Our server smelt so bad it made me feel sick. Serious body odor and cigarettes. Also we reserved the lounge but got a table top instead. Our server didn’t come and take our order we had to flag him down after waiting awhile for him to come back. My drink and french fries were good but that was it.
Blair Dow
Let me start by saying I’ve been a die hard fan of The Wilder for the last 3-4 years and even claimed it as my favorite restaurant at one point. Unfortunately, the last couple of experiences have fallen short of the experience they previously delivered.
Firstly, I attempted to make a reservation online weeks in advance but the Saturday night I needed was unavailable. This was unusual, so I placed a call to the restaurant which went to an automated voicemail that instructed me to leave a message with my reservation request and someone would get back to me. I did that, but never heard anything back. Tried calling a couple more times over the span of a week or so thinking that perhaps I had caught them during a busy rush when no one could answer the phone, but that proved not to be the case as I never did speak to an actual person. Perhaps my next action was my own fatal flaw, as I reached out via social media to inquire about a reservation. I mentioned the online reservation system issue and assured them that if they were closed for some reason or simply maxed their reservations for that night, it was no problem, I just wanted to know so I could plan accordingly as I had some friends coming from out of town and we would be coming from over an hour away. The person manning the account, to my surprise, messaged back pretty instantaneously and said that there was a semi-private function happening that night but that they could squeeze us in. Great! Gave my name, party number, and time for the reservation and was told it was no problem at all. On arrival for our reservation, however, the restaurant had no record of this and my poor friends (who I dropped off to check in while I found parking) were made to feel as though they were lying about having a reservation and ultimately received some attitude before being begrudgingly sat by the bar and told that we would need to leave before their next reservation due for that table… which wasn’t until 2+ hours later, so I failed to understand why this was such a stressor. Nevertheless, when I sat down and my friends told me what happened, I went to speak to the host to show this social media exchange and reassure them that I was told I had a reservation, apologized for the apparent miscommunication, and thanked them for seating us. He then directed me to speak to a woman who identified herself as the general manager and, on showing her the same exchange, expressed frustration that the restaurant owner is the one who runs their social media and that he had given us bad information without checking the books himself or bothering to put the reservation in or even letting anyone else know to do so. Mistakes happen sometimes, I get it, and ultimately we were still sat, albeit a bit rudely.
Next, our drinks were sickeningly sweet and we would have sworn they contained no alcohol. Our food wasn’t much better. The poutine that we normally scarf down and debate ordering a second dish was just okay. Lots of potatoes, not a lot of short rib, cheese curds, or gravy. We tried an array of other shareables as well and a few entrees (e.g. queso, falafel tots, brussel sprouts, oysters, mussels, and monkfish) and most everything was mediocre at best. The mussels tasted bad and we didn’t eat them. We already felt like a “problem” re: the reservation issue and where everything was pretty subpar, we cut our losses and paid the tab and remarked that we probably wouldn’t come back.
One positive, our server (cannot recall their name but they wore a light blue button down shirt with mushrooms on it) was the highlight of this most recent visit. Pleasant, attentive, and conscientious - really just on the ball despite how chaotic everything else was. Absolutely no complaints there. Other servers in recent visits have failed to check in for long periods of time (well after drinks/water have run dry), so this was really appreciated.
I’d really like to see this feedback taken constructively and for The Wilder to make a comeback from this do
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
Dani Matt
This place is trash. The pour on a bourbon was half of what it should be. There were flies all around our table trying to get in our food. Landed in our drinks. My husband ordered the burger medium and it was over cooked. The gnocchi was SWIMMING in oil. First and last time visiting, sad because the menu sounds amazing but isn't executed well. I emailed the manager weeks ago, on 11/16. They couldn't even bother to respond. Would not recommend.
Owners response proved my point. We were pleasant in the restaurant, tipped normally despite the horrid food because it wasn't the waitresses fault. Even she looked embarrassed to bring the food out. I emailed you privately not even asking for anything just to make you aware, but you never responded. Only when you are called out in public do you respond. I hope others sort by newest comments and read the owner's responses to all.
It was a bison burger, not a smash burger. There is no way that was butter, I know the difference. $197 for garbage. I look forward to coming back to check on your reviews in a few months and seeing not only your score dwindle, but hoping to see "under new ownership" or "permanently closed". You aren't cut out for this business.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
R. “R” R.
We came for a NYE dinner. The service was super slow. The drinks, when they finally came, were weak and glasses weren’t full. For the price, I expected more. We ordered a few apps and a few rounds of drinks, and then decided not to eat because everything was taking too long. I did enjoy the $30 nest and cheese board. Apps and drinks for 6 people was almost $300, I left hungry and not buzzed.
Kid-friendliness: not a place for your gremlins
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 3
Jonathan Manton
Best cocktail we had in Portsmouth
Kid-friendliness: Has a kids menu and was generally kid friendly. We went on a busy Saturday night and ours were the only kids in the place but the staff made our kids feel welcome which we really appreciated
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Candice Bigjohn
Waited 20 minutes for someone to even come say hello. Once the waiter finally came over, he just handed us a menu without greeting us while talking to a table that was leaving. I could understand if they were really busy, but they weren't. It was just crappy service. We decided to leave and thankfully we found Dwyer's which had excellent service! I highly recommend going there versus this place
Service: 1
Justin Hayes
Stopped in for a drink or two. Liked the atmosphere, but unfortunately the server just kept walking past us without ever taking an order. Left after 10 minutes.
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 1
Natasha Rahal
As someone who has worked in the restaurant industry, I’m pretty shocked by the experience I had at this bar. I would not recommend going here for anyone visiting Portsmouth.
I tried going here last night with a group of 5 people. We were abruptly stopped by the bouncer and he asked us what we were doing. We told him that we were trying to go to the bar and get a drink, to which he responded “haha no you’re not” and then told us it would be a 20-25 minute wait to get it in, despite the bar being half empty… He was extremely rude to us for no reason, likely cause we looked from out of town. Left immediately after that encounter.
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Cait Crowley
Just meh. Poutine was giving frozen potatoes & jarred gravy. Burger was ok. Standard frozen diner fries with cheaper truffle oil (the one that borders a foot taste): bagged shredded cheese instead of the much more superior crumbled. Really not the move.
Lowered another star bc the owner sent me a super unprofessional message instead of inquiring on how he can better improve ?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
Jason McLarney
Shockingly rude service and bouncer compared to every other bar / restaurant we went to. Entered what looked like a half filled bar, couldn’t get served for seemingly not being local, then bouncer said it was too busy too stand at the bar.
Greeter was very rude as we came in because we didn’t have a reservation. Even though there was plenty of room. Took 20 mins for the waiter to ask for our orders. Took an additional 45 mins to get the food. They brought out wrong orders MULTIPLE times and when they finally got it correct, the food was terrible. I got the patty melt and it was literally a grilled cheese with a tiny bit of meat. My buddy got a smash burger that had a teaspoon of sauce on the entire thing and was very dry. One of the worst restaurants ive been to in a long time.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
royee chu
its a pickle dill dirty martini and fig&cacao old fashioned ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nicole Matthews
Delicious dinner and great drinks. Love the atmosphere! We had a burger and Nashville chicken sandwhich!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jen Kotlarsic
Food was good, drinks were good just very tiny espresso martinis and not worth the price.
Our server smelt so bad it made me feel sick. Serious body odor and cigarettes. Also we reserved the lounge but got a table top instead. Our server didn’t come and take our order we had to flag him down after waiting awhile for him to come back. My drink and french fries were good but that was it.
Let me start by saying I’ve been a die hard fan of The Wilder for the last 3-4 years and even claimed it as my favorite restaurant at one point. Unfortunately, the last couple of experiences have fallen short of the experience they previously delivered.
Firstly, I attempted to make a reservation online weeks in advance but the Saturday night I needed was unavailable. This was unusual, so I placed a call to the restaurant which went to an automated voicemail that instructed me to leave a message with my reservation request and someone would get back to me. I did that, but never heard anything back. Tried calling a couple more times over the span of a week or so thinking that perhaps I had caught them during a busy rush when no one could answer the phone, but that proved not to be the case as I never did speak to an actual person. Perhaps my next action was my own fatal flaw, as I reached out via social media to inquire about a reservation. I mentioned the online reservation system issue and assured them that if they were closed for some reason or simply maxed their reservations for that night, it was no problem, I just wanted to know so I could plan accordingly as I had some friends coming from out of town and we would be coming from over an hour away. The person manning the account, to my surprise, messaged back pretty instantaneously and said that there was a semi-private function happening that night but that they could squeeze us in. Great! Gave my name, party number, and time for the reservation and was told it was no problem at all. On arrival for our reservation, however, the restaurant had no record of this and my poor friends (who I dropped off to check in while I found parking) were made to feel as though they were lying about having a reservation and ultimately received some attitude before being begrudgingly sat by the bar and told that we would need to leave before their next reservation due for that table… which wasn’t until 2+ hours later, so I failed to understand why this was such a stressor. Nevertheless, when I sat down and my friends told me what happened, I went to speak to the host to show this social media exchange and reassure them that I was told I had a reservation, apologized for the apparent miscommunication, and thanked them for seating us. He then directed me to speak to a woman who identified herself as the general manager and, on showing her the same exchange, expressed frustration that the restaurant owner is the one who runs their social media and that he had given us bad information without checking the books himself or bothering to put the reservation in or even letting anyone else know to do so. Mistakes happen sometimes, I get it, and ultimately we were still sat, albeit a bit rudely.
Next, our drinks were sickeningly sweet and we would have sworn they contained no alcohol. Our food wasn’t much better. The poutine that we normally scarf down and debate ordering a second dish was just okay. Lots of potatoes, not a lot of short rib, cheese curds, or gravy. We tried an array of other shareables as well and a few entrees (e.g. queso, falafel tots, brussel sprouts, oysters, mussels, and monkfish) and most everything was mediocre at best. The mussels tasted bad and we didn’t eat them. We already felt like a “problem” re: the reservation issue and where everything was pretty subpar, we cut our losses and paid the tab and remarked that we probably wouldn’t come back.
One positive, our server (cannot recall their name but they wore a light blue button down shirt with mushrooms on it) was the highlight of this most recent visit. Pleasant, attentive, and conscientious - really just on the ball despite how chaotic everything else was. Absolutely no complaints there. Other servers in recent visits have failed to check in for long periods of time (well after drinks/water have run dry), so this was really appreciated.
I’d really like to see this feedback taken constructively and for The Wilder to make a comeback from this do
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
This place is trash. The pour on a bourbon was half of what it should be. There were flies all around our table trying to get in our food. Landed in our drinks. My husband ordered the burger medium and it was over cooked. The gnocchi was SWIMMING in oil. First and last time visiting, sad because the menu sounds amazing but isn't executed well. I emailed the manager weeks ago, on 11/16. They couldn't even bother to respond. Would not recommend.
Owners response proved my point. We were pleasant in the restaurant, tipped normally despite the horrid food because it wasn't the waitresses fault. Even she looked embarrassed to bring the food out. I emailed you privately not even asking for anything just to make you aware, but you never responded. Only when you are called out in public do you respond. I hope others sort by newest comments and read the owner's responses to all.
It was a bison burger, not a smash burger. There is no way that was butter, I know the difference. $197 for garbage. I look forward to coming back to check on your reviews in a few months and seeing not only your score dwindle, but hoping to see "under new ownership" or "permanently closed". You aren't cut out for this business.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
We came for a NYE dinner. The service was super slow. The drinks, when they finally came, were weak and glasses weren’t full. For the price, I expected more. We ordered a few apps and a few rounds of drinks, and then decided not to eat because everything was taking too long. I did enjoy the $30 nest and cheese board. Apps and drinks for 6 people was almost $300, I left hungry and not buzzed.
Kid-friendliness: not a place for your gremlins
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 3
Best cocktail we had in Portsmouth
Kid-friendliness: Has a kids menu and was generally kid friendly. We went on a busy Saturday night and ours were the only kids in the place but the staff made our kids feel welcome which we really appreciated
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Waited 20 minutes for someone to even come say hello. Once the waiter finally came over, he just handed us a menu without greeting us while talking to a table that was leaving. I could understand if they were really busy, but they weren't. It was just crappy service. We decided to leave and thankfully we found Dwyer's which had excellent service! I highly recommend going there versus this place
Service: 1
Stopped in for a drink or two. Liked the atmosphere, but unfortunately the server just kept walking past us without ever taking an order. Left after 10 minutes.
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 1
As someone who has worked in the restaurant industry, I’m pretty shocked by the experience I had at this bar. I would not recommend going here for anyone visiting Portsmouth.
I tried going here last night with a group of 5 people. We were abruptly stopped by the bouncer and he asked us what we were doing. We told him that we were trying to go to the bar and get a drink, to which he responded “haha no you’re not” and then told us it would be a 20-25 minute wait to get it in, despite the bar being half empty… He was extremely rude to us for no reason, likely cause we looked from out of town. Left immediately after that encounter.
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Just meh. Poutine was giving frozen potatoes & jarred gravy. Burger was ok. Standard frozen diner fries with cheaper truffle oil (the one that borders a foot taste): bagged shredded cheese instead of the much more superior crumbled. Really not the move.
Lowered another star bc the owner sent me a super unprofessional message instead of inquiring on how he can better improve ?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
Shockingly rude service and bouncer compared to every other bar / restaurant we went to. Entered what looked like a half filled bar, couldn’t get served for seemingly not being local, then bouncer said it was too busy too stand at the bar.
Wouldn’t recommend for people visiting the town.
Restaurantji Recommends
Greeter was very rude as we came in because we didn’t have a reservation. Even though there was plenty of room. Took 20 mins for the waiter to ask for our orders. Took an additional 45 mins to get the food. They brought out wrong orders MULTIPLE times and when they finally got it correct, the food was terrible. I got the patty melt and it was literally a grilled cheese with a tiny bit of meat. My buddy got a smash burger that had a teaspoon of sauce on the entire thing and was very dry. One of the worst restaurants ive been to in a long time.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
its a pickle dill dirty martini and fig&cacao old fashioned ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delicious dinner and great drinks. Love the atmosphere! We had a burger and Nashville chicken sandwhich!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was good, drinks were good just very tiny espresso martinis and not worth the price.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Nice spot great food and drinks
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
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