Adam B.
Yelp
Sorry but this place is just not a very good restaurant ... Worcester has precious few decent restaurants, so anything above an Applebees may as well be considered fine dining. The atmosphere here is what's the worst ... it's noisy and crowded and has all the charm of a busy bus station. They redid the lighting inside and now it's incredibly bright with white fluorescent lighting that has all the ambiance of a gas station.
We were seated in the bar area in a booth. We asked if there were seats in the main restaurant, even though the atmosphere was similar, but we wanted to avoid the table of 9 college kids next to our booth. 'No.' was the answer. That would be our seat for the evening. The bar area is loud ... the ceiling bounces little bits of conversations everywhere and its like being in a constant loud airport. The bar is crowded, just as the rest of the restaurant and you are pretty much staring out into the other tables.
The crowd here are a bit rough ... lots of diners wearing sweatpants, hats and ripped jeans. There was a girl at the table next to us in ripped jean shorts that were almost obscene ... which matched her screaming the 'F-word' two or three times per minute. In terms of a special occasion restaurant where you want to dress up and go out on the town ... this ain't it anymore! The lighting is also so bright and harsh, it's almost impossible to relax.
The food is mediocre. The chowder comes in a tiny, little cup and is okay. The grilled fish is bland and just blah. Really small portions. I had the grilled shrimp, which was okay ... hard to fuck that dish up ... the odd thing was that every shrimp was a different size from small to large. Everything came with predictable 'wedding food' sides ... roasted fingerling potatoes and tiny, thin asparagus stems only, which was odd.
Prices here are fairly crazy. The best deal is the three course pre-fixe dinner but the options are very limited. There was nothing on the menu that really stood out as something I couldn't wait to order, which is why I ended up with the boring grilled shrimp. Most seafood dishes are $30+ unless you want lobster, in which case you are looking at $50+. The king crab legs were $99/lb. I never have seen prices that high ... even in NYC.
Overall, it was a regrettable, average meal in a terrible atmosphere. I'd rather have cooked at home. Everyone who went with us was let down by both their food and the overall vibe. Rarely will I leave a 1 or 2 star review but for this place, I will.