Mill Wharf Restaurant & Pub

First time at Mill Wharf (in Scituate, MA) with my wife last night… Thought that the food was good… waterfront atmosphere was perfect for a late spring evening… but I will never go back! I am always amazed at how much money and effort that restaurateurs put into their menus and their venues and then they will trust the impression that people leave the establishment with to a poorly trained, 17 year old waitress. No need to go into the details (we have all experienced it) but suffice to say that the the service that we experienced last evening at Mill Wharf was inattentive, apathetic and unprofessional.

I recently held a surprise birthday party here with 30 guests, and it could not have been any more perfect. First, the setting is unbeatable. It’s right on Scituate harbor and is stunning. It doesn’t get any better as far as a beautiful place to dine. The restaurant itself is pretty casual. They have a wide variety of food to satisfy any palette. We pretty much ordered everything on the menu between all of our guests. The fish tacos and beet salad were particular winners. We had a very large party and the service was great. The staff was very attentive to our guests and management made it incredibly easy to plan our party. If you want a 4* meal this probably isn’t the place to go, but if you want a decent meal in a beautiful setting with great service, then the Mill Wharf will meet the mark.

I am reposting Layla’s comments below. Nothing has changed. Beer selection poor, standard Bud line. Nacho’s had a too sweet salsa and funny looking sour cream. Weird odor permeated the place.
«This place has so much potential with the location and fantastic harbor view, but unfortunately is in need of a major overhaul (both food-​wise and grubbiness-​wise). This place has so much potential with the location and fantastic harbor view, but unfortunately is in need of a major overhaul (both food-​wise and grubbiness-​wise). Flavorless and sloppy. And the whole place had that greasy dingy feel to it. Probably okay for fried seafood and a beer at night but could be so much more!»

Beautifully situated right on the waterfront. Food is always good (their burgers are great!) and a nice beer/​wine/​drink menu. Their brunch is amazing!

I use to enjoy this restaurant. Yesterday was very disappointing. Our waitress was pleasant, however, the Hostess was not. And the food we thought was ok until 2 out of 3 of us have been very ill after eating fried clams. Heading to the doctor to check for food poisoning.

Mediocre at best. Basic pub style. décor blah, nothing fancy but has a deck over looking the harbor. Food was basic. My friend had a Reuben not too salty. Good amount of meat, he had a beer and the coleslaw had pineapple in it. (should be described as such) He was happy. I had a beet goat cheese salad, skimpy on the dressing. I suppose I could have asked for more. It was adequate with a good amount of cheese and large portion of lettuce. They could add more cranberries and nuts and make it a wow. Let’s get to service and wine. We had to wait, service slow at 2 pm on a Saturday. I asked to taste a wine. The waitress nodded yes when I told her what I wanted. My small taste came in a wet! glass clearly the wine mixed in with the dish water and nothing as described. I said no to that. She walked away in a huff. When she came back over I asked to see the wine list again. She tossed it at me. Decent service would say. «you might like our…» I wanted to tip low. My friend said waitresses get paid low wages. I disagree you are a lousy waitress why reward this. I drank water in their plastic cups that tasted like old doda. He paid the bill. I’ll go somewhere else next time.

I’ve been coming here since they opened many years ago. The staff is always a pleasure to deal with, the view is amazing! My only complain is that the food is hot or miss. Sometimes I have the most wonderful meal, and other times, just awful. Recently I received rotten steamers. Huge disappointment! Not sure if I will return.

This place has so much potential with the location and fantastic harbor view, but unfortunately is in need of a major overhaul (both food-​wise and grubbiness-​wise).
Stopped in for Sunday brunch with the family and the food was pretty bad. Flavorless and sloppy. And the whole place had that greasy dingy feel to it.
Probably okay for fried seafood and a beer at night but could be so much more!

So disappointing. Although the view is pleasant, unless your just having a beer, don’t bother.
Sat upstairs on the deck and Lindsay was pleasant enough and personable, I think the bartender may have had an attitude. Another patron had to send a glass of Pinot Grigio back just as I was to order one. Lindsey had me sample it sharing that the bartender said it «might be a little off». It was and I suggested they open a new bottle but the bartender didn’t want to because it was «pretty full». so I ordered another brand, the glass came marked w right pink lipstick. At that point I wiped it with my napkin and drank from the other side.
The burger was average but not worth it. Just glad we opted eat light rather than super disappointed with a potential mediocre dinner entrée.
No plans to return here.
What a bummer.

Went last night at 5:15. Parking was nearly impossible because the lot is shared with 3 other places. We asked to be seated outside but there was a 40 minute wait so we sat inside near the window. We were wondering why there was such a long wait when there were 4 empty tables on the deck. After sitting unnoticed for 10 minutes we finally saw a waitress. Not our waitress but a waitress. The food was ok nothing great. The server was good. It was an ok experience, but I wouldn’t make this my first choice.

Years ago my wife and I had a really nice Valentine’s dinner here so we decided to check it out again last night for an anniversary dinner. The owners must’ve sold it somewhere in between our visits because this seemed like a totally different place. What used to be a somewhat fancy place is now a casual restaurant with a pub atmosphere. We weren’t expecting a 5 star experience, but the floors and tables could’ve been cleaned up a bit or at least throw some table cloths down on the beaten wooden tables. There were flies buzzing around which is understandable with the outdoor seating available, but we were dining inside. My cloth napkin was stained with what looked like yellow mustard so I asked for another. We got calamari and clam chowder to start and the calamari was soggy and the clam chowder looked like the cream in it had curdled. Fortunately, the entrees were a little better although the swordfish I got was overly cooked and dry on one half but the other was perfectly grilled. Still our server was very nice and accommodating and apologized for the state of the food. The view is still nice as well, with boats passing by the window.

Mediocre at best. I really wanted to give this place another shot after a sub-​par performance a few years ago, but I left not impressed. The view, the staff, and the location deserves 5 stars, but the food is underwhelming. Scallops were a tad-​overcooked and the ‘Mediterranean couscous’ was tiny ball pasta with olives and roasted peppers. My date had the ‘Walnut Creek Pizza’ which wanted to be a flatbread so badly, but instead the pizza dough was under-​cooked and the crust charred and flaky. I didn’t know that was possible. With how salty prosciutto is on any given day, there is no need for capers on this pizza as well.
Skip dinner, order drinks and (maybe) an appetizer, then head for dinner elsewhere. I feel like this place has changed hands so many times, but I’m really hoping for an upgrade and a new chef. I think the plastic checkered table cloths have been there since the beginning of time.

The Mill Wharf offers outdoor sitting with a nice view. The place looks good inside as well. The staff is very attentive and friendly. Very young people working there. They were open on a holiday, and that is a positive.
The food is just ok. I ordered the salmon burguer and my husband the fish tacos. The salmon was way overcooked and the tacos were really watery. Too bad!

They need a menu and chef to match the location and view. My $ 40.00 lobster (baked stuffed) was so over cooked. Plain taste not impressed.

Grew up in scituate and have been going back for every year for over 20 years. Have had many very good lunches and dinners at the mill wharf, often multiple times each year hosting many relatives and friends. Twice this week had bad/​mediocre meals. I don’t know what happened but something changed. Spoke to manager, trying to give him a heads up. He was very defensive instead of acknowledging a need to improve the experience. I hope things change for the better. By the way, wait staff did a fine job.

I noticed a lot of reviews for this place seemed to be under par but my food was great. We sat in the seat yourself section upstairs and we did wait a little long for our waiter to come along but I was busy looking at the menu that it didn’t bother me much.
Being from Ohio I love to order seafood when I visit any ocean state. I ordered the Crunchy Fried Fish and my cousin ordered the Fish Tacos. I am pretty sure I took a sip of beer and the tacos were gone. He said they were delicious! My fish was cooked perfectly. The first bite I took the fish was falling out of the breading (a good sign)!
The view is great! I only wish I wasn’t sunburnt so I could have dined outside on their patio.

The service was good. The food is o.k. at best. Two of the people in our party tried the fish tacos. Not good. Fish was lukewarm, overcooked and dry, and inserted in the store-​bought taco in a single lump. Just poorly conceived and executed. There’s no way the cooks sampled this before putting it on the menu, otherwise it would be much better or not on the menu at all.

The view is great and they have consistently good food, they do a real nice job with fried seafood and the chowder is very good. The menu isn’t pretty straightforward standard fare but they do it well. They have a nice bar upstairs and the service good all the way around. If your in the area I recommend the Mill Wharf for a good affordable meal.

A great location, yes. Good servers, yes… the food… it’s no better than a 99, or any lo-​mid grade chain. It’s probably that the place is simply a real estate holding, and as Scituate improves so does the value of locations on the water… It’s a C to C– and it probably simply serves as additional income to a parcel of real estate that has probably gone up 5+ times in value since it opened in 1981. … maybe someday, it will be sold, and a real restaurateur will step in.
Go to the Barker Tavern, Galley or Riva, as for a couple dollars more, you will eat some rather fine dishes!

Consistently terrible experiences. No matter how close your boat is… go to another restaraunt.
A clear case of inept kitchen staff making the hard working wait staff look bad no matter how hard they try to get the order right.
Steak tips not bad but fries stone cold. The waiter went back to the kitchen 2 times before finally getting a plate of fries with some warmth to them.
Lettuce and tomato for the hamburger looked like they fetched it from the trash.
Baked beans were served cold from the walk in. Their solution was to microwave the beans. The second time they were served steaming hot but not baked or cooked through. This was the side order to the BBQ ribs, which were just ok. Definitely not «fall off the bone» as advertised.
The view is the only redeeming value to this old, tired, unkempt and mismanaged establishment. Too bad because it has so much potential to be a good, local, family restaraunt. Someone should save it before the current management run it into the ground.