I was with a group today and we had about 8 or 10 people. We had tables inside but had to go outside to order ice cream. I ordered third and got my ice cream before the first two ladies. Then lady #2 got hers and they totally lost the first lady's order. It was embarrassing. She had to speak up and eventually got her order. I loved the pistachio ice cream, but the fudge walnut was too fudge-tasting. Too sweet. And I couldn't tell if there were walnuts in it or not. Inside, my daughter got a grilled cheese sandwich and fries and said it was good. The fries looked a bit lackluster to me, but I wasn't eating them. She said she didn't even know she was getting fries so she was okay with them. I made a note that they serve a Haddock dinner, so we will try that the next time we visit. Oh, and a large was way too much ice cream for me, so I'll get a small next time. I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy with the group. read more

We stopped here on our way to the hotel across the street we had two small ice creams in waffle cones. They were huge! My husband had chocolate chip and I had peanut butter cup. Good ice cream. Next time I will order the kiddie size though. Quick service. Nice place to sit and enjoy our ice cream read more

Sawyer's Dairy Bar - Small peanut butter cup ice cream in a waffle cone - Seafood Near Me - Gilford, New Hampshire

The food isn't great, however the French fries are out of this world. Ice cream is okay but not the best. Staff is pretty good. Could definitely be better. read more

The lobster rolls here is great! Super fresh and plenty of claw meat! Also they have some super cool dudes working here. Good food and a casual place to eat. will definitely be back read more

Stopped in for some whole belly clams. That's a summer treat I allow myself once or twice per summer. Bad choice to order them here. While the dinner portion ($40 for the clams, fries, decent cole slaw and a Coke) was ok when it finally arrived (long wait), the amount of SALT in the clams was insane. Almost inedible. They must have stood there pouring it into the batter before cooking. UGH. Not recommended. Then, suddenly the place filled with smoke coming from the grill area. Not sure what was being burned to a crisp back there, but I had to run out to get air. Try another spot. read more

Kiddie ice cream - on website 3.50, in reality 5.50. Out of vanilla, no process to ordering then serving. Overall a very poor experience. The ice cream we got was excellent but I doubt I'll deal with the horrible service and bloated pricing in the future. Sad, I've come here since I was a kid (now 68) and have never had this bad an experience. read more

All the fried food was in the same over-salted, over-peppered batter. My clam chowder was cold. I recommend you stick with the ice cream and avoid the food read more

We went here for ice cream recently and on top of it not being very good like it used to be it was insanely expensive for just 2 kiddie cups. Over 11 dollars is absurd for such a small amount. Good luck to them! There are many other better and cheaper options in the area. read more

Very good lobster roll for $20!!! Onion rings too peppery and I like them thinner. Chips with lobster roll--I liked my husband did not. read more

Stopped at Sawyer's for lunch. Used to come here often, thought it would be a nice treat. Not the place of the past! Not only did it take over 45 minutes to get our food, it was awful!! I got scallops, tasted old and fishy, tartar sauce was the worst I've had. Coleslaw tasted so old, borderline rancid. My husbands burger was overdone and served with a wilted piece of lettuce, and forgot the cheese. Onion rings were just not done. Because of the grill and open to the seating area the room had a smoky blue hue inside. And don't touch the salt and pepper shakers, they were so sticky and slimy!! Gross!! read more

Ice cream is really expensive. The food too. It has a good location though - close to the lake.

They bought a landmark and destroyed it.They should have hired professional people.Instead of using kids from work visas who aren't cooks.The stars are for the ice cream .and the people who serve it. read more

This place had high quality food, but the prices were very high. a lobster roll with fries was $32. Although the food was tasty, it didn't warrant the price. I also noticed that my lobster roll mainly had lobster claw pieces and no tail as you can see in the picture below. There was also outside seating which was great since we brought our dog. One side note is while ordering, a woman came to the register complaining of a bug in her food. read more

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Just stopped by because when I was younger this place was delicious. Now it was horrible. I had a fish sandwich and onion rings. Both were overcooked and dry. The fish was very fishy tasting. I complained and they gave me another piece and it was just as bad as the first. The manager was very nice. The restaurant was nice and clean. read more

Save your time and money and go elsewhere. $42 for fried scallops and whole belly clams served on a togo container? Not worth it. The portions are so small and there is no taste. 5 small fried scallops and a whole bunch of fries underneath. The coleslaw also had no taste. Fries tasted like old grease. Also, the lady at the counter taking our order wasn't trained properly.. she had no idea what was on the menu and how to work the POS. I don't even know if there was a manager on duty. There's definitely a reason why this place is dead. I understand it's counter service but customer service is non existent here. It was just my boyfriend and I in the dining room and not one staff checked up on us and instead just stood there doing nothing as there was no other customers in line. My boyfriends family use to come here for years for the coffee / mocha frappes and they removed that from the menu. Honestly sad to see how bad this place has become after the new management took over. Listen to the other reviews when they all say this place has gone downhill. Where is management?! I wouldn't be surprised if this place closes down soon, which is very sad. read more

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We had a very unpleasant experience at Sawyers Dairy Bar. I'll keep this brief because it's not worth wasting more time over. - Got all of our requests wrong (we asked for only cheese on the sandwich and instead got lettuce and tomato and no cheese) - Missing tarter sauce (despite both the menu and the cashier saying it was included with the fish sandwich) - Tasteless, unseasoned fish (especially with no tarter sauce to jazz it up) - Soggy onion rings - Chocolate "frappe" tasted like chocolate syrup and had a very thin consistency. The vegan chocolate shake I had last week was even better than this- and for context, I love regular ice cream and am not vegan! - Extremely long wait time (though they did apologize) - Confusing where to order food vs ice cream place (no signs directing people) In summary, skip this place. read more

I have been going to sawyers for my entire life. When the newest owners took over a couple of years ago the service and food went way downhill. I have been 3 times this year and each meal has been very good, especially the fries. Tonight we had Caesar chicken wrap, excellent; clam chowder, very good; caprese salad very good. I just wish they hadn't removed the nostalgic interior. read more

Average ice cream stand, beautiful neon sign, almost Happy Days nostalgia feels, family friendly, great location. I wish they bumped up to a top quality brand like Graeters ice cream but I'm picky so don't let me throw you off the Sawyer trail read more

We went on opening night of the 2023 season. We bought a combo plate of scallops and clams. I was already amazed at the price of $42.99 for this plate, but when I saw the small size of the portion, relative to the price, I was blown away. The portion was small and the flavor was less than stellar. Gone are the days of the old Sawyer's. I sent an email to the new owners about our experience and absolutely no response. Tourists will visit once and locals may visit once, but I feel confident there will not be a lot of repeat customers. I also imagine that when people walk in and see the prices, they will turn right around and head out the door. I wish we had of. High prices, small portions and owners that don't care do not make a great mix. If you want seafood, it is worth driving down to Alton for great seafood, fair prices and large portions. read more

Sawyer's Dairy Bar - Seafood Near Me - Gilford, New Hampshire

$31 for a small lobster roll, onion rings & a soda. Lobster roll & rings were bland and without flavor. There are many other places in the NH Lakes Region for robster rolls and rings that are much better and less expesnive. A very sad comedown for an establishment that used to be great. read more

Perfect summer drive in or dine in. Good food. Prompt service and great menu. Had a nice fat lobster roll and it was fresh. Kids all had burgers and enjoyed them. Came during bike week so was a little busy. Long line for their popular ice cream. Definitely a must try in the area. read more

Sawyer's Dairy Bar - Lobsta! - Seafood Near Me - Gilford, New Hampshire

We passed this on our way to Locke Hill and stopped after our hike. The flavor options were many and the raspberry truffle did not disappoint. The cones weren't as crispy as they should've been - the humidity definitely got to them. Kind of expensive compared to other ice cream shops - two regular waffle cones were $14. It was good, but not $7 a cone good. read more

Sawyer's Dairy Bar - Raspberry truffle waffle cone - Seafood Near Me - Gilford, New Hampshire

I slow service only 1 window open. Were out of vanilla ice cream. Two of our 4 orders were wrong. One error was total wrong ice cream we exchanged it my daughter wouldn't eat the other ice cream. Mine was coconut instead of coconut almond. Portions were good size ice cream was Ok. Nothing I would rave about. read more

Our family has been coming to sawyers for many years now, the ice cream is awesome. I especially love the chocolate it is the best I have ever had. The food on the other hand isn't that great, most of the time the staff are kind. I'm giving it five stars because we love it so much and the reviews I'm seeing are so sad because I want this place to stay in business. But they need to fix the food, I wouldn't pick here to eat, but if you do the clam chowder isn't bad along with the fisherman's platter. read more

Went on 8/1/2024. Service was reasonable, dining area was clean and well lit. Had the whole clam roll and a strawberry frappe. The clams had a strong peppery taste, not at all pleasant. The fries were o.k.. The strawberry frappe, supposedly made with ice cream, tasted more like vanilla ice cream with syrup. I ended up getting sick shortly after and throwing up the meal. Won't be going back. read more

I have been going to Sawyer's Dairy Bar for over 30 years. At one time they had the best fried seafood in the area, sadly, no more. I hadn't been there since the new owners had taken over. I decided to go there for my birthday and ordered the fried haddock and clams. What a disappointment! We ordered it to go and when we got home (only a 15 minute drive) we opened the containers and could tell immediately that this was going to be terrible. The haddock was thin and tasted so "fishy" we couldn't eat it. The clams were like chewing rubber. On my husband's order, his haddock was the same and he had scallops. They gave him only 4 small scallops. They could barely spare the fries that came with the meal. I can only say we ended up throwing the food away. I have never done that before from any restaurant I have gone to. It is very sad to see a restaurant that stood far above any seafood restaurant in Gilford reach so low depths in food quality. read more

We had a variety of ice cream flavors. They all disappointed. The consistency was 'unnatural' in that it stretched like pizza cheese. Not the typical Sawyers ice cream from years past. Sawyers used to be my favorite ice cream on the Lakes Region. It no longer is. read more

This place has gone downhill. Being a local, we have eaten here many times over the years. POOR food quality. On the menu, they have a rare roast beef sandwich as a restaurant specialty. I ordered it and it was anything but special. The roast beef was way over cooked and burnt plus loaded with salt. I took it back for a replacement sandwich and the next one was cold, out of the refrigerator cold, and tasteless. Onion rings are good. 3 stars I also ordered bbq chicken wings, guess what I got, overcooked plain wings and a container of cold bbq sauce on the side. Best thing that I ordered was a frappe, coffee, this was 4 stars. Management has decided to hire "non-native" staff. Very tough to communicate with people who can't speak English. Overall Very disappointing. Go somewhere else. It is now a tourist trap!! read more

Beware, this is not the Sawyer's you remember! Have been coming here for years. My husband and I got the shrimp and whole belly clam dinner. We learned in the past two dinners we just too much. Well, when our dinner came, only 4 shrimp and 12 clams, for $34?. The shrimp were good, the clams horrible, soggy and tasted like rubber. To top it off, no Parker House roll. Such a disappointment, now I understand why the parking lot was not packed. Unfortunately, the new owners are doing a great job driving away business, we will not be back. My advice go down the road to Alton for your take out. There are plenty of places there, much more reasonable, and huge portions! read more

Absolutely terrible. Waited 30 minutes for the worst Philly Cheesesteak ever. The people behind the counter don't care and the cooks are slow and terrible. Do not eat here. read more

Only one window open. Very slow. Poor service when ordering food. Took just as long as a sit down meal at a restaurant. Food was decent.

We just flew in from Houston TX and could not wait to come to Sawyers. We have been coming here for many years and loved the place. What a disappointment today. They we're out of lobster, butter and whole clams. We ordered the clam strips and scallops. The dish was mostly fries. We got 3 scallops and 4 clam strips. The prices have almost doubled. The seafood was not good. I am so sad that this precious place is not anything like it was. I will not be back. read more

Over price Small portion of haddock Salty fries Caesar salad with no Parmesan cheese Don't waste your money or time. read more

Went to eat here the other night May 28th 2021 and ordered the seafood platter and a lobster roll. Those two items came to $84.00 dollars...absolutely ridiculous we will never eat at this place again way overpriced read more

Sawyer's Dairy Bar - $40.00 Lobster Roll...never again - Seafood Near Me - Gilford, New Hampshire

Many years a customer but the quality has taken a nose dive. They must have a new seafood purveyor, staff is cooking it properly. And the new help scares me with the old track marks and touching my food gloveless. Side helping of Hep B anyone? ANYONE!!!! read more

Just ate there today, absolutely rediculess that I had to pay over $28.00 for a small box of Salty fry's and 8 small clam strip's and got 3 shells dipped in batter!! I Specificly asked for "NO SALT" Because I have High blood pressure!! The Tartar sauce was NOT TARTAR SAUCE!!! MORE LIKE HORSERADISH SAUCE WITH HOT PEPPERS!!! And their coleslaw was one of the Worst I ever had!!! Wasn't worth $5.00 let alone over $28.00!!!! Will NEVER GO BACK AGAIN!!! Lady was nice, and she put on the receipt "NO Salt" but it still came with tons of Salt!! If you want more than 8 little clam strip's, then go somewhere else!! Usually I order the strip's because I get a lot more than if you order them with belly's, and I'm very fussy about where I get whole belly's because if they are not done correctly, they are going to be Very Gritty!! Don't WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY!!! PS. I was going to get my friends Grandson a Small icecream cone, but it was a Rediculess $5.50 for a "KITTY" CONE!! I think it was like $7.50 for a Small!!! I'll buy a GALLON of Sugar Free Lactose Free icecream and 50 cones for that price!!! REDICULESS!!!!!!! read more

We went for ice cream tonight! Hubby had a Banana split he really enjoyed it. I had coffee and heath frozen yogurt. The service was quick and friendly. Has some picnic tables outside for seating. They also serve food. read more

We've been going to Sawyer's for a number of years. The staff is always friendly, the food is always good. We went there this afternoon and couldn't leave the price increase in the food. There were four of us for lunch and the bill came to over $90.FOR LUNCH. everything seemed to be à la cart and they didn't tell us that we thought sides were included with our meals/sandwich. That was the last time we will go to Sawyer's. Make sure you have a deep pockets. read more

It took 44 minutes to get a simple Caesar salad and 1/2 pint of whole belly clams. The clams were small, gritty, and cold by the time we got them, and they were served in a box! And everyone in the restaurant were wearing their coats because the heat was set so low. Very disappointing! read more

Sawyer's Dairy Bar opened this weekend and we got some fresh ice cream to bring home to have with our homemade rhubarb and strawberry pie. Every time we come to visit friends on the Lake we stop at Sawyer's to get some fried seafood or ice cream treat. The food is fresh, service good, and I love the cool Sawyer's sign on the roof that spins around just like Al's on Happy Days. Cool Stuff!! read more

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