On the Friday after 4th of July this year, five adult friends, one infant and I drove 40 minutes to eat at Petey's. Â We had all been there before and thought it would be a fun outing.
I should have known it was going to be a less than pleasant experience when I pulled into their parking lot and it was too tight to make it around the corner. Â Nobody was out there managing cars to ensure other customers could get through. Â
We were seated in a decent amount of time based on our party of 7. Â The waiter was upbeat and excited that we had a little one with us. Â
Things went sour when we heard the computers went down. Â In that time, we asked for a few slices of watermelon to keep the infant entertained and quiet. Â That alone took twenty minutes. Â All we could do was drink more. Â Not a great idea on a hot, summer day, with NO food.
As our stomachs began to growl, we set a time limit. Â If the food would take longer than 90 minutes, we were getting up and leaving. Â Right at the 90 minute mark, food began to arrive. Â Unfortunately there was never an apology by the waiter or any manager. Â All they kept saying was "computer went down." Â Plus, they charged us $1.50 for the watermelon. Â Really, Petey's?! Â Maybe that should have been on the house. Â
Next time we think about driving 40 minutes to have a plate of seafood we can get anywhere nearby, I'll look back at this experience....
While the location and atmosphere may be good for this Seacoast seafood shanty be aware that management and kitchen efficiency is horrid. Order take out and plan on showing up an hour later for pick up only to be told that its not ready and wait another 30 minutes. While waiting, you can commiserate with all the other unhappy people who wait extended periods of time for even the most basic menu items. Couple that with teenagers working the takeout window with no adult supervision or clue on what's going on and you'll wish you had that Chinese food delivered to your door.
Go in the restaurant on a hot day and plan on having the air conditioning units drip condensation on you. Does the staff care? Nope.
We are local folks who support local establishments. We used to go frequently despite the cost, but within the past year, we started to ask why we continually subject ourselves to inept, uncaring management who simply doesn't have to fix any of their kitchen problems because they don't have to. Unsuspecting tourists and even locals will continue to go because it has become the norm for Peteys.
Ask for onion rings instead of fries and plan on being told no thy can't do it. Ask for double coleslaw instead of fries...nope. It's ok, charge me extra for deviating from the menu...nope.
Fried and baked seafood served on paper plates shouldn't take an hour plus to get even on a busy night. Â Eventually Mr. Petey this is gonna catch up to you and bite you in the arse. Hopefully your arrogance will not get the best of you. You have a good thing but you gotta deliver the service and the food.
Went by on a slow rainy weekday in mid-June for fish & chips (haddock). Â
The meal (to-go) included a good-sized serving of haddock nuggets and fries, with red cabbage slaw. Â The fish and fries were dull and a little heavy,, while the slaw was surprisingly good. Â At $13, the price was on the high side for fish and chips. Â The Coke was outrageous at $2.59 for a small cup: 12 oz., maybe less.
Seafood lovers that we are, we drove into Rye from Boston on Memorial day for the sole purpose of gorging on food at Petey's. Getting a parking spot can be tricky so be prepared to park on the side of the road. You will likely see cars parked for quite some distance on both sides of the restaurant because their parking lot itself is quite small. However, we were lucky in that a spot had cleared up just in front of the restaurant and we were able to park right there. Also the exterior of this place is pretty tacky but that shouldn't distract you from what awaits you inside. Inside you come face to face with some really good seafood and a place that is just abuzz with activity.
So on to the food - my wife and I took forever to decide because the choices can truly be overwhelming for someone like me who can dream of lobsters. Eventually we settled on a Medium sized Lobster Bisque, a Lobster Tail on a stick (yeah who ever heard of that), a Fried combo of scallops and shrimp and a Broiled Lobster Pie (notice a theme here!). The Lobster Bisque was OK - I have had lobster bisque that is much better than what I had at Petey's. In particular, I like bisque that has chunks of lobster meat and this one did not. With this, you get a lobster base (so that gives it a strong pinkish hue) but hardly any chunks of the meat itself. The lobster tail on a stick was interesting - we have never had something like that before and it is basically exactly what the name suggests. On to the fried scallops and shrimp, they were again good but we have had better before (in particular at the Lobster Shack at Cape Elizabeth, ME where we had gone the previous summer). But what was truly amazing was the broiled lobster pie which I had ordered - that dish, my friends, is pure bliss. Back in the day I had taken a self-help kinda course in which we had an exercise during which we had to take a grape in our mouth and hold it for a minute or so, such that rather than gobbling or chomping down on food as we normally do, we would savor every drop of the grape's juice. The idea behind that exercise was to help people stop for a moment from the busy routine of their daily lives and to contemplate the many simple joys of life. Now why do I mention this - I do so only because as I was having this lobster pie, I was reminded of that as I dug into it and savored every single bit of the pie - it was just so good - pure and simple lobster meat with the right dose of butter and a thin crust of bread crumbs. (fyi: The difference between the baked lobster pie and broiled lobster pie is that the former has a crust of Ritz crackers, which I don't like and so this was the more appropriate choice.) I had to negotiate with my wife on how much of this she could have because after all this was "the dish I ordered !" All in all, a very good appetizing meal. At the end we were so full that we did not want to have any desserts, so can't comment on that. Our tab including taxes came to $67, not unreasonable for good (in fact very good) seafood but again not cheap by any standards, especially when you consider that they served the lobster bisque and the seafood in paper plates.
On to the service, it was surprisingly good even though this place was busy as hell. We were taking a long time to decide but our server, Leah didn't rush us into placing our order. Both of us had ordered Diet Cokes and she was very good and prompt with our refills so kudos to her for that. Also, our own experience was favorable because we got seated without a wait; that I must say was more by chance more than anything else because a table had opened up right then. In the 1.5 hours that we were at the restaurant, we did not see a single empty table and there was a perpetual wait to be seated.
If you take away just one thing from this review - try the broiled lobster pie - that alone would have made our trip worth it.
You will not be disappointed if you want good fresh seafood. Â We had the twin-lobsters that were just a tad overcooked but still fantastic. Â Also, had the mushroom caps with seafood stuffing which I found to be excellent and the clam chowder is good as well. Â If they are extremely busy, it takes a longer time for your food to arrive and the waitstaff, sometimes seems disjointed and rush but overall, everyone is really nice. Â On weekends, especially Sunday, be prepared for a wait time.... it's that popular
Review Source:Good friends of ours recommended this while we were on vacation in October. Â I'm so glad that we went! It's a little off the beaten path if you aren't staying around there but it's well worth it! Â
It was hours after I had landed on the east coast from my landlocked home of Indianapolis so I was itching to try a lobster roll. Â It came out on a roll with mounds of lobster. Â It had a perfect amount of mayo - not too much, not too little. Â Needless to say I was pretty happy. Â
And then I tried my boyfriends lobster bisque. Â It was perfect . . . and had large chunks of lobster added in. Â I can't say how amazing the lobster bisque at Petey's was. Â You can bet I was jealous! Â
This is a most stop at if you are anywhere nearby
I stop by here every time I am in NH for my annual visit. Not a big fan of fried food but they have THE BEST clam chowder-period. This time I tried their stuffed mushrooms with seafood stuffing- do not bother. It is sitting in a pound of butter and the stuffing is dry. My friend loves the fried clams and the scallops are good as well.
The one thing I deslike very much about this place is the dirty bathrooms and the SLOWEST service. I guess when you sit on Route 1 on a NH coast you always have people coming in so don't have to worry about losing business due to your servers just being clueless about customer service.
You can always take the chowder to go:)
After an afternoon in Portsmouth, my girlfriend wanted to take me to Petey's for the famous lobster roll. I was surprised to see a 45 minute wait on a Sunday evening, but we were in no rush and actually ended up finding seats at the bar. When we first arrived we were told that the kitchen was running behind, so also expect 30-40 minute for food once we ordered. Again, we were in no hurry, so this didn't bother us, but I could see how it could be an inconvenience, especially for a family.
The meal started with a cup of chowder. The broth was light and very "clammy", without being fishy. Obviously a homemade stew, with skin-on potatoes, loads of fresh clams, and the perfect amount of bacon.
The lobster roll did not disappoint. While not served on a New England hot dog bun, the crazy amount of lobster in the sandwich made up for any deviations from the "standard". The lobster was plentiful and lightly tossed in a mayo dressing, and served on just enough shredded lettuce to say that there was some in the sandwich.
Add in a few Sam Summers, and it was the perfect cap to the weekend.
I recently hosted a post-race celebration at this restaurant this past Sunday after running the Wallis Sands Half
Marathon. I had been told your food was the best in the area and wanted to treat my guests to something special. First off let me say that yes Petey's fried seafood is absolutely delicious and it was
heartbreaking to me that I could only stomach a few pieces after having run a Half Marathon, as much as I love good fried seafood, I do not plan to return to this restaurant because the service was
inexcusable. My party of 11 guests were given a waitress who was terrible, if she was a new employee I apologize for complaining about her errors but she should have either been assigned to a smaller party
and she also needs an attitude adjustment.
Never in my life have I been cut off mid-ordering because her "buzzer was going off", she did this twice. My meal I ordered was forgotten completely and it did work out to my benefit because I could not eat
that much food, the portions are fantastic so I just ate off a friends plate and got full like i said after a few pieces. We had to ask for our checks several times because it took over an hour to get our food and we had flights to catch and work to get to. When the waitress tried to charge me for the meal I never got and I pointed it out to her, she made it sound like it was my fault because I was in
the bathroom at the time. I had just run a marathon of course I was in the bathroom! She checked back to see if the people who ordered alcohol needed more alcohol. Which is fine I should have spoken up,
but say "i'm sorry" don't get angry with me because you have to "void this". I have heard from several other s that the service is not good so I guess it wasn't just a bad waitress. I love good seafood as the next New
Englander, but I also know you can get it in many places so if your
service is poor, it won't make people want to return regardless of how
good your fried seafood is.
It was good, but our lobster was over steamed, causing the shell to be quite difficult to crack. My baked seafood which consisted of shrimp, scallops, scrod was excellent. The steamed mussels broth is beyond words. You wish you could bottle it and bring it home! Not to be overlooked on a trip to Portsmouth. We found this place on a trip to Hampton Beach many years ago. Â It's will remain our favorite spot for many years to come.
Review Source:On this trip we stopped in to fullfill a craving we had for a while, we were coming into town over Christmas, but  made sure to save a meal for this place.  We had  the best fried Clams, Scallops, and Hadock.  We had decided to get take out,  and even  after a 10 min drive home the stuff was still so good, their batter is the key, not too think or thin and just right, the seafood is top but then being where they are creates expectations.  I know this is a local and tourist favorites and they do well all year round, so if your in the area any time of year, try them out.  They have a quaint dining room and outdoor seating in summer, but we sat at the bar this time and had a beer while we waited for our food.  The staff is nice and welcoming, this is good stuff, affordable but not cheap, and definately worth the trip.
Review Source:Went on a Saturday around 530.. Sat in the bar area at a table. Waitress was very attentive until the bar started to full up... Then it took forever to get her attention.. That being said the food was so good that it mostly made up for it! Â We got steamers, potato skins and fried zucchini as apps... All were delishish and followed by the lobster roll for dinner. Came on a bulky roll instead of the usual hot dog roll. Â It was so good..very fresh and just the perfect amount of celery, spices and mayo. Â Also came with fries but for some reason no 'slaw.
Review Source:Lived in Portsmouth, NH for about a decade and this was may favorite clam-shack. Food was fantastic, location (Rye Beach) perfect, and service was always great. If you're cruising the New England seacoast - stop here for the real deal. Clam dinner, seafood chowder, lobster, and steamers all highly recommended.
Review Source:A right proper fish joint right outta Dergin Park.
Good beer, not great.
Gooooood fried clams!
Really good steamers!
2 lb lobster was great!
better than good cole slaw, but with mayo
$240 for 6 with real food and brews.
Way too long a line. Â Good snappy mouthed service with a smile.
Yagatta eat here furshure.
Absolutely the best seafood on the New Hamster seacoast.
The deal here is to order at the window for take out if you're eating lobster. For a $6 cooking charge, you can order 1 lb. lobsters fully steamed for $6 each!!! AWESOME... i.e. the more lobsters you get the better the deal is.
Breakdown = 1 1lb. lobster = $12, 2 1lb. ers = $18 3 for 24, 4 for 30, etc.
Where can you find a deal like that.... and ooooooh man are they good!
Enjoy them on the benches right next to the window on the marsh.
Must gets beside the lobster: The best coleslaw ever!!! The clam bellies are perfectly fried and full of flavor. The Fish chowder and other chowders are packed with meat, creamy, and delicious. Scallops are awesome. But those are just sides to the lobsters!!!
When on the NH seacoast... this is a must hit spot!
Stopped in here with J one day when we found ourselves in Rye and ravenous on a Saturday afternoon. Â Decor-wise, it's pretty typical for a beach-side seafood restaurant. Â Very casual.
I had the fried clam dinner. Â The coleslaw was sweet and a little overly dressed but generally pleasant flavor and crunchy. Â The clams were plentiful and large (and they should be for the price -$22). Â Fries were fine-nothing exciting but that's ok, i don't order fried clams for the fries! Tartar sauce was skimpy but otherwise pretty standard for tartar sauce. Â For such a large plate of clams, I could have used more than two tablespoons of tartar sauce.
J had a combo plate with fried clams and the fried haddock. Â The Haddock was tasty but like others have said here-the breading was a little soggy. Â Otherwise, he was happy with his french fries and clams. Â We sat upstairs by the windows, had a nice breeze and it wasn't very crowded when we went in so we got our food pretty quickly and service was ok / personable.
Not a bad place -yes parking lot is small but there is plenty of parking on the road. Â You just might need to walk a little if it's a busy beach day. Â If i'm in the mood for fried clams and on the seacoast, I'd be willing to stop by there again. Â It totally beats going anywhere near the hampton strip!
I will join the other two star reviewers that found their experience at Petey's mediocre. Â I had the fish and chips and although I found them to be okay, I agree with others that you could find the same quantity and quality at the Weathervane or a hundred other seafood restaurants up and down the coast. Â The restaurant is normally extremely busy and don't expect your server to be attentive. Â They have so many customers that they don't need to be. Â Ours never checked on us after our meal was served. Â While it wasn't a terrible experience, considering the parking and crowds, I will not be back.
Review Source:I'm guessing somewhere in the world, there is better fish and chips outside of Rye Beach, NH, but I'll be damned if I haven't found it yet. Petey's is my favorite fried seafood joint around, but be warned: pretty much everyone else on the seacoast knows this too. Expect a line, even at 2 or 3pm.
Review Source:After eating a king size meal from this shack of culinary treasure I can safely say that I was well taken care up in the NE area.
Lobster roll, crab cakes, fries, col slaw, onion rings, all of these things combine with a few bite of fried lobster to send me over into lobster land.
I have to shallow of a vocabulary to do this justice, so lets just say
:damn this was good
Came in here on Friday and was impressed by the service and the great view - if you bother coming here, then you absolutely have to sit upstairs as close to the southern side as possible. Great atmosphere and memorable coastal view. The food we tried (Fried Clams and Lobster Roll) was average. The overall experience may be 4 stars, but in this case, the food wasn't impressive enough to warrant more than 3 stars.
Review Source:I only come back to New England a few times a year now and my trip in May would not have been complete w/out a trip to Petey's. While we had to wait an hour (I don't care, I live in a city where there's always a wait) my family was a bit fidgety as there is no good place to wait and we were relegated to hanging out just about in the parking lot.
It was all made better when we sat, had steamed mussels (sweet, simple and so so fresh), beers (oh NH, your beer is so cheap!) and my all time favorite...a fried clam basket. I dream of it. And it was well worth it. Every bite made me even happier to be home.
I LOVE New Hampshire beach-y seafood places! We had a party of 10, but they accomodated us well with no reservation and no warning. It's basically just one step up from a clam shack, yet it's still authentic. I had the Jumbo Lobster Roll for $22, big and delish, with a generous serving of fries. The chowder is also awesome here! Not to mention the prices are reasonable and the staff is helpful, buzzing around and attentive.
Review Source:This is for the lobster roll fan... the sandwich come on a bun! Â Oh, yummy! Â I was so excited to see a stuffed hamburger bun full of tasty lobster. Â This made me so happy as I am usually prepared to eat a tiny hot dog roll full of lettuce and a few pieces of lobster.
The roll was tasty. Â I got the meal, it came with fries and they were tasty. Â The meal was around $20, little expensive, but everyone needs a lobster roll in the summer!
My friends had fried dinners and they also seemed to enjoy them!
A great place to grab a drink or some food after a day at the beach. The upstairs deck is supposed to open up in the middle of June. Wonder if you can see the ocean from there?
If the main reastaurant is too busy you can grab food from the takeout window and sit at some picnic tables they have set up. Unfortunately, you can't bring your drinks there.
Pulled into this place with the g/f last fall, never heard of it before, it was just the only place with a number of cars in the parking lot that we had passed. Â It was wonderful all around. Everyone knows "cheap" seafood has all but disappeared now, so a seafood dinner is now relegated to an occasional treat. This didn't disappoint. Great chowder. The fried clams and oysters were FANTASTIC. Â The portions were good for the price, and I saw the fisherman come to the back with large plastic containers of fresh fish (nothing frozen)... wonderful.
Review Source:
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