Clarke Cooke House

We went to Clarke Cook House as it came highly recommended from our bed & breakfast, and that no one disliked the food all summer. First of all, the only thing either my boyfriend and I wanted on the menu, the Atlantic Salmon, was unavailable. So I stuck with 2 appetizers as my meal, the crabcakes (but only one was served) and the vietnamese shrimp roll. The roll was only good for the 3 pieces of shrimp on top of the fried object. Then, I found out that sushi can be served, although not mentioned by the wait staff. I figured you couldn't go wrong with sushi, and it was descent. My boyfriend ordered the Cod, however, that too was unbelievably bland and overpriced. Overall, it was way too expensive for the blandest food you will ever taste, which is hard to accomplish with seafood as it normally has so much richness alone! DO NOT GO THERE!!! more

I went there with my husband to enjoy a nice dinner. The service is really bad and seemed that staff dont treat you well if you are not 'white'. \r Food was ridiculously bad and service is worst ever. \r I highly recommend not to go there. Save your money and rather go to McDonald's to find a better dinner than this place. Pros: you kidding me...NOTHING Cons: Pathetic.. ridiculous.. yucky... more

We had the worst dining experinece ever. The food came really relly late, had to return one entree (was not cooked well) Service was really slow and painfully bad. Save your money and go to a fast food place. I will never go there even if I am given food for the rest of my life for free Pros: Nothing Cons: The place is served by a lousy staff / bad food more

I went there for dinner on Monday 05/18. both my wife and I were cebrating our one year anniversary and the place came highly recommended. We were seated right away and the waiter came to get our order. After that he disappeared. Never came back. We waited and waited and waited. \r \r We could clearly see that other tables were being served pretty fast. After about 20-25 mins of no activity, I had to summon the waiter to ask for bread. Bread is something that comes pretty fast, but I guess it took this waiter more than 20 mins to bring bread. While he brought us bread, he also mentioned that he was too busy and he was taking other orders. Any way we gave him our order and waited for appetizers…and waited….\r \r Finally after another 35-45 minutes, the the waiter showed with our entrees. We were baffled and asked him where are the appetizers? He said that he screwed up and forgot about the appetizers. Now this was getting really weird. \r \r My wife’s entrée (the Korma) was burned (both the vegetables and rice were pretty burned). We told him right away that this does not look right and it is burned. The waiter (Dennis) replied very curtly that this is the way it is cooked. He was like this is how it is. \r \r I told him pls take this entrée back we are not paying for this. He came back a 20 minutes later with the same entrée but this time it was half cooked. At this point we pretty much realized that they would not be able to get it right so we are better off ordering something else from the menu. Also at that time we had pretty much decided to get up and leave. As we were discussing that, the waiter (Dennis) mentioned that dinner was on the house since he had messed up so many times. Since it was getting late and we were really yhingary, we decided to stay and eat what we had. So the both of us sat and picked on one plate till the other entrée arrived. \r \r The second entrée then arrived by the time we were finished with the first one ( so much for having dinner together). After that this waiter (Dennis), then told us that deserts were on the house as well. We both shared one desert and summoned him over to clarify that we were all set. He then informed us that we had to settle the bill. We were flabbergasted and told him that he had said we need not pay, he flat out refused that he ever mentioned not paying and offered us that we talke it up with the manager. So the manger (Nick) arrived and said we have to pay the bill. He did acknowledge that the service had been sub par and shoddy. In the same sentence he said “if my waiter was as bad as you are putting him to be , then he would not be working here”. He did offer to take care of the desert only. \r \r Needless to say we slapped the money in his face and made it back to our hotel. I have traveled quite a bit and this was by far the worst service in any restaurant that I have ever had. The food was pretty bad as well. \r \r The next day I called back to the restaurant and spoke with Jeffery (the dining room manager). I have to Jeffery was kind enough to hear my whole story. He asked for clarification where it was necessary. He asked for detailed info about the entrees that we had had. I was pleasantly surprised that he took the time out to understand the situation and he did offer sincere apologies as well. He also promised me that someone would call me back.\r \r I feel so bad and mistreated that I took the effort to write this letter as well as post a review of this on the internet.\r \r Pros: Bad place, bad food and really bad service Cons: Bad place, bad food and really bad service more

We live in North Kingstown and drive to Newport frequently to enjoy the atmosphere and food. The clam chowder can't be equaled and the Sunday brunch is a wonderful value. Be sure to ask for the special brunch bread. more

If you like yourself, save time, money and - most importantly - your taste buds and go to another restaurant in Newport. In my travels, I have been to plenty good and bad restaurants, and Clarke Cooke must rank somewhere near the bottom. When we parked in the Bannister Wharf parking lot, the attendant told us that any of the restaurants on Bannister Wharf would reimburse us $10 parking if we eat there. Needless to say that spending almost $300 for 6 people was apparently not enough. The manager gave me some story about how they do not have an agreement with the parking lot - as if there is another place to park nearby. I hope that these $10 will make a real difference in his life... The service was atrocious, although not as bad as some other patrons have experienced. We wanted a table on the lower deck next to the window, but they could not seat us in that section because the restaurant was not full... The waiter was a nice enough fellow, but his cheap synthetic tie that was clipped to his moderately white uniform shirt with a paper clip was not quite up to the price level of the menu. Perhaps, the $10 they saved on our parking could eventually go to pay for the waiter's tie clip... The wine we ordered was not available and we got a cheaper alternative that tasted accordingly. Some of us got current menus and some - old ones with items no longer offered at the restaurant. Since I could not find any seafood that looked appealing, I opted for a $15 burger. I specifically asked for fried onions since I cannot stand the look and smell of fresh ones - and explained it to the waiter. Of course, my burger had both fried and fresh onions. Everyone else's food was equally strange and barely edible. The ""hand-cut"" fries and the required pickle were equally horrendous. Even my corny joke about the waiter bringing only one mahi instead of mahi-mahi found its mark - the portions for everyone were small. Of course, if you hate yourself, go to McDonald's... Pros: does not smell as bad as Black Pearl next door Cons: Prices, service, taste, and everything else about the restaurant more

This place is huge, lots of different rooms. I ate upstairs on a Sun. afternoon, the indoor portion. Salads all had a unique twist to them. The Newport Clam Chowder was good because the clams weren't chewy at all! The broth had really good flavor too, although I wouldn't have minded if it was a little creamier. Good bloody marys too. more

The service was horrible, the decor is dated, and the staff is very pretentious. They called twice to remind us to dress nice, and so I expected it... more

The service was horrible, the decor is dated, and the staff is very pretentious. They called twice to remind us to dress nice, and so I expected it to be a very upscale place, but the only thing upscale was the prices- my swordfish and my boyfriend's halibut were both very over-cooked, and it took 10 minutes before our waiter even came to bring us water while we waited on the very hot and stuffy roofdeck. There are much better meals to be had in Newport. UPDATE: I wrote this review yesterday, and today my boyfriend discovered that they charged his credit card THREE times. This place is HORRIBLE!! Pros: location Cons: bad service, mediocre food, pretentious staff more

i love this restaurant. i had the most beautiful and delicious tomato salad ever! but the real kicker was the burger!! it had gorgonzola cheese in the middle of it. heavenly!!!!! Pros: burgers more

Be yourself: Write like you'd talk to a friend. Are you a burrito expert? Was this your first massage? Say so.\r Think local: Mention the neighborhood and nearby attractions.\r Play fair: Don't hold burger joints to the same standards as four-star restaurants.\r Be specific: ""Perfectly crisp pizza crust"" is more helpful than ""tasty food"".\r Give details: Specialty menu items? Unique spa treatments? Get the word out! Pros: ultimate experience of Newport Cons: parking more

We stayed at the Chanler and they recommended this restaurant to us. While it might have been one of the few restaurants open during our Christmas Day dinner, I still believe I would have preferred to order Dominos. Do not follow the first two reviews as they are actually written by the restaurant itself, as a few of the reviews are on CitySearch. As for the restaurant, it is very overpriced, the portions are small, the seafood/fish is the worst. It is not fresh and arrived very overcooked and poorly prepared. As for the service, he forgot our silverware THREE TIMES during the meal and only brought our bread basket after asking twice. We finally got it after dinner was served. When we first entered the restaurant, the hostess assured us we had a wonderful table by the fireplace, and it turned out to be a tiny table crammed in a small space between the staircase and a large party which was extremely loud. The restaurant was pretty empty being Christmas Day. Be prepared to fight for a good table, even when they are so obviously available. Even the complimentary chocolate at the end of the meal was of horrible quality. Pros: Good views Cons: Everything else more

Arrived at 8:30 for an 8:30 reservation, was told to wait by the bar for our table. After abot 30 minutes I asked if our table was ready and finally they decided to seat us (1/2 hour past our reservation!). Wine clerk recommended a 2002 merlot to go with our meal, so I ordered it. The wine clerk shows up at the table with the same bottle, only the vintage was 2003. Mistake? Probably not. Only positive was that my fiance is a vegan, and they admitted that the vegetarian dish on the menu contained dairy instead of just serving it to her and making her sick. Overall, pretty bad experience. Restaurant appears to be a hotspot in Newport, but I would really only recommend it if you are (1) Very old and very rich, or (2) Very young, very pretty, and looking for a sugar daddy. Pros: Ok food, appears to be a newport hotspot Cons: Dishonest service, stuffy atmosphere, overpriced more

Do not go here. Me and my boyfriend went here in the beginning of May, we looked around and a lot of places were not open. We tried next door at the black horse or whatever it was called but I was starving and it was a 30 minute wait there. So we went to the Candy Store. There was no wait and it was very pretty and had a view of the waterfront. Well no wonder there was no wait, this place is horrible. I look at the menu and could not really find anything I wanted but I did see the lobster rolls. So I ordered that and the waitress said the price went up to $35.00 due to seafood inflation. Next door you can get it for $16.00 what a rip off, so I order the duck shepard's pie and my boyfriend got the pasta. We had to wait a while before our meal was done and the atmosphere was annoying with the locals laughing so hard I just wanted to walk out. So finally our food comes and it was disgusting. You think for that price it would be decent. It wasn't. I could cook better than that. So lesson learned if there is no wait there is a reason for this. Too overpriced and the food is gross. Go next door more of a selection. Pros: A great view of the waterfront Cons: Overpriced, food bad, service bad, locals place more

I live in Nepwort and do not recommend this place to anyone. The door staff is extramly rude during the summer months and will not let locals in but have no problem letting us in when the summer crowd leaves. Also, everone I know thinks the food is awful.. Stay away! more

The Clarke Cooke House is the essence of Newport - romantic, festive, preppy casual, with a great location right on the wharf. I live in Rhode Island and this is my favorite place to hang out, either for dinner or cocktails. In winter, settle into a sofa in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine and good company. In the summer, the Sky Bar is one of the best spots in the city for people-watching. Don't leave without trying the ""Snowball in Hell"" for dessert. more

The Clarke Cooke House offers classic food done well in a classic setting. Pros: cuisine, menu more