The Chowder House Restaurant - Zephyrhills

Reviews 6

SA

Sarah Mae Ruiz

My family and I were so excited to have what we hoped might be our "new place". We travel for work, and are also in the food industry. With customer service being so much a part of the way we evaluate our experience Ill be honest and say we are difficult to impress but certainly not impossible to please. My family and i waited at the door to be greeted and seated what seemed to be a wait of almost 10 minutes while we observed many empty tables as well as some full tables. There were no other waiting patrons. We came in around the 3 oclock hour. Eventually the man who greeted us returned and seated us several moments later. We sat, we planned our drinks, we thoroughly explained menu choices to our 9 year old, we made our menu selections and finally we waited. We waited more. Eventually a server while walking by said Ill be with you shortly for your drinks and walked away. We continued to wait, after some minutes had passed we decided disappointingly that for some reason that remains unbeknownst to us that perhaps we werent welcomed there or perhaps our patronage and opinions were not in any way a priority. After some thought i decided leaving may have been hasty and that perhaps if I called and explained my disappointment and that we all were left feeling like maybe we should go else where for service an explanation or apology would be offered or any indication that they would like us to return and recover this poor experience. Sadly that wasnt The case. The gentleman I spoke with informed me that he was not even an employee, this was the same man who had seated my family. After i explained my impression and unlikilyhood that we would return the man was defensive and argumentative and made sure that I was informed they had many wonderful reviews. At which point it was clear my and my familys first impressions were correct. I informed the gentleman I was glad they had good reviews to stand against mine by contrast. Im also delighted others were treated better than my family, no customer should be left with this impression of any business.

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SC

Scott Burkhart

Well ?I had high hopes, as I so wanted a good seafood restaurant. I ordered some clam fritters 6 for $6 and whole belly clam plate $24 ouch. The clam fritters were very lightly fried which left a heavy compacted dough ball in the center, the fries tasted old frozen, the clam breading all fell off leaving a grey lump of something mushy. My wife ordered the fried cod which was really good, we prefer more of a tempura batter not a corn meal, but fish was excellent. The other dish in my party had clam strips which batter also stripped off and mush. Never had that with clams before as being from Maine my expectations were a tad high. I can get great fried clams in a gas station back home. Service was great but there were only 2 other people in whole restaurant. Kept being told "She" cooks everything fresh? OK well too expensive for what you get and Cole slaw was inedible, with Kens cocktail & tarter sauce, wait isnt cocktail sauce just horse radish and ketchup? But its all made fresh? 3 people 3 entrees 1 clam fritters $75 with tip really? Doubt Ill return. P.S. Waitress brought samples of the soups, a very nice touch but after trying them we didnt order any soup... My food did not look like any of the pics in other reviews.

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Chris O

We tried this place for the first time hearing good things. After waiting over 10 minutes for our waitress to even get our drink order we ended up just asking for a check and leaving before our main meal got there. We waited over an hour before making that decision. We did get our bowl of chowder which was the only good thing about that place. The crackers that came out with the chowder were stale and the bread that was brought out was hard and old. We had to actually ask for our waitress at least twice and the lady who was feeding people actually got our refills. We decided to leave because not only did it take forever to get anything but people who came in after us were already eating and they were still promising that our food was coming out. As a small token they gave us our main course for free since it was almost ready to go and after getting home and trying it the fish was dry and overcooked and seemed like it had been waiting to get plated for a while. The cook did come out to apologize to us but after everything is said and done we are definitely not going back there. Other people were having a lot better experience than we did so it may just be a fluke but being our first time were definitely not going back

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GY

Gypsy Anna

TRY to Catch em on a good day? First visit went well. Great bowl of chowder, but too high at $6.99.. Fish/Chips just okay. Wait times long. This one waitress is phenomenal . Wish I could remember her name. Talked us into 2 slices of Grandmas HM Pie, ended up being about $7 per slice. ugh. 2nd Visit, Lobster Bisque not so great, and long waiting times. Fish/Chips not good. Third Visit HORRIBLE: Dark hair waitress acting strangely and favored larger tables over the 2 of us. Wait Wait Wait for everything. Chowder had a black chunk of something that resembled a fly, but kitchen insisted it was a bad spot off potato.(still gross) and I had to insist on a fresh cup. Fish/Chips looked old, opaque and not fully cooked. My food got cold waiting for sauces. Had to get up 3 times to get what I needed. Waited well over 20 minutes just for the check after we already had our togo boxes. Waitress was very uncaring. Got a bowl of soup to go once, and it was barely 1/2 cup for $6.99.. Management doesnt hire enough wait staff from what I see on the other reviews, and my own experience. SORRY GRANDMA, PIE WAS GOOD, BUT WE STILL WILL NOT BE BACK.

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BEVERLY HUFFMAN

Easily accessible, located at the end of the strip mall. The food is reasonably priced and very, very good. Busy popular place is crowded on Fridays, and some people bring lawn chairs to sit outside to await their table. Our server was very helpful, when asked for suggestions she was a big help. She was patient with our several added requests. We have dined there three times this week already. The creamy clam chowder is especially good. The clams, calamari are great, and their desserts not only look good but taste great. Most places seem to make pretty desserts with inferior ingredients as cheaply as possible. So when you put garbage in then you get garbage out. I had stopped ordering desserts as this seemed to be a standard practice. FEARLESSLY, order desserts every visit to the Chowder House and your tastebuds will thank you. They have a good selection, superior quality, generous portions, pies, cakes, cobblers and large cookies. I order extra to take home! Between dining at the Chowder House and at Los Chicos, the greatest mexican food restaurant, we never have to leave town for a great meal!

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JO

Jose Mascorro

My aunt invited my family to this random restaurant out in the middle of no where so we went. She heard it was good from a friend on facebook. Food Onion rings were great and Im not a fan of onion rings. My lobster sandwich was ok. The regular french fries are good, but not the "seasoned" fries. The cheese on the fries made them smell bad. Maybe that was my fault ordering seasoned fries at a sea food place and getting a suggestion. Shrimp Alfredo was good. Orange blossom cake was a bit more citrus and sweet than I expected. Service They were friendly and timely. We had a group of seven and two other tables sat at the same time. Three tables were already seated when we got there. We were literally the only non-white customers but were treated no different. Great service. Atmosphere Mom/pop feeling with laid backness. Very chill and quiet, we were loud. Facility Its in a plaza with not much going on. Seems like a pretty old building. A/C actually dripped a little water on my cousin from the ceiling. Inside is bigger than what it looks like.

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