Box Bar

I went to the Box despite of its number of hostile reviews to obtain an opinion of my own, though I went in with low expectations. It wasn’t a terrible experience, but it could have been better.
When I went: Friday afternoon around 2 p.m.
What I ordered: Lobster club and chocolate cake.
First Impressions:
When I first walked inside, I noticed something: a strange sour smell, kind of like old beer that hadn’t been wiped up (or hadn’t been wiped up well enough), something that was akin to a kid’s foot with a sweaty sock on it. I have no idea where the smell was coming from. Needless to say, that wasn’t very appetizing. Thankfully, I sat right underneath a fan when I visited, so the aroma wasn’t constant and didn’t reach my table.
The bar was almost entirely vacant around the time I went. There may have been one group at another table. Regardless of that weird smell, the ambience is nice. Very «dive bar» like.
I waited for about three minutes at the «please wait to be seated sign» with no servers or hosts in sight. I was the only one waiting by that sign, as well. I had my heavy laptop bag weighing my shoulder down, so that was unfortunate. I continued to wait until someone finally seated me. Thankfully, she was pleasant. She had an agreeable attitude, upbeat and friendly.
I ordered the lobster club and a sprite.
Though I was one of the only people inside, it took a while for it to come to me. Give or take, fifteen minutes. Longer than what I’m used to. Not forever… but longer.
The Food:
Soft drinks come not in cups, but mini pitchers, which I thought was pretty cool. It’s just a small pitcher with a handle that they stick a straw in. Certainly cuts down on my need of refills.
The lobster club was actually incredibly tasty. In fact, I would go to this establishment a second time just to order that one sandwich.
The only gripe I have about it is that it was hard to eat, and was messy. Parts of the salad would fall out of it, as did some of the tomato. Easily remedied with a fork, but still. Getting seafood salad on my fries, while a unique recipe, wasn’t exactly welcome.
The fries were mediocre at best. Reminded me of Big Boy fries, in that they tasted cheap. The sandwich was great, but those fries aren’t worth the amount I paid for the dish. If I return here, I may substitute them for onion rings or something else better.
I figured that if I wanted to get a full dining experience here, I should order some dessert. I asked if there was a dessert menu. The short answer was no, but the long the answer was that they had two things: chocolate cake and cheesecake. I asked for a piece of chocolate cake.
And then I waited. A WHILE. In fact, the cake took twice as long as the sandwich did. My patience is pretty sturdy for some things, but it wore thin at this point, since I was already in the restaurant for close to an hour since I arrived. It didn’t help that I saw all of the waitresses standing around the bar sipping drinks and chatting about something or other. No, I don’t blame them for what might be the chef’s/owner’s/whoever’s fault. I know it’s not their fault that it takes someone fifteen minutes to put a SLICE OF CAKE on a plate. Regardless, it didn’t sit well with me that the atmosphere was so lax while I waited.
This is the reason why I can’t give this place more than three stars, because when the cake came to me, it was nothing special. It was a big piece of cake, so no complaints about the cake itself. But there is literally no reason it should have taken so long. There was still hardly anyone in the restaurant or sitting outside. In fact, it was so quiet and empty in there that I became extremely bored.
The cake did taste good. It was very rich and just what I expected. There was chocolate sauce drizzled all over it and the plate in a decorative fashion. Nice-​looking, but something tells me that’s what made it take so long to prepare. Had I known that someone would be back there meticulously squirting Hershey’s syrup all over the plate just to make it look nice, I would have requested the dish without the syrup all over it. Because damn. It took forever.
The verdict:
Would I come back? Probably, yes. But I’m not ordering that cake again. As good as it was, I’m not waiting for it.
Would I order the sandwich again? Hell yes. Fries? Meh… hope the other sides are better.
Additional notes:
Toward the end of my time there, I noticed a waitress hand what I assumed to be the owner and/​or manager a note that was written on a napkin. Judging by his reaction, I don’t believe it was a pleasant note. I have no idea what it said, but it wasn’t a good sign.

I tell you what. I waited forever for my order to be taken. But get this… When they took it. He gave me a look of «forgive me, it is not my fault, but I will correct it». And with this he summoned the force of 1000 suns and scribbled down my order for my chicken tendies at a speed usain bolt would envy. He even said they have honey mustard. This bar and their tenacious staff will surely be receiving my hard earned money, for the tendies could save a nation.

Love this place. Friendly atmosphere, you can tell the workers enjoy working here. I love the beer selection. My waitress seemed like she knew the beer menu very well which helped with my decision. Will definitely come back.

When I am dining out whether with family or friends I would never even think of causing a seen or situation as a patron did last night. Shame on you! The servers at the BOX BAR in downtown Plymouth along with the management staff strive to make each visit enjoyable. Shame on individuals who think they can belittle their servers as though they don’t deserve respect. Hats off to the box bar management team for supporting your staff along with your patrons when the situation is needed. No one has the right to use inappropriate language as a patron chose to do last night. Once again, kudos to the server and management!

I give this visit a star only because our waiter really was running fast. The problem was I waited, without exaggeration, 20 minutes before having been asked what I wanted to drink. Then I waited another 25 minutes before walking out. HEY BOX BAR! MAYBE, GET MORE PEOPLE TO WAIT TABLES!

Don’t get the burger. It’s just a pre-​frozen patty and tastes disgusting. My friends brisket sandwich came out cold.

Honestly. Terrible service and food is mediocre. You will either have a teenager as your server who knows nothing or an older woman who knows nothing. Food is yummy bc who doesnt love fried yummy and warm food. Prices r ok. I dont know why anyone would choose to come here but my family keeps picking this place for some god awful reason. Probably because they can seat large parties. MEH.

Terrible terrible terrible. If I could give half star I would. Service terrible. Food terrible. Restrooms are disgusting. Avoid like the plaque.
Place could be nice but other then a good beer selection the place is terrible!

I really want to like this place, but it seems every time I come here the service is just not that great. I came here back in May for my birthday with a large group of friends to have drinks on the patio. After 30mins of not getting our drinks (mainly because they had one overwhelmed kid working a large patio) we ended up walking out and going somewhere else. I tried to give this place another shot during the Ice Festival weekend because I figured surely they’d have their A game knowing it was a busy weekend. Same kind of service and the place was mostly empty. I’ll end on a positive though, if you’re a big beer drinker they do have a pretty impressive beer menu.

The Box Bar has always been a Plymouth staple, but I’m not sure what has happened to service and food over the past few years. The first thing I noticed was how apathetic the staff seemed to be. It was clear that it was a slow day to begin with, which was odd considering it was the final day of the Ice Festival. We came as a large group, and has two waiters. One of the young men was trying his best, but it was obvious that he didn’t really have much training. The other was absent for most of the meal. Food was mediocre, nothing special. Atmosphere is dark and almost dungeon like. If you’re looking for somewhere to eat in downtown, the Box would not be my first pick.

The only reason I’m giving this 2 stars is because normally I have a decent experience, plus they have one of the best bet selections around.
I went there today with a group of friends and our service was beyond awful. The waiter at one point did not visit our table for almost an hour. Drinks empty no food only thing we had going was that the Arizona cardinals were winning. I had to ask another waitress if our waiter had gone home.
Once he returned he took another drink order and my food order, one of my friends asked for his bill, he brought everyone their bills and never put my food order in. Needless to say I paid and left! I’m sorry buddy that I was an inconvenience for coming in.

Grabbed dinner and drinks last night with a friend after a long time of hearing about the Box Bar’s reputation for years. Wow, do they need to fix some things – notably a bizarrely inept waitstaff.
Our waiter basically forgot about us for 15 – 20 minutes at a time, despite walking right past us to go to any of the small handful of other tables that weren’t empty.
Ordered a cheeseburger, and it came out without cheese and somewhat cold. I sent it back, and they forgot to bring it back. Just plain forgot. Of course, we never saw the waiter, so I had to sit there while my friend had his sandwich until I could flag down the busboy who flat-​out forgot about one of his three tables. Came back warmer, because it had been sitting under a heat lamp the entire time. Yet there was no way after all of that the burger was still cooked medium, if it even was to begin with.
We asked for waters, which they never brought to start (what restaurant does this?), and our waiter forgot about that, too. Finally, after asking him a second time, he came back with a plastic mini-​pitcher for each of us, with a straw sticking out. Classy.
Just a weird experience overall. I was expecting so much more.

I so badly want to like this place because of its location, history and the fact they hire local kids from the high schools and college.
Its a good place if you want to go to the bar for drinks only, why I give it 2 stars.
We had a large group here the other night and every dish nachos, fish and chips, soups, wings that was ordered was hospital grade quality. Under cooked, overcooked and just plain cheap. The owners of this establishment should be embarrassed and ashamed by what they are serving.
(Chip F… the fact you have had to write at least a half dozen apologies to customers on this site about poor food quality should be a red flag that you got a problem. Perhaps its time to part ways with the restaurant business and try another line of work because its obvious something is not working)

This isn’t the worst place in Plymouth but also isn’t the best. It gets a C grade (and that’s passing in school)
I’m not a big beer drinker so I can’t really comment on the beer selection. The food is average. I typically get the burger and fries. The burger is good Andy always cooked to my preference. The service here is real sketchy. It’s either awesome or subpar, no in between.
I do love the mini pitcher for the soft drinks! Saves time from getting refills.

I’ve been coming to Box Bar for years now and never have had any issues with the food or drinks here — their beer selection is phenomenal and their dishes are great, too.
But lately, service has been regrettably slow — to the point where we are one of two tables being served and waiters/​waitresses don’t check with us for 15+ minutes. Last week something had come up on a friend’s plate of spaghetti. Today, I found an entire printed receipt underneath my food — I asked the waitress if it was our bill, because I’d found it under my food. She laughed and explained that it was «just» a printed receipt that they use for the kitchen. So she confirmed that not only was that slip coming out of a printer, it’s been passed around to others and ultimately under my food. Unhygienic. Couldn’t enjoy my sandwich after the response and lack of care.
We will eventually return to Box Bar in the future — their Lobster Mac and Cheese is incredible and as aforementioned the beer choices are on point — but we will check your plate twice before chowing down.

This used to be a great spot with great food and service. Food is awful now and comes out cold. The waitstaff has attitudes and not attentive. My boyfriend and I got our food and 22 minutes passed (timed it on our phone) before anyone came up to us. That was only because we had to flag someone down for the check. No «how is your food?» And no «would you like a refill?»
Worst service ever. EVER.
Never going back unless it’s the last place standing during an apocalypse.

A looongg time ago, this was a great burger & beer joint. No longer.
Eight of us met for dinner on a Tues night. Split a cheeseburger ordered «medium» that came out well done & tough. Terrible fries. Our table also ordered lots of apps including, jalapeño poppers, chicken tenders, artichoke dip, nachos, pretzel and meatballs. All appetizers a little below bowling alley fare.
There is a reason this place doesn’t do well – bad food, average service and then the waitress decided to go home and wouldn’t serve my friends anymore beer (and my friends are senior citizens. Plus, they weren’t even driving, no one was drunk or loud…)
The time was 10:00 pm. I know, I know, that seems really late for senior citizens; but, one of our friends is here, unexpectedly, from CA to care for their sick dad.
Now I know why I haven’t been here in years and will never be back. There are many good places near here – go to one of them and skip The Box Bar.

I don’t drink, so if you want a review about beer, probably not the review you should be reading!
My favorite part about going to bars though is bar food, so I was excited about the huge menu behind the huge list of beers.
I ordered 2 soups: white chicken chili and butternut squash bisque.
Basically both tasted like Campbell’s. I mean, it wasn’t so bad, it just wasn’t that great. Pretty cheap for a cup though.
My friend ordered the soup in the bread bowl, which would have been fine but the entire outside of the bread bowl was slathered in the soup, creating a soggy effect.
The party in general wasn’t too happy about the service, but I rate it «a-​ok».
As a plus, there was a lot of room for large parties. There were a lot of children running around, which was a bit odd too.

I wouldn’t have gone here with all the other options and based on Unilocal score, but hubs didn’t want to wait at one of the other places :(
Our waitress was nice. Service was fast almost too fast. We ordered soups and cheeseburgers. We no sooner received our soups and out came through burgers. Soups were eh. Chicken chili was more like a spicy bean soup with a heavy side of salt. It was so salty I couldn’t finish it. Hubs Wisconsin cheddar was lukewarm and tasted nothing close to any real wis cheese soup I’ve had. It tasted like it was from out of a can.
The cheeseburgers were 2 well done pre made patties with lil flavor. Perhaps the beer is the reason for visiting…

The atmosphere is cozy and the staff made sure that we had excellent service.
Our waitress was friendly and well versed on the specials and menu items. She recommended the Barbecue chicken for her and the Pasta for me.
The food was served fast and we both enjoyed our experience. We will come here in the future for sure.