Smaller venue to enjoy some live music and food. Street parking available or small parking lot just up the street. Not too busy in April, but can imagine summer may be a bit packed. QR codes at rail and high tops for service to your location which saves heading to the bar to get your drinks or food. Staff very friendly and efficient to get in to the concert area which is towards the back of the restaurant game area separated. Acoustics not bad, but with smaller area it is pretty loud so if you have sensitive ears you may want to bring plugs. read more

See all

I went there recently to see Annie Brobst. I went with a group and we were trying to buy tickets the in advance online and it was not working when we called the person who answered the phone said we could just buy the tickets the day of. We went early to have dinner. The waitresses were beyond amazing. The food was absolutely phenomenal. I highly recommend getting a double order of their brussels sprouts and a pizza. When we were getting ready to get our tickets for the show, come to find out they're more expensive when you buy them the day of and at the venue, the hostess that we dealt with was extremely hostile and rude to the point where we were not going to stay for the show there was another person there we didn't know he worked there because he had a pink sweatshirt on, but he chimed in and also gave me and my friends a hard time and told us if we didn't wanna pay then just leave. I would never go back there for an event to be treated disgustingly by the hostess and the so-called man in the pink sweatshirt. I 100% recommend going to the restaurant and just try to avoid the crude young hostess, who clearly hates her job and is in the wrong profession read more

The Cut - Music Venues Near Me - Gloucester, Massachusetts

See all

Went here tonight to see Donna The Buffalo and I was very impressed. There are a lot of music venues out there and I've been to a ton of shows, and to be frank, I'm a bit picky about my venues. Here is the lowdown on The Cut: Service: Everyone I dealt with here was super friendly and only added to the great vibes of going to this amazing band. I promise you there are a lot of bars/clubs/theaters where the energy from staff just isn't quite there. I don't need people to be overly happy, but man it feels good to have upbeat staff! Layout: This place has a very good layout, when you come in off of Pleasant Street you're in the large front room which is a bar and restaurant. I believe I read they scaled back the food offerings and are trying do less things but better...but I can't speak to the food as I didn't have any, but I will try and remember to post pics of the menu. I digress though, the front bar & restaurant area is very welcoming and feels high end without being bougie. I grabbed a beer here before the show and was very pleased that my tab carries over into the next room AND you don't need to leave your card like some odd places do. When you head through the doors to the music side, the stage is on the right hand side and the bar is in the back. It's very roomy everywhere and there are rail seats (stools with a small flat area for your drinks) offered for a tiny bit more (I'm assuming it's the same for all shows) that surround the pit which is the dancing area in front of the stage. There are some high top tables sprinkled around behind the back of the rail opposite the stage. I think the floor/pit can be set up with seats for more mellow acts, but this was not the case for our show, thankfully! This layout gives people that want to dance plenty of room to do so. It also gives some seats for those of us that work on our feet or simply are getting a bit older :D Bottom line, this layout was well thought out and offers something for everyone. Someone told me even when the show is sold out, they don't oversell the room and squish people in. Sound: I really liked the sound in the room. It was the best in the rear, which is not uncommon. On the floor it was solid, but I did tend to move around trying to find the sweet spot. Every show is going to be a bit different, but I would bet most bands sound good or even great in hear. The room has a lot of metal and concrete. Not sure if they could put something to dampen the sound on the concrete (there might be brick as well) in the back or the Fire Dept already put the kibash on that? It seems like they thought of most else here. Offerings: There were a fair amount of choices for beer, and I was SHOCKED there were a special for some local Lager for $4. Now I had to drive and I take that pretty seriously so I only had 2, but that is the cheapest night I've ever had out. Don't get me wrong, if I wasn't driving I would have prob had stronger beers and a much bigger tab, but it's great they have options for all budgets and not just a list of 7 different IPA's. They also had Liquid Death for purchase or some tap water in a dispenser at the left corner of the bar-so people don't get too dehydrated...very cool...some of us won't drink any water if they have to pay-and will feel it the next day. I did ask about food. I think they said they serve the main menu till 10pm, then a very small quick bites menu till midnight? Don't quote me on that last part. TLDR-Great music venue and bar/restaurant up front. The staff, sound and layout are all above average and prices and offerings are solid. This is place to put on your radar if you are in driving distance. Personally, I will return! read more

See all

My fiancé took me here to see the Rebels (a Tom Petty tribute band) they were amazing. The food we ordered was great , we both got the ceaser salad with grilled chicken, which was great in portion size and very yummy . Now for the not so great experience, this place was an extremely overly crowded venue, the seating setup is absolutely horrific. We got a table seat with a table that is about 18"-20" in size which was a huge lack of space for food and drinks for 4 people to use, just with my fiancé and I having 2 drinks and 2 take out containers that they give is with out salad in it, we had our food containers hanging off the edge of the table which made limited space for our opened cup drinks and no napkins were brought to us with the food. I would highly suggest eating in other area of this place before going into the concert venue because these tables are only big enough to properly sit four drinks on them. This was my first time here and I had brought my big purse, had I known about the extremely limited table space for four people to use I definitely would have brought something much smaller for just my ID. There is a dance floor there so I feel that it should highly be enforced that if people want to dance that the go to the dance floor to do so because the stage is low and when people are at the tables dancing the people behind them cant see the band that they paid to see and not just be able to hear them because most of the evening we were able to only hear the band and not see them due to disrespectful people dancing at their seats in front of us instead of going to the dance floor where they should be.. read more

So worst kept secret - they overbuilt. And the food ultimately was not a standout. And now it's closing? Not happy. The music venue is/was amazing. the experience was great. The vibe was awesome. Sunny War. John Butcher. Gang of Four. And a couple beers and not a bad seat? Someone buy this place, simplify the food, and let the music play on. Please. read more

The Cut - Bar at The Cut - Music Venues Near Me - Gloucester, Massachusetts

Ordered pizza on the night of Thursday, April 23rd while attending The Clements Bros show. Mind you, I am a harsh critic when it comes to food. The pizza was amazing and reminded me of what my Sicilian grandma used to make. bravo! I'll definitely order it again! read more

The burger was amazing!!! Sunday there are also free games, the ambiance was super fun and nice!

Stopped in for a drink before dinner. Cool atmosphere, huge bar, tasty drinks. Service was great.

great scene and venue for live music . super friendly staff and appreciate the efforts to bring live music and entertainment to the area read more

I am a wedding planner, and the bride and groom had their wedding on a Sunday in Gloucester. They came into town on Friday and wanted to have guests meet them out at night for drinks. I called the Cut to be sure this space would work and Paul was super helpful and kind. He made a note of it and greeted the couple and guests when they arrived. It was such a great night for the wedding party and they are so happy they chose the cut. I even stopped in at one point and had an appetizer and it was delicious! read more

Worst experience I ever had. The staff was rude and I did t appreciate the lack of respect. I will NEVER attend a show there again. I had a medical episode and they treated me as if I was on drugs. Right on down to a girl crawling under my bathroom door when I was clearly sick and needed a minute to use the restroom. They disrespected my wife and my family. Terrible place! read more

The Cut is off to a good start! Great ambience, of strong brick, drk wood, and brass. Comfortable seating. Solid menu, though I would welcome some additional twists when they are ready. Had the broiled haddock sandwich and a nice dark beer. Attentive service. Obviously, this will soon be all about the music, but they seem to be doing everything right. It will be a terrific addition to the Gloucester scene. read more

My friends and I experienced unprofessional, unaccommodating, and inconsiderate not to mention rude treatment by the management staff in October when we went to see a concert. There is a real inflated sense of self-importance with this bunch. We had some food after the show which we attended despite being chastised and embarrassed about it being a sold-out performance, and I can't say anything good about the menu offerings, either. Lousy. read more

This place is everything Gloucester needed!! The food, the drinks, the space, the people. Everything is top notch. And the music venue is AMAZING!! Run. Don't walk! read more

Good place to see a show, plenty of seating and standing, nice stage, friendly bartenders, nice view out the window. Would return. read more

The Cut - Me and Johnny Hickman of Cracker at the Cut - Music Venues Near Me - Gloucester, Massachusetts

This place is a true gem! We've been to The Cut several times already and have really enjoyed it. There is NOTHING else like it in the area! Between the awesome bar with top-notch cocktails, and the exquisite menu of delicious appetizers and 5-star entrees, we LOVE it all. And it doesn't end with the restaurant! Walk all the way through to the back and check out the music scene. We saw two top notch shows (Boston's own Buffalo Tom and local 70's cover band, Safety) and had a blast both nights. Great stage and sound system, the music venue is big enough to feel like you are at a large concert hall, but small enough to have a great view from anywhere in the place. We come all the way from the South Shore and make a night of it at one of the local hotels or quaint BnB's! We highly recommend it! read more

On the slide. Went for a concert this weekend with another couple. We have noticed this venue on the decline since we began going there shortly after it opened. We are locals who enjoy musical entertainment and have attended several concerts there. Like the vibe not the service. Ordered drinks received them 15 minutes later. Ordered dinner received it 45 minutes later. People at other tables who were seated after us received their food before us. I think the waitress never put our order in. Missed most of the cover bands performance. Food not outstanding it was just adequate. Manager comped our entire dining experience and apologized for the shortcomings. I hope they get their act together for I've booked concerts into the Fall. read more

Hello: I tried to find the manager last night to give my insight. Went to see the Annie Brobst show. First sat by the bar and just realized the sound was terrible and really could not make out any of what she was singing. Moved to the very front seats along the railing. Still could not make out barely any of the words. Got these premium seats because so many people had left the show. Worried about the Megan Wolf tickets I have for this upcoming Friday. Acoustics were completely terrible. Word will get out if The Cut doesn't do something. K read more

We had so much here we forgot where we were!! The food was dreamy and sumptuous! The band was rockin!! The service was was so good we came back for more. We love this new venue. Definitely worth the hour drive and finding our way home after. read more

See all

We went again last night to the Cut for a concert and decided to dine before. As good as the shows are, and they are good!, there is no excuse for the horrendous food in the restaurant. We were seated promptly at our reservation time (90 minutes before the show started). Then waited a good 5-10 minutes before anyone showed up with water and to greet us. We received 1 glass of warm water each (no ice available I guess), the waitress did not leave the carafe for us as we saw on the other tables and never offered any refills afterwards. We Ordered drinks, the cocktails are always good here. Then Waited another 15-20 minutes for the waitress to return and take our orders. We then sat for almost an hour before our food arrived. Yes, that meant we had 15 minutes to eat before the show started. And the food was awful. The Steak tips (ordered rare) and the halibut both seemed to have been cooking for those 60 minutes as they were both almost inedible. We would have complained to our server, but she never came back to ask us how the food was. We had to get her attention to request the check. The excuse for the night was that they were short handed in the kitchen but that is no excuse for inadequate service and overcooked meat and limp vegetables. We will be returning for the music, hence the 2 stars, but we'll certainly find somewhere else to dine beforehand. read more

Great place to see a band, horrible food. It was my first time there. I'd go back for live music, but I would never eat there again. Food was over prices and horrible. read more

Just returned to The Cut for our second dinner there, and our first from the new menu / new chef. I have to say the food has improved since the change. I had the tuna sashimi and the pork belly small plate, everything was at least very good, with the star being the fried green tomato accompaniment to the pork belly. My wife had the pork chop, which was very good, but the corn custard or whatever it was just didn't quite make it. Drinks were good, service was attentive, the kitchen was a little slow, which wouldn't have been a problem had we not come (as I imagine many do) for the show. We had reservations at 6 for a showtime of 7:30 and didn't quite make it in time for the opening of the set, so my advice would be to allow two hours for dinner. read more

Second time at the Cut, first time dining. We had a party of 7 dining Saturday night, before the Drag show. Amanda was our server and although a computer glitch caused my 2nd Sangria not to get put in, we were in no rush and she quickly apologized before I even brought it to her attention. We had the russet chips. Delicious home made potato chips with a thick French onion dip. YUM. The Tempura Cauliflower, Double YUM. I had a taste of the Tuna Nachos. Good if you like Sushi. My 2 sangrias were delish : ) Others in my party had the steak tips, The chicken BALT Sandwich, Haddock sandwich and the grilled watermelon salad. everyone enjoyed their meal. We weren't rushed at all. We were able to relax and have a nice dinner and drinks experience before the show. All the staff we encountered were very friendly including our wonderful sever Amanda. I definitely recommend for a bite and cocktails even if your not going to a show there. Very cool place. read more

The service was excellent! Great cocktails! This is what downtown Gloucester needs! Support local talent and this new establishment. Reading previous reviews they resolved a lot of complaints and suggestions. The music studio next door is cool too. This is a great place to also meet other musicians. The pool they have is also fun. read more

I desperately want this place to work but it just doesn't. I'm not sure why, but the food is the major sore spot. The new chef-inspired menu sounds great but in reality there are more misses than wins. My group is a very adventurous bunch and when we recently had dinner, we were excited for something different. We had the pork chop, swordfish, smash burger, pumpkin soup, two salads, and sauteed napa. Nothing was great and a few things, like the soup and salads were barely okay. The pork chop lacked flavor as did the fish and the different sides, like corn pudding, were rich without tasting like anything. And for the price point to be where it is; a bad experience is pretty tough to take. Lower the price points and don't try so hard to be different. Just serve good food consistently and you will have all the repeat customers you need. read more

I wouldn't recommend this place unless you were coming for a show and couldn't find anything else. High points of this meal included the bread (delicious!) and my brother's french-fries, which I ate off his plate because both of my own dishes were incorrectly prepared. To explain--I ordered the blood orange frisée salad with my dressing on the side and the brussels sprouts au gratin with no bacon. My salad arrived with dressing on it and the Brussel sprouts had bacon, so they were 0-2 on that. I had no food to eat at all while my companions did. But, to make matters worse, when my salad finally did arrive, it was so gritty I couldn't eat it at all; I also noticed that it was basically just a plate of lettuce with none of the other ingredients it was supposed to include (Blood Orange Segments, Shaved Fennel, Ricotta Salata, and Crispy Wontons). Maybe they rushed it and forgot to wash the lettuce and put in the extra ingredients, but it tasted like a pound of sand was in there, so I sent it back. I ate the Brussel sprouts next, which were fine but a bit hard (I like my vegetables crunchy, but these were badly undercooked and the sauce was not flavorful). The price point was also high for dishes that were mediocre (according to my dinner companions), but the issue here for me was the dirty lettuce and subpar attention to detail. Overall, a disappointing meal and I don't think we'll be back. read more

We really wanted to like this new addition to Gloucester's Main St., but the food was disappointing. Salade Nicoise consisted of lettuce, a few cherry tomatoes, a medium boiled egg, and two pieces of tuna encased in 3/4 inch of breading. No potatoes or green beans. No sardines and none offered. The Caesar Salad with shrimp was flavorless. Three small sauteed shrimp -- for an additional $12 -- sat alone next to the lettuce. I see from other reviews that our experience was not unique. One would think they'd have gotten the kinks out by now. read more

Place is very modern and nice. We sat at the bar, ordered our meal asked three times for it. They said they had a problem. I think they never put the order in, but we asked three times. Finally left and ate elsewhere read more

Amazing bar - can't wait to go back for live music! Service, ambiance and drinks were all great

A perfect addition to downtown Gloucester--upscale but friendly with great drinks, service, and ambience!

Absolutely love it here! Grabbed a couple of cocktails with my girlfriends and they were great. Two of us got margaritas and one of us ordered an espresso martini. We all ordered them again. There was good music and a talkative atmosphere at the bar. Will definitely be coming back to try the food!! read more

I really loathe jerky bouncers when I go to shows. This staff was amazingly friendly, and fun to hang with. The burger was good, I was a little bummed the bar was out of draft, but that's an easy fix, but I'm being honest here. Thank you everyone for making Willie's birthday amazing. The sound guys, and techs were total pros! read more

service was awesome. creative food and drink menus. will definitely be returning for the incredible ambiance!

Stopped in to check out the new place in town. Great beer tap with Coastal Mass brew available as well several beers from Rockport Brewing. Wine list was limited but found a good red and a white for dinner. Now for the meal. Ordered the Carbonara with pappardelle, egg yolk, and pork belly. Confirmed that there was no cream which is the way it is supposed to be. However, that's where carbonara ended. The pork product which is traditionally guanciale or pancetta was the pork belly, tough with fat not rendered out. Needed more than an "egg yolk" Papperdelle was not the proper shape for the dish and not al dente. Carbonara is my childhood fav, a simple preparation of hot spaghetti, thrown into a yolk dominated egg mixture with grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper with pasta water added to make it saucy. Not sure how much of that occurred for this dish. That being said, the entire dish was consumed. The other dish was a perfectly cooked steak, awesome fries. The arugula salad was not dressed and wilted. Food took awhile to be served observing that there was a lot of standing around in the open kitchen. We will be back for burgers and brews and hope The Cut makes the cut on the local dining scene. read more

Came in on a Tuesday at 6:30pm first time here. Two us sat at the bar and were greeted fairly promptly, it took about 10 minutes after that for the bar tender to come over and take our drink order. I got a specially drink which was very good, my friend got a local beer which I had later on which was also very good. After getting our drinks we waited another 10 minutes or so to order, I got a French onion soup and my friend got the pub crisps both were excellent, and arrived very promptly. After this our food arrived I had ordered a well done burger and my friend a chicken sandwich, my burger came out close to rare I waited quiet a while for anyone to come back and check us, at the point they did my friend was already done eating and I didn't want my food recooked, I saw the manager go over and talk to the kitchen which was very slow at the time they had one or two orders in. I should note the bar tender came back to us twice to confirm what we had ordered, and when she did check back she said I did put that in as medium-well, which isnt what I asked for. The bar tender was fairly slow to check on us for more drinks my food was removed from my bill however the manager never came by to check on us for the problem we had. Typically I wouldn't think much of this sometimes you just never see a manager in a place but this one was out walking the bar and talking to other customers and ever took the time to take a picture for a group of young ladies. In the end I spend about $40 dollar and ended up going to the local Mcdonalds so I wouldn't go home hungry. read more