I'm updating my review because I've noticed that some people have complained about the staff. I have been there countless times at different times of day and different days of the week, so I've interacted with most, if not all of the staff, and I must say, I don't have any idea what these people are talking about. One of the best parts of Cala's is the atmosphere and the staff. They're all really friendly, and the bartenders (I've had both a male and female bartender at different points) are always really nice and make great drinks! So anyways, I'd say go to Cala's and see for yourself. Maybe if you're nice and respectful to the waitstaff, they'll return the favor. read more

I wanted to follow up on a recent visit to Cala's with my Sister and Niece for a wonderful Birthday dinner. We had a delicious meal, beautiful tasty yummy drinks and the service was spot on perfect! Great atmosphere and vibe....I will definatley be returning! It was a great night and I was so happy to give it 5 stars. read more

I love this place! After spending the day at Singing Beach for an end-of-summer day trip up north from Boston, my boyfriend and I wanted seafood. We picked out this place because it had Fish & Chips and a Lobster Roll. Also, we had beach bags and a cooler with us, so a "Flip-Flop Friendly" sign in the window made is feel a little more welcome -- we were able to store our stuff under a banquette while we ate. The French Fries here are really really good. The portions are pretty big, but I found that everything was so good that I couldn't stop eating. The service was really great too. We arrived a little bit before the dinner rush and had two hours to kill before a train back to the city, but our server was really sweet about us taking our time at our table by ordering more drinks even though there was a wait outside. I'll definitely come back here if I'm ever in the area! read more

Good food, good service, good atmosphere. I go there frequently. Most of the staff have been there for a while so the place runs pretty well. They always have good specials most nights. We typically go for dinner but have also just gone for drinks on the bar side. The bar tender, Scott, is a great guy that welcomes every customer with a genuine smile. read more

The food here is delicious. Service can be a tad slow but it's totally worth it. You have to try out the salads and the pulled pork quesadillas! read more

This place would fare much better if the decor and atmosphere were better. Wait staff is professional and fairly friendly. Atmosphere, especially bar, was a bit pretentious but maybe that was the crowd. Food was ok but not spectacular for the price. Not good enough to lure us back. read more

Look it you can't have a restaurant in Manchester by the Sea and have the rudest bartender of all. I like to sit at the bar but this bartender was so full of himself, and unwelcoming. It was off hours and the bartender made it known we were not locals, however we are, we just moved to town. The place is small so it should be friendly, it was not. We got the calamari appetizer the portion small and service with out any friendliness. We good patrons but won't patronize this place in less they get a better bartender. Stayed for one drink and felt that was too much. read more

Im giving Calas 4 stars for the food which is great. The prices are more along the line sof 2 starts- very expensive even in a place like Manchester. The martinis are $12 which I know is standard in Boston but not on the North shore-ridiculous. Servers have always been great, great ever-changing menus. Our favorite foods are the buffalo chicken sandwich- best I ever had, and the burgers-yum! and great french fries. Wish I could afford to go here more.... read more

Overrated dinner spot in Manchester. Service is good and food is just decent and overpriced. Every time I've been I haven't loved the food. But I would suggest getting a burger or pizza out of everything they have. Overall decent restaurant but in my opinion overrated. read more

There aren't many options in Manchester, so it is great to have a restaurant that offers from casual to upscale food with lots of options. I had the fish tacos, which were on the casual side of the menu and were amazing. The fish was cooked perfectly and well seasoned with a number of excellent fresh items- avocado, black beans, salsa. The only improvement would have been corn tortillas- flour tortillas are dull and bland. We also had the arrancini appetizer, which was lightly fried and delicious and a sablefish special, All were excellent, as were drinks. Dessert costs one star. We had a strawberry biscuit that looked like a hamburger when it came out. The biscuit felt like a brick and was tough/difficult to cut. It was a bit strange. Service from host to server were warm, friendly and fast. read more

Cala's just re-opened, so any reviews prior to February 2010 are for a completely different menu that no longer exists, which is really unfortunately because this restaurant used to be so exquisitely fabulous. Gotta agree with Brian A -- it's mediocre, at best. The food comes on plates that are ridiculous (a wooden platter four inches wide for a pile of fries and tough steak? You can't even rearrange the food on it, much less cut it!) Orders get dropped (no appetizers for me I guess), the pacing is totally off. Yikes. It used to be a wonderful gourmet restaurant with exquisite world-class cuisine. Now it's just a seafood pub with mediocre food and service. Everyone seems to like the bar; it's always packed, but I suspect they're not drinking the mixed drinks, which sound great on the menu and are simply unpalatable. It's the only time I've actually spit out a drink, just like you see in the movies. I wish I could take that experience back, because it was awful. read more

I stopped in here with my mom after popping around shops in MBTS for lunch. I walk by this place all the time but have never been in. We sat at the bar and had a great bartender. It was pretty empty, but everyone seemed to know each other! Mom and I both got the cobb salad, which was great with butter lettuce rather than traditional romaine. The menu had a lot to offer. It was a bit of a sports bar kind of vibe (giant photo of the Colgate LAX team, jokey items about the yankees, big TVs). It was just what we wanted! read more

This time I got a risotto, not sure how that's vegan considering I don't usually eat cheese. Nice ambiance but why not cater to people who do NOT eat animal products? There is a market for that. Educate your cooks. They are cooks, not chefs. Chefs know how to please. I don't want to cook every night, so get it together. read more

Having vacationed in Manchester for several summers now, we never ate out for dinner until tonight. This place is great! I headed there tonight with my wife and infant son. The food was delicious. The pulled pork quesadillas were delish and the pizza was solid! They have a great draft beer selection and some decent wines as well. They were also accommodating to families, with a good kids menu and patient staff. All in all this place is perfect for downtown Manchester. read more

Stopped in for lunch. Had a great salad, my wife had two tuna tacos. All was excellent and service was friendly and prompt. I'd definitely recommend Cala's for lunch. Moderately priced. read more

We had lunch here Monday and I'd have to rate it an epic fail. I had the clam chowder which was basically clam free and seemed to have cheese which is odd and overwhelmed any other flavor. This was followed by a dried out baked haddock and a ludicrous amount of French fries to hide the underwhelming fish. My wife had a salad with a maple dressing that only tasted of garlic and nothing else. I would understand this more if they were busy but this was not the case. The day drinkers at the bar were the main attraction and our waitress seemed more interested in what was happening there versus waiting on her tables. Seems like this restaurant has passed it's prime and fading away, unfortunately! read more

Fun, casual, local atmosphere. Light wood walls and paintings of local sites. Low, red light in evening. Food is good, but not great. Steak was cooked perfectly but flavor was not awesome. Broccolinis were too blanced too early, but had good butter flavor. Fries were darker style (tasted overcooked, but I think it was the style). Reuben was very good. Only a few beers on tap, although I found one new beer that I liked. They let you sample beers. Wine list was poor. Dessert was fantastic! Service was very poor when the restaurant was busy. As soon as it slowed down, service was excellent. Wait-staff was always polite, smiling and friendly. I noticed that the staff was very accommodating with pushing tables together or apart for different-sized groups. When I was there they were out of one primary entree and one special. They were apologetic, but offered no compensation. One was announced when I sat down; I was told about the other after I ordered it and they discovered they were out. Overall decent food and not a bad place, but I'd choose other restaurants first. In regards to Serenitee resturants I rate this below 15 Walnut, Lat 43 and Hale St., but above Alchemy. *I have heard their build-your-own-pizza is good but we did not try it. read more

Just happened upon this place while driving around and looking for a good place for lunch. The fish tacos were fabulous with just enough spice. The sangria margarita was refreshing. All in all great place read more

Food was great, bar was fun and bartender was really nice. I wish we had a place like this in Bedford. The tuna tartar, seaweed salad, reuben...all very tasty. Nice beers on tap (long trail, ipswich) and good wine list at reasonable prices. It is one of those places with a good atmosphere, good food and reasonable prices. The whole town tends to come on Friday night so be prepared for it to be packed. read more

Pleasant surprise !! Food is excellent service and decor is nice. Nachos are great appetizer fish tacos were excellent. Loved it one of my top picks during our 8 day trip. If your close by I Reccomend you stop in. Heather and Dave read more

First timer and found it to be both very good and not so good. First the very good; the service was friendly and attentive. The menu was varied and interesting. The prices reasonable. The pizza was excellent. The not so good; small wine list and small glasses. Sangria was tasteless. Limited specials. Fish tacos were way too peppery and couldn't be finished. If you would like a quiet meal you won't find it hear. The place is small and the bar area gets loud. I will try it again. read more

We were a group of 6, and we all had a great time. The Thai mussels were juicy and tasty, the burgers delicious, but the absolute best dish was the rib eye steak. It was OMG! delicious, cooked perfectly, good size. I took half of the steak and veggies home and had a wonderful lunch the next day. Staff is fun and efficient. Good time, will certainly be back! read more

In a town where there are few choices for going out to dinner, Cala's could take the option to serve sub-par food because they can. I'm always pleasantly surprised that I am always happy with my meal. They serve a regular bar menu with a few twists to assure the food stays interesting. I love their pizzas, and have fallen madly over their Thai mussels. It is a place where the regulars hang out, so the bar can be noisy, but that isn't something that bothers me. Bartenders are always very attentive and I've never received bad service. read more

Do not order take out from here. I love serenity restaurants usually but I live 20 minutes away and decided to order take out last night. I ordered a salad with salmon and shrimp and an extra side of their maple vinaigrette. It totaled to be an expensive salad but I know the quality of serenity restaurants are usually excellent so I was okay with that. We also ordered a French onion soup. My salad came with no vinaigrette and the soup had these salad croutons and two pieces of melted cold Swiss cheese in a separate box so you can make the soup yourself I guess? I also only got 3 pieces of shrimp and I figured I would get more considering my salad totaled to 31 dollars. When we called to complain we were met with an attitude over the phone and "I guess you could come back for vinaigrette we could give you a lot extra". I'm not sure what I would do with many extra cups of vinaigrette. We have been supporting Cape Ann small businesses all throughout this pandemic and even though some places have lacked in service and quality we've never complained considering the circumstances but this was so bad I felt a need to write a review. We won't be back. read more

Went there for the first time yesterday and we will return. Can not say enough good things about our server Kelley. she did a great job and we really enjoyed the food. read more

Very solid spot! I live on the north shore, but just came here for the first time this week. I had the baked haddock, which was very fresh and well seasoned. It came with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a beurre blanc, all awesome. Everyone else loved their food, which included wings, tacos, the cobb salad, and the Mexican street corn special. Service was good, the place is cute, great location to go for a walk right after. I'm definitely coming back again soon! read more

First time visit. Food was very good and nice diverse selection. Somewhat expensive but which place isn't these days. Wouldn't say it's hip or chic, but nice decor and comfortable....except... bar was dirty from brunch time with newspapers all about (we arrived Sunday night around 6) Music was on which would have been nice but was dueling with TV basketball game - very annoying. Bartender was professional, albeit aloof. read more

Love it here, go often on special occasions with the BF. I would warn against the Mexican Street Tacos - the pork is very dry and overall they're just sub par. I've had the Fish Tacos before though and they were awesome. I've heard great things about the pizza as well. My boyfriend had the Turkey sandwich and loved it. Overall good stuff! Just not the Mex. St. Tacos. Yeck. But maybe they weren't good on this particular night. The clam chowder is AMAZING and the Nachos??? Main reason we ever go. INCREDIBLE. beer too. and the chocolate cake mousse thing. Love it! read more

Cute place and also seems to be a favorite of a bunch of locals. Their tuna tacos are amazing and if you love spicy you should give the honey habanero chicken wings a try. Would definitely come back. read more

Food was "Meh" and expensive. Also, for being a child-friendly restaurant, I was baffled as to why the large bathrooms had no changing table. I changed my baby on the dirty bathroom floor. Lastly, the bill had to be corrected twice for overcharging errors on it. I was looking forward to trying this restaurant out and was disappointed. read more

Boxed mashed potatoes with the baked haddock this past Thursday evening, February. 2-17. Not good. I doubt anyone but the chef and clientele know. My daughter pointed it out and I didn't believe her, so I tried a bite. She was unmistakenly right and she's just 17. The chef must be struggling personally and just barely holding it together because there are no reasons to use flake potatoes. The decaf was luke warm but one can always overlook that. The haddock was fresh and tasty, but the portion was small. They also used little pieces to make it look like one fillet. I can also overlook that if the quality is there and it was. I always considered Cala's to be the Halibut Point of Manchester, but I was wrong. HP maintains flawless quality. Cala's management needs to be aware of what's going on in the kitchen. Nice ambiance. Nice location. A bit pricey. I believe in honesty and second chances. read more

After spending a wonderful day at Singing Beach, my family and I decided to go and eat something before heading back to Boston. So, we spotted this restaurant and thought looks nice, let's try it. Well, the three of us walk in, staff looks at us, and says nothing; absolutely nothing. We wait for about 2 minutes. Staff including the person who clearly sits guests, looks at us, and says nothing. I tell my daughter, if no one acknowledges us in 30 seconds, we're leaving. As we leave, I say, as a patron is walking out, "wow, really rude!" I will never go here again. I will make a point of telling my friends to avoid the place. read more

Went with my boyfriend and a friend after the beach since they wanted lobster rolls. I got the scallops which were fantastic! The clam chowder was on point and the sweet tea sangria was refreshing. I'll totally come back next time I'm in town :). read more

I love this place very easy and quick I love the buffalo wings and I love the grilled ceased the staff is so friendly they are amazing at your job and it is such a family friendly restraunt and it is so cosy and fun very poppy I really recommend you try this read more

Great place to try! Very cute little restaurant/bar with an AWESOME menu. I wanted to try so many different things. Ended up with the local baked haddock entree and my husband got pan-seared scallops over mushroom risotto. Both dishes were excellent! They also had 50 cent wings (on Sunday night) which were tasty. To boot, the restaurant is 2 min from a park where you can take a lovely after dinner stroll by the water! read more

The waitress was friendly and the atmosphere was appealing, but the food and check took long even though it wasn't busy. The food was disappointing-the burger and tacos were dry and over cooked, and fries were soggy. Though not too expensive, the food wasn't worth the price. read more

A local place, for a quick bite. If you go early lots of noisy kids on the right side. Bar typically noisy on left. Fish tacos excellent. Craving a burger. Hamburger was way overcooked. Well done asked for medium rare. It was dry and shriveled up. Fries were okay. Average prices and service. Usually eat baked haddock which is often good. Individual pizza also can be good. Convenient. read more

Definitely would recommend this. We had a party of 5 last night and everyone was very happy. I especially recommend the porcini crusted scallops with a tasty mushroom risotto. They did a great job with the scallops which are easily underdone or overdone. Others enjoyed the haddock. For an appetizer we had nachos which were nicely presented. Not just a bunch of chips with velveeta but plenty of cheese, sour cream, etc. Casual but nice ambience. Cute little village restaurant. read more

Went there at 11:55 am with my wife and sleeping 3 month old. Waitress wanted to know where we were from and why we were out so early we told her from Salem and wanted to take a little ride. She suggested we ride to 5 corners restaurant in Marblehead best restaurant in the north shore she said. Well foolishly we stayed and order a salad with a hair in it. And baked haddock which was 3 forkfuls that's it and a flat coke and cold fries. Worst restaurant experience I have ever had. Would starve to death before I go back to cala's. read more

Went to Cala's last night and was extremely impressed. The food was excellent and the prices were very reasonable (Wed. night special on lobster roll was $10.99 and it was chock full of fresh lobster!). The angus burger was huge and cooked perfectly. The atmosphere is very nice. Not a huge dining room but it is very relaxing and clean as a whistle. Our server, Sara, was terrific! Said and did all the right things at the right time - she is a real pro. Can't wait to return! read more