Michael’s Porthole

Terrible, terrible, terrible! I came here for a nice family dinner but instead received the worst restaurant experience. We arrived around 7pm on a Saturday night, the owner seated us, only after he had to «check» to make sure the kitchen had enough food left. About an hour later, we recieved our appetizers, and an hour after that we received our main courses. They kept saying that they were really busy, but I only saw 6 – 10 tables occupied. The wait staff kept apologizing but we knew it was out of their hands. When the food finally arrived, it was cold, undercooked, and bland. Not a good place. I didn’t even want to pay the bill! I will never go back. IF YOU WANT GOOD FOOD IN THE AREA, GO TO THE REEL.

Went there with my wife early Saturday, sat inside near the bar and ordered drinks, the place was empty. I ordered clams on the half, and blackened mahi mahi, my wife ordered Bay scallops. The music in the bar area was too over bearing, the clams were good and the meals were so so. The Mahi Mahi, could use more spice and my wife’s broccoli was way under steamed. The frys were really good, but again the music too much. The waitress, Jessica was great and very attentive.
I will not return and I hope they get their place in order.

could be called michael’s shithole, greasy food and the owner is an asshole to his employees and customers. never coming here again.

I ate bad clams here last night and my sister ate grilled salmon mad her sick. She ended up throwing up and having diarrhea. As for me bad stomach pains with diarrhea. The painting nite was great we struggle thru the sickness.

I will start by saying that if I came here without groupon I would be pissed. With that said, this place is in the shady bowels of Oceanside… Where no one can hear you scream. The atmosphere of the restaurant is kind of awful. The bar area is half in/​half out doors. The people on the outside are smoking cigarettes which made their way through the dining area which is pretty off putting. Our table was right next to the stage where this pony-​tailed bunch of winners was about to perform.
As for the food, we enjoyed the buffalo shrimp and soup/​salad however out entrée (crab crusted tilapia) was just kind of EH. Poorly seasoned and not a lot of flavor. It was also drowned in a Parmesan sauce that atleast gave some quality of salt.
I wouldn’t recommend this place but it’s honestly not awful… Just ok.
Stars taken away for the entrée, atmosphere and cigarette smoke in the dining area.

this little star is for the amount of fun my group had.
The ambiance is cute but it’s by a dump, so the smell is annoying.
Came here on a friday night, reservations were not needed, they had live music and it was cute. We got drinks at the bar (mojitos) they werent great but very strong!
the service, food and everything that came after was absolutely terrible.
The restaurant was not crowded so im not sure how our waiter was overwhelmed. 40 min to take our order, forgot our drinks, we thought he messed up one of our sides, turns out the restaurant was out so the chef decided to give another side without confirming with us… they ran out of some of their beer on tap. took us another 40 min to get the check.
we sat next to another table who complained about the service, food and bar and we just laughed because of how awkard it was.
will never come back and highly recommend anyone else to stay away.

Pretty lame place. When I walked I myself trying to Get a drink at the bar. I was asked by the host that wad some old man «are you here by yourself okay».
I walked in and walked right out. Old crowd and boring old band.
Not coming band the only positive is that’s it’s on the water.

Place was terrible. Bland food, watered down drinks, and in a trashy part of town to boot. Definitely wouldnt return even if you payed me. The band Trisect that was playing was excellent but too bad the food quality didnt match. It may be called Michaels porthole but it tasted like it came out of another one of mikes holes. What a shame im forced to give them 1 pity star.

Nice bar off the beaten path. A good summer place, food and drinks were good. Service was good too. Went there for Paint Nite and had a great time with the Mrs.

Went on Friday night. Live band (60’s and 70’s rock) Definitely a 40 –60 crowd. Band was fantastic (Like You Mean It) Food was way better than I expected. I had grilled salmon with broccoli. Even the house salad that came wirh the dinner was better than most. I’m sure the fact the weather outside was great which contributed to the semi-​outdoor eating area being really comfortable. Some of these outdoor places can get real humid in the summer. All and all I have to say I enjoyed the evening.

The dining space here is so large that it must have been quite popular at one time. While we were there, there were only 3 tables of diners, including ourselves. Service is very good, the portions are large. We ate on the the outdoor, waterside deck and, while that may sound like a cool place to eat, we were accosted by cigarette smoke, the deck is warped and buckled and made out seats and table wobbly, the umbrellas were threadbare, deck paint was peeling, and it just looked like the Porthole has seen better days. The mussels and clams over linguine was filling, albeit too briny-​tasting. Try the lobster bisque. It was terrific.

This happened to be one of those last minute random gatherings. Thank goodness I map quested it or I would still be looking for it. I was meeting a bunch of friends and this spot was local to them.
There were a ton of motorcycles parked outside when I arrived. That kind of set the tone of the night. My kind of people ;) The drinks were potent and plentiful. Waitress was on point considering the group I was with.
We ordered a bunch of appetizers all were tasty and then they had a band playing. It was some Bruce Springsteen cover band, I’m not a huge fan but the band was excellent. For a last minute gathering it turned out to be a really fun night. I’d go back.

Go here to hear a band not to eat.

I went with my wife yesterday for dinner to micheals porthole using a groupon certificate. We ordered an appetizer of steak nachos dinners of tuna and stuffed chicken breast. The nachos were ok but the chips seemed out of place for nachos. My wifes tuna steak was cold and my stuffed chicken breast was so overcooked it was inedible. My waiter replaced the chicken with another dish. Service was good and responsive and the restaurants manager was extremely friendly. This however did not offset the disappointing food. The price to value ratio is below average for this type of restaurant. All in all this was a at best a fair experience and I do not know if I will be returning in the future.

Delicious food, great atmosphere. FYI, call before going, several attempts to eat here they were closed.

The New England clam chowder is fantastic. Thick and flavored perfectly!
The linguini and clams were classic and good.
The décor is rough, but a great water view. Cold in the winter!

We arrived and initially we were a little skeptical since the place was dead on a Saturday night but gave it a chance since it was a rainy day. We were glad we did. First, the atmosphere was nice and cozy. The service was a perfect 10. Elena was the best, thanks! NE clam chowder was great. Seafood croquet was very good. Salads, fries, bread were fresh and nice. The steamed lobsters were fresh and cooked live. Bloody Marys’ were excellent. Will come back for sure. Possibility to consider for our kids communion in the future.

This place should be called the shithole it is gross, smells like mildew the bathrooms are filthy i just can’t believe anyone would eat the food! I went for paintnite it was hot as hell all the doors were open and i was killing bugs the whole time… a misery! Oh and the loudmouth drunk lady behind us was the topping on the cake :)

Ive included the below review in quotes from a few years ago as a comparative note. My wife and I love outdoor dining and were so disappointed the last few times we haven’t returned in at least a year. Nearly wanting to give it another chance soon. Miss the outdoor dining even though it tended to be buggy.
«Excellent service, well attended to, polite. Barbequed shrimp — generous portion with grilled asparagus, corn on the cob. Recommend this place. Outdoor seating by the water and live music a plus»

Not even sure where to start with this review. I called to make a reservation on the outdoor deck for my party of 8 at six pm that evening, which the hostess kindly said she could do. We arrived at the restaurant, told the hostess we had a reservation, to which she responded, «we don’t have any tables available.» We were confused but decided to wait, and 30 minutes later we were seated outside.
We didn’t see a waiter for at least 15 min, and despite repeatedly requesting it we didn’t have water for 30min. She did provide us with bread, but no plates, silverware or napkins.
Two people in my party ordered bloody Marys, which tasted like horseradish on ice. I would not recommend. Our oysters came out one hr after we were seated (with no explanation as to the delay) and one of them had a live worm on it. The server didn’t apologize, offer to replace it, or anything of that sort… She simply removed it from the table.
Another twenty minutes later our main course arrived. The food was mediocre at best and my side of steamed broccoli had two strange substances in it (that looked like uncooked fish). The only good thing we ordered were the French fries which were delicious.
All if this could have been at least addressed, but instead the service was extremely slow, unapologetic, and just plain terrible. I will never go back and cannot believe this place was on the food network…