Portway Tavern

"Food here was okay. Garden salad was kinda lame. Lettuce was limp, and nowhere in the ingredients of the salad do they say sunflower seeds.. but there were sunflower seeds on my salad. Had I have been allergic this would have been a major problem. The clam chowder was sub par. Potatoes were undercooked and not much clam like they describe to be. Bartender, blond bigger female- absolutely rude. Barely attended to us and we sat at the bar. My friend asked if I could get a drink change, I originally got the paloma or something and it was disgusting. Not digestible. Bar tender literally filled more than half the drink with lime juice. So it tastes exactly like lime juice. She was rude in getting me another drink. And although I took 2 sips of the first drink she still charged me for it. Would not recommend coming here."

"Visited on a Friday night, about half full. Sat at bar and got fast and friendly service. Clam Chowder is best I've ever had, it had a tad of spice which was nice because a lot of restaurants chowder is bland. The bowl of chowders portion was very big, almost a meal in itself. Big chunks of clam and potatoes and nicely garnished too. The patty melt was great, and the fries were crisp and tasty. Stiff drinks. Nice atmosphere. Ended up taking the patty melt home as leftovers due to the size of the bowl of chowder. Will definitely go back. Also they're open later than most other restaurants in the area. Everyone else was closing at 6 or 8pm unless you went downtown"

"September 2023: The new owners have implemented some changes that we don't like. The best cooks have either been fired or resigned and the new cooks are clearly below the level we were used to. Also almost all bartenders have been replaced. Some vegetarian options have been removed from the menu. They're still available when asked for, but that's thus only for people who knew those options existed. They're no longer advertised. We now also need to pay extra to get cheese on some burgers!? And there's also a surcharge now if you want mayo with your fries. Hmmm... There are some significant price hikes that are making my wallet hurt (and we're hearing our local friends there complain too). We've given up and have decided to no longer come here. Reducing from 5 to 3 stars and hoping to see this place turn around. ---- Before September 2023: Best food in town! We've become "regulars" here, mostly because of the food, coming here at least once a week for about a year now. Sometimes 2 or even 3 times (not always eating though). We made some friends here. We learned yesterday that the best cook, Travis, has been moved to Tuesdays and Wednesdays by the new owners. This is terrible!!! Travis is the best cook in town by a longshot! We want him back to make our food on his old weekend schedule! Changing his schedule was a bad idea!!! Removing the QR code as payment option was sad but having to miss Travis is an extra level of sad. Hope see Alek again soon too!"

"I visited the Portway Tavern in early August 2023; it was the best restaurant/bar in walking distance from my hotel. The one bartender/server Melinda was handling everything but the kitchen. She was very busy, but also very efficient. Melinda makes a beautiful (and strong) martini. Besides martinis I had really good fish and chips. The food took a while, but came out piping hot. Portway was undoubtedly a lot grittier back in the day, but still featured at least as many un-gentrified locals as there were tourists. I'd certainly go back."