Bristol Seafood Grill
$$ • Restaurant
Most Recent Reviews
**For clarity against prior reviews, they have a new menu in late ‘24. The waiter told us it was just a couple of weeks old. I went based on the other reviews below.**
I did not have a great experience at the Bristol in 12/24. The menu is not gluten free and is only listed as gluten conscious. No items are marked on the main menu and no pricing is provided on the GC menu. It took me about 30 minutes to cross reference both menus to find something to order because they don’t match.
I had to ask questions multiple times, and most of the time they were out of the item or the item would be served dry. (Is there soy in the Miso glaze? Or is it separate? “It’s miso.” This is not helpful.) It’s was 5:30 pm on a Thursday night, they shouldn’t be out of most things on the menu. There was no way to order or customize a regular dish on the menu to make it GC. Ex., I couldn’t order a surf and turf, because there was no option to pair a filet with any fish, because the whole GC menu was a la carte. Mind you, “filets” were in the GC menu, but there were no pairings.
Of course, I ordered a la carte. I had the grilled sea bass, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. The portions were tiny for the price. While the food was delicious, i paid $200 for me and my sister, and I left feeling hungry, which was disappointing. To compound this, by 10 pm I threw up. My body rejected the meal and I couldn’t digest it.
I was not impressed with our waiter. He was flippant about my requests for my meal to be handled carefully. I felt like I couldn’t trust him. He said he enters the request in the computer and the kitchen handles it. I wish restaurants would understand that a pick in the plate, or delivering the meal separate, would go a long way to ensuring me that my food was handled safely. He never even refilled my water.
Bottom line, it wasn’t worth the money or discomfort I experienced afterward. I won’t be going back.
Great gluten free options even dessert. The salmon was the best I’ve ever had. It was a great experience. Make reservations and you’ll get in quick!
They have a gluten free menu with lots of options for fish or steak. Lots of sides and a few desserts… very knowledgeable with allergies. I had scallops with risotto and crème brûlée. Yummy safe dinner!
Photos
Tips
Ask if there's any other gluten-free choices other than what's listed on the menu. They offered me some options ala cart
More Reviews
The food was tasty and the waitress was exceptionally helpful and allowing me to find foods I can eat. I was pleased when she suggested if I wanted scallops to just order them individually. So my total came to under $21 by ordering two scallops asparagus and the house salad. The house salad is so large it's nearly a meal in itself and quite tasty.
The aspects I wasn't pleased with were the sticky table caused by their disinfecting spray which is softened the varnish on the table. My arms stuck to it and so did the menu even though they wiped it off with handy wipes thinking that would help
They also have badminton shutcocks on each table under a glass covers due to their relationship with a Nelson Art gallery as a tribute to the galleries outdoor shutt cock statue. These items on the table are unpleasant to my eye---due to the greasy film on the outside of the cover, and a film inside possibly from the plastic degassing. They should either be cleaned or removed.
Finally I don't think they realize how challenging it is for other people dining at your table to receive lovely looking gluten-free rolls and butter while we sit there with nothing! To three separate employees I recommend that they're Management contact Legal Seafoods in Boston as they serve piping hot rolls and fresh butter with every meal and you can even buy them by the dozen to go. That's a real treat if you're ever in the neighborhood. Sadly nothing like that here at the Bristol
Great experience. I am GF and DF and notified the server who was able to make recommendations. They were knowledgeable and even doubled checked with the kitchen on a few items to to make sure it would be safe for me to eat. Ended up getting the swordfish and it was fantastic. Highly recommend!
They had a separate gluten free menu. The staff was super helpful. They were also able to make mine dairy free as well. A really high class place.
With the extensive the gluten-free menu, great tasting food, and wonderful staff service — I was hoping I could have given them a 5/5 review, but I definitely had cross-contamination problems here and got very sick.
GF menu was concise and large. My meal, , mesquite grilled chicken, was excellent!! Bone-in, juicy, fresh and flavorful... Definitely not a flash frozen piece of meat. Also side Brie, pistachio salad was yum! Service was really not great, but they were unexpectedly busy and comped us for our wait with a free drink. Very nice. Overall a fab experience. Husband enjoyed his tempura shrimp dinner too.
Very extensive & separate gf menu. Food was awesome!! Also worked around dairy allergy with no problem.
Bristol proves that it's possible to get fresh seafood anywhere, even in the middle of the country. their fresh fish, scallops, lobster tails and crab legs highlight the glutenfree menu, each prepared simply with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Had a seperate GF menu and waitstaff was knowledgeable and helpful in double checking that everything was prepared safely for me.
Reviews of this Chain
So many options and so good!
They have gluten free menu. I ask to have the foyot sauce on the side with my grill tuna. Tasty
Amazing meal and drinks!
I made reservations for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. In the res process, you are asked if it’s a special occasion, and any special requests. I noted anniversary and gluten free. Upon arrival, the receptionist mentioned both of these, and our server, Darryl, even mentioned it as soon as we were seated. He went thru the menu with me (even had a separate gluten free menu) and made me feel very comfortable with my choices. I ordered the scallops, asparagus and mashed Yukon potatoes. Dinner was delicious! For our anniversary he offered a mixed berry dessert or a champagne toast … we gladly accepted the glasses of champagne at no additional cost.
Attention to detail at every step, delicious food, great ambiance all made our special occasion very worthwhile.
Food is always great. Just hoping they offer gluten friendly foods
