Portside Tavern, Bristol RI

I’m very torn, I want to like this place so bad. The fireplace is great, same with their hours, and for bar food options in the area they have a larger and more interesting menu. But both times I’ve been there the service has been well less friendlier and less thorough then say in a dive bar. It’s not rude but it’s been very awkward and no one ever asked how my food was or even if I want to order dinner without having to try to make eye contact a bunch same with having an empty drink when it’s not busy, when paying $16 for a drink and $27 for food, which were both pretty decent and higher end things but even for just getting a beer and a burger I just would expect a little more warmth and it feels hard to justify.

Lot of gluten free options! Fire place. Nice waitstaff. Right along the water.
Someone else said a lot of things seemed watered down and I think I agree with them but I like soup-y kind of stuff so I enjoyed it. My friends didn’t like it at much as I did though. We arrived at 3pm with no wait. A lot of people at the bar watching the game. When we left at 5pm, it was full! So you probably need a reservation during peak times.

Nice little spot walking distance to water. Best pork chop I've every had in my life. All of the food I've had there has always been top notch. The chef definitely knows what he is doing.

1st time there and was impressed with the food, personal and the restaurant interior was very nice.
Try their clam chowder, delicious.

Food was good. Their Thanksgiving sandwich seasonal special was delicious. Service was good to OK. Seating was a little tight. Felt like I was a little too close to the table next to me.

Four of us were there for lunch. Three of us had a good meal, one had a cup of chowder which she said was outstanding. I had the Crabby Patty which was very disappointing. It was thin, dry and very little if any crab in it.

Beautiful, clean place with high ceilings and bar TVs visible from the dining room. Food is like mom’s cooking and fairly priced.

The service and atmosphere was okay, the food is questionable. My guest ordered the salmon and stated it was good. My stake tips were the worst I've ever had. I ordered them rare to medium rare. I received well done dried up beef jerkey. I was extremely disappointed and didn't want to cause an issue in front of a new date. I would not return to this establishment since they can't cook a simple stake tip.

I'm working in the area, and at least once a week I get take out from here. The food is phenomenal! From the appetizers, to the sandwiches and entrees, I have yet to be disappointed. Some of the best food around in the area.

We stopped in for dinner and loved it! I had scallops with rice and sundried tomato pesto. It was a perfect combination of flavor, absolutely delicious. My husband had fried chicken Bahn Mi and he thoroughly enjoyed his entree as well. Also enjoyed the Guinness on tap. We'll return when we are back in the area.

Came here for dinner while visiting family in the area. I have a large family. There are 8 of us total, which include myself, my wife and our 6 children, of which 2 would be considered adults. I called ahead of time and made sure that we would be able to be accommodated.

Once we arrived, we were seated within a few minutes.
Our waitress was very nice. She took our drink orders. Once she came back with our drink orders, we placed orders for several appetizers. After about 10 minutes, she came back for our entrees orders.

We thought the appetizers were taking a long time, but didn't think anything of it. Well, that was until our entrees started coming out. That's right, we NEVER received our appetizers. I'm not sure what happened, but you would think that 3 orders of calamari, along with a few other appetizers would not be overlooked, but never the less, they somehow were forgotten. No worries, we were all hungry and were ready to dig in.

6 of us ordered the fish and chips. I also ordered an entrees of scallops for a few of us to taste.

The fish and chips were all fairly good.
The scallops were not good at all. So overcooked that they were like little hockey pucks dodging your fork. I was pretty disappointed in that. I could have sent them back, but after forgetting to serve us all of our appetizers, I didn't have high hopes that the scallops would come back any different, if at all.

Our waitress was very apologetic in reference to our appetizers. She blamed the kitchen, but I am not sure where the miscommunication was.

All in all, the experience was not bad, but I do not think we will be coming back.

I normally try to take pictures of our food at an establishment in which we are visiting for the first time, however we were apparently so hungry after waiting for our appetizers that never showed up, that I forgot to take pictures of our entrees before we devoured them.

So food was great, service great but our biggest concern was looking at the filthy and disgusting vent over the Portside sign over the kitchen area, ceiling fans also!
Hopefully they keep their kitchen cleaner than that!
Did notice a few other posts about cleanliness.

We throughly enjoyed our dinner here! Everything we ordered from the menus was great! The items from our order included the Fall turkey rice bowl special and the pork chop! Delicious!

The food and drinks were great, and the service was top notch. Everything came out quickly and when it was supposed to. We will definitely be going back.

Lots of seating inside but good amount outside. Minimal wait to be seated on Saturday afternoon. Great selection of beets on draft, including local RI beers.

This was not where we planned to have dinner, but I’m glad we did! Had the calamari which was just ok. Ordered the duck, but it was not available, spirits crushed. Settled for the pork chop, and so glad I did. It was delicious and the only downside to eating every bite was I had no room for dessert! Hubs had steak bowl and loved his, but wanted mine after a bite. Our waitress was lovely, pleasant and accommodating. Oh and my dirty spicy martini was perfect!

Made reservations although we probably didn't need them. Service was quick. Ordered a fish and chips with extra tartar sauce. The fish and fries were good. It was everything else that made the meal unpleasant. First, the tartar sauce was liquid. Like they had some left over in a bottle, poured water in there and then poured it into a dipping cup. Truly was foul. The cole slaw had to be old. It was so gross. Then the pickles.it was cucumbers that kissed vinegar for 10 min. I am thankful the main parts of the meal were good, but if you can't get the little things right, what's the point of having them on the plate to begin with? I wouldn't eat there again.

The food was delicious and the staff was friendly and helpful. However, our party of 5 waited an hour for sandwiches after ordering. It also took a while before anyone came to take our order.