My wife and I ate dinner at Turners Seafood in Salem, Massachusetts. I was not impressed. I ordered fish and chips, my wife had the surf and turf ( 5oz tenderloin tail and stuffed shrimp). We expected our bill to be $100.00 which it was. My fish and chips were not the best, when I bit into the fried haddock water came out which told me it was frozen, my wife's tenderloin was to be cooked medium and came out well done. For the price of the meal We didn't expect to get our sides in disposable serving containers. If we had to do it all over again we would have chosen another restaurant.
Dede was absolutely amazing and every bite of our food was great. It sounds basic but even the bread starter was phenomenal. The spooky stories made the experience even better. However, the smell in this restaurant was by far my favorite part. It was like walking in heaven
Fresh seafood delivered daily. The meals are very wonderful with taste. I try to eat there every time I come to Boston.
Best place ever!! Hubby and I stopped here right before leaving Salem, and let me tell you, boy was I glad we did!! Food was superb! I had the lobster bisque, and the special, which was Scallops Marsala, WOW best dish I've possibly ever eaten. Husband had the surf and turf with steak and grilled scallops. Everything was cooked and seasoned to perfection. This is number one on my list to visit when we return!!!
Welcoming restaurant staff in a nice setting. We enjoyed the ambiance with the antique windows between the booths. Our server, Caitlin, was fantastic. She made the evening fun and gave us great recommendations. She definitely was attentive and hustled to make sure we were happy. We began with cocktails (very reasonably priced and seemed like a great/lively bar) and appetizers. The fried clam appetizer was 5 stars - so tender and tasty. Caitlin talked me into the clam chowder and I was glad she did. It was delicious. For our entrees, my wife had the special 1 1/2 pound lobster with a baked potato. I had the Lobster Roll (warm with butter) and onion rings. Mine was excellent, but my wife's lobster was just ok (a bit tough, but not terribly). As an aside, Massachusetts seems to be big on asking patrons to tip the cook. Turner's didn't charge us, but they had a paragraph explaining why they might. I have not seen this before, but encountered it several places in the state. Personally, I think tips are for service that wait staff provide as their comp is normally assuming tips. Cooks are paid to cook. I don't see the logic in tipping them. The establishment should be paying the cooks more vs. pleading with patrons to tip the cooks as well as the servers.
We dined with 2 other couples (all business people in the city of Salem) and have never had such a poor dining experience. One of the people we were with had halted speech due to a major stroke the year before and I heard our server tell him he she would not serve him a drink because he needed to get some food in him first and his ‘legs’. I’d heard the whole thing so I discreetly approached the bar area and told the manager and waitress that she mistook his speech impediment (due to stroke) for being drunk and that he was not. They proceeded to neglect our table and after all of us having had a couple of glasses of wine (paired with the copious amounts of food we’d ordered) they randomly shut us off! Told us that they knew we’d had one in the bar before dinner- ONE! We all had taken Uber to the restaurant and I assure you were on our level best behavior. The owner came out and told my friend who had had the stroke that he was shut off…when I asked why she just said ‘you’re all shut off’. It was the rudest experience I’ve ever had and I frequent the Salem restaurant scene practically every weekend. To boot, I started to tell another couple this story a month or so later later and before I got to the crux of it- she said ‘let me guess…they shut you off?’. We couldn’t believe they’d had the same experience! We all live in Swampscott with businesses in Salem and I absolutely tell anyone who asks NOT to go to Turners!
Great food and service. Lobster rolls are fresh and delicious. Plus the fact that the history of that piece of real estate is steeped in history is awesome.
I enjoyed my first lobster roll here at Turner’s. It was delicious and the service was great. The cocktail specials are very good s well.
We stopped in after a tour and were able to get right in. Wonderful design and friendly staff. Food was great, I had the crab cakes with cauliflower mashed and spinach. Wife wasn't super hungry so she got the lobster bisque (which was creamy like a chowder but really good) and the ricotta cake side. Both were flavorful and served pretty quickly. Would happily return.
Had amazing food here! I started with the crab cake. That was extremely good. For my entree I had the swordfish dinner, which tasted phenomenal. I really enjoyed that a lot. Our waiter was also super friendly and quick to respond. We could see he had 5 tables, including us, and still he never left us wanting! I think his name was Trevor. The restaurant does have narrow paths and got very busy while we were there. This didn’t really impact us but it’s worth noting. The only flaw for me was that there was a big construction cone right outside my window. I don’t think the restaurant can do anything about that though.