When we arrived at Grumpy Doyle's around 5:30 PM, the restaurant and bar were both relatively full. There was an Irish band singing live music and the place felt lively, despite the early dining time. To start, Bret and I both ordered seasonal winter warmer beers. I went for the Sam Adams and Bret went for the Harpoon. At my insistence, we switched beers because the Harpoon had a nutmeg-flavor that was more to my liking.
We were both famished and decided to order an appetizer of grilled chicken nachos. I loved that none of the tortilla chips were soggy and that there was a generous presence of melted cheese.
Bret and I tried to order several different dishes for our entrees but were told that a lot of our choice dishes weren't available. We both ended up ordering dishes that really weren't our first choices. I chose the chicken and pear sandwich - grilled chicken, brie, caramelized pears, arugula, tomato and herb aioli on a ciabatta bread.
I over-indulged on the nachos and only ate a quarter of my sandwich. There was way too much herb aioli on my sandwich, which made it a bit soggy both on Sunday night and for leftovers at lunch today.
Bret ordered the pulled chicken sandwich and was disappointed when chunks of chicken was served instead of actually pulled chicken. He found the sandwich lacking in sauce and the brioche bun that it was served on was cold. The sandwich was supposed to come with a fried pickle spear, but none was to be found on his plate. Bret was just so disappointed in his entire dinner, especially since this sandwich was not really his first choice either.
We've heard really great things about Grumpy Doyle's so were pretty surprised at our experience. Perhaps it was an off night or a lack of items on the menu that lead to such a disappointing meal.
Have you eaten somewhere recently that was a total letdown?
Grumpy Doyle's is located at 530 Main Street, Reading, MA.
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