Jeff’s Maine Seafood

My aunt and I ate here in December and a party had rented out one side of the restaurant. They sat us at a table for 6 even though we were just 2. It was the first night under new ownership so if you tried it a while ago and didn’t like it I would recommend trying it again. The fish was fresh, my aunt had the salmon and I had the trout, and our server, Chelsea, was fantastic.

Last time I stopped in at Jeff’s for dinner, around 5pm, instead of hearing what’s on special for that night I first had to hear what they already don’t have on the menu! What? I’m not impressed. This has to be the 3^rd time they had items removed from the menu early in dinner service. I can’t imagine the excuse for that.

I came in for seafood. Tried to order plain steamed mussels, without the cream or wine. They do not have a steamer so they could not do it.
It took more than 10 minutes before I could flag down a server and it took him nearly 5 minutes to ascertain if the mussels could be steamed plain. Apparently, the white wine reduces and steams the mussels.
I was severely underwhelmed with the paltry selection of fresh seafood. There were other food choices. It was hard to imagine that it would be so difficult to get simply prepared seafood. The décor is inviting and the staff is nice but slooow to respond.

My family and I came here for dinner in the hopes of getting some yummy seafood. Unfortunately the majority of us, including myself, were disappointed with our meals and overall experience. The restaurant appeared to be understaffed, the kids meals were over done (burned), and my dish of «pecan crusted salmon» was way overpriced for what I received. My husband enjoyed his burger and fries, and my brother enjoyed his pasta dish. They were the only satisfied customers.

Great historic charm! Excellent food and service! Oysters on the half shell were fresh and superb! Prime rib cooked to perfection and baked stuffed haddock melt in your mouth. We’ll be back!

The service is nice, the waitress was friendly, the décor was pleasant. But the food was uninteresting, average. You know this restaurant because it’s the same as every seafood grill on every Main Street anywhere. The salads were fresh, so that’s a plus. But the food itself was unremarkable in variety or taste. Their fish chowder, which is supposedly renowned, is pretty heavy on cream, which dilutes the taste. I had the seafood burger, which is basically a mix of all the leftover fish/​scallops/​shrimp, which is formed into a patty. That part is all fine with me, and it tasted just that: fine. Not good, not bad: fine.
There’s nothing particularly bad about this place (at least from my one experience), but certainly not remarkable.

I was thrilled to find this place. Service was impeccable on ¹⁰⁄₁₁ at 1:30 pm. I sat right at the window and enjoyed some of the best, garlicky Clam Chowder and an incredible duo of Lobster Rolls. You will not be disappointed. Had a Chocolate Mousse cake for dessert… YUM!

Never missed yet. Great value, great food, staff friendly and helpful.
Andy Val David QC

We had Salmon on a salad, sauteed shrimp in butter, the mac & cheese, a cup of seafood chowder (luke warm) glass of wine and a beer. This was lunch.
I felt everything was quite good and prices were probably about right. perhaps a little high for the lunch menu.
Again, a pet peeve of mine is staff asking «how is everything tasting»?
That’s really a way for them to get off the hook for everything else.
It’s possible for everything to taste great but all other things to be poor.
Please go a step above the chain restaurants that ask that stupid question and ask me, «how is everything»? «May I get you anything else»?
We will go back.

Completely disappointed! My husband and I took his mother here for Mother’s Day brunch. We didn’t realize until we arrived that it was a brunch buffet but figured we would give it a try. $ 21 for scrambled eggs, French toast, and flank steak does NOT cut it. I live in the Boston area and would never get charged $ 21 for a greasy breakfast buffet!
The brunch «menu» was placed under the glass table top and right next to it was a dessert menu with two delicious sounding desserts– oh ya, those desserts don’t come with the buffet. Maybe you shouldn’t display a menu that you aren’t serving???
One last gripe– 20% mandatory tip! I consider myself a great tipper but why should I HAVE to tip 20% for a buffet for a party of 3? Ridiculous. I wonder how many people didn’t realize they already added on a top and gave them an extra one.
I’m sure Jeff’s has great food (I went for dinner there about 7 years ago but honestly cannot remember how the food was). But seriously, you should be ashamed of yourself for ripping people off on Mother’s Day.

Pros: the food was excellent. The staff was friendly, attentive, and had knowledge of the menu. This place was a breath of fresh air after dining at the distaster of a restaurant that is One Federal. The menu has many different options that would appeal to any pallet. The staff took ownership when they took orders incorrectly, and gave complimentary desserts to compensate.
Cons: The only reason that I didn’t give this place 5 stars is because my food order was incorrect, despite the waitress promptly fixing this issue.

My first dining experience here will be my last. The food was terrible. We shared a crab artichoke dip, and it tasted salty and processed and the pita chips were too crispy with no flavor.
I ordered clam strips for my meal and both the fries that came with it and the strips had been fried entirely too long. Overcooked, rubbery clam bits incased in a burnt coating — not appetizing. For $ 15 at lunchtime I hoped for much more. My dining companion’s salads looked okay; we didn’t bother with dessert.
The atmosphere was lovely and the service was great, or else this would have gotten one star.

The dog ate our cheese!!! (*frown*)
More about the Cheesie Dog Caper later. What we remember about Jeff’s was how wonderful the seafood was. What a gastronomic delight especially for yey-​big seafood lover here (me!). I could not get over how fresh and delicious the oysters-​on-​the-​half-​shell were! I think they were from Prince Edward Island — meaty and sweet (the oysters I mean, not the island). And the seafood platter was simply devine.
Nothing about the restaurant’s ambiance, décor, or service struck me as anything particularly thrilling or lacking. However, the food simply stands for itself in my 5-​star rating.
Would we/​will we go to Jeff’s again next time we’re in town? Oh heck yah!
OK, what happened with the dawg, you ask? (Yes, that Beagle in the picture!) So after lunch we visited the cheese shop attached to Jeff’s and take 15, nay 20, minutes tasting and sampling the great selection of local cheeses before finally settling on two delicious blocks of smoked gouda and Swiss, I believe. The cheese literally makes it back to Ohio — across six states — unmolested which is a miracle with these two sticky-​fingered, cheese-​loving, snackers on a long car drive! Anyway, after I get home after work the next day, I noticed a torn brown paper bag and stretched cellophane on the floor of the living room. Hmph! That’s strange, I said to myself.
«Hey honey!» I called to my wife. «Where’s our cheese — you know the ones we were so good about not touching all the way home?»
«Oops, did we forget to take the cheese outta the bag last night?» she responds.
«Oh that’s OK,» I replied. «The Beagle took care of it!»
Yep… two whole blocks and one very waggy tail. So I can honestly say the three of us really enjoyed Jeff’s Maine Seafood!

I’ve been to Jeff’s maybe a dozen times in the last seven years, usually on nights when there is a performance at the Flynn Theater in Burlington and restaurant seats are impossible to get in Burlington. I have NEVER been disappointed. The food is Always good, the service good and I love the atmosphere and lighting. When I want a seafood restaurant in Vermont, this is the first choice every time.

I am sure the cook has burnt off all his taste buds. We had two of the specials offered. My husband had the Fra Diablo… we asked for the hot pepper flakes to be kept out since the tomato sauce was listed as spicy. It was still too hot, the scallops in the dish were like little rubber balls, cooked to death.
I had a curried sea food dish, the menu did not mention it but the soup like concoction was so hot it could remove paint from the walls. They had put triangles of burnt pita right in the liquid.
The waitperson was indignant when we asked for a bowl to put the mussel shells in.
Most restaurants serve some form of bread in a basket, this place gave us each a plate with a small piece of bread, nuked to heat, why else was it so rubbery.
The salad good. The dessert very good.
Will not be going there in the near future, not for the $ 71.90 cents spent on 2 entrees, 2 glasses of wine and 1 dessert.

Jeff’s makes me a little nostalgic. When I walk in, I’m hit with the aroma of various seafoods… and it reminds me a bit of the shops my family would frequent while growing up in Maine.
So…take the hint from the name of the restaurant and stay far away unless you actually care for the smell of fresh seafood.
I’ve been here for lunch a number of times and have yet to be disappointed with their offerings. Crab salad is always good and their french fries are the perfect blend of salt, oil and crunch.
I went for dinner recently when family was visiting and had scallops and (again) the damned french fries. I was a little sad at the portion size for the scallops, but considering that they aren’t likely to get daily shipments from Ipswich Shellfish I can’t expect a monumental amount of scallops for $ 22…That being said, there was no funk to be detected in my broiled mollusk, and for that i was very happy.
Parent had some sort of scampi thing… with cheese on top… which i thought was a little funky… but she didn’t complain either.
If youre in Vermont and a good 4 hours from anything salt water, Jeff’s is a safe bet. Check out the interior and feel like your a colonial brit in india back in the day… also, the market is pretty swank. Thumbs up!

Stopped in during a road trip to visit the site of the famous St. Alban’s raid, the only Civil War battle launched from Canada… FYI it was a LOT easier to find Jeff’s then to find anybody who knew about the raid.
Jeff’s Maine Seafood was a wonderful place for a Vermont Saturday lunch. Great ambience and décor in a heritage buidling — sort of funky brothel/​speakeasy style. Jeff’s is on the corner overlooking the town square.
Service was friendly and attentive. Menu was beguiling — as the name suggests, it’s seafood heavy… and the food was excellent.
Also, a splendid wine list — no doubt enhanced by having a pretty good wine shop attached to the restaurant. I was delighted to find Peachy Canyon Zinfandel by the glass — a great California offering NOT available in Canada.
Started with a seafood bisque — more creamy than a lobster bisque but smoother than a chowder — with yummy little Vermont oyster crackers.
For mains we had specials of the day. Mine: grilled scallops and shrimp with balsamic reduction with quinoa salad and grilled ramps (wild scallions). The grilling was a high temp sear — lots of bold flavors while the seafood stayed moist and tender.
Husband had the fish taco wrap — upside — grilled fish, matched with mango salsa was nice. Downside — could have used more kick in the side salsa (not a red sauce) and coleslaw side was so-​so. Horseradish or citrus would have made the slaw sing.
Too full to try the salted caramel cheesecake for dessert, alas.

Dinner here has been a pleasant experience in the past but the last two visits have left me looking for a new dinner spot when I’m in town.
Last Saturday night I had dinner there and it took 20 minutes to get a drink and it was almost an hour before we even saw our salad. Meanwhile, not a piece of bread or anything was offered. Come on jeff’s, it’s 20 minutes MAX between courses. Finally, dinner arrived on the table after an hour and a half of anticipation — it was ok — nothing great and I thought overpriced for what it was. The soft shelled crabs were soggy rather than crispy — overall, not a great dining experience.
And would it kill your waitress to smile? Perhaps working there is as painful as dining there. In any case, we won’t be back anytime soon.