Ok, not the trendiest place on Main Street. It's a basic diner with a 50s feel. There was large selection of menu items. My wife's soup was good and her blt was tasty. My bbq chicken wrap was very good. Fries and onion rings were slightly below par. It was a quick satisfying dinner. A good place when you're hungry but not if you're looking for a new exciting dining experience.
(3)
Claudia A.
We stumbled in to this place and should of realized there was a reason it was empty. The 19 year old waitress was wonderful and did what she could to attend our party of 12, without any help from her coworkers. However, for a place right on the water I would of expect a half decent chowder, but I think Cambels makes a better one. The food was overbook and heavily deep fried. And when we asked for an extra plate from a different waitress she rolled her eyes. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. I wonder how places like this afford to continue business.
(1)
Laurie W.
First time visitor and not a good breakfast experience. Like another Yelp member stated, the lack of customers should have been a key indicator plus I couldn't get a network connection until we where already inside so I didn't pull the Yelp stars and reviews until it was too late!! Kitchen allows no substitutions and my wife's eggs Benedict was a huge disappointment! The poached eggs where way undercooked, her English muffin never saw the toaster/flat top. The home fries we're lackluster too. Our side of bacon never made an appearance and we almost got charged for it. Lastly, the dining area was rather dirty too. The only good point of the visit was the friendly waitstaff. Skip this place and I would highly recommend the Cove Cafe. We LOVE the Cove Cafe!!
(1)
Gayatri P.
Had breakfast here and give it a solid 2 stars. The younger waitress was very nice and helpful but I was struck by the grumpy nature of a more seasoned worker who was downright unpleasant. The food was adequate but there's no reason at all to eat at Bessie's Diner when there are such wonderful places to eat.
(2)
Theodore H.
Place is a sad shame. The staff try so hard to be accommodating. They are trying to make up for a stagnant kitchen and air conditioners that don't work. We did go in last Saturday night and were even warned as to how slow the kitchen is. 50 minutes for two appetizers and 90 minutes for dinner to arrive. At the bar I was told she could not bring me a second drink because they had nothing clean. Food was average to good but I would never go back.
(2)
Lilly J.
Nope. Not worth your time. I asked for my eggs to have the whites be cooked and not runny (they were runny). One of the egg yolks was broken. I've been to places who had pride in their product and brought me a fresh cooked egg to replace the broken yolk. The sausage patty was barely warm. The sourdough toast wasn't--it was closer to bread than toast--think setting 1 on your toaster. My husband's omelet was only okay. The home fries were horrible. It is almost as if they came out of the pre-boil phase and landed on the grill for a minute or two. They weren't fried, there was no seasoning and they would probably have been better put to use as mashed. All in all the phrase that keeps coming to mind is that the kitchen staff rushed the job and didn't cook things the way they needed to be cooked. Oh, and it was pricey, even for a beach town. But the door person was great and the waitress was super nice (I left her a nice tip even though the food didn't warrant it)
(1)
Ryan R.
Went here to grab a quick bite to eat before heading to the beach. We were greeted warmly by the wait staff and seated right away. For my meal, I decided to go with the reuben sandwich as a safe option off of the menu. The sandwich itself was pretty good, though I would have loved for there to be a little more Russian dressing on it. Nothing was super memorable about the sandwich, but me and my two other friends that ordered it, thought it did the trick. Overall, this place has very friendly and quick service with reasonable prices and run of the mill food.
(3)
Caitlin B.
Had the turkey club and clam chowder soup. Food was decent but took a long time to get to the table.
(3)
Louie B.
We did take out from here on Sunday and then returned for breakfast on Monday. So we liked it. I had the Reuben for lunch and it was huge and greasy and delicious!! The wife had a burger which was good and we got a quesadilla app for our son. The quesadilla was good but had jalapenos in it. Now we know to ask when ordering for a 16 month old ;) Our fault not theirs. Breakfast was very good. Home Fries were seasoned nicely and the eggs were cooked perfect. AND - The grilled english was grilled the right way. Nice and crispy and not at all doughy like we had the day before. so 5 stars for the reuben and the grilled english - but overall a 4. WIll be back
(4)
Robert Y.
My wife and I went here for breakfast on our recent trip to Ogunquit. We just wanted some basic stuff for breakfast and I figured, "how bad could it be?" It's just not a good place. The waiter was very polite but informed my wife that he was not allowed to sell her the breakfast she wanted because the manager won't allow it. (She asked for two poached eggs with some raw or cooked vegetables; she needs to avoid gluten and they don't have many options) I got scrambled eggs with bacon and potatoes. The eggs were a little burnt and the potatoes kind of oily and mushy, lacking much seasoning. My wife ended up with two poached eggs all alone in a bowl. Also the place itself is tired and dirty. It's depressing. I would never go back. If you want a quality breakfast where they'll make you whatever you like, the prices are similar and the service and ambiance are delightful, go to Amore Breakfast down the road. If you don't want to wait around for 20 minutes for a table (there's always a wait at Amore) go to Wild Blueberry Cafe. I think the place is stuffy and not all that warm and inviting but the food is good.
(1)
john b.
Same place, different help , which are even worse.Food was always just okay . Have been here several times over the years, Today myself , my friend and sister went in for an early lunch , we were ignored from the start after asking to sit in down in the back , the waitress came and said something unintelligible about the soup of the day , then returned for our non alcoholic drink order. When we asked her to clarify about the soup she nearly jumped down our throats no other way to explain it. Then the delay in ordering as the two waitresses socialized with customer, counted wads of money and sorted checks and tips. Then the much younger waitress came over, and said "'Unfortunately we lost your slip/ order This is after we had to wait for it, we decided to leave , I told the older waitress I would pay for the one drink we got , she went berserk calling the police, saying we did not pay for our meals, meals we never received. Then with the police present the younger waitress lied saying she never said she lost our slip then said she was checking on us, this is after she threw out a few curse words in front of her manager Gillian. We have read the reviews and 2015 is a new year , though it's the same year at Bessie s, do your self a huge favor, it is tempting as it is in town , however do not waste your time or money , half the food is frozen and the service is horrific. We will never return to this establishment , especially while these two are there. The mother daughter waitress team has to go, only then can Bessie 's bring back some class to it's place of business , the previous years reviews are so accurate, I only wish we read them before we entered this place. On a positive note the Manager Gillian was excellent , helpful and very fair throughout this humiliating ordeal. Try the Maine dinner , its 15 min drive and the food and service is worth the trip out of town!
(1)
Riccardo D.
Some time after I posted a negative review on this restaurant, I was sent a message from the new manager. He asked that I give Bessie's another try. I did. During a recent week night, my bf and I 'attempted' to eat here. Upon entering the restaurant there was no host. We waited. A waitress acknowledged us and then promptly went into the bar. We waited. No service. We left and returned ten-minutes later. Nothing. It is mid-spring and the Ogunquit restaurants are just barely opening their shutters to the tourist season. Bessie's should be making a killing when not all of the area's restaurants are yet open. Instead they are, similar to my original review, ignoring their customers. A restaurant on the main strip in one of Maine's most popular tourist areas, ignoring customers. Why? Because they simply don't care. For every local they alienate there are ten hapless French-Canadian tourists that will take their place. I'm done with Bessie's.
It gets an extra star for attentive and sweet servers. Stopped for a quick lunch, almost left when I saw the inside, I regret not following my instincts. My husband ordered the chicken pot pie, mostly crust, with sweet potato fries, frozen, and I got a beef and vegetable soup that had fatty beef that I had to keep spitting into my napkin. After that the only safe thing I could order was a pretzel appetizer, definitely not baked there, but decent. However it was served a velveta type cheese sauce (yuck) and some plain old Dijon mustard. With none of the food seeming homemade it makes the diner experience pretty bad, $ waist of $36 dollars
(2)
Jessi R.
Bessie's was full when we arrived, but not packed, and they were very slow to turn over tables, which lead to a line that lasted the whole time we dined. I'm not sure why everything was so slow, because as I said, they had a full house, but there was always a table or two waiting to be cleared. Maybe they were short-staffed for the long weekend or something. The 4 of us sat for about 10 minutes before our server came by to offer coffee. I did appreciate the fact that, when I asked for a water, she offered them to the whole table--that's a sign of a good server. Unfortunately, the coffee was burnt to hell, and we all needed several sugars to ingest it. Sure, I wasn't expecting anything life-changing, but with a crowd as large as this, you knew it wasn't due to sitting around too long. The food was okay, nothing to particularly write home about, but it was good quality, even though incredibly slow to arrive. My chocolate chip pancakes were hot and large, but not super heavy, which I find is the case at many places--kudos to making a nice, fluffy pancake! My comrades ordered various benedicts and eggs, all of which were consumed completely, which is always a good sign.
(3)
Courtney M.
It's too bad this place isn't better because of the great location. There was nothing on the menu about juice or coffee. Two eggs and toast cost $7 which didn't come with bacon or anything. Waitress was friendly but the food was blah and the restaurant layout is very odd. The 'Belgian' waffle we ordered was hard as a rock and flat. It was essentially an eggo.
(2)
Jeremy J.
All the food we ordered was great (for a diner). We had a turkey club, fish and chips, fried shrimp from Maine. Turkey was cooked to perfection. Service was great just a on the slow side (maybe due to volume). I would come again as I thought it was good value.
(4)
Cherie K.
I had breakfast here this morning... Unfortunately I was not at all impressed. I had the bagel with lox, it was average, but nothing to rave about. The bagel was a bit thick and doughy and could have been toasted more. Waitress forgot my coffee and seemed scattered. She was also less attentive than I would have liked. The ambiance wasn't anything special, I feel like they could stand to give the place a facelift. The real down points were the Bloody Mary.... Which was just plain awful. I took one sip and couldn't drink anymore. I am a fan of a good Bloody Mary and this was nowhere near close. The second very big downfall was the man sitting at the bar by our table. He appeared to be a regular. He was loud and boisterous, and I had about enough when he loudly was complementing our waitress on how "good her a** looked". Not only did he make this comment multiple times he was somewhat encouraged by the waitress with her smiles, laughing, and "thanks you!"s...... That alone will keep me from coming back. I don't need to be disturbed eating breakfast. And nothing here was special enough to make me take the chance of running into this obnoxious guy again.
(1)
Patrick O.
Awful! The waitress was nice enough, but I thought it was weird that the cooks don't do substitutions for breakfast just dinner. They're breakfast menu isn't that expansive and it certainly looks like a greasy spoon that would cater to the tourists up there. Nonetheless we found things to order and both hated it. The corned beef hash I got was not only from a can, it was hardly cooked/crisped. The poached egg was pretty much hard boiled and the homefries barely touched a griddle. My wife's omelette was stuffed with watery, frozen veggies and the side of bacon was a very strange grayish color and wayyyyy over cooked. Definitely not going back and I feel bad because the waitress was nice enough.
(1)
David B.
My wife & I visited Bessie's this past Monday for lunch around 2;00 pm. I had been there a few times before in the past several years, and the food was always very good. I am not sure if service has slipped, or if management has changed since 2010? We ordered the grilled steak salad and grilled reuben. We must have waited at least 20 minutes for our meal, event though there were only 4 other tables in the whole restaurant where people were sitting. What bothered me was that as soon as the meal arrived, so did the flies. I spent the next 30 minutes swinging at house flies with one hand, while eating with the other. I do not recall having that problem at any other diner before. I will have to think twice before returning. The food was very good, but the flies more than cancelled that out. :-(
(2)
John M.
Loooooooooooooog wait for the waitress. When they say mile high meatloaf, they are not kidding... and practically as big as an island off the coast of Maine. Very good potatoes and veggies too. WORD OF CAUTION: The pecan pie is made with chocolate chips.... oh yeah, its better than sex!
(3)
Bill T.
Ate here awhile ago. Ended up here by default because there was a 45 minute wait at Blueberry Cafe and we had a hungry crew that was threatening to mutiny, so we came here where there were plenty of empty tables. It was soon revealed why nobody was here. This place stinks! The service was so-so, but when our pancakes came, two of us smelled something burnt. For each of us, one of our three pancakes was burnt on the bottom. Not just well done, but black and crusty. The waiter was apologetic and took them back (he had us put the offending pancakes right into his hand, kind of odd) but when he came back with replacement pancakes he said that the chef had thought maybe we wouldn't notice if he put the burnt side down. So the chef knows the pancakes are burnt, but sends them out anyway hoping we wouldn't notice? How messed up is that? I may like a nice sweater but that doesn't mean a chef should try to pull the wool over my eyes, so I say pass on this deceptive place.
(1)
Jay B.
Good comfort food. Decent prices, and friendly wait staff. I've been to Bessie's many times. The food has always been consistent and flavorful.
(3)
D. F.
Two stars for lack of high chairs and less than average service. Hunger prevailed over our parental logic, we arrived starving in Ogunquit for lunch with 2 hungry toddlers, Bessie's was the first open restaurant. (Winter season) When we were told no high chairs and waitress didn't crack a smile, we should have turned away. My 3 year old was asked if he wanted a menu and if he wanted an ice water while my husband balanced our 1 year old in a booster seat as our boys fidgeted with blinds and pulling the blind cords, then decided to attack sugar and creamer etc on table which I quickly cleared off. Our drinks and meals came out quickly. Food was decent but similar in quality to Bickfords or IHOP... I didn't have to cook or clean so that's fine with me. Just a overpriced for the quality. $75 including hefty tip for the path of destruction left behind seemed a little pricy. Our waitress had the character of a paper bag. At least pretend to like kids. Points for serving beer and wine and my 3 year old was thrilled with the 16ozer of chocolate milk. It made our stop off a tad more manageable.
(2)
Squidloe S.
Stopped in Bessie's for breakfast this morning figuring they had to be doing something right as their restaurant is prominently positioned in the heart of Ogunquit. Never assume. I'll be brief. Two of our meals were incorrect and there was a hair in one of the correct meals. I guess that's the price you pay for having the correct order delivered. The waitress wasn't phased by any of this, very telling. Do yourself a favor and spend your money elsewhere.
(1)
John M.
We were seated and waited 25 minutes the table was not set and we had no menus. A waitress walked by us a bunch of times and ignored us The place was not busy and had quite a few empty tables. Another table was seated and a waiter started taking their order. We told the hostess how long we had been waiting and she said "sorry." With that we got up and walked out but found a great Italian restaurant down the street with excellent food and wonderful service. I would think long and hard before ever going to Bessie's again. They seemed like they hated being there and could care less about the customers.
(1)
Jesse R.
I know a lot of people complained about the service, but I had no issues. I got seated right away. The server was very nice. I got an Arnold Palmer to drink and had a Lobster Roll with fries. The lobster roll was very good and was a very good portion of lobster. The fries were good steak fries. I think I you're in the area and want to hop in for a quick bite this place does the trick. Good portions, friendly service and decent prices.
(4)
Samantha S.
After a fruitless day of driving around looking for breakfast yesterday, another guest at the hotel told us to try here, telling us it was the best breakfast in Maine. Since it's the only breakfast I've had in Maine, I can't vouch for that, but it was very tasty. Bessie's also has the elusive Bananas Foster French toast I'd so wanted from another closed restaurant. I was not disappointed. The toast was fluffy and crisp and drowning in delicious rum sauce. It also was not lacking for bananas, either. The toast was an excellent conveyance of the sauce to my mouth. I don't know how my husband's meal was, since I was too busy scarfing my own meal. His home fries were pretty good, since I commandeered those. The service was pleasant, though nothing super special. It was quiet when we came in, after the morning rush, but just in time to still have breakfast. It's walking distance from several cute, touristy spots. I'll definitely come back and not just because it's the only thing open.
(4)
Ron A.
My family had just come over the marginal way on a blistering day and we were looking for some food and a/c for a reasonable price. The only thing we could find was Bessie's. My wife and I ordered each order a lobster roll, both came to us massive and had a nice helping of chips with them. My kids ordered the pizza, which while loaded, was a little soggy. Service was fast and friendly. I'm not sure I would have chosen this as my dinner spot, but for a quick reasonable lunch its a nice stop.
(3)
Ike C.
Went there a couple days ago and the food was delicious and had large portions.
(3)
David A.
The food was good. The service atrocious.
(2)
Sarah J.
Horrible service. Had to get our own menus. Never brought our kids drinks. Wish we had never come. Cornerstone restaurant up the road was incredible. We will not eat here again.
(1)
Shari J.
Typical diner food. I wanted breakfast, husband wanted lunch, so Bessie's fit the bill for us both. My belgian waffle was good and cheap, but the husband was super disappointed with his haddock sandwich. Come on, guys, this is Maine, right by the water, and you can't get fish right?!?! That's a problem. Oh yea, and the server went MIA for 20 minutes at a time, magically nowhere to be found when we wanted the check.
(2)
Stephanie V.
We arrived at 11 to have lunch. Well, unfortunately, they do NOT serve lunch until 11:30, which was very odd. This was our first visit and had the staff not been so nice and helpful, we would have walked out. It was a little difficult to tag down what we would get in order to accommodate our 1 year old grandson seeing that there was no children's breakfast menu. Well, we were disappointed at first, but were pleasantly surprised with the food and how the whole meal transpired. Very good food. Extremely fast!! Very accommodating staff and friendly. Will definitely go back.
(4)
Kathleen L.
Bessie's wasn't my first choice, but seemed to be the only place open in the area that served coffee in the off-season. I saw no customers or staff when I first walked in and almost thought they were closed until I spotted a couple in a far booth. The sign said wait to be seated, but no one came out so I went looking. I found everyone gathered at the bar and they still didn't make a move to seat me until I asked. Finally, someone said to sit wherever. I ordered coffee and a side of crab cakes. The coffee was on the weak side of your standard diner coffee, but not the worst. The crab cakes were okay. They were kind of mushy on the inside but crunchy on the outside and weren't bland. The waitstaff was nice but didn't really care what I overheard so I tuned them out. As I was leaving, I caught this guy staring at me through the window of the door to the kitchen. Pretty creepy.
(2)
Cory B.
Our experience at Bessie's was an absolute nightmare. You would think that a family-style restaurant in the heart of a major tourist town would have service down to a science. Unfortunately, it was the opposite. When we arrived for breakfast on a Friday morning in the middle of July, the restaurant was virtually empty yet we waited about 3 minutes for a hostess to seat us. When we sat down, we noticed that the place was empty, and the people who WERE there had not been served. Here's the thing...there were more than enough servers to the point where one was sitting on a stool playing on her phone. We ordered our food and waited about a half hour for it to arrive (there were only two of us and we both ordered simple breakfasts). The gentleman who ate alone next to us had not been served by anyone for 15 minutes, until a server apologetically acknowledged him. The couple behind us got up and left after having waited over a half hour for their food. The servers were bickering with each other in front of us, and our server (to her credit), ended up having to chop money off our our tab as an apology for how long everything took. The food was fine, but for that wait it needed to be better than fine. Unless they change things (and quick), I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.
(1)
Tim S.
Family style restaurant with a great Ogunquit location. Service was friendly but slow. Only two waitresses working for a full restaurant? Breakfast was decent, large portions but not spectacular.
(3)
Lulu M.
We ended up at Bessie's because it was off season and the restaurant we had planned on eating at was closed. It took a few minutes to be seated by our waitress. She was super attentive and friendly. We ordered a small mac and cheese to be shared. WOW! It was so good. Uber cheesy and flavorful. Everyone in our party fought for the last bit on the plate. My husband ordered a BLT and he declared it one of the best. I had the open faced meat loaf sandwich. Meat loaf is one of my favorite comfort foods. It was amazing! Large portion, flavorful. We were beyond full at this point, but were tempted by the deserts in the presentation case. We ordered an apple crisp. IT WAS SO GOOD! Bessie's is a solid choice for lunch or later dinner.
(4)
Matthew A.
One of the worst breakfasts I had in a long time. We stopped in on New Year's 2010 for breakfast. We all were disappointed. The home fries were burned. Not just a little over caramelized- burned and virtually tasteless. I had the crab cake Benedict which was heavy, greasy, and flavorless all drenched in heavy greasy hollandaise sauce. Belch. $13 wasted. On 1 positive note, the service was fast and the coffee decent. However, we hope never to return.
(2)
Donnie S.
Spoke with rachel on the phone, she was very helpful and took my order promptly! I will definitely be coming back!
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Breakfast, Brunch Parking : Street Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
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Pauly C.
Ok, not the trendiest place on Main Street. It's a basic diner with a 50s feel. There was large selection of menu items. My wife's soup was good and her blt was tasty. My bbq chicken wrap was very good. Fries and onion rings were slightly below par. It was a quick satisfying dinner. A good place when you're hungry but not if you're looking for a new exciting dining experience.
(3)Claudia A.
We stumbled in to this place and should of realized there was a reason it was empty. The 19 year old waitress was wonderful and did what she could to attend our party of 12, without any help from her coworkers. However, for a place right on the water I would of expect a half decent chowder, but I think Cambels makes a better one. The food was overbook and heavily deep fried. And when we asked for an extra plate from a different waitress she rolled her eyes. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. I wonder how places like this afford to continue business.
(1)Laurie W.
First time visitor and not a good breakfast experience. Like another Yelp member stated, the lack of customers should have been a key indicator plus I couldn't get a network connection until we where already inside so I didn't pull the Yelp stars and reviews until it was too late!! Kitchen allows no substitutions and my wife's eggs Benedict was a huge disappointment! The poached eggs where way undercooked, her English muffin never saw the toaster/flat top. The home fries we're lackluster too. Our side of bacon never made an appearance and we almost got charged for it. Lastly, the dining area was rather dirty too. The only good point of the visit was the friendly waitstaff. Skip this place and I would highly recommend the Cove Cafe. We LOVE the Cove Cafe!!
(1)Gayatri P.
Had breakfast here and give it a solid 2 stars. The younger waitress was very nice and helpful but I was struck by the grumpy nature of a more seasoned worker who was downright unpleasant. The food was adequate but there's no reason at all to eat at Bessie's Diner when there are such wonderful places to eat.
(2)Theodore H.
Place is a sad shame. The staff try so hard to be accommodating. They are trying to make up for a stagnant kitchen and air conditioners that don't work. We did go in last Saturday night and were even warned as to how slow the kitchen is. 50 minutes for two appetizers and 90 minutes for dinner to arrive. At the bar I was told she could not bring me a second drink because they had nothing clean. Food was average to good but I would never go back.
(2)Lilly J.
Nope. Not worth your time. I asked for my eggs to have the whites be cooked and not runny (they were runny). One of the egg yolks was broken. I've been to places who had pride in their product and brought me a fresh cooked egg to replace the broken yolk. The sausage patty was barely warm. The sourdough toast wasn't--it was closer to bread than toast--think setting 1 on your toaster. My husband's omelet was only okay. The home fries were horrible. It is almost as if they came out of the pre-boil phase and landed on the grill for a minute or two. They weren't fried, there was no seasoning and they would probably have been better put to use as mashed. All in all the phrase that keeps coming to mind is that the kitchen staff rushed the job and didn't cook things the way they needed to be cooked. Oh, and it was pricey, even for a beach town. But the door person was great and the waitress was super nice (I left her a nice tip even though the food didn't warrant it)
(1)Ryan R.
Went here to grab a quick bite to eat before heading to the beach. We were greeted warmly by the wait staff and seated right away. For my meal, I decided to go with the reuben sandwich as a safe option off of the menu. The sandwich itself was pretty good, though I would have loved for there to be a little more Russian dressing on it. Nothing was super memorable about the sandwich, but me and my two other friends that ordered it, thought it did the trick. Overall, this place has very friendly and quick service with reasonable prices and run of the mill food.
(3)Caitlin B.
Had the turkey club and clam chowder soup. Food was decent but took a long time to get to the table.
(3)Louie B.
We did take out from here on Sunday and then returned for breakfast on Monday. So we liked it. I had the Reuben for lunch and it was huge and greasy and delicious!! The wife had a burger which was good and we got a quesadilla app for our son. The quesadilla was good but had jalapenos in it. Now we know to ask when ordering for a 16 month old ;) Our fault not theirs. Breakfast was very good. Home Fries were seasoned nicely and the eggs were cooked perfect. AND - The grilled english was grilled the right way. Nice and crispy and not at all doughy like we had the day before. so 5 stars for the reuben and the grilled english - but overall a 4. WIll be back
(4)Robert Y.
My wife and I went here for breakfast on our recent trip to Ogunquit. We just wanted some basic stuff for breakfast and I figured, "how bad could it be?" It's just not a good place. The waiter was very polite but informed my wife that he was not allowed to sell her the breakfast she wanted because the manager won't allow it. (She asked for two poached eggs with some raw or cooked vegetables; she needs to avoid gluten and they don't have many options) I got scrambled eggs with bacon and potatoes. The eggs were a little burnt and the potatoes kind of oily and mushy, lacking much seasoning. My wife ended up with two poached eggs all alone in a bowl. Also the place itself is tired and dirty. It's depressing. I would never go back. If you want a quality breakfast where they'll make you whatever you like, the prices are similar and the service and ambiance are delightful, go to Amore Breakfast down the road. If you don't want to wait around for 20 minutes for a table (there's always a wait at Amore) go to Wild Blueberry Cafe. I think the place is stuffy and not all that warm and inviting but the food is good.
(1)john b.
Same place, different help , which are even worse.Food was always just okay . Have been here several times over the years, Today myself , my friend and sister went in for an early lunch , we were ignored from the start after asking to sit in down in the back , the waitress came and said something unintelligible about the soup of the day , then returned for our non alcoholic drink order. When we asked her to clarify about the soup she nearly jumped down our throats no other way to explain it. Then the delay in ordering as the two waitresses socialized with customer, counted wads of money and sorted checks and tips. Then the much younger waitress came over, and said "'Unfortunately we lost your slip/ order This is after we had to wait for it, we decided to leave , I told the older waitress I would pay for the one drink we got , she went berserk calling the police, saying we did not pay for our meals, meals we never received. Then with the police present the younger waitress lied saying she never said she lost our slip then said she was checking on us, this is after she threw out a few curse words in front of her manager Gillian. We have read the reviews and 2015 is a new year , though it's the same year at Bessie s, do your self a huge favor, it is tempting as it is in town , however do not waste your time or money , half the food is frozen and the service is horrific. We will never return to this establishment , especially while these two are there. The mother daughter waitress team has to go, only then can Bessie 's bring back some class to it's place of business , the previous years reviews are so accurate, I only wish we read them before we entered this place. On a positive note the Manager Gillian was excellent , helpful and very fair throughout this humiliating ordeal. Try the Maine dinner , its 15 min drive and the food and service is worth the trip out of town!
(1)Riccardo D.
Some time after I posted a negative review on this restaurant, I was sent a message from the new manager. He asked that I give Bessie's another try. I did. During a recent week night, my bf and I 'attempted' to eat here. Upon entering the restaurant there was no host. We waited. A waitress acknowledged us and then promptly went into the bar. We waited. No service. We left and returned ten-minutes later. Nothing. It is mid-spring and the Ogunquit restaurants are just barely opening their shutters to the tourist season. Bessie's should be making a killing when not all of the area's restaurants are yet open. Instead they are, similar to my original review, ignoring their customers. A restaurant on the main strip in one of Maine's most popular tourist areas, ignoring customers. Why? Because they simply don't care. For every local they alienate there are ten hapless French-Canadian tourists that will take their place. I'm done with Bessie's.
(1)Brian S.
Pasta pictures and pie Bessie's is a cool little dinner type place located right in the center of Ogunquit. Not much parking around but then there never is in the center of beach towns. I notcied that Bessie got a whole lot of bad Yelp reviews because of people complaining of the bad service. Not sure why because whenever we go here the server is prompt, friendly and extremely pleasant. Maybe we go at slow times but we are always seated and served efficiently and quickly. The food here is great. I know I am easily pleased when it comes to food but the servings are huge and the seafood and pasta quite delicious. And the blueberry pie and other desserts are as good as it gets. The restaurant is comfy and has lots of cool maps and pictures to look at while you wait. I really enjoyed walking around looking at the old pictures and talking with the friendly people that work there. Certainly not a fancy restaurant but definitely a fun place. The food was ample, inexpensive and tasty, the décor fascinating and fun and the service was friendly and efficient. Cant ask for anymore in a restaurant.
(4)Nicomima D.
It gets an extra star for attentive and sweet servers. Stopped for a quick lunch, almost left when I saw the inside, I regret not following my instincts. My husband ordered the chicken pot pie, mostly crust, with sweet potato fries, frozen, and I got a beef and vegetable soup that had fatty beef that I had to keep spitting into my napkin. After that the only safe thing I could order was a pretzel appetizer, definitely not baked there, but decent. However it was served a velveta type cheese sauce (yuck) and some plain old Dijon mustard. With none of the food seeming homemade it makes the diner experience pretty bad, $ waist of $36 dollars
(2)Jessi R.
Bessie's was full when we arrived, but not packed, and they were very slow to turn over tables, which lead to a line that lasted the whole time we dined. I'm not sure why everything was so slow, because as I said, they had a full house, but there was always a table or two waiting to be cleared. Maybe they were short-staffed for the long weekend or something. The 4 of us sat for about 10 minutes before our server came by to offer coffee. I did appreciate the fact that, when I asked for a water, she offered them to the whole table--that's a sign of a good server. Unfortunately, the coffee was burnt to hell, and we all needed several sugars to ingest it. Sure, I wasn't expecting anything life-changing, but with a crowd as large as this, you knew it wasn't due to sitting around too long. The food was okay, nothing to particularly write home about, but it was good quality, even though incredibly slow to arrive. My chocolate chip pancakes were hot and large, but not super heavy, which I find is the case at many places--kudos to making a nice, fluffy pancake! My comrades ordered various benedicts and eggs, all of which were consumed completely, which is always a good sign.
(3)Courtney M.
It's too bad this place isn't better because of the great location. There was nothing on the menu about juice or coffee. Two eggs and toast cost $7 which didn't come with bacon or anything. Waitress was friendly but the food was blah and the restaurant layout is very odd. The 'Belgian' waffle we ordered was hard as a rock and flat. It was essentially an eggo.
(2)Jeremy J.
All the food we ordered was great (for a diner). We had a turkey club, fish and chips, fried shrimp from Maine. Turkey was cooked to perfection. Service was great just a on the slow side (maybe due to volume). I would come again as I thought it was good value.
(4)Cherie K.
I had breakfast here this morning... Unfortunately I was not at all impressed. I had the bagel with lox, it was average, but nothing to rave about. The bagel was a bit thick and doughy and could have been toasted more. Waitress forgot my coffee and seemed scattered. She was also less attentive than I would have liked. The ambiance wasn't anything special, I feel like they could stand to give the place a facelift. The real down points were the Bloody Mary.... Which was just plain awful. I took one sip and couldn't drink anymore. I am a fan of a good Bloody Mary and this was nowhere near close. The second very big downfall was the man sitting at the bar by our table. He appeared to be a regular. He was loud and boisterous, and I had about enough when he loudly was complementing our waitress on how "good her a** looked". Not only did he make this comment multiple times he was somewhat encouraged by the waitress with her smiles, laughing, and "thanks you!"s...... That alone will keep me from coming back. I don't need to be disturbed eating breakfast. And nothing here was special enough to make me take the chance of running into this obnoxious guy again.
(1)Patrick O.
Awful! The waitress was nice enough, but I thought it was weird that the cooks don't do substitutions for breakfast just dinner. They're breakfast menu isn't that expansive and it certainly looks like a greasy spoon that would cater to the tourists up there. Nonetheless we found things to order and both hated it. The corned beef hash I got was not only from a can, it was hardly cooked/crisped. The poached egg was pretty much hard boiled and the homefries barely touched a griddle. My wife's omelette was stuffed with watery, frozen veggies and the side of bacon was a very strange grayish color and wayyyyy over cooked. Definitely not going back and I feel bad because the waitress was nice enough.
(1)David B.
My wife & I visited Bessie's this past Monday for lunch around 2;00 pm. I had been there a few times before in the past several years, and the food was always very good. I am not sure if service has slipped, or if management has changed since 2010? We ordered the grilled steak salad and grilled reuben. We must have waited at least 20 minutes for our meal, event though there were only 4 other tables in the whole restaurant where people were sitting. What bothered me was that as soon as the meal arrived, so did the flies. I spent the next 30 minutes swinging at house flies with one hand, while eating with the other. I do not recall having that problem at any other diner before. I will have to think twice before returning. The food was very good, but the flies more than cancelled that out. :-(
(2)John M.
Loooooooooooooog wait for the waitress. When they say mile high meatloaf, they are not kidding... and practically as big as an island off the coast of Maine. Very good potatoes and veggies too. WORD OF CAUTION: The pecan pie is made with chocolate chips.... oh yeah, its better than sex!
(3)Bill T.
Ate here awhile ago. Ended up here by default because there was a 45 minute wait at Blueberry Cafe and we had a hungry crew that was threatening to mutiny, so we came here where there were plenty of empty tables. It was soon revealed why nobody was here. This place stinks! The service was so-so, but when our pancakes came, two of us smelled something burnt. For each of us, one of our three pancakes was burnt on the bottom. Not just well done, but black and crusty. The waiter was apologetic and took them back (he had us put the offending pancakes right into his hand, kind of odd) but when he came back with replacement pancakes he said that the chef had thought maybe we wouldn't notice if he put the burnt side down. So the chef knows the pancakes are burnt, but sends them out anyway hoping we wouldn't notice? How messed up is that? I may like a nice sweater but that doesn't mean a chef should try to pull the wool over my eyes, so I say pass on this deceptive place.
(1)Jay B.
Good comfort food. Decent prices, and friendly wait staff. I've been to Bessie's many times. The food has always been consistent and flavorful.
(3)D. F.
Two stars for lack of high chairs and less than average service. Hunger prevailed over our parental logic, we arrived starving in Ogunquit for lunch with 2 hungry toddlers, Bessie's was the first open restaurant. (Winter season) When we were told no high chairs and waitress didn't crack a smile, we should have turned away. My 3 year old was asked if he wanted a menu and if he wanted an ice water while my husband balanced our 1 year old in a booster seat as our boys fidgeted with blinds and pulling the blind cords, then decided to attack sugar and creamer etc on table which I quickly cleared off. Our drinks and meals came out quickly. Food was decent but similar in quality to Bickfords or IHOP... I didn't have to cook or clean so that's fine with me. Just a overpriced for the quality. $75 including hefty tip for the path of destruction left behind seemed a little pricy. Our waitress had the character of a paper bag. At least pretend to like kids. Points for serving beer and wine and my 3 year old was thrilled with the 16ozer of chocolate milk. It made our stop off a tad more manageable.
(2)Squidloe S.
Stopped in Bessie's for breakfast this morning figuring they had to be doing something right as their restaurant is prominently positioned in the heart of Ogunquit. Never assume. I'll be brief. Two of our meals were incorrect and there was a hair in one of the correct meals. I guess that's the price you pay for having the correct order delivered. The waitress wasn't phased by any of this, very telling. Do yourself a favor and spend your money elsewhere.
(1)John M.
We were seated and waited 25 minutes the table was not set and we had no menus. A waitress walked by us a bunch of times and ignored us The place was not busy and had quite a few empty tables. Another table was seated and a waiter started taking their order. We told the hostess how long we had been waiting and she said "sorry." With that we got up and walked out but found a great Italian restaurant down the street with excellent food and wonderful service. I would think long and hard before ever going to Bessie's again. They seemed like they hated being there and could care less about the customers.
(1)Jesse R.
I know a lot of people complained about the service, but I had no issues. I got seated right away. The server was very nice. I got an Arnold Palmer to drink and had a Lobster Roll with fries. The lobster roll was very good and was a very good portion of lobster. The fries were good steak fries. I think I you're in the area and want to hop in for a quick bite this place does the trick. Good portions, friendly service and decent prices.
(4)Samantha S.
After a fruitless day of driving around looking for breakfast yesterday, another guest at the hotel told us to try here, telling us it was the best breakfast in Maine. Since it's the only breakfast I've had in Maine, I can't vouch for that, but it was very tasty. Bessie's also has the elusive Bananas Foster French toast I'd so wanted from another closed restaurant. I was not disappointed. The toast was fluffy and crisp and drowning in delicious rum sauce. It also was not lacking for bananas, either. The toast was an excellent conveyance of the sauce to my mouth. I don't know how my husband's meal was, since I was too busy scarfing my own meal. His home fries were pretty good, since I commandeered those. The service was pleasant, though nothing super special. It was quiet when we came in, after the morning rush, but just in time to still have breakfast. It's walking distance from several cute, touristy spots. I'll definitely come back and not just because it's the only thing open.
(4)Ron A.
My family had just come over the marginal way on a blistering day and we were looking for some food and a/c for a reasonable price. The only thing we could find was Bessie's. My wife and I ordered each order a lobster roll, both came to us massive and had a nice helping of chips with them. My kids ordered the pizza, which while loaded, was a little soggy. Service was fast and friendly. I'm not sure I would have chosen this as my dinner spot, but for a quick reasonable lunch its a nice stop.
(3)Ike C.
Went there a couple days ago and the food was delicious and had large portions.
(3)David A.
The food was good. The service atrocious.
(2)Sarah J.
Horrible service. Had to get our own menus. Never brought our kids drinks. Wish we had never come. Cornerstone restaurant up the road was incredible. We will not eat here again.
(1)Shari J.
Typical diner food. I wanted breakfast, husband wanted lunch, so Bessie's fit the bill for us both. My belgian waffle was good and cheap, but the husband was super disappointed with his haddock sandwich. Come on, guys, this is Maine, right by the water, and you can't get fish right?!?! That's a problem. Oh yea, and the server went MIA for 20 minutes at a time, magically nowhere to be found when we wanted the check.
(2)Stephanie V.
We arrived at 11 to have lunch. Well, unfortunately, they do NOT serve lunch until 11:30, which was very odd. This was our first visit and had the staff not been so nice and helpful, we would have walked out. It was a little difficult to tag down what we would get in order to accommodate our 1 year old grandson seeing that there was no children's breakfast menu. Well, we were disappointed at first, but were pleasantly surprised with the food and how the whole meal transpired. Very good food. Extremely fast!! Very accommodating staff and friendly. Will definitely go back.
(4)Kathleen L.
Bessie's wasn't my first choice, but seemed to be the only place open in the area that served coffee in the off-season. I saw no customers or staff when I first walked in and almost thought they were closed until I spotted a couple in a far booth. The sign said wait to be seated, but no one came out so I went looking. I found everyone gathered at the bar and they still didn't make a move to seat me until I asked. Finally, someone said to sit wherever. I ordered coffee and a side of crab cakes. The coffee was on the weak side of your standard diner coffee, but not the worst. The crab cakes were okay. They were kind of mushy on the inside but crunchy on the outside and weren't bland. The waitstaff was nice but didn't really care what I overheard so I tuned them out. As I was leaving, I caught this guy staring at me through the window of the door to the kitchen. Pretty creepy.
(2)Cory B.
Our experience at Bessie's was an absolute nightmare. You would think that a family-style restaurant in the heart of a major tourist town would have service down to a science. Unfortunately, it was the opposite. When we arrived for breakfast on a Friday morning in the middle of July, the restaurant was virtually empty yet we waited about 3 minutes for a hostess to seat us. When we sat down, we noticed that the place was empty, and the people who WERE there had not been served. Here's the thing...there were more than enough servers to the point where one was sitting on a stool playing on her phone. We ordered our food and waited about a half hour for it to arrive (there were only two of us and we both ordered simple breakfasts). The gentleman who ate alone next to us had not been served by anyone for 15 minutes, until a server apologetically acknowledged him. The couple behind us got up and left after having waited over a half hour for their food. The servers were bickering with each other in front of us, and our server (to her credit), ended up having to chop money off our our tab as an apology for how long everything took. The food was fine, but for that wait it needed to be better than fine. Unless they change things (and quick), I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.
(1)Tim S.
Family style restaurant with a great Ogunquit location. Service was friendly but slow. Only two waitresses working for a full restaurant? Breakfast was decent, large portions but not spectacular.
(3)Lulu M.
We ended up at Bessie's because it was off season and the restaurant we had planned on eating at was closed. It took a few minutes to be seated by our waitress. She was super attentive and friendly. We ordered a small mac and cheese to be shared. WOW! It was so good. Uber cheesy and flavorful. Everyone in our party fought for the last bit on the plate. My husband ordered a BLT and he declared it one of the best. I had the open faced meat loaf sandwich. Meat loaf is one of my favorite comfort foods. It was amazing! Large portion, flavorful. We were beyond full at this point, but were tempted by the deserts in the presentation case. We ordered an apple crisp. IT WAS SO GOOD! Bessie's is a solid choice for lunch or later dinner.
(4)Matthew A.
One of the worst breakfasts I had in a long time. We stopped in on New Year's 2010 for breakfast. We all were disappointed. The home fries were burned. Not just a little over caramelized- burned and virtually tasteless. I had the crab cake Benedict which was heavy, greasy, and flavorless all drenched in heavy greasy hollandaise sauce. Belch. $13 wasted. On 1 positive note, the service was fast and the coffee decent. However, we hope never to return.
(2)Donnie S.
Spoke with rachel on the phone, she was very helpful and took my order promptly! I will definitely be coming back!
(3)