The Lobster Pound

[sa meredith]

This review is really not all negative, and truth be told, I would not even think of posting it, if not for what has become a very recurring theme. But when there is an elephant in the room, it is sort of hard to ignore it. My story:
Last night (Tuesday, 8/4/09), after boating all day on what was quite possibly the finest boat day of the year (sand bar over by West Alton, tubing in Winter Harbor with wife and a bunch of her friends) we decided to head out for a quick bite and drinks after the company had left.
I didn't want to spend a ton, and said, "let's head over to Lobster Pound for drinks and a couple apps at the third floor outdoor bar". I had been 3 times (without her)and always loved it, so figured the two of us would have a great time. It was 6:30, sun was very warm, and being there, at the bar, seemed to be the perfect idea.
Well, upon entering, we learned the outdoor bar is Friday/Saturday only(really????In the middle of summer?). Too bad. The bar was the only reason I wanted to go. Oh well...as we were already there, we figured we might as well get a table, and have dinner. So we asked for a table outside and were seated rght away.
Long story short, from here....food great. Very expensive, but great. Not a bad thing to say. We both loved every bite. The service...quite another story (remember the part about the recurring theme?).
We ordered: Baked stuffed scallops, salad with vinaigrette...Baked stuffed haddock, salad blue cheese. wait wait wait....wait wait wait...here come two salads, both with vinaigrette. Wife asks, "is this blue cheese?" Problem is fixed very quickly. Great.
And now the food....out comes baked stuffed scallops, and FRIED haddock. UUmmmmmmm...."this is wrong". So the server says OK, and grabs her plate to leave and says he will have them make a baked stuff. So I stop him, to ask if we should eat in "shifts". Me first (as he left my plate in front of me). Then her. Clearly I'm not going to do that.
So he removes both....and 15 minutes later, both meals come out, and are perfect.
But why, oh why, does LP have so many stories of bad service.
It was not at all busy. So I just don't get it. Until last night, I had loved it there, but never sat down for a full dinner.
There is certainly some communication problem here.
Food is great, however.

[VtSteve]

My life flashed before my eyes when I read that. NO OUTDOOR BAR?????

Whew.... I'm heading over on a Friday so that's OK..

I'm not sure what pricey is anymore. You can pay $15 to $20 a head for crap, or not much more for great food. The apps will kill the bill for sure, as will cocktails. I've probably saved almost $1,000 in gas alone by not boating much this summer, so not in much pain.

[mike ray]

Originally Posted by sa meredith

This review is really not all negative, and truth be told, I would not even think of posting it, if not for what has become a very recurring theme. But when there is an elephant in the room, it is sort of hard to ignore it. My story:
Last night (Tuesday, 8/4/09), after boating all day on what was quite possibly the finest boat day of the year (sand bar over by West Alton, tubing in Winter Harbor with wife and a bunch of her friends) we decided to head out for a quick bite and drinks after the company had left.
I didn't want to spend a ton, and said, "let's head over to Lobster Pound for drinks and a couple apps at the third floor outdoor bar". I had been 3 times (without her)and always loved it, so figured the two of us would have a great time. It was 6:30, sun was very warm, and being there, at the bar, seemed to be the perfect idea.
Well, upon entering, we learned the outdoor bar is Friday/Saturday only(really????In the middle of summer?). Too bad. The bar was the only reason I wanted to go. Oh well...as we were already there, we figured we might as well get a table, and have dinner. So we asked for a table outside and were seated rght away.
Long story short, from here....food great. Very expensive, but great. Not a bad thing to say. We both loved every bite. The service...quite another story (remember the part about the recurring theme?).
We ordered: Baked stuffed scallops, salad with vinaigrette...Baked stuffed haddock, salad blue cheese. wait wait wait....wait wait wait...here come two salads, both with vinaigrette. Wife asks, "is this blue cheese?" Problem is fixed very quickly. Great.
And now the food....out comes baked stuffed scallops, and FRIED haddock. UUmmmmmmm...."this is wrong". So the server says OK, and grabs her plate to leave and says he will have them make a baked stuff. So I stop him, to ask if we should eat in "shifts". Me first (as he left my plate in front of me). Then her. Clearly I'm not going to do that.
So he removes both....and 15 minutes later, both meals come out, and are perfect.
But why, oh why, does LP have so many stories of bad service.
It was not at all busy. So I just don't get it. Until last night, I had loved it there, but never sat down for a full dinner.
There is certainly some communication problem here.
Food is great, however.

unfortunately the weather has been so terrible this summer it has been hard to get the deck open. we have to make decisions on when to open the deck early in the day based on the weather forecast. if the forecast calls for thundershowers late in the day we are forced to cut our staff early and the entertainment. the deck is open usually wed-sun, but weather is always a factor. that is why we have our covered patio. it gives you an outdoor feel but you are protected from the rain.
as for the service, thats the first complaint we have had in a long time. if you look back at our negative posts there hasnt been any in quite a while. of course we do make mistakes from time to time. on wwekdays we are averaging 300-350 meals each day, and with that kind of volume, there is bound to be a couple of small mistakes. anytime we make a mistake we are more than willing to correct them in any way possible.
as far as price is concerned, our drinks match the other establishments in the area. our red sox beer special is one of the cheapest draft beer specials around. as for the food prices, you cannot charge any less than we charge now for the quality of food that we serve. we will go out of business. our scallops are u-8, which means 8 to a pound from ipswich shellfish. they are the best money can buy. our shrimp cocktail is u 6-8/ to a pound. they are the freshest shrimp around. for our lobster rolls, we steam lobsters every morning, crack them, then make our lobster salad and lobster pies. they are fresh, hard shell lobsters. our fried seafood is actually breaded and baddered with our own recipe, and cooked to order. it is never frozen. you can go to other places around and get a 13 dollar lobster roll, but here is my question, do you see a lobster tank at d'angelos or any of the "dairy bars" around? next time you go for a 13 dollar lobster roll, ask them to bring out just one live lobster, my bet is, they cannot.
you pay for the quality that you get at the lobster pound. we never intended on being a fast food resturant, and we never will be. we will always serve the best quality foods and for that it may take a bit longer, and cost a few dollars more, but if quality food is what you want the pound is the place.

[sa meredith]

Mike...not trying to do battle in any way. In fact, please re-read my post.
I quote...regarding the food, "very expensive but great. Not a bad thing to say. We loved every bite".
How can you read this, and then write a whole post explaining the quality of your food? I said it was great.
And the only issue I had with the outdoor bar, was that it was closed. I love that part of LP, and it is what drew us in. Been up there three times, and loved evey one.
But Mike...you said no complaints about service in a while...please read post 58, dated 7/9/09. Similar post...great food, service a bit off.
And two mistakes inthe same visit...yeah, of course the wrong dressing on a salad is no big deal at all, but when the wrong entre comes out...well then you have to assume someone is just not paying attention.
Thanks for explaining about the prices. Very expensive was the wrong thing to say. The food is well worth it.
As an aside, if it is a party of two, would you agree both entres shoud return to the kitchen so the couple may enjoy their meals together?

[mike ray]

I was just offering explanations to why our roofdeck wasnt open, and why our food is priced the way it is. My tone wasnt meant to be combative or defensive. As far as the posts go, that was one post about a month ago. we havent had any action on the forum good or bad for a while now. That leads me to believe things are going pretty well seeing as how most of what gets reported on the forum is negative. being at the pound each day, I get the customers feedback instantaneouesly and as I said before, we do make mistakes. servers do make errors and so does the kitchen, but you said its a common theme at the pound, and I'm saying it's just not the case. When you do the amount of volume we do it is impossible to make everybody happy. Some customers you cant make happy no matter what you do.
In your case, yes, the server did make mistakes.Those are problems that happen everyday in every resturant and we will work hard to stay on top of them. SA I do have one question for you though. Did I read before that you are a resturant owner in the area? If I'm wrong, I apologise in advance, but I was always taught that resturant owners never point out negative things about other peoples establishments. I guess I just find it strange that any resturant owner would criticize another establishment. Obviously you have the right to give your honest opinion, but me personally, when I write about other places I have been to, I write about the positive parts of the expirence and don not report the negative. I think thats what almost all resturanteurs do, and again, if I am mistaking you with someone else, I apologize.

[mike ray]

Originally Posted by mike ray

I was just offering explanations to why our roofdeck wasnt open, and why our food is priced the way it is. My tone wasnt meant to be combative or defensive. As far as the posts go, that was one post about a month ago. we havent had any action on the forum good or bad for a while now. That leads me to believe things are going pretty well seeing as how most of what gets reported on the forum is negative. being at the pound each day, I get the customers feedback instantaneouesly and as I said before, we do make mistakes. servers do make errors and so does the kitchen, but you said its a common theme at the pound, and I'm saying it's just not the case. When you do the amount of volume we do it is impossible to make everybody happy. Some customers you cant make happy no matter what you do.
In your case, yes, the server did make mistakes.Those are problems that happen everyday in every resturant and we will work hard to stay on top of them. SA I do have one question for you though. Did I read before that you are a resturant owner in the area? If I'm wrong, I apologise in advance, but I was always taught that resturant owners never point out negative things about other peoples establishments. I guess I just find it strange that any resturant owner would criticize another establishment. Obviously you have the right to give your honest opinion, but me personally, when I write about other places I have been to, I write about the positive parts of the expirence and don not report the negative. I think thats what almost all resturanteurs do, and again, if I am mistaking you with someone else, I apologize.

sorry SA. I realize you were not the person I was thinking of. I tried to edit and remove the post but I guess I cant. my apologizes and I reposted, and took out the ending.

[Nagigator]

Not ever having been to the Lobster Barn, I can't give an opinion on service. But if you are served one good meal out of two, and need to send one back, it makes sense to me to split that good one first, and then split the second one, also, as it comes out. As a former waitress and bartender, and of course patron, there is nothing worse that waiting for something that has already been placed in front of you. Yes, you may not get want you ordered at first,but the staff will usually go that extra mile after that. IMHO.

[mike ray]

I was just offering explanations to why our roofdeck wasnt open, and why our food is priced the way it is. My tone wasnt meant to be combative or defensive. As far as the posts go, that was one post about a month ago. we havent had any action on the forum good or bad for a while now. That leads me to believe things are going pretty well seeing as how most of what gets reported on the forum is negative. being at the pound each day, I get the customers feedback instantaneouesly and as I said before, we do make mistakes. servers do make errors and so does the kitchen, but you said its a common theme at the pound, and I'm saying it's just not the case. When you do the amount of volume we do it is impossible to make everybody happy. Some customers you cant make happy no matter what you do.
In your case, yes, the server did make mistakes.Those are problems that happen everyday in every resturant and we will work hard to stay on top of them.

[sa meredith]

No. Not a restaurant owner. In fact, as of 8/31, an unemployed sales manager.
What I did post was that my wife was GM and a minority owner of a restaurant that indeed has a location in the lakes region.
I have also posted that I have visited your place (LP) with another GM and minority owner of the restaurants, that could not say enough about how great your place was. He was impressed by every aspect of LP. The building, the outdoor bar, the food, the service. In fact, Mike, please re-read post #127 of the following thread:
http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ead.php?t=6155

Anyway, I've never had a bad thing to say. I like LP quite a bit.
And to be honest, my post today was 50/50 negative/positive. How many times did I say the food was great?
It's all good Mike...no more negative LP stuff from me.
I'll be back, when the outdoor bar is open.

[Allday]

Ate there last Sunday the food was excellent, thanks Mike and team