Lobster Pound Disaster

[skisox24]

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.