I sincerely hope The Studio does not reopen, for all our benefit. I'm writing this months after my visit due to an issue I had hope to be resolved but never was. To begin, the view was excellent. We were seated on the deck but I probably would have been disappointed inside. Right when you walk in, you're greeted with large cages full of liquor which seems like an odd place for storage? I see other reviewers have noted the same with pics. The service was OK. Disorganized, but OK. For example, you'd ask for ketchup and it wouldn't come... so you'd ask someone else and they'd bring it right to you. The food was also OK. The menu has certainly changed (smaller) and the quality of the food has diminished but it was still just OK. No complaints about the price vs. quality/quantity, but not really worth going back. It's my understanding that there was a change in chef (explains the food) AND ownership which leads to my problem: They essentially stole from us. We purchased a gift card from The Studio, and this restaurant was still doing business as The Studio. When the server ran the gift card, at first they said there was nothing on it. False -- We had a receipt and asked to please check with the manager. This was the first red flag in that the SERVER came back to the table and NOT the manager. The service explained that, per the manager, they cannot honor a gift card sold by the previous owner which, to me, sounds of questionable legality IF YOURE STILL MASQUERADING AS THE ORIGINAL BUSINESS. They then came back with some story, again per the manager, "Oh this has been happening. Here is the name and number of the previous owner. He owns XYZ other establishments in town and has been reimbursing people for gift cards". This line of BS was delivered with such confidence that we foolishly took the information, paid and signed the bill. After finally getting a hold of the previous owner, they promptly explained this was all BS and he had no idea what The Studio was talking about. Called the Studio, "Too bad". At which point we attempted a charge back on the credit card but it was unfortunately not accepted because we had signed the receipt. At the end of the day, this is now a mediocre if not subpar restaurant, and the management/owner is unscrupulous at best. You should change the name of the restaurant if you're not the same restaurant. I hope they sell and someone else brings the location back up to the quality of the "real" The Studio.
Gareth G.
we love the place but the wait for food is interminable and i hope they have had a few years to scrub the menu covers.
Tara Fitch
Closed, wish website was updated
B Jackson
Long time Gloucester resident- Went there with a few friends at the beginning of the summer. Was so disappointed to see they got rid of their great sushi menu and replaced it with mediocre food that you can get at any other restaurant (ie. burger, fried fish, lobster rolls). The waitress was also pretty mediocre- called me a kid while she handed me my glass of wine. Drinks were fine (kinda tacky), one person I was with got the “truly shark bowl”, not a single gummy shark in it. If you want some good food go to the Franklin or Passports. If you want good drinks go to Drift.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Suzanne Marques
This place used to be so good. What the hell happened?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Breanna Jackson
Long time Gloucester resident- Went there with a few friends at the beginning of the summer. Was so disappointed to see they got rid of their great sushi menu and replaced it with mediocre food that you can get at any other restaurant (ie. burger, fried fish, lobster rolls). The waitress was also pretty mediocre- called me a kid while she handed me my glass of wine. Drinks were fine (kinda tacky), one person I was with got the “truly shark bowl”, not a single gummy shark in it. If you want some good food go to the Franklin or Passports. If you want good drinks go to Drift.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Aldon Hynes
The food and service was good. The atmosphere, sitting on the deck as boats came and went was
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Haddock
Bill M.
Went there Monday night. Had a couple of drinks and a great time. Went there Tuesday night and they were closed for the summer season without any notice. Poor ownership accountability and extremely poor management. If I could give it zero stars, I would.
diromu
Super location on the waterside and food was ok. Service was very slow! One waiter said “yeah, it’s all a bit of a mess today”. Very difficult to get the attention of any staff - walking around looking in every direction but at customers. One guy got hit in the head by an umbrella that lifted out of the table with a gust of wind, but no one seemed interested. I enjoyed my food, but it took a long time to arrive, and one of the meals was wrong. We informed a member of staff who offered to get another, but we continued with the wrong meal as it had taken so long to arrive and don’t want to risk another hour waiting for the replacement. Great location, food ok (but not accurate). Has lots of potential and really hope it ups the game a little and does well.
Nancy
We came for lunch and it was not busy. we sat outside which was great. but felt rushed while ordering. We all wanted fried clams but Were told no because only served on the weekend. This is a seafood place, right? Our server never asked how our food was or cooked. The check was brought and never asked if we wanted dessert or anything else. which was fine considering they started clearing the table. The music was loud and the staff was not very friendly.At least the view was nice.
Arriving in Gloucester after a six-day trip on our boat, The Studio was highly recommended, welcoming dogs on their outdoor deck. We stopped in and made a reservation and emphasized with the host that we had a dog and they ensured us that dogs were allowed on their outside deck. We were thrilled, we were ready for a sit-down dinner with views. When we arrived a few hours later, we were told that their deck was closed due to “rain on and off all day” and that they would not be able to accommodate us. Without going into details about the weather, there was no offer for any other option for a meal at The Studio, not even an offer for takeout. It was unclear why we did not receive a courtesy call informing us that their deck was closed as they asked for our phone number when we made the reservation. I should also add that I requested a reservation for 6:30 but was told 6:15 would be better, I accepted. When we arrived, the restaurant was less than half full and I had spent the few hours prior exploring the local galleries with not a drop of rain.
Service: 1
Bill L.
Just a mess of an operation and I can't understand why. Is it because they are short staffed, can't cook or just don't give a @$*#. Bring back the old owner. There were four parties at the inside bar in the early evening. The wait for drinks was at least 10 minutes. One or two customers had to chase down the bartender just to pay and get out of the place. The travel ads that were on for my entire visit just played a continuous loop over and over again. I ordered a studio burger that was well done as opposed to medium but I ate it anyway for it was far better than the raw burger I sent back on my first visit this year. The fries tasted like they came out of a can like the old potato sticks. They were the consistency of campground kindling wood and actually snapped when I pressed one of them on my plate. The shrimp cocktail and calamari were very good as was my guests meals consisting of the fish tacos. So for me I'm done with this spot for a while. There are to many other good food options in Gloucester to endure this again any time soon. Sorry. P.S. it's not "the biggest deck on the neck" it's "the biggest wreck on the neck."
Carol McPhail
Ben Davis was our server and he was exceptional. The staff was amazing. The food is so fresh that they ran out of items. If you go ask for Ben D Davis.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Ahsan Ali
Pretty mediocre food, but the staff was nice and the location was great. Dont think I’d come here again though.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Lobster Roll, Caesar Salad
Jakob Utter
Looks on the deck are amazing everything else is mediocre service was okay the food wasn’t up to par for the price that you paid I ordered medium and it was rare overall can’t recommend the place but did not try the
I sincerely hope The Studio does not reopen, for all our benefit. I'm writing this months after my visit due to an issue I had hope to be resolved but never was. To begin, the view was excellent. We were seated on the deck but I probably would have been disappointed inside. Right when you walk in, you're greeted with large cages full of liquor which seems like an odd place for storage? I see other reviewers have noted the same with pics. The service was OK. Disorganized, but OK. For example, you'd ask for ketchup and it wouldn't come... so you'd ask someone else and they'd bring it right to you. The food was also OK. The menu has certainly changed (smaller) and the quality of the food has diminished but it was still just OK. No complaints about the price vs. quality/quantity, but not really worth going back. It's my understanding that there was a change in chef (explains the food) AND ownership which leads to my problem: They essentially stole from us. We purchased a gift card from The Studio, and this restaurant was still doing business as The Studio. When the server ran the gift card, at first they said there was nothing on it. False -- We had a receipt and asked to please check with the manager. This was the first red flag in that the SERVER came back to the table and NOT the manager. The service explained that, per the manager, they cannot honor a gift card sold by the previous owner which, to me, sounds of questionable legality IF YOURE STILL MASQUERADING AS THE ORIGINAL BUSINESS. They then came back with some story, again per the manager, "Oh this has been happening. Here is the name and number of the previous owner. He owns XYZ other establishments in town and has been reimbursing people for gift cards". This line of BS was delivered with such confidence that we foolishly took the information, paid and signed the bill. After finally getting a hold of the previous owner, they promptly explained this was all BS and he had no idea what The Studio was talking about. Called the Studio, "Too bad". At which point we attempted a charge back on the credit card but it was unfortunately not accepted because we had signed the receipt. At the end of the day, this is now a mediocre if not subpar restaurant, and the management/owner is unscrupulous at best. You should change the name of the restaurant if you're not the same restaurant. I hope they sell and someone else brings the location back up to the quality of the "real" The Studio.
we love the place but the wait for food is interminable and i hope they have had a few years to scrub the menu covers.
Closed, wish website was updated
Long time Gloucester resident- Went there with a few friends at the beginning of the summer. Was so disappointed to see they got rid of their great sushi menu and replaced it with mediocre food that you can get at any other restaurant (ie. burger, fried fish, lobster rolls). The waitress was also pretty mediocre- called me a kid while she handed me my glass of wine. Drinks were fine (kinda tacky), one person I was with got the “truly shark bowl”, not a single gummy shark in it. If you want some good food go to the Franklin or Passports. If you want good drinks go to Drift.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
This place used to be so good. What the hell happened?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Long time Gloucester resident- Went there with a few friends at the beginning of the summer. Was so disappointed to see they got rid of their great sushi menu and replaced it with mediocre food that you can get at any other restaurant (ie. burger, fried fish, lobster rolls). The waitress was also pretty mediocre- called me a kid while she handed me my glass of wine. Drinks were fine (kinda tacky), one person I was with got the “truly shark bowl”, not a single gummy shark in it. If you want some good food go to the Franklin or Passports. If you want good drinks go to Drift.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
The food and service was good. The atmosphere, sitting on the deck as boats came and went was
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Haddock
Went there Monday night. Had a couple of drinks and a great time. Went there Tuesday night and they were closed for the summer season without any notice. Poor ownership accountability and extremely poor management. If I could give it zero stars, I would.
Super location on the waterside and food was ok. Service was very slow! One waiter said “yeah, it’s all a bit of a mess today”. Very difficult to get the attention of any staff - walking around looking in every direction but at customers. One guy got hit in the head by an umbrella that lifted out of the table with a gust of wind, but no one seemed interested. I enjoyed my food, but it took a long time to arrive, and one of the meals was wrong. We informed a member of staff who offered to get another, but we continued with the wrong meal as it had taken so long to arrive and don’t want to risk another hour waiting for the replacement. Great location, food ok (but not accurate). Has lots of potential and really hope it ups the game a little and does well.
We came for lunch and it was not busy. we sat outside which was great. but felt rushed while ordering. We all wanted fried clams but Were told no because only served on the weekend. This is a seafood place, right? Our server never asked how our food was or cooked. The check was brought and never asked if we wanted dessert or anything else. which was fine considering they started clearing the table. The music was loud and the staff was not very friendly.At least the view was nice.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
Arriving in Gloucester after a six-day trip on our boat, The Studio was highly recommended, welcoming dogs on their outdoor deck. We stopped in and made a reservation and emphasized with the host that we had a dog and they ensured us that dogs were allowed on their outside deck. We were thrilled, we were ready for a sit-down dinner with views. When we arrived a few hours later, we were told that their deck was closed due to “rain on and off all day” and that they would not be able to accommodate us. Without going into details about the weather, there was no offer for any other option for a meal at The Studio, not even an offer for takeout. It was unclear why we did not receive a courtesy call informing us that their deck was closed as they asked for our phone number when we made the reservation. I should also add that I requested a reservation for 6:30 but was told 6:15 would be better, I accepted. When we arrived, the restaurant was less than half full and I had spent the few hours prior exploring the local galleries with not a drop of rain.
Service: 1
Just a mess of an operation and I can't understand why. Is it because they are short staffed, can't cook or just don't give a @$*#. Bring back the old owner. There were four parties at the inside bar in the early evening. The wait for drinks was at least 10 minutes. One or two customers had to chase down the bartender just to pay and get out of the place. The travel ads that were on for my entire visit just played a continuous loop over and over again. I ordered a studio burger that was well done as opposed to medium but I ate it anyway for it was far better than the raw burger I sent back on my first visit this year. The fries tasted like they came out of a can like the old potato sticks. They were the consistency of campground kindling wood and actually snapped when I pressed one of them on my plate. The shrimp cocktail and calamari were very good as was my guests meals consisting of the fish tacos. So for me I'm done with this spot for a while. There are to many other good food options in Gloucester to endure this again any time soon. Sorry. P.S. it's not "the biggest deck on the neck" it's "the biggest wreck on the neck."
Ben Davis was our server and he was exceptional. The staff was amazing. The food is so fresh that they ran out of items. If you go ask for Ben D Davis.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Pretty mediocre food, but the staff was nice and the location was great. Dont think I’d come here again though.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Lobster Roll, Caesar Salad
Looks on the deck are amazing everything else is mediocre service was okay the food wasn’t up to par for the price that you paid I ordered medium and it was rare overall can’t recommend the place but did not try the
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2