Dad's Of Niantic - East Lyme

I wish the new owners the best and hopefully they can make it the seafood restaurant it used to be. Dad's just really went from a great place to eat to a place I wouldn't recommend anymore and it had been a favorite of my family for years. Last meal there 2023 was terrible sadly.

Just about every seaside town on earth has a place like Dad's. A lowbrow fried seafood and chips joint in an aging old building with a view of the water. They'll serve burgers and hotdogs and onion rings too, and may even have something fresh if the local waters are known for their clams or oysters or salmon or crab or lobster. These places are popular for their big menus that are popular with large groups, and for their nostalgia, especially when they've served a popular vacation spot for years. But too many of these spots aren't very good, and unfortunately, this place is no exception. Dad's falls into the same trap that so many restaurants do and treats frying as if it's just dumping stuff in oil. The result is food thats too dense, too oily, lacking in any flavor, and that gets soggy quickly.I know some people like this spot, but at the risk of being a total snob, I think it's because they haven't had good fried food before. Fried food can be amazing with the right training and expertise. Like any other cooking skill, knowing how to prep your food for frying, create a seasoning that flavorful and compelling, and use the technique to produce something light and will stay crispy. I only wish more people could experience the output of an exceptional fry cook because their expectations would push seaside staples like Dad’s to do better.Now, even though I didn’t like the food, there’s ample parking, a decent view, and the service is solid if unremarkable. the people who enjoy this place seemed to really like it, so they’re doing something right. It’s just not for me.

Bathroom 4 ladies is very low to the floor. The steps are also steep...Thank You.

Great hot lobster rolls. The main problem is that it is not open all year long.

This review has been a long work in progress. In the beginning I started out with 5 stars and became increasingly disappointed as time went on, to which I am now down to a 2 star rating.Let me start with, this past year 2023 they stayed open an extra week to just get rid of the food no new orders or anything, can 't imagine how fresh the food was at that point.My husband and I looked forward to their opening every year, but this past year things just seemed to have taken a turn drastically for the worse. Everytime I tried to order take out they never had certain foods, for example their clam Fritters, each time I was always and I mean ALWAYS given a different excuse, either the batter was too difficult to make (you can 't make this up) and they didn 't have enough time, or oh we are only doing them on the weekends (check on the weekends and told oh sorry next weekend we ran into an issue), check randomly and told oh we haven 't started making them yet we will be doing that tomorrow and I check the next day oh we don 't have a cook that is familiar with making them. Sadly this was only one issue with them, their food was soggy when we would finally break down and eat, not to mention the clotted New England clam chowder that looked like paste from elementary school they tried to pass off. Then constantly being told the credit card machine was down so you had to pay cash, however wouldn 't be informed of that until after you order.I wish I could say something better about this place as they have been around for some time now, but it is appearing that the only thing they are truly interested in, is storing boats for the winter in their parking lot!