Deirdre C.
Yelp
First time here wasn't bad. We had never been to the original establishment, so had nothing to compare to as others have. It had such a bad rep among the locals we never bothered to go in. But heard from some friends how the new restaurant was a massive improvement, so had to give it a try.
We were there before 6 on a Saturday evening, and even then the place wasn't as busy as we might have expected. No wait. Most of the tables were full and a good sized crowd at the bar. Some were sitting outside on the patio as the weather was incredibly nice for end of September. Even with an almost full house, the noise level wasn't an issue at all.
Got seated immediately and the hostess brought us a bowl of fresh (rather salty - is that their trick to get us to order lot of drinks?) popcorn to munch on while we perused menus. The styrofoam bowl with a tipsy bottom was a bit of a detraction. Quite a varied menu, plus daily specials. Some vegetarian options. Our server was table side within a short span of minutes to take our beverage order and list those specials.
After some mulling, DH opted for the soft pretzel appetizer. Somehow he missed the descriptor "soft" and thought it would be more of a crunchy variety. Other than being heavily salted, like the popcorn, he said it was okay.
Me, on the other hand, had to follow my tradition of sampling the clam chowder. Phooey. Should have gone with the French onion soup. The chowder was a little bland, on the thin side and precious few clams to be found, but loads of celery, onion and bacon. Was also barely lukewarm. Bummer.
For entrées, DH was true to form and had a burger. The Old Yankee burger to be specific, sans the healthy garnishes and garlic mayo. Again he missed a detail in the menu that there are two Angus beef patties, not just one on their burgers. So it ended up being at least a half pound of beef; he was in Cholesterol Heaven. Fries were lightly seasoned.
I went for one of the specials, Lobster Mac & Cheese. Toasty hot in a cast iron skillet. Lots of big lobster chunks in this dish, and some intact claw meat hiding underneath the cavatappi (sort of a hybrid penne/rotini). Loving that! However the cheese sauce was quite soupy, requiring use of a spoon. Mac and cheese to me, should be more gooey than watery. Must be one of my many quirks. Menu said special blend of cheeses, and this will sound almost heretical (eek!), but it tasted like melted process cheese. I don't know what blend they use, and should have asked, but it was almost too cheesy, if that makes any sense. But the amount of lobster outweighed all that. And it was a big portion. Took more than half of it home. Oh, there was garlic bread of a sort. No real garlic, just some spread on a soft baguette and grilled. Tasteless, but good for dipping in the cheese sauce.
Had the leftovers for lunch today. Sprinkled a little lemon thyme from the garden over it before warming up. Toned down the cheese sauce and was a nice complement to the lobster.
This was more of a 3-3.5 star experience based on the food, but the service was awesome so we are going with 4. Our waitress was attentive frequently checking in and constantly refilling DH's diet Pepsi (almost lost a star for not being a Coke establishment;) ) and other staff were quick to take dirty dishes away. One young woman even asked if I got my chowder. Had I really liked it I might have said no, and got another bowl. She admitted she would have brought it. Ha!
They do breakfast on the weekends. We will give that a try one day and will give dinner another chance at some point as well.