Landing Restaurant

Just had the fondue and while it was pretty good, it is served with just enough bread cubes for half of the fondue and they charged me for the bread necessary to actually finish the meal. This makes no sense as they bring you warm bread to start any meal whenever you ask for it at no charge. The Landin is also notorious for refusing basic substitutions, charges for every little item. Asking for spinach instead of the standard squash medly brings a grimace to the face of your server and an explanation that the chef doesn’t allow that. There are too many more accommodating restaurants in Marblehead to consider The Landing your regular «go to» restaurant.

My rating is just for the pub. I enjoy the food at the landing; their portions are ample and the restaurant service has always been nice, and efficient. Location on the water is lovely.
Last night in pub was not a good experience. A friend was treating me for my birthday; we chose the Landing since neither of us had been there for awhile. We decided to sit in the pub because we saw they had a band and a lively atmosphere. We found seats at the bar and started with drinks. They have a good specialty martini and cocktail menu and the drinks tasted fine.
What ruined it for us was the unfriendly, unsmiling bar staff. They had two bartenders, a man and woman. Neither cracked a smile — at anyone — the whole time we were there. A gentleman nearby us ordered a dinner and I didn’t see the bartenders ever check back with him to see if he needed anything or ask how his meal was.
While our orders were taken promptly and the drinks were good, the bartenders seemed so miserable that we decided to leave after one drink. The customers at the bar were way more friendly to each other than the staff.
I will definitely return to the Landing, but will either eat on the dining room/​patio side, or the bar if more personable bartenders, are working.
My friend and I subscribe to the «Cheers» concept. We LIKE friendly staff. We LIKE it when people smile. We LOVE it when «everyone knows our name.» We’ve worked in the service industry all of our lives, and just don’t understand why someone won’t smile, or say something simple like «How are you doing tonight?» Why take jobs working with the public when you don’t enjoy it?
We don’t expect servers to hang all over us, but a cheerful nature goes a long way!

We enjoyed sitting on the water on a sunny day, and the fact that there is plenty of outdoor seating is encouraging. The food was standard fare, good, though not inspired which is by no means a slur: it is more in the traditional vein, that’s all, which actually befits the overall Marina atmosphere. It is a large place, meaning that there are a lot of tables to tend to for a limited number of staff, but all in all it works, and we had a fine time.