The Union Chowder House

I was thoroughly disappointed and disgusted. What a waste of a restaurant with so much potential. I should’ve known when I was handed a dirty menu with menu prices crossed off and handwritten. The restuarant needs more than a face lift and a good scrubbing. Clam chowder had no clams and I would’ve been better off with a store bought. The restuarant is so close to the ocean there is no excuse as to why they are serving all frozen seafood. The poor waitress was horrified trying to apologize for the terrible food. Save your stomach and your wallet go somewhere else. I will not be back.

I have driven by this restaurant hundreds of time and wondered why I never went in… I also realized I never heard anyone talk about this restaurant — now I know why.
…Recently, I made a decision to go in to have clam chowder. I was there last night with a friend and had their Clam chowder — it was awful… there were so FEW clams I felt like I was eating out of a can. I told the waitress and also my friend ordered the fisherman’s platter and he said it tasted good, but there wasn’t enough on his plate to justify the price AT ALL… he usually has (2) meals out of the platters he gets at restaurants… then we were told he is redoing the place over — my thoughts were «don’t bother»…Elaine, Rockland, MA

This restaurant seems to be on its last legs. Sadly, this place has the ambiance to salvage itself. What came out of the kitchen was uninspiring. My wife made it clear to the waiter how bad the food was. He, very nicely, said that he would comp the food. We then tipped him generously. He was certainly frustrated

The definition of mediocre. This place has no parking (even less when it snows). Be prepared to park across the street and okay human Frogger.
The interior looks like someone bought a house and turned it into a restaurant, much like Jackson Square Tavern. I just get the feeling that half the restaurant is half assed.
I had the fish and chips to eat, yet inexplicably received squash but no fries. When I told the server I didn’t order squash and «where are the chips?» she looked at me like I had three heads. Also, the server and hostess had this tendency to hover around the table looking to clear empty plates, which is good in theory, but not when you awkwardly reach across people and generally just stand around.
My parents line this place but I wouldn’t come here without them.

I will say their clam chowder is great. Other menu items, UCH unfortunately falls short, but I will def be back for a lunch soup bowl!

We came here because we didn’t feel like going into Boston for a Sunday lunch, so we just looked for something local on Groupon.
We were seated quickly and given french bread with butter. The menu was an interesting mix ranging from fried foods to pizza and italian classics. It made me skeptical (no place can do all that and do it well!) but I thought what the heck.
For starters, we ordered Clam Chowder and French Onion soup we were pleasantly surprised. They were both excellent.
After that promising start, we had lofty hopes for the main dishes… and they failed horribly. I ordered the chicken marsala and it was completely flavorless. The chicken was chicken tenders (not breast) and the texture was completely gummybear-​like. I asked for some grated cheese hoping to give it enough flavor to make it edible, and I was given a powdered grated cheese, like out of a Kraft shaker. Really? I ate some of the pasta and didn’t take the leftovers.
Hubby ordered a lobster roll and it came looking well-​prepared, in a buttered New-​England style roll with a pickle and a side of fries. However, the lobster was clearly canned minced meat of lower quality. They hadn’t even bothered to do anything with it aside from draining it and slapping it inside the roll. No mayo, no scallions, nothing. My husband said it was okay, but I tried it and thought it as just as flavorless as my meal.
Overall, not recommended. I wouldn’t come back even with a Groupon.

Bought a groupon for this place because we wanted to try somewhere new. We were seated and our drink orders taken in a timely manner. Then someone else came and threw some bread onto the table. When our orders were finally taken, we asked for some explanation and recommendations on some of the dishes. Our waitress gave us some short, one-​word answers that were not very helpful. I first tried to order the grilled swordfish, but they were out of swordfish. We were intrigued by the «spicy cucumber shrimp» so ordered those as an appetizer. I ordered the broiled shrimp and he ordered the scallops. We watched another table get served, finish their meal and have their leftovers wrapped up before our entrees came out. (Our appetizer was forgotten) When our entrees were served, I asked about the appetizer and there was no apology, just that she would check on it. It kind of seemed like because it was forgotten, that we wouldn’t want it anymore. Some shrimp were brought over, but they were buffalo shrimp. We couldn’t say anything because our server never came back until we were finished. No percentage taken off the bill for the mix up and our drinks were never refilled either. Glad I had the groupon so I didn’t have to pay the full cost for the meal. The food was «meh» at best.

I live in Weymouth and purchased a Groupon for this place. Suffice to say that I am glad that I didn’t pay full price. I took my son to dinner there when he was up for a visit.
As another reviewer noted the parking is awful and this was a weeknight, suffice to say that it is probably three times as bad as on the weekend. My son ordered the stuffed shrimp and enjoyed it a great deal, I ordered the broiled shrimp and was sorely disappointed. I first of all had BREADING on it I was like WTF??? Who does that ?? Sides were good, particularly the coleslaw. Service was okay. Overall, not worth the money.

Went again last night… I dont know what other helpers are talking about… there chowder is delicious!!! Had baked stuffed scallops… big platter with 2 sides… agan so yummy!!!

2 Stars, only for the food. The first star goes to my Scallop Carbonara (tasty with large, sweet scallops and bacon). The second star goes to my wife’s Broiled Seafood Platter (seafood tasted fresh, and it wasn’t overcooked). Where this place loses its rating is in service, as well as the heavily starched Clam Chowder.
Too Long, Don’t Want to Read:
Chowder is starchy, not creamy. Service is slow because of our waitress… REAL SLOW. Other waitress and gentleman who seated us seemed much better/​more in tune with the crowd.
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ACTUAL DETAILS BELOW:
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First off, it’s a chowder house. For a chowder house, the clam chowder is lacking in both flavor and texture. They surely didn’t thicken it up with cream. It comes out almost gelatinous, and you can certainly taste the starch they loaded up in the chowder.
Now, the service here was terrible (probably only a fault of our waitress). I will say that I can forgive mishaps in the kitchen. Things happen, and delays aren’t always the wait staff’s fault. I’m not exaggerating when I say we waited almost an hour (if not more) for our food AFTER we put in our order. However, our poor service goes beyond the delay in our food coming out.
We were seated around 6pm, our order was taken about 10 – 15 minutes after being seated, and we had to ask the guy who showed us our table where our waitress was. A couple had come in after us by 10 minutes and had their order taken before our waitress even acknowledged us (fortunately for this couple they had a different waitress).
Our water was never filled unless we asked for it. In fact, our waitress passed our table several times, and rarely ever checked up on us. When she did, we had to ask for water to be filled. I’ve waited tables for years during high school and college, and rule #1 is to never let water get below half way. If it does somehow get below half empty, you don’t ask if they want more water. Just fill it. Not this lady. She saw I was out of water, and I had to prompt her to fill my glass.
Our appetizers were served, we finished them, and the dishes sat there for a long time. Rule #2a, when you take care of rule #1 you pre-​bus the table. Rule #2b is you pre-​bus the table even if your patrons don’t need water. Since our waitress never followed rule #1, she never took care of rule #2a, and she never took care of rule #2b.
Then, our food took almost an hour for it to come out, and during our wait for our entrees we (my wife actually) had to ask the gentleman who seated us where our food was. My wife even brought up the couple that received their order before us, despite being seated after us… and he even acknowledged that he noticed that! Our waitress rarely came to check on us, and she certainly didn’t bother to notify us of the delay or reasons for it. Again, we had to prompt for this update. Not surprisingly, that couple that had received their order before us had finished their meal and paid their check well before we even had our waitress (after being told by the gentleman we inquired with) update us on our food. I don’t know if she forgot to put the order in, or if there truly was a mishap in the kitchen. Still, if it was the kitchen’s fault she could have notified us when she realized we were sitting there with a bunch of empty appetizer plates and empty cup of chowder on our table… for over 30 minutes.
Finally, our waitress begins to get concerned (too late?), and she updates us on the food for a second time. She offers us beverages on the house, but we decline. Water is all we wanted. We indicate that it’d be nice to just pack things up for us to go home once the dishes are ready. I’d imagine this would show her we had a sense of urgency (remember this for later). Well after 7pm our food comes out, we try to enjoy it there, and she asks us if we want our empty glasses of water filled. What happened to rule #1? Does she not know about this rule? After asking for the check we get it fairly quickly, but again we have to wait. Remember our sense of urgency by wanting to pack things up? Well, we sat there for another 5 – 10 minutes for her to come back and pick up the check and run the credit card.
The kicker in all of this is that the restaurant had 8 tables seated at the busiest moment. It’s not difficult to keep an eye on all the tables and run your other tasks to ensure good service… even decent service. I’m not difficult to please, because I understand food service and what goes on. Still, I don’t think we’ll go back, despite how enjoyable the entrees they were on their own. It’s a shame, because that appears to be the common theme in all the reviews I’ve read on this place. Maybe we’ll try it again, but not anytime soon. Stockholder’s, Main Street Grille, Derby Street Shops, and many other places in the area are better overall.

I wish I had two more arms, so I could give this place four thumbs down.
This place is brutal. Ordered a margharita pizza because I was scared to order any seafood. This pizza should be dough, sauce, fresh motz, basil and tomatoes. The pizza dough would’ve been better if you’d gotten it out of your grocer’s bread aisle. It was clearly from frozen. The sauce was canned Ragu/​Prego or worse. The cheese was the best part, as it was just OK. The basil was absolute comedy. It was from a shaker, like, crushed basil from a shaker. Not fresh, not big pieces; from a shaker.
It’s not even worth it with the half-​off Groupon. This place is terrible.

NOTE: The 2^nd star is for the clam chowder. It was decent.
My girlfriend is from Weymouth and as such we tried to get into Stockholder’s on a weeknight. It was a two-​hour wait so we settled on the UCH. I’d never been and she spoke fondly of the clam chowder.
We were seated right away. It’s a cozy place though the lighting above the booths was brighter than expected for the space and started to irritate the both of us after a while. You could say it was a slower night; there were three or four booths filled and the bar area was empty.
It took a while for our server to take our drink and food orders which was perplexing because the place wasn’t packed. I ordered the scallop carbonara with a cup of clam chowder. I was hoping to try the corn chowder but, for some reason, it was only served on Friday and Saturday nights. Weird, right?
The pinot noir we ordered was decent (though a little pricier than I was expecting). The chowder was very good.
What killed this place for me was the entrée and the service before/​after we received our food. After we ordered our entrees, it took a good forty minutes to get them. For a smaller restaurant that’s simply unacceptable. And the «carbonara» sauce felt like butter-​and-​cheese-​flavored concrete. It had a very strange texture and sat like a stone in my stomach for hours after only a couple of bites. I was also not a fan of the pea pods in the mix instead of using actual peas; they were out of place and did not mix well with the horrible sauce. Then again, I’m not sure anything would.
I’m sure there are other dishes here that are better than the pasta dishes. I understand that it’s a seafood place and not an Italian restaurant. Still, the dish featured scallops (thawed-​out, flavorless scallops at that) and if they’re going to put it on the menu, they should learn how to prepare the dish correctly. I won’t go back.

I ordered take-​out here for the first time, it wasn’t bad nor memorable.
I tried their steak tips and fried haddock platters. The steak tips were mildly seasoned and I’d say were just average. The fried haddock was decent as well, lightly fried as I like. They forgot the most important part though… tartar sauce! That’s on the verge of blasphemy but luckily I made some of my own with only minor grumbling. I ordered it with sautéed veggies on the side and actually enjoyed them more than the haddock.
For about $ 30 I expected a little more bam in flavor as I can spend under $ 18 for the same thing at a sub shop. I’ll probably try them again as they have some other entres I’d like to try that might be worth going back for, we’ll see.

Don’t order the lobster roll from this restaurant. Scant, skimpy pieces of lobster meat on chopped (filler) iceburg lettuce. Three out of our party of five ordered these and were very disappointed, expecting the typical New England lobster roll. Complaint to hostess had little response other than she’d «talk to the kitchen». You can keep your 10% off next visit coupon. Highly doubt a return visit.

This was my first time in this restaurant, i ordered a takeout $ 70 worth for 3 people. very small portions, the plates weren’t even half full. The cup of clamp chowder was very small. few sips with a spoon and it all gone. The Canned clamp chowder soup from a grocery store had a better taste than the one these guys sell. No I’m never going back there, and i will not recommend this place event to anyone.
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We’ve been here two times. The food is fine; your basic fish/​burgers/​salads. But the service is terrible. Rude staff who make you feel like they are doing you a favor. Not going back.

Waited an hour for our meal on a slow night Fish was ok but nothing special. Skip this place.

Parking is enough for about 10 cars so plan accordingly.
Décor is nice although it seems more of a 1980’s décor than anything current. But it is clean and comfortable. When you walk in, you enter via the bar. We were seated away from the bar but because of the «open nature» of the design you can clearly hear all of the bar patrons’ conversations. Read: was there with my 8-​year old daughter and hoped she didn’t hear some of the «colorful» language. Granted, there was a football game on, so the crowd was a bit more boisterous than they probably would be otherwise.
We got the sweet potato fries for an appetizer. They were good, but I don’t think they were «home made» or anything. I don’t know why I feel this way, but they looked «processed» to me.
Food was OK — not great but not terrible. However, for the price we paid for the 3 of us, the food should have been much better, which it wasn’t.
Seats (booths) were fairly comfortable, but again, not anything to «write home» about. Bottom line, we probably won’t be going back here too soon. Like I said, it’s not horrible, but not a place I’d rush back to either.

Been there a few times. The food is good my problem is the décor, actually not ever the décor the furniture. When I’m paying $ 13 for a dinner is it too much to ask to sit in a booth that isn’t ripped or duct taped. My husband got the good side of the booth it was duct taped; I guess they hadn’t gotten to the other side of the booth with duct tape so i got to sit in a ripped seat with the stuffing coming out. We haven’t been back and don’t plan to any time soon!

We used to love this place, until… something really changed in the quality of the food and service. We were served a Caesar salad which was nothing more than lettuce and dressing. No croutons, no visible Parmesan cheese, no anchovies. Just wilted romaine and dressing. It was the beginning of a dismal meal also notable for the slow service and badly prepared food. This was about three years ago. Maybe it’s changed for the better, but I’m not willing to risk it.