New to the area and wanted to try out the Thursday Night Prime Rib Special, but was very disappointed with the entire experience. From the food to the service and then how they so called solved the problem everything was poor.My parents and I asked for medium rare, and it’s supposed to come with a salad, a baked potato, and a roll. Salad was okay, prime rib was well done, baked potato was not cooked all the way and no roll was served. My daughter order chicken tenders and fries and they were pink inside. Also thigh meat which was an and choice. But T he color of the breading was an odd shade of burnt brown. I then decided that I should say something because this all seemed wrong. The bartender helped and tried to make it right. Our server “Trinity” came out to say that let me quote her on this because it was one of the craziest things I’ve heard (I also have a restaurant background) “the prime rib comes in a big piece of meat and it’s pre cooked and there are only a few pieces that are medium rare”. I then told her I’ve never heard of such a thing and said I’ll just wait for a new one to take to go. She came back out again and said “I have more information, it’s really hard to get prime rib to be medium rare because it comes done and if people want it well done then it would take too much time to cook”. I told her I have ordered it many times and that’s never been part of my experience but if that was the case why didn’t she say they couldn’t do medium rare. She told me it wasn’t her fault and I said if that was the case you should’ve come back to tell the customer that you couldn’t offer it. She also stated that the potato was cooked to which I replied no I can’t cut it with my fork it’s hard. She had a terrible attitude and terrible table manners. It’s like she wanted to argue to which I replied I’m not interested in arguing with you. She told me she’s not but her body language was aggressive. I thought that was the end of it. Paid full price for the meal. Went home and received a raw steak. Cold to the touch. I live 2 minutes from the restaurant. It would be impossible to be cold from the drive. Also didn’t she say that they didn’t have any medium rare steaks left? Interesting because I got a raw steak. They purposely gave me a raw steak. See picture. I will not be returning, nor will I recommend to anyone around town. For the record I live here and not just someone passing through. Good luck to you Trinity because with that service and attitude you won’t make it long.Kid-friendliness: Not great options for kids. What little kid wants pink chicken that’s thigh meat with questionable breading
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Steak Special, Fries
raye butler
Menu was sports bar type,I don't normally come to sport bars,but I was with family.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Janet DeGreenia
The prime rib dinner special was great!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
josh m
Use to be our favorite place for local shrimp, always had good service. Came down today and they changed the menu to BBQ, one dish with local shrimp and its BBQ as well. Will probably still stop by every now and then but not every week like we normally do.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shrimp and Grits, Boom Boom Shrimp
Adam Gasper
Gave this spot a try for something different, went on a Wednesday evening. It was pretty quiet only a few others in the restaurant but that’s about most of the good things I can say about it. Started out good, but the server kept scratching their belly u see their shirt while we ordering and it was a little gross. Ordered some fried seafood, and shrimp with a crab dip app. The dip was mostly crackers, didn’t taste at all like crab, the fried oysters were decent, but the sides all tasted like they had been made several days ago and were just reheated when needed. Maybe we will give it another go and just try pizza, but would not go back again to eat a sit down dinner. Disappointed cause the view is amazing so we wanted another on the river option, but this is not it.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Thomas Gearhart
Food was cold, best thing brought out was the french fries. I wont be bringing my family back to this restaurant.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Zachary Giebner
A very nice Sunday brunch, even though the regular menu has this fish sandwich which is the best in town. Jada is a top notch server.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Blackened Fish Sandwich, Fried Shrimp, Boom Boom Shrimp
Eric Moody
Fantastic everything! Our server Jada was awesome and very friendly. Request her when you get there!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fried Shrimp, Steak Special
Mark Boleski
Needed a relaxing evening, Wife picked this place out. Atmosphere is no family friendly ,Apps are good, Blacken Scollops, Shrimp, Fried Oysters, okra,Personal
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Boom Boom Shrimp
Denise G.
ExteriorThey are located right at the Darien Bridge, if you're traveling north on Hwy 17, coming from Brunswick, you hang an immediate left as soon as you come off the bridge. There is a short single row of parking right along storefront and I noticed several times during my month-long stay in town that when they get busy, patrons sorta make their own parking spots. Lol. I don't think anyone gets towed but Fri and Sat nights make for some interesting parking solutions.InteriorI'd been here before back when it was the Spartina Grill and I don't think thr interior changed. Muted lighting (not too dark), with tables spaced nicely and a bar. There's also an semi-outdoor area on the riverfront where you can sit if you have a well-behaved pup. More on this later. FoodI ate here three times while I was in town. The first visit, I had a bluff burger (cheddar, bacon jam on the side, no onions, no pickles, extra tomatoes). The side options were plentiful and the hostess / server recommended the sidewinder fries (curly fries) but I'm one of the few individuals who doesn't like curly fries (they tend to wind up undercooked in random places) and add to that I'd eaten a LOT of potatoes / french fries since my arrival in town, so I went with a side salad, extra tomatoes. They forgot to put my bacon jam on he side (I had to peel it off to give to Gizmo), but otherwise it was a solid burger. And I had to re-request extra tomatoes on the salad. My second visit I had the grilled chicken sandwich with a side salad. The chicken was a little tough but it was seasoned really well. My final visit I had the chicken quesadilla with the seasonal vegetables as a side. This is the only meal I would not re-order. The chicken portion was tiny and I kept encountering bits of skin and bone fragments. On the one hand, I'm impressed that they appear to be deboning and preparing their chicken, in-house. But on the other hand, it really was unpleasant having to spit out chicken bone fragments. The vegetable medley was also a swing and a miss. Some of the veggies were great (zucchini and yellow squash), but the onions and tomatoes were an overcooked mess. And that reminds me, the pico de gallo was basically pureed. It was more like marinara sauce than pico. Price / ValueI think the food items are priced well. Especially in light of the riverfront dining option. Customer ServiceCustomer service varied. For the most part it was pleasant. The only real issue I encountered was the night I tried to place a phone order & I couldn't reach them. One of their listed numbers was a fax number. The other number was ringing about 20 times then fax machine screeching. Eventually, I drove up there. I could see inside clearly. The bartender entertaining a group of folks & a dog. And 4 servers were seated & hostess was standing at 1 table, all talking, laughing & occasionally petting another dog. I'd been doing 'landscaping,' cleaning & hauling bags of clothes & stuff to Goodwill all day. I felt grungy but I was tired & hungry. I was driving my Dad's old truck that had been parked for over 4 months & the battery is persnickety so I didn't want to shut the engine off. Add to that, I had Gizmo with me and he can be reactive around other dogs. He's fine if he's off leash at the dog park. He's fine if he's with J or anyone else but me. But if he's with me, it's a roll of the dice whether he's gonna stick out his chest and try to fight every dog in the immediate vicinity. Under normal circumstances, I would have been fine with leaving him in the car for 2 minutes to place an order, since I was parked near the door, but I didn't trust him to not stand up and inadvertently lock me out of the car and I didn't bring the dog carrier on this trip. Suffice it to say, the situation warranted a phone order. So I pick Gizmo up & awkwardly open the door (purse in one hand, armful of squirming dog in the other) and stick my foot & hea
Super friendly staff!! The owners are fabulous, friendly and hands on which always makes for a great experience. If your in Darien make sure to take in this experience, you will thank me for sure.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kinsey Thompson
I went out to this bar two nights in a row after wedding festivities and the first night there was great. Staff was friendly and working their hardest to serve our group and all other customers will being personable and calm. The second night there (9/23/23) I ordered one rum and coke and i left the tab open for myself to use throughout the night. I had a friend buy me my second drink which was also my last and once we were all done enjoying this establishment I went to close my tab and the bartender said he didn’t have my card because I already closed it. I indeed did not and I looked at my transactions and there was a charge for $19.12 from over an hour ago. I ordered 1 drink so this is already too much to charge me but also they gave away my credit card to someone else. The bartender accused me of losing my card myself after he gave it back to me which never happened for me to personally lose my own card. The other bartender on duty was awesome trying to go through all the receipts from that night but she couldnt even find the receipt for the tab on my card! This morning I see there’s been activity on my card from a state away so clearly I was accused of being crazy for saying they gave my card away. Yes the card is locked and cancelled now but I did not appreciate being told this was my fault when the bartender was the last person to have my card before it ended up hours away from the establishment.
Atmosphere: 3
Service: 1
Polly Walker
Well, actually we barely got our foot in the door a few nights ago at 8:40 and were told the kitchen was closed … DUH !The hours for closing was 9pm! If you say 9 that means the kitchen is still open for customers!!! Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that … needless to say we will never return . We come to Darien several times a year , love Darien ❤️❤️❤️
Katherine B
We had a fun time sitting on the screened porch and watching the river flow by. Our custom designed wood fired pizza and Caesar salad were delicious. Also enjoyed the pretzel bites! Service was very friendly and prompt. This will be one of our go to places when we visit Darien.
Allan Rosing
Fresh seafood. Whiting. Fried seafood including oysters and calamari. Fast service on a slow night. Recommended.
New to the area and wanted to try out the Thursday Night Prime Rib Special, but was very disappointed with the entire experience. From the food to the service and then how they so called solved the problem everything was poor.My parents and I asked for medium rare, and it’s supposed to come with a salad, a baked potato, and a roll. Salad was okay, prime rib was well done, baked potato was not cooked all the way and no roll was served. My daughter order chicken tenders and fries and they were pink inside. Also thigh meat which was an and choice. But T he color of the breading was an odd shade of burnt brown. I then decided that I should say something because this all seemed wrong. The bartender helped and tried to make it right. Our server “Trinity” came out to say that let me quote her on this because it was one of the craziest things I’ve heard (I also have a restaurant background) “the prime rib comes in a big piece of meat and it’s pre cooked and there are only a few pieces that are medium rare”. I then told her I’ve never heard of such a thing and said I’ll just wait for a new one to take to go. She came back out again and said “I have more information, it’s really hard to get prime rib to be medium rare because it comes done and if people want it well done then it would take too much time to cook”. I told her I have ordered it many times and that’s never been part of my experience but if that was the case why didn’t she say they couldn’t do medium rare. She told me it wasn’t her fault and I said if that was the case you should’ve come back to tell the customer that you couldn’t offer it. She also stated that the potato was cooked to which I replied no I can’t cut it with my fork it’s hard. She had a terrible attitude and terrible table manners. It’s like she wanted to argue to which I replied I’m not interested in arguing with you. She told me she’s not but her body language was aggressive. I thought that was the end of it. Paid full price for the meal. Went home and received a raw steak. Cold to the touch. I live 2 minutes from the restaurant. It would be impossible to be cold from the drive. Also didn’t she say that they didn’t have any medium rare steaks left? Interesting because I got a raw steak. They purposely gave me a raw steak. See picture. I will not be returning, nor will I recommend to anyone around town. For the record I live here and not just someone passing through. Good luck to you Trinity because with that service and attitude you won’t make it long.Kid-friendliness: Not great options for kids. What little kid wants pink chicken that’s thigh meat with questionable breading
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Steak Special, Fries
Menu was sports bar type,I don't normally come to sport bars,but I was with family.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
The prime rib dinner special was great!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Use to be our favorite place for local shrimp, always had good service. Came down today and they changed the menu to BBQ, one dish with local shrimp and its BBQ as well. Will probably still stop by every now and then but not every week like we normally do.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shrimp and Grits, Boom Boom Shrimp
Gave this spot a try for something different, went on a Wednesday evening. It was pretty quiet only a few others in the restaurant but that’s about most of the good things I can say about it. Started out good, but the server kept scratching their belly u see their shirt while we ordering and it was a little gross. Ordered some fried seafood, and shrimp with a crab dip app. The dip was mostly crackers, didn’t taste at all like crab, the fried oysters were decent, but the sides all tasted like they had been made several days ago and were just reheated when needed. Maybe we will give it another go and just try pizza, but would not go back again to eat a sit down dinner. Disappointed cause the view is amazing so we wanted another on the river option, but this is not it.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Food was cold, best thing brought out was the french fries. I wont be bringing my family back to this restaurant.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
A very nice Sunday brunch, even though the regular menu has this fish sandwich which is the best in town. Jada is a top notch server.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Blackened Fish Sandwich, Fried Shrimp, Boom Boom Shrimp
Fantastic everything! Our server Jada was awesome and very friendly. Request her when you get there!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fried Shrimp, Steak Special
Needed a relaxing evening, Wife picked this place out. Atmosphere is no family friendly ,Apps are good, Blacken Scollops, Shrimp, Fried Oysters, okra,Personal
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Boom Boom Shrimp
ExteriorThey are located right at the Darien Bridge, if you're traveling north on Hwy 17, coming from Brunswick, you hang an immediate left as soon as you come off the bridge. There is a short single row of parking right along storefront and I noticed several times during my month-long stay in town that when they get busy, patrons sorta make their own parking spots. Lol. I don't think anyone gets towed but Fri and Sat nights make for some interesting parking solutions.InteriorI'd been here before back when it was the Spartina Grill and I don't think thr interior changed. Muted lighting (not too dark), with tables spaced nicely and a bar. There's also an semi-outdoor area on the riverfront where you can sit if you have a well-behaved pup. More on this later. FoodI ate here three times while I was in town. The first visit, I had a bluff burger (cheddar, bacon jam on the side, no onions, no pickles, extra tomatoes). The side options were plentiful and the hostess / server recommended the sidewinder fries (curly fries) but I'm one of the few individuals who doesn't like curly fries (they tend to wind up undercooked in random places) and add to that I'd eaten a LOT of potatoes / french fries since my arrival in town, so I went with a side salad, extra tomatoes. They forgot to put my bacon jam on he side (I had to peel it off to give to Gizmo), but otherwise it was a solid burger. And I had to re-request extra tomatoes on the salad. My second visit I had the grilled chicken sandwich with a side salad. The chicken was a little tough but it was seasoned really well. My final visit I had the chicken quesadilla with the seasonal vegetables as a side. This is the only meal I would not re-order. The chicken portion was tiny and I kept encountering bits of skin and bone fragments. On the one hand, I'm impressed that they appear to be deboning and preparing their chicken, in-house. But on the other hand, it really was unpleasant having to spit out chicken bone fragments. The vegetable medley was also a swing and a miss. Some of the veggies were great (zucchini and yellow squash), but the onions and tomatoes were an overcooked mess. And that reminds me, the pico de gallo was basically pureed. It was more like marinara sauce than pico. Price / ValueI think the food items are priced well. Especially in light of the riverfront dining option. Customer ServiceCustomer service varied. For the most part it was pleasant. The only real issue I encountered was the night I tried to place a phone order & I couldn't reach them. One of their listed numbers was a fax number. The other number was ringing about 20 times then fax machine screeching. Eventually, I drove up there. I could see inside clearly. The bartender entertaining a group of folks & a dog. And 4 servers were seated & hostess was standing at 1 table, all talking, laughing & occasionally petting another dog. I'd been doing 'landscaping,' cleaning & hauling bags of clothes & stuff to Goodwill all day. I felt grungy but I was tired & hungry. I was driving my Dad's old truck that had been parked for over 4 months & the battery is persnickety so I didn't want to shut the engine off. Add to that, I had Gizmo with me and he can be reactive around other dogs. He's fine if he's off leash at the dog park. He's fine if he's with J or anyone else but me. But if he's with me, it's a roll of the dice whether he's gonna stick out his chest and try to fight every dog in the immediate vicinity. Under normal circumstances, I would have been fine with leaving him in the car for 2 minutes to place an order, since I was parked near the door, but I didn't trust him to not stand up and inadvertently lock me out of the car and I didn't bring the dog carrier on this trip. Suffice it to say, the situation warranted a phone order. So I pick Gizmo up & awkwardly open the door (purse in one hand, armful of squirming dog in the other) and stick my foot & hea
Restaurantji Recommends
Super friendly staff!! The owners are fabulous, friendly and hands on which always makes for a great experience. If your in Darien make sure to take in this experience, you will thank me for sure.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I went out to this bar two nights in a row after wedding festivities and the first night there was great. Staff was friendly and working their hardest to serve our group and all other customers will being personable and calm. The second night there (9/23/23) I ordered one rum and coke and i left the tab open for myself to use throughout the night. I had a friend buy me my second drink which was also my last and once we were all done enjoying this establishment I went to close my tab and the bartender said he didn’t have my card because I already closed it. I indeed did not and I looked at my transactions and there was a charge for $19.12 from over an hour ago. I ordered 1 drink so this is already too much to charge me but also they gave away my credit card to someone else. The bartender accused me of losing my card myself after he gave it back to me which never happened for me to personally lose my own card. The other bartender on duty was awesome trying to go through all the receipts from that night but she couldnt even find the receipt for the tab on my card! This morning I see there’s been activity on my card from a state away so clearly I was accused of being crazy for saying they gave my card away. Yes the card is locked and cancelled now but I did not appreciate being told this was my fault when the bartender was the last person to have my card before it ended up hours away from the establishment.
Atmosphere: 3
Service: 1
Well, actually we barely got our foot in the door a few nights ago at 8:40 and were told the kitchen was closed … DUH !The hours for closing was 9pm! If you say 9 that means the kitchen is still open for customers!!! Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that … needless to say we will never return . We come to Darien several times a year , love Darien ❤️❤️❤️
We had a fun time sitting on the screened porch and watching the river flow by. Our custom designed wood fired pizza and Caesar salad were delicious. Also enjoyed the pretzel bites! Service was very friendly and prompt. This will be one of our go to places when we visit Darien.
Fresh seafood. Whiting. Fried seafood including oysters and calamari. Fast service on a slow night. Recommended.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5