Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant

Horrible Customer Service -- Extremely unreliable, very rude, no respect for the customers more

I've lived in Boston for 25 years and have traveled and dined extensively all over the world. I'm also a past employee of Pier 4 having worked my way through college by 'slinging lobsters' at Anthony's through the late 80s, for several exciting years. This said, I was truly looking forward to having a great meal at Pier 4. However, while I was expecting nostalgia, I was not expecting disapointment. Pros: nostalgia, lobster, view, Indian Pudding Cons: Uninspired service, doesn't live up to the legend and more! more

OK so it is from the l970s but I gotta tell you it is still a great place. We have business meetings here at lunch and also go for dinner. Fine is excellent and service is super. Not very crowded but enough people so it looks right. FREE PARKING and a lovely view of Boston Harbor. Not a ripoff like Turner Fisheries and a better dining experience than Legal Seafood (ok, so the seafood is better at Legal). Anyways, I have good experiences every time I have gone . Pros: It is pretty restaurant. superb views of Boston Harbor, free Parking, easy to get to.Used to be best in Boston Cons: I guess service can be a little uneven. more

i used to go to anthonys in the 70's in its heyday with my family. anthony would be there. a great host. a great bustling place. there was a pirate with a peg leg that used to open the door. more

My husband and I were visiting Boston and read some nice reviews on this restaurant, so we decided to give it a try. We walked in around 5:00 on a Tuesday, and the place was a ghost town. We were wearing shorts, nice looking outfits, but they were still shorts, so the host told us that we could only sit on the covered patio which was fine. The food was very good. The service was quick. Do not expect your waiter to have any kind of personality, as all of the servers were very straight-faced and serious. The clams were a bit ""fishy"" for being fresh, but the rest of the meal was good. The scallops were terrific. If you are looking for good food served by ""robots"", go to Anthony's. more

Go for the Harbor view, but not the service, the food nor the courtesy. Typical Boston nonsense, the two guys running the restaurant greet you at the door way with a rude sneer. They'll greet you like a bad cousin - without eye contact and without welcome. We were also ignored by the bartender until it was conveinent for him to take the order and the money. Don't bother arriving early without everyone in your party and ask for a reserved table - you'll wait on the bride landing until the restaurant is ready for you despite the restaurant is nealry empty. We were seated at a window table with a wonderfull Habor view, then served by a poorly trained waiter, a forgetful waiter but a polite waiter. The waiter forgot half the entre dinner order when he spoke with the kitchen, so only half the order came 20 minutes before the second half. Food was quality was average. Skip the shirmp scampi and the steak. Stick with lobster and chowder. Better yet, go to Anthony's for a cocktail and a harbor view, then walkout and eat Italian in the South End - Mary's Restaruant. Pros: Nice Harbor View Cons: Rude Restaurant Managers more

I went there with my girlfriend and the first thing we noticed, there were 3 tables with us colored folks seated at them, all in the same area, undoubtedly the worst seats in the restaurant. After we had sat down, another colored party was seated at a table in the same area. A quick glance around the rest of the white-washed dining room was enough to convince us that this seating arrangement was not a mere coincidence. more

I attended a dinner for 20+, as a guest. We all had lobster. Very hard to do lobster wrong, although the lobsters were a bit starved....probably a bad batch... Waiters were good and efficient, we had a private room upstairs, so the service was special. Food was below average, view was superb. Since I ate free, it was worth every penny I paid... Pros: Parking and service more

My sister and I ate lunch here on a Thurs afternoon after reading in a magazine that it had great seafood (as it should-it's right on the ocean). The rolls brought out were hard as a rock, the seafood chowder had maybe 2 pieces of seafood and tasted more like salty bacon soup. The salads consisted of white lettuce that was browning on the edges - clearly not fresh or mixed greens like most high end restaurants. Then the meal came, we had the tuna and the salmon. The salmon was fishy, the tuna wasn't bad, but the presentation of the food was not appealing at all, and the small side of potatoes that came with the meals were gross! They seemed un fresh and tasted awful I don't even know how to describe them- I was very disappointed, I have never had such bad food anywhere, for a complete meal to be awful is pretty rare, especially at a restaurant with higher prices!! Cons: Awful food, fish was not fresh, bad service, probably the worst food I have ever been served. more

We recently had visitors from out of town and decided to take them here based on some recommendations on the nice water view. However, we were hugely disappointed from the time we had to deal with the hostess. Although there were plenty of vacant tables(it was a Monday night), she wouldn't seat us until our 5th person arrived. Next, service was awful! From the busboys clearing out the table in between appetizers and entrees, to our own waiter, it was extremely disappointing. The busboys kept spilling sauces from the plate onto the table and dropping knifes and forks everywhere. The waiter was literally drenched and dripping in sweat while serving our food! I seriously questioned the integrity of our clam chowder. In addition, they kept rushing us from drinks to appetizers to entrees to dessert. We felt constantly pushed to get done and get out even though there was no one waiting for a table! Finally for after dinner dessert, we ordered a glass of cognac. Not only was it not served in a warm glass (as it's suppose to), it was in a chilled glass! The people here really have no clue! The taste of the food was ok, but you can definitely find comparable (if not better) in Boston. We sampled a variety of seafood including lobster, raw oysters, clams, shrimp, and crabcakes. Pros: One of the few places that offer free parking Cons: Service! more

I went to Anthony's for a graduation party. We were about 15. The food was good but not for the prices. I almost never write reviews but I have to review this restaurant because of the rude host. Instead of giving us a warm welcome it was totally the opposite. I asked where my party was and he said IN THE DINNING ROOM. well where else would they be??? in the kitchen...and it is a big dinning room so I asked if he can show us to our table so we wouldn't be wondering around and he just said NO. very rude...other than that our waiters were very friendly Pros: Parking, Beautiful View more

Extremely bad food and service. Worst Lobster in Boston and oysters not fresh. The owner, tall skinny gay man at the door is very rude. Pros: View Cons: Service and food more

We have dined at Anthonys Pier 4 for over 45 years. Sadly we have seen the slow decline of what was once an excellent restaurant and a truly memorable dinning experience. We have had some wonderful meals and some poor meals over the years. Unfortunately there seem to be more bad meals lately. Last night was truly the end of the line. I will not bore you with the details but to say that the main course (prime rib) was totally unacceptable over cooked roast left over from lunch. The management response to our complaint was both rude and confrontational. The only bright spot was our waiter who seemed to be caught in a tight situation. If you want to see the waterfront, have an appetizer at the bar. Pros: Parking Cons: management and food more

Anthony's was truly one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. It is dingy and run down; not the atmosphere you'd expect from a ""fine dining"" establishment. The host was EXTREMELY rude. When I arrived I asked if they were serving dinner or lunch, and I was treated to a sarcastic, condescending ""LUNCH!!?!? IT'S 3 :00 IN THE AFTERNOON SIR!!"" Sorry I asked. Pros: Our server was poliete and helpful. Cons: Everything else. more

We arrived early and there were perhaps 50 diners in a huge room that holds maybe 500. I ordered some special Vancouver Island Oysters, a half dozen for $14. They tasted wonderful. My wife ordered the chicken gumbo which I could have been better had it been a little more spicy. For my main course I had local crab cakes which were good but not great, and my wife had the Finnan Haddie which she loved. We had a bottle of Mer Soliel Chardonnay for only $47, the least expensive I've ever seen this wine in a restaurant. The Grand Marnier Souffle desert was delicious. The service was polite and attentive, but perhaps the fact that they weren't busy contributed to it. All in all it was a good experience, much better than anticipated after reading the negative reviews. Pros: ample parking, great views, attentive service Cons: not cheap more

After reading the other reviews, they must have been there some time ago---The food that my party received was well prepared, the service was outstanding, and the price of the food was not excessive. Every one in my party of four that dined there over the Labor Day weekend was well pleased with their dining experience. Pros: for special occasions, no parking problem, beautiful view Cons: n/a, n/a, n/a more

I first went there 4 yrs ago and thought it was superb - but maybe my palate wasn't as sophisticated as it is now. I went there last week with my fiancee and was horrified by everything. We weren't approached by a waiter - so after 20 minutes I found a waiter and introduced myself. Appetizer: mussels - tiny and tasteless. Entree: My soft-shelled crab was deep fried then saturated in butter. Although I like fried foods - I want to be able to taste the crab itself. Sarah's entree: Sea Bass. They dumped tomato sauce all over it and ruined a nice piece of fish. We almost sent both back - but the night was already so disappointing we just wanted to leave. I will never go back. Pros: view Cons: appetizers, main courses more

Anthony's Pier 4 is my favorite resteraunt. I have never had a negative experience there. The food is wonderful! They have the most tender steak, and mouthwatering seafoood. Not to mention their famous clam chowder and Glover Salad. I recommend this resteraunt to anyone who wants an amazing dinner and has taste. To those who don't realize this resteraunts unique and wonderful charm (as well as the classy and traditional surf and turf)- go to a Red Lobster. Pros: Attentive staff, Wonderful food, Atmosphere more

We Love Boston and dining has always been a pleasure until now! We decided to go to Anthony's because it was a seaside restaurant we figured we could not go wrong with the ""ocean views"". From the moment we walk in we were greeted with attitude and ""alien"" stares. The environment was very ""stuffy"", hectic and tense. The restaurant had no flair or exquisite design it looked like an out of date ""seaside diner"" with a great collection of celebrity pictures on the main entrance walls. The food was edible but definately overpriced for the quality, lack of ambiance and rude service we received. We were ignored and before we finished eating, our dishes were abruptly taken away without asking and it was not even busy. The ""ocean view"" was average and not worth the time and money. This has been the worst dining experience of my life. Pros: Good Parking, Old Celebrity Picture Cons: Bad Food & Ambiance, Awful Service, Overpriced more

This threw me for a loop, as every other establishment I've ever been too has graciously accommodated a request for separate checks. However, it is (apparently) the policy of Anthony's Pier 4 not to grant such a request (even for a party of two). The waiter was kind enough to confer with management to see if they could make an exception, which they wouldn't, even on a night where the restaurant was nearly empty. It seemed odd for a town that deals with business lunches/dinners on a regular basis. As previously mentioned, the prices are outrageous as well. You can get the same quality food with friendlier service and a similar view anywhere in Boston, where the task of separating a check is no problem whatsoever. Cons: Extremely expensive., Unaccommodating., Unfriendly. more