. The internet has made everyone an overnight, expert food critic. Words like your can damage a restaurants reputation. I wouldn't mind if the words were accurate, but they are not.

Lobster pound
 

Mike,
I have never gone to your place for a meal. But after your post you can bet I will.
You tell it like it is and if people want Macdonald for supper go there.

Mike Ray is correct. I If you want fast food go to McD's Plan ahead a little better.

Not the only one
 

Just to keep the discussion somewhat in balance here:

We also had a really bad experience with the Lobster Pound and have not returned. It was a while ago, but it was so memorable that going to the Lobster Pound elicites groans when ever it is brought up.

We went out to eat with a large group and the orders were completely mucked. I ended up waiting 2 1/2 hours for my meal and ended up telling them to just forget it. I sent email to Mike after the incident and never got a response....and yes we talked to the manager that night.

So, while I personally have no opinion about this incident...there are others.

Jetskier:cool:

Mike,I would like to say after eating at your place several times that the food and service is very good. I eat out quite abit as I travel for work and look forward to going back to the lake to the places I know I will get good food and service and yours is certainly one of those. Keep up the good job.

4 for 4
 

I'm 4 for 4 on the "Pound."

So far 4 great experiences. I have raved about the newly renovated "pound" to several people. I've gone at several different times during different seasons. All visits were great. Twice on the snowmobile, one of those times received some freebies and discounts for coming on the sled. I went this summer and my wife and I enjoyed a dinner followed by drinks up on the roof deck complete with a live band and the sox game was on the flat screens to boot.

Food was great and I have sampled a wide variety of fish from haddock to scallops and everything in between, except the Lobster, not a fan. Ironic huh? I have been with others who have had Lobster and they have gobbled it up.

Lobster Pound Website....
 

we were at the Weirs all last week and tried out a lot of places and would have tried the Lobster Pound....
as it always seemed pretty busy when we drove by.......and I'm a Lobster nut that use to live in NH.....
but when I called about the twin lobsters they have on the menu on their website for $19.99........
we were told they only have them in winter for $19.99?..... so that was bad karma to start with.......
plus what we were reading on here told us to play it safe.....
and we didn't feel like taking any chances while on vacation
so we went down to Johnsons past Alton Bay and I had the twin lobsters there for $21........
which was one of the best meals we had all last week.......
and now I understand why there is always a long line at Johnsons....

Marko
St Petersburg, FL

I did!
 

For my part, I did talk to the manager multiple times that evening. We had the dissappearing waitress and I sought out the manager. I was told mulitiple times that there was a screwup and we would be next out of the kitchen. I posted on the board and sent a message to Mike. Nada... When you screw up, you make it right. They never did...as such, I just say it like it is. Your mileage may vary.

Jetskier:cool:

We aren't perfect
 

We certainly aren't perfect jetskier, but the incidents you are refering to were years ago and I did adress them here on the forum. When we first opened we did have problems getting the food out of the kitchen, but that is over 3 years now, and we have corrected those problems. I am not making any excuses, but opening a 300+ seat restaurant is quite a daunting task. We made every mistake in the beginning, and continue to make mistakes even now, but The Lobster Pound has become a totally different restaurant . Try us again, and when you come in ask for me or my brother Rich. Ask for Jen or Bob, they are our managers. Introduce yourself, and tell us exactly what you want, and I'm sure we can accomodate you. Please don't show up on Friday or Saturday night in season at 8pm without a reservation!!!!!!!:)
I give you my word we will do the best we can and if you are not happy, the meal is on us. I just wanted to adress one other thing. Unfortunately, this past spring our web designer Paul from Belmont, NH passed away. He was a great guy and will be missed. We have been unable to change any of the content on the website because he had total control. We are in the process of building a new website, and should have it up and running soon. Thank you for your understanding on this matter.

JMHO but

1) You expected better service that everyone else?

2) At 6:55pm maybe you chose the wrong place for a "quick meal" before a concert.

First Of All, There Is No Such Thing As Rush Hour..
 

. here!
#1.The Lobster Pound has always been a great place for us! Good food, service and prices. Since 1992.

#2. Friday nights can be very busy, as some folks arrive here after driving from long distances away, and are very hungry.

#3. Now, if you should just happen to have concert tickets, to get to, and short of time, they have you covered, with good food right there on the premises. Meadowbrook, ' ROCKS TOO '!

#4. Please, do not set yourself up to a bad experience, and plan ahead. Sides, fast food with the feathers and hooves still on, cause heartburn.

Pills for desert?... Not in my world. :)



Terry
__________________________________________________

VtSteve...You're Swell
 

:DSeriously...I've read a few of your posts and you seem like a level-headed genuine person with everyone else's best interest at heart (a rare commodity these days).

So I just wanted to commend you for being a decent human being!

The nice thing about not being able to please 100% of the people 100% of the time is that those who don't like it can go somewhere else and leave families like us who love it to get a seat sooner! Keep up the good work.

2nd Slam on Lobster Pound from SkiSox24
 

Just a little interesting fact. I looked back and skisox24 had a post back in September 2008 which was not very complimentary of the Lobster Pound. They also went to Meadowbrook that night. Sounds a little suspect to me, since they seem to say nothing but good things about another seafood place which can stand on it's own without any help from negative posters.

I respect an owner who is willing to check the facts and stand up for his business even if his post may not have been popular. Why some have to try to ruin the reputation of a business and slant the facts is way beyond me.

I have not been to the Lobster Pound as it is a little bit of a drive (but I plan to now) and do not know the owners, just been sitting back the past few years reading and wonder why some take great pleasure in posting negative comments about the Lobster Pound since day one.

I can take both sides here easily.

First, if your in that much of a hurry as it's been said before go to Mcdonalds. If you want a better dining experience than a Big Mac and most people do start out MUCH earlier. However, there's been too many posts good AND bad about the Pound. It always seems like all the bad ones are exagerated (sp) what a coincidence!! There just has to be some truth to the bad experiences, I've just got to believe it.

These days a restaurant needs to get their act together quickly with their website if their going to even maintain one. It takes a week to find someone - anyone and post a message that a new site is under construction. Getting this message at least is better than inaccurate info.

BTW I've eaten there (recently) liked it...Didn't love it. I've had better meals and also worse. I have nothing to prove or gain here just another forum reader with an opinion. :D

On a scale of 1 - 10 I'd say the Pound is a dead-in-the-middle 5.

Wish we could get the real-live Phantom Gourmet there (from T.V.) to settle this dispute! :laugh::laugh::eek:

We do have the Phantom Gormand as a forum menber though!

I've only been to the Lobster Pound once and it was right after the remodel so I won't comment on the food.

But let's talk about time, if I go to a busy restaurant and I can't get a table right away, that's just my tough luck. But if you give me a table, I expect prompt service. Shouldn't I be able to expect to get my food and eat in an hour? 65 minutes seems like a long time to wait for an entree, unless the customer is pushing the server off.

I've always felt that the Lobster Pound was more about the bar scene than the food. Am I wrong?

50/50
 

I have been to LP, 9, maybe 10 times. And stated here before...the outdoor, 3rd floor bar is perhaps the finest spot to be at the lake on a warm summer, late afternoon/early evening...although you have to hit them on the right day as it is not always open (I think Thurs/Sun only, or something like that). Anyway, I have to say that the food has always been very good to excellent, and the wait staff very friendly...however, put me in the camp with those saying things never go quite perfectly. And I think my sample size is sufficient...10 times over three years. Always something...never a huge problem, as we certainly continue to go, but always something. The wait seems much longer than most restaurants, and we often eat out at peak hours. To me 30/40 minutes seems like a long time.
Other problems such as fish coming out fried instead of baked, and things like this, seem to occur often, but not the end of the world.
On my most recent trip, I had some time to kill a few Sundays back, before meeting friends to go to the Zak Brown show (not my thing, but always fun to hang out on the lawn over at Meadowbrook). I went up to the outdoor bar, caught the end of the Sox...so it must have been 4:30ish. Had some drinks, and ordered a burger Mid rare, with a slight lean toward rare being OK. Waited waited waited....waited waited waited some more. Finally asked, and the bartender said, "Holy Cow...wow, that has been a long time, let me check" and he came back with a cooked thru, completely dehydrated burger. And he knew it, and very quickly offered to replace it, but I was out of time, and needed to eat. So I had a few bites. Surprised it did not come off the bill, but I did indeed have half of it, so fair enough.
I didn't leave there angry or anything, but curious as to why something always turns wrong.

Just Wondering
 

The LP owner stated....."On a night where we servered over 400 meals".....

Lets say these meals were served between 5:00 and 9:00 pm...that's 240 minutes. (14,000 seconds) So 400 three course sit down meals would make it ONE meal out the kitchen door every 36 seconds or so...for four straight hours. ;)

That sounds like Fast Food to me, unless my math is off. That would give McDs a run for their money. Wow: How many tables, staff, and sittings does it take to do that? The kitchen must be a madhouse. I'm not suprised a meal gets screwed up once in awhile. Trouble is....That ONE meal is the one we heard about. :look: NB

we serve late
 

Nobozo, I'm just letting you know we did 436 meals between 4pm-11pm. So the kitchen hours are actually a little longer than you may have thought. Thats not counting lunch from 12pm-4pm, we did 117 lunches that friday. We are a big restuaurant, 350 seats+, thats counting indoor and outdoor.

There was no offense intended Mike...I was just talking DINNER...5:00..9:00pm. Real People Dinner Time. How many people come in at 10:30 pm and expect to be served dinner?

I assumed when you mentioned 400 meals you were talking about DINNER....which was when the unhappy customer was there. NB

BTW: I guess you didn't see my compliment that you were able to produce that many meals in a short time.

none taken
 

No offense taken at all nobozo! I just wanted to clarify.

Yup, and the original poster has slammed the LP before and this time as well, and then is never heard from again to defend his/her position once it is made and he/she is challenged on it. Basically a one trick pony. :confused:

This is not that kind of forum getagrip.
Please consider deleting your post on this family site.

I agree RG,the Lobster Pound is IMHO a very good place and concerned about their customers. I am not related or affiliated with them but have gone several times and had good food and relaxed. It seems to me that a verry select few want to pick on a subject and beat it to the ground. If you go to any business and do not have a pleasant experiance that is the time to address it and if the management doesn't choose to correct it then maybe look at options. But to blast an establishment the way this was done to me just doen't sit well. I would have spoken with someone in charge and or called to voice my dilema. Agan JMHO. LP I still like the service and the food and view from the deck.

Yup, my thoughts exactly, "Let’s stir up a little controversy, it's good for business..." It seems a little odd that Mr. Mike knew all the particulars of just what the poster had the exact times and had the right response after he admitted he had over four hundred customs that night. Now he’s got the sympathy vote of the forum after this terrible injustice. That’s got to be helping business.

I don't know Mike Ray or the Lobster Pound or the poster. I've never been to LP and will never go there, not because of this farce, but more to the point that I can't eat seafood. All the more for you.

I find any thread linked to the Lobster Pound will always be interesting reading and have to check in often for the latest installment. However, as a businessman I know the value of keeping your name out in front of the public's eye and find this just a little too odd.

I'm just saying... not accusing

WD....i think you got it wrong, but good conspiracy theory though. I think MR went back and reviewed the information in question with the particular server from that evening. He then had all the details from the server and the bill for that particualr dinner to review with.

Go back and read the others posts from the original poster and let us know if you still feel that way.

Never been there myself either, nor am I friends with any restaurant owners or employees, so no reason to have an agenda.

Although I have only been to the Lobster Pound a few times, I enjoyed each visit. The food was good and the service has been resonably prompt and friendly.

No idea why someone would expect to have a sit down dinner on a busy night in 45 minutes or less. That makes no sense to me. :rolleye2:

R2B

Fyi
 

I drive by often between 8:30 - 9:30 am, northbound, 4-6 days a week yearround.
During and the week before bike week, I could not even see that there was ever a restaurant building behind all the temporary tents and vinyl signs. I could not even see a pedestrian opening. Where would clients park a vehicle?

I hope they had a decent week!
Of course I admit that I have two opposing opinions of the entire event:
1. good for the region. Bikers will return with family for other events.
2. It's positive for only those businesses that are in direct proximity to events.

I personally know several restaurants (8-15 miles from the hub) who's regular clients stay away, therefore it's a down week for many. It's a "live with it" down week for many unrelated businesses.

It's all about "customer service"!

I've been to the LP and thoroughly enjoy the place. I know what it is, and I like it. Nice bar, good menu, I love the ribs, and the staff has served me well.

What I don;t get is why every thread about the LP is so contentious :confused:

There's nothing even remotely close to a hot button topic here. It's a big restaurant in a tourist area. It is what it is. I think Mike and company have done a good job, but opinions differ.

I'm really curious why their are actual attacks all the time on the LP, I guess I really don't get it :confused:

HUH????? What the heck did I miss. Did this thread totally do a 360 or am I just totally asleep at the wheel?

Here's the thing. We went to a local restaurant recently and both of us had a poor tasting swordfish dinner. The fish just did not taste good at all. Neither of us wanted to disturb the other four in our group all of whom seemed pleased with their dinners so we let it go and kept our mouths shut.

I have already voted with my feet on that restaurand and rarely go there any more. If you do not like the Lobster Pound, then don't go there anymore. If you like the Lobster Pound, go. It is very simple really. I had the double lobster there earlier in the summer and it was a good dinner. I wrote an honest review and let it go at that. I have not gone back because it ended up costing much more than simply cooking the lobsters at home and one can have a potato and corn and dessert etc. The lobster came only with one side and the dessert was five dollars and it just was too expensive for something that is easily cooked at home. It was a nice enough meal and a nice atmosphere though.

I see a difference between mentioning a bad meal and going over it and over it. I would not write a bad review on this Forum about a restaurant even though it might save a restaurant in the long run. If no one complains, and people vote with their feet, the customer base falls off. This is not good for the restaurant. When I hear groupies all rush in to protect their favorite restaurant, I wonder how the restaurant will know that the food was not good and look into it. The restaurant may just think that the economy is off.

I think we all know that whoever it was did not like their dinner at the Lobster Pound. Were I that owner, I would offer another meal in good faith. Say I am sorry that you did not like the meal and want to have you come back and write after you eat when you are not so rushed and we are not so rushed. These things happen. It isn't brain cancer. Obviously if it goes on then no good will come of this experience. Show this lad that you can cook a good meal and try to improve if you can, but in the end the buck stops with you, the restaurant owners. If most people are satisfied you will not have a problem. Any person who complains in the fashion of this poster, needs to immediately be invited back with a olive branch not a list of excuses. That is just good business.

Steve,

You are correct- the LP does seem to be polarizing. Perhaps because diners seem to have (based on the posts above and in other threads) widely varying experiences.

I stop in from time to time when out on the bike and have lunch. It can take a few minutes longer than I would like but if you are sitting on the roof deck, the views outweigh the wait!

I agree,the veiw from the deck is great which is where I go. And when it comes to food as long as it's good (which I have always found it to be there ) I don't mind it abit. I think tomorrow will be a great day for some time with my daughter on the deck.

amateur hour
 

We were seated at a table on the deck at the Lobster Pound at Weirs Beach at 6:55PM. We told our waitress that we had concert tickets and would like to be given attentive service.

Showing up without reservations at 7pm on a weekend night at the height of the season and expecting anything other than waiting your turn makes you one of the many amateurs who show up at area restaurants around here. Were it my restaurant and I expected a 400+ head count that night, you would have been shown the door as your expectations are clearly warped. Next time pack a sandwich. They are workers, not wizards.

Leave Earlier...
 

A bit brusque, but nicely worded. It reminds me of an annoying sign put up by a secretary in my office: