Summer Shack

I’ve been here for lunch twice. Both visits were separated by a good deal of time. My first visit was ok, not very memorable, but good enough to bring me back for a second lunch.
My second visit was excellent. Not very busy inside, but we came in around 2pm. Parking is plentiful but it is kind of a pain getting to the lot; you have to come in from the back. To be fair, if people weren’t a-​holes and followed the «don’t block the box» sign, it would be a breeze getting in.
For food I ordered the swordfish special. It was one of the best fish dishes I have had in a while. A bit on the expensive side for lunch, but swordfish ain’t cheap. My wife ordered the lobster roll. She enjoyed it but complained about how much mayo was in the salad. Service was friendly and attentive, as it had been in our first visit.
I’ve never had the oysters, nor will I for $ 2.75. Its not a fancy joint in the city that you expect to get smoked at. It’s a causal place in Dedham. The oyster prices should reflect that. $ 2.00/$ 2.25 max.

The food here is good, but time and time again I am hugely disappointed with the service. The hostess has proved to be incompetent multiple times (making an 11 person reservation at the wrong time and then doing little to accommodate use when we do arrive). The service is always incredibly slow, and the prices are astronomical for ok food. If you want to eat good seafood, go to Atlantic fish, or legal seafood. You’ll pay the same price for much better service and a much more elegant environment.

Fisherman’s platter was enjoyed by my husband. Swordfish was blackened to perfection. Sweet potato fries were fabulous. Regular fries were uneventful. The crab cake was a case of «Where is Waldo?» They must have used Hermits, as they were still hiding. The problem –no discernable Jonah Crab. Just bread stuff. Dan the waiter was superb. Excellent. Place was clean. Overall good, but be sure to leave the crab in the crab cake.

Their scorpion bowl was good. It did served 3 of us.
Food was nothing to really write about.
We had the tower thing. Bit pricey and the clams were mini as hell.
The steak were 4 medium rare slices, that is not even an 8oz serving ‚
Fisherman platter for the price I can go to a local seafood joint& get it for half the price. Only best thing on the platter was the onion strings.
Would not be my first chose of place to dine at but at least we got to experience it.
Server was a bit up tight, and scared to attend to our table. She offered other tables for bread& corn bread but we had to request for ours.
The one stars are for the scorpion bowl & the margarita pitcher, the second star is the spacious dining area and the cleanliness of the place really.

Our favorite server, Dom, was not here tonight and boy, was he missed!
Our server was OK until the end of the meal. We commented how the bellies of the steamed mussels were deliciously sweet but the rest of the mussel was mostly tough, rubbery and inedible. He said nothing except ask if we wanted dessert.
The toasted garlic buttered crostini that accompanied the mussels were sloppily buttered and the crostini were neither hot nor crispy. Half the mussels were warm and half were stone cold.
Next time, we will call to make sure Dom is there. He makes every meal perfect.
Check, please!

Since the last review, we have been back several times, and feel comfortable adding a star, especially for the effort. Chef White is, of course, legendary for his insistence on freshness and quality, and we have never been disappointed with his pan roasted lobster — a little pricey, but consistently yummy.
The restaurant goes out of its way to source a variety of the best oysters available, and takes the time to write a «meroir» (literally, a French term for «sea characteristics» description of each variety — to differentiate «specific and unique properties and functions of a certain area of the sea… which contribute in giving whatever grows there its special flavor.» (Attribution and thanks to the website, «The Oyster’s My World» ttp://theoystersmyworld.com/2013/01/05/meroir-or-merroir-ostreophile-or-ostreaphile).
A quick note about others on this site who decry the «$ 2.75 oysters» ($ 1.50 at Whole Foods, and not nearly as carefully chosen!). Chef takes extraordinary care with these exemplary specimens, choosing them for shape and size, shucking them with sensitivity, and leaving an impeccably clean bivalve that may be safely and enjoyably slurped right from the shell — the BEST way to enjoy oysters. I can’t shuck oysters as professionally, and I APPRECIATE the care that Chef White takes in handling the product.
While the descriptions are somewhat arbitrary, a knowledgable server can cut through the verbiage to get you what you want. Once again, last evening, we were treated to the extraordinarily attentive and solicitous service of Daniel, our favorite server in the COUNTRY, and his care was, once again, noted and appreciated.
My only remaining (one star) quibble — and this CAN be addressed, is that the backservers (runners, particularly) are not quite as «on their game» as the front staff. Yes, it’s an informal restaurant, but certain skills (correctly counting oysters, and keeping the incredible bourbon sauce on the plate, rather than spilling it on the table) can be taught. It’d be a hands down 5 star with just this little bit of extra finesse.
But we’re coming back — -OFTEN.

I had been dying to try summer shack for some time now. Last night we finally stopped in for dinner. The restaurant only had 2 or 3 parties seated for dinner. When we walked in the hostess station was empty. We awkwardly waited about 5 minutes before being seated. Our server came over and took our drink order, he was very nice. After serving our drinks he brought over a pale and unloaded a salt and pepper shaker and a bottle of Tabasco sauce that had no cover. Gross, I wonder how much bacteria accumulated in that bottle. Not something you want to see in a restaurant. Our food was not great, not even good. Over cooked and over priced. My husbands steak was so dry you couldn’t even swallow it. My clams were all bellies clumped together I couldn’t even eat them. I won’t be heading back and wouldn’t recommend it to others. Definitely disappointed.

My boyfriend took me here last night, it was my first time but he had eaten at the Cambridge location before and said it was great on a number of occasions.
The restaurant was fairly slow. It was almost 8 on a Monday night, so we weren’t surprised. Our hostess/​waitress was fine — kind and attentive. When we tried to substitute a side of french fries for cornbread, she suggested choosing a different side as they provide complimentary corn bread. When she brought out the complimentary bread basket, there were two very small pieces of corn bread in it. We ate them and asked for more. She returned with the same measly portion. Again, we devoured it and asked for more. And again, we received a few crumbs of bread. I think we asked for more bread 3 times.
For an appetizer we ordered the crab cakes with succotash salad. We were served a single, average sized cake and a scoop of salad with no dressing or flavor whatsoever. I used the lemon for the crab cake to drizzle on the salad. For $ 13.50, I felt there should have been at least two crab cakes and some salad dressing.
For dinner, we shared a shrimp and steak tip Surf n Turf entrée. It cost $ 23.50 after substituting the fries for jasmine rice for $ 1.50. The jasmine rice had onions mixed into it. I have never seen this before and did not like it at all. Our $ 22.00 portion of Surf n Turf consisted of 6 skewered and grilled shrimp drizzled with a flavorless sauce, and four small, grilled steak tips on a skewer. The steak was over cooked and bland. The skewers were served on top of a pathetic salad that, like the app, was undressed.
We had talked about getting dessert, but after our disappointing portion sizes and the lack of flavor decided against it and stopped at Tedeschi’s for a pint of ice cream on the way home. That was probably the best food-​related decision we had made all night.
Summer Shack was over priced, under flavored, and unfulfilling. The only thing that didn’t let us down was the –average– service.

Crab Cake with remoulade, could be the best I have ever had.
Clam Chowder, well I did not like it. I tend to like clam chowder to be thick and creamy, the thicker the better. The consistency of this chowder is very thin, and not creamy at all. The clams were chewy.
Now different people do have different tastes in chowder. For instance as you head towards New York, chowder tends to get red and tomato based (yuk).
The very attentive waitress asked how I liked my dinner, when I told her I did not particularly like the chowder, she immediately offered to get me something else for free. Also told me it is not pre prepared or canned as thought. She says it’s made fresh.
I told her it was not necessary to replace the item, but I did appreciate the gesture– that is good service.
Still, I have had a lot of chowder, at a lot of places and I just did not care for this one. I think the best chowder can be had at the Corrib Pub
In in west Roxbury (although it has been 5 yrs since I had it there so that may no longer be true) and Joes Bar and Grill, just a few blocks from here, especially in the bread bowl… yum, that I have had many times, although usually in the Franklin location.
The inside, looks pretty chain like (it used to be a Bugaboo Creek)
Business seemed brisk.
Anyway bottom line;
Get the crab cake, avoid the chowder, enjoy the great service.

Our waiter was very friendly and knowledgeable about the items on the menu. We got clam chowder for the table, grilled calamari and lobster in some sort of liquor sauce. The chowder was lukewarm and tasted bland. The calamari was nicely grilled but the sauce was a disappointment. It was spicy and sour. The lobster was ok, but the price for it was definitely pricey.

Totally fresh stuff. Loads of oysters and varying sizes of lobster up to 3 pounds.
Lobster prepared steamed, pan roasted, grilled, lazy mans — however you like it.
Oyster pricey at $ 2.75 each but they are large and varied in selection.
Soft shell crab BLT ($ 17) served on fresh ciabatta with thick slices tomato, Bibb lettuce, crisp bacon and a garlic aioli. Breaded and deep fried, the single crab is meaty and crisp outside, salt and sour inside. A treat if you’ve never sampled one.
Ample parking out back.

I think this may have been the worst food I’ve ever tried. Let’s start with appetizer:
Fried calamari: no seasoning at all. It didn’t taste like calamari is supposed to. the breading was falling off the calamari as soon as you touched it. The only thing that made this dish eatable was the marinara sauce other wise you wouldnt eat it. The bottom of the dish where calamari was served had tons of oil. So greasy.
Clam chowder: was better then first dish. However I barely tasted any clams, forget about seeing them. All I tasted was huge pieces of potatoes and those crispy balls of bread. Not a fan.
Caesar salad with crab cake: let’s say after the first bite of that cake I didn’t want to put that it my mouth again. It was soaked with oil and you could taste the oil that was overused… I asked for extra dressing and when they brought it you can see that it start separating. Either they didn’t shake it before or it was too old.
The only good thing here was the oyster but let’s be honest there’s not much you can do to mess this one up.
Horrible food and very overrated. I suggest you spend your money else where as this place isn’t cheap either.

Revising a review from summer 2014. Service, food and overall quality improved dramatically. They handled a large crowd with kids very smoothly and efficiently, with great food and service. Make your own sundaes were a hit!

Went to Summer Shack for my 3^rd time last night. The food is excellent! I am a big fan of raw bar, theirs is exceptionally fresh and well displayed.
There are many wonderful eateries in this area of Mass, the thing that keeps me coming back to any quality eatery is the staff. All of the staff are friendly and helpful but the shining star of Summer Shack is Chris the Bartender he is fun, friendly, knowledgeable and fast. He is always willing to give suggestions and tempt you with some incredible concoction :) Where do I nominate Chris for the Best Bartender in Mass award?

As others have said, the service is beyond exceptional here. The staff know what they’re doing and are prepared to answer any (possibly dumb) question we may have for them.
However, the food and prices don’t go hand in hand. As a party of three we ordered a lot of different options from the menu, mainly because the serving sizes were for ants. Wouldn’t recommend coming here if you’re actually hungry.
The food was good, but not nearly good enough to justify the prices. You can find better elsewhere.

I came to Summer Shack after reading a review about the «Best Clam Chowder in Boston» article by Rachel Lebeaux of Serious Eats, and I left somewhat disappointed.
Before I get into my review of the food, it must be said that the service was exceptional! The servers and managers were friendly. They were always on top of the drinks. They also worked as a team and pre-​bussed my stuff, even if it was not my server. Overall, the service was some of the best I have ever had in a restaurant, period!
Off of the clam chowder review, I decided to have a bowl. These are huge, so make sure you are aware of the sizes. Overall, it had a nice taste. However, it didn’t have that «blow my mind away» taste that I was expecting. The review also said it was medium-​thick, but I found my to be a bit runny. Everything in it was fresh, and you could tell. Still, if it was a little thicker I think it would have been better.
For my meal, I had the snow crab and steak tips. I asked for the tips to be medium rare, but they came out medium well. There was a lack of seasoning on the tips (which led me to reaching for the A1 Sauce). The only taste on the tips was the char from the grill. As for the crab, it was quite small and didn’t have much meat in it whatsoever. It says that they give you ½ lbs, but I would be shocked if it was that much.
Overall, I was disappointed in the food. Service was great, but the food was a letdown.

Love this place! Always a chill environment, amazing food and the best staff! Dominic particularly! The lunch is always perfectly portioned and priced, I love the fried clams or grilled shrimp. The crab chowder is really amazing too, better than the rum fish stew. The Jaspers pan roasted lobster is the best in boston, go for the splurge! The grilled clams are good too. Just an all around great place!

Yum, pleasantly surprised by how fresh and crispy the seafood were, fried and non fried.
The shrimp were gigantic in the fishermans platter, belly clams were scrumptious, wished it had more. The flounder looked a little over fried so I left it alone and brought it home instead.
This may not sound like much but the fries were fantastic! Comparable to those thin cut fancy gastropub fries. Came out really hot, crispy and crunchy.
Clam Chowders on the less creamy side but it’s still delicious. Comes with these cute and crunchy oversized biscuits that float on the top.
The snow crab legs with corn cob were yummy and cooked with a buttery shallot garlic sauce that coated the shells and infused the meat, very tasty.
Service was freaking great, very attentive, knew how to recommend local lagers, very efficient, friendly, quick. Didn’t rush us or anything even though I took a long time to eat and the table looked like a hella mess afterwards. This was all on a Friday night too. Very impressed.

I love coming here, the ri style calamari are the best in this location. I go there with my friend just to get away and get some really nice drinks. Emmanuel is great with making them and will always make sure that we are happy with that. He is very friendly, very entertaining person. Emmanuel is always positive about everything and we love talking to him. He will make your night out just great. I recommend this location to my friends all the time. The food is good, drinks are awesome and very nice people. Thanks!

Pros:
* Eager & friendly server, bartender, manager
* Balloon guy entertains kids during meal
* Fresh, whole sea bass
* Fresh, raw oysters
* A few interesting craft beers
* Ample parking
* Convenient location near Legacy Place
Cons:
* High prices for mostly so-​so food
* Seafood salad appetizer: over-​spicy
* Lobster dumplings sauce: bland
* Blueberry cobbler: lacks adequate crumbly topping
* Kids’ shrimp: unappealing to usually-​shrimp-​loving kid