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    The Helmsman

    3.5 (30 reviews)
    Closed 6:30 am - 11:00 AM, 5:00 pm - 10:00 PM

    The Helmsman Photos

    THE HELMSMAN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Happy hour specials
    Outdoor seating

    Recommended Reviews - The Helmsman

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    This was my "medium" steak, mashed potatoes and "winter veggies"  with no flavor mushrooms

    Service was terrible. My husband ordered a NA Old Fashion and it was not NA. My glass for wine was dirty My medium filet mignon was rare I was suppose to get winter veggies and mashed potatoes with my steak and they served me mashed potatoes AND diced potatoes. They gave me TWO potatoes calling one my winter veggie! My side of wild mushroom sauté had NO flavor! They messed up on 2 other people's orders at the bar next to me.

    Faroe Island Salmon
    Michael O.

    Food and cocktails fabulous. So so so wanted to give you guys a 5 star rating but service left much to be desired. It was so slow the bartender actually came over to take our order, because "he noticed we were looking around"... He was spectacular. The Ambiance was very nice there was a convention and a decent amount of people for a Monday... (not packed) overall very happy with the food and the cocktails. Wonderful place for an anniversary dinner. 10000% get the scallops they were spectacular and the oysters were perfect and nicely sized!!

    CT Lobster Roll
    Menghai T.

    I got the lobster roll with fries. Lobster very good and buttery. It was served on Texas toast (which was also buttery). Fries were your typical fries. Staff was nice. This was located within the mystic Marriott hotel, so restaurants was very clean. Food costed ~$35. Overall 7.0/10

    Helmsman Alfredo
    Allison C.

    This was my second time at the Mystic Marriott, and I was pleased to see that they've added The Helmsman Restaurant since my last visit. The space was beautiful, and the menu had some great choices. My friend and I enjoyed our girls night out here - she had a pumpkin martini to get into the fall spirit, and I had a caramel apple mocktail that was quite possibly the best mocktail I've ever had. Our dishes were good, but the one dish we were a little disappointed in was the roasted artichoke dip, as it was almost entirely breadcrumbs. There was also too much pita and not enough dip. We also expected the salmon to come with a honey butter sauce as was mentioned in the menu, but didn't really see evidence of that once it arrived. Overall though, we did have a great time and were happy with our experience. Our server was attentive and friendly as well!

    Stephen C.

    We had the steak house wedge salad with chicken, And the fish and chips. Both were amazing. My wife got a bottle of wine and I had the helmsman whiskey sour. We recommend all. Everything we had was amazing. The service was superb . Our servers name was Tia, also bartender and she was knowledgeable and extremely pleasant.

    Amazing mussels in a most delicious sauce!!

    Food is absolutely wonderful, delicious, artistic and the chef is very accommodating to a dairy- free options. The staff is very attentive and helpful , for most part. The only complaint I have is that they had no oysters, which is very strange - they had them in near by restaurants.

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    Ask the Community - The Helmsman

    The Shipwright's Daughter - crispy fried oysters

    The Shipwright's Daughter

    4.4(428 reviews)
    3.1 mi
    $$

    I am absolutely obsessed with everything here. I made reservations for 5:45 pm on a Monday night…read more We actually came a little before 5:15 pm, because I was absolutely starving, and they were so kind/accommodating. They seated us right away! I love the vibes of the place, it's beautiful and inviting, but not pretentious. Our waitress was the best. She knew it was our anniversary and gave us a little bubbly to toast to. We also made it for happy hour (5 pm - 6 pm on weekdays, and 5 pm - 6 pm on weekends only at the bar)! All the small plates on the left side of the menu were half off! We immediately ordered drinks (the $10 happy hour cocktail - a blackberry bourbon smash for my husband, and a mocktail for me). We then ordered the shishito peppers, 2 of the pickled beet deviled eggs, and the roasted oysters with chili oil. They came out super fast, and it was delicious. The shishitos had that great char flavor along with a great dipping sauce. You can never go wrong with deviled eggs. Then we decided to order the fried oysters and the bread with corn butter. The fried oysters were the star of the small plates. Cooked so well. Freshly fried, you bite into it and it was juicy and delicious on the inside. Just so good. The bread and butter? Ugh, my dream butter and bread. Just so delicious. The butter was slightly sweet from the corn and had flakes of sea salt on tip, making it the perfect sweet and salty combo. We also got the salad (local produce!), and our waitress knew we were sharing ao she had the kitchen put it on 2 plates. Such a great touch. The salad was fantastic. After eating lobster rolls for a day, this was a much needed salad. It was refreshing, bright, and light! For our main entrees, we got the seared local squid and the strip steak. It was INCREDIBLE. Everything had so much flavor. The squid was cooked well, wasnt chewy. Just delicious. The crispy rice was the BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN. I wish we could order bowls of it. My husband finished it, couldn't get enough of it. The steak was fantastic as well. The potato with the bearnise sauce was so dreamy. The little onions on the steak, all the little touches were so well done. We knew we had to get dessert. We got a scoop of the black raspberry ice cream, a scoop of corn and blueberry swirl ice cream, and the lavender honey panna cotta. Guys. You 100% must get dessert. The corn blueberry ice cream was unreal. I dont know how you get all that flavor into ice cream. They dont skimp on the honey on the panna cotta. And it went so well with the more mild panna cotta. The black raspberry was a little icy because they froze whole blackberries in it, but at least you know they were trying to make sure you got blackberries in there. With happy hour, the bill wasn't too bad. This was hands down our favorite meal of our week long road trip. I can't wait to come back. I would 100% make a detour to eat here. Parking is pretty difficult around here. I would probably just Uber if I was coming here on a weekend. I need to come here for breakfast at some point.

    I really didn't want to write this review, but potential patrons should know what they can expect…read morewhen working with the event staff at Shipwright's Daughter - if they plan to have a private dining experience and event there. My husband and I got married last December. We decided we would hold off on celebrating with our family and invite everyone out from California to join us for a weekend full of activities in Connecticut and a special dinner at Shipwright's Daughter during Memorial Day weekend. We contacted the restaurant's events team to work out high level details starting in late January - to book a private room and hold a date and time. From the get go, the communication we received from the event staff was dismal to say the least. Not only did the events manager misquote the estimate for the room reservation, she came back and asked for a much higher price (up charging by an additional 30% of the original minimum fee) two months after we confirmed and discussed the date. She then explained it was due to the holiday weekend. Our date had never changed from the moment we inquired, so we would have appreciated knowing this upfront. Over the course of several months (and an absurd number of emails and a few calls), we tried to solidify the menu and wine selection and made multiple attempts before hearing back from the team. It was about two weeks before the big event when we were able to confirm a menu. It was about four days before the event that we heard back from the beverage director, but by then, my husband and I had already decided we would bring our own wine bottles, not wanting to leave it to chance with this team. I won't go into further details about the frustration we felt regarding their system for communications (they use an internal system that doesn't make it easy for guests to know who is copied on emails and who sees what). That is something I hope they will work out. When the big day came, I walked into the room and noticed there were a number of chairs missing, so I counted the chairs. They had an incorrect number of chairs for adults and not enough high chairs for the toddlers. We had requested a specific number of these chairs (weeks prior and mentioned it multiple times in writing), and I thought it was safe to assume that this was a basic checklist item for events set up. I was dumbfounded in the moment. I couldn't help but wonder what else they were going to miss or mess up that evening. It was disappointing to have our family members wait while the staff scrambled to pull other chairs into the room. From the time it took to take everyone's order from the set menu, the time between courses being served, and the attentiveness for pouring water and wine - all of it was a miss. The level of hospitality that we expected from a restaurant so recognized for its incredible food and approach to sustainable sourcing was completely overshadowed by the lack of attention and care by its staff - since day one of planning this event. Even a few of our family members commented on this during the dinner. At the end of the day, we felt like an obligation rather than welcomed guests, and that is mainly why I'm leaving this review. We had been patrons of Shipwright's a couple of times prior to this event, which is why we chose this establishment - to represent the best that Connecticut has to offer, when it comes to a dining experience we could vouch for. We no longer feel that we can recommend this restaurant. If you care about hospitality, I would recommend looking elsewhere.

    Photos
    The Shipwright's Daughter - Interior

    Interior

    The Shipwright's Daughter - Smoked clam dip

    Smoked clam dip

    The Shipwright's Daughter - Steak Tartare

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    Steak Tartare

    Oyster Club - Steamed mussels in coconut lemongrass broth with lime and cilantro.

    Oyster Club

    4.2(1k reviews)
    2.9 mi
    $$$

    The bride and I planned a pit stop on our way back from a wedding on the cape and thanks to Yelp,…read morewe found this fantastic restaurant which is located just outside of the busy downtown area. Fairly busy Sunday afternoon but we were quickly seated at the raw bar with a great view of the kitchen, which BTW is a well oiled machined and fun to watch, not quite as crazy as the Bear, but impressive. Tuna tartar to start followed by some delicious cherrystones then we split the Mussels in coconut milk with lemon grass and cilantro and some amazing sour dough bread for dipping. 10/10!!!

    Goodness this used to be our favorite place for happy hour but today we were grossly embarrassed…read more This was the first time my husband and I brought guests to the Oyster Club and naturally, it was a total shite show. We were panicked, trying to squeeze a party of 6 in at happy hour can be impossible here... or at least it used to be. I was pleasantly surprised when they were able to seat us at 3:50 pm on Friday. Thought we had won the lottery. Things took a turn quickly. A waitress we had never seen before quickly parroted the beers on tap. My husband, who is hard of hearing, asked her to repeat the list, to which she replied "I just listed them". Woof. After that awkward encounter she eventually returned to take our food orders. As we waited for the food, dust fell from the ceiling. My dad, slowly getting more and more worked up compared it to the scenes from Stranger Things in the Upside Down. We all turned our heads and to our horror saw the intake vent for the AC... caked in dust. Dust was literally "snowing" down on us. My father, who I've never seen act displeased with a beer in front of him, brought it to the attention of the nearest server. Multiple employees, all standing there swatting at the flurries as they fell, referred to them as "lint" or "just a few dust bunnies". One waitress even said, "weird because I saw someone cleaning it last week". An hour later, 2 of 3 soups had been delivered, 1 of 2 orders of mussels had arrived, and no smash burgers had made it to the table. We asked for our order to be cancelled and the manager kindly comped 2 of the things we ordered. Two stars because of her. Long story short we will be taking a hiatus and inspecting the vents before we decide to return.

    Photos
    Oyster Club - Handpicked local lobster roll.

    Handpicked local lobster roll.

    Oyster Club - $6 Classic Mimosas and bloody Mary's for Sunday brunch!

    $6 Classic Mimosas and bloody Mary's for Sunday brunch!

    Oyster Club - $6 Classic Bloody Mary's and Mimosas every Sunday brunch!

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    $6 Classic Bloody Mary's and Mimosas every Sunday brunch!

    Ryan's Pub

    Ryan's Pub

    4.3(25 reviews)
    1.3 mi
    $

    Great Dive Bar - Delicious Food…read more Ryans is old dive bar pub with dated decor (which is a good thing) and plenty of food and drink deals. The food at this pub is spot on. I love their kickin chickin. its a great value and you can choose the sauce and trust me, i've tried all of them and they are all fantastic. also, the lobster roles and fried seafood are of the quality you would see at a seafood restaurant but without the high cost. Definitely check this place out if you are in Groton area. Thanks

    In town visiting Of course I looked on yelp for a local…read moreplace to relax. I liked what I read so I decided to stop in. It's not easy being a woman and being by yourself but Erin the bartender made me feel welcome right away. My battery almost died and she went above and beyond by lending me her personal charger. I was grateful due to the fact that my phone was dying. She handled the bar with ease. Most people seemed to know each other and were very pleasant. I saw a couple pool tables to the side. Keno was playing but I'm not sure what else they offered. TV's were on playing sports and the enthusiast were really enjoying the game. I had already eaten so I can't tell you about the food but from what I saw it looked delicious If I'm ever in the area again I will definitely stop in and hopefully it's Erin's shift.

    Photos
    Ryan's Pub - That's what you see when you first walk in the Ryan's pub/bar it  opens up around the corner more tables & a pool table room.

    That's what you see when you first walk in the Ryan's pub/bar it opens up around the corner more tables & a pool table room.

    Ryan's Pub
    Ryan's Pub - The bar

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    The bar

    The Captain Daniel Packer Inne - Candied Apple Martini and Spicy Baked Clam Dip

    The Captain Daniel Packer Inne

    4.0(755 reviews)
    2.9 mi
    $$

    Came here 10+ years ago and always talked about it. Finally found our way back to mystic and had to…read morestop back in....definitely as good as we remember. Never eaten up top but love the pub vibes below. Food has always been very good and the atmosphere is perfect for the setting. Great spot to grab food or a cold drink!

    Our annual trek to DPI (as we celebrated our anniversary), was once again enjoyable. It never…read morefails, the dwelling built in 1756 is truly enchanting. The shrimp presented in the cocktail were cold, crisp and fresh and the sauce had a great taste and consistency. We also enjoyed the DPI skewers that included a bit of steak tip, a sea scallop and a fresh shrimp that was that was grilled to perfection and drizzled with a bit of horseradish cream sauce. The staff members are always welcoming and the aura of the visitors -since we became a nation seem ever-present. Bravo DPI... See you soon. On a visit to Mystic, I could not wait to find a restaurant that served more seafood than I could easily settle on. Sitting in the Mystic Marriott lobby, yelp pointed us to the Captain Daniel Packer Inne. What a find. Although the building was restored in 1979, it's origin dates to 1756. Everything seems to have been preserved -including the aura. As you would expect with a building older than the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it is small in size but large in hospitality. Without reservations, we did not stand much of a chance in the upstairs dinning area, but a flight of stairs down to the pub in the cellar... and we were seated in 20 minutes. For appetizers, we had the phyllo dough lobster lollipops and an order of artichoke hearts that were resting in a light lobster sauce (the artichoke that is) that invited us to soak up what was left with the delicious homemade bread we were served. For our main course we had the halibut steak that was sitting on top of freshly mashed potatoes with a smattering of fresh corn kernels. The customer service attendants were mindful of their tables and visited at opportune times. -Not when you start to take a bite and never did we wonder where they might have gone off to. Parking was a bit of a challenge but by far worth the hunt. If you are looking for a very friendly restaurant with a historical beginning and great food... Look no further. DPI is a definite re-visit for us.

    Photos
    The Captain Daniel Packer Inne
    The Captain Daniel Packer Inne - Swordfish special

    Swordfish special

    The Captain Daniel Packer Inne - The Capt. Daniel Packer Inne at sunset.

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    The Capt. Daniel Packer Inne at sunset.

    Dog Watch Cafe - French Onion Soup cup ($5)

    Dog Watch Cafe

    4.1(653 reviews)
    6.4 mi
    $$

    We had a girls day and decided to visit Stonington with a recommendations to check out the Dog…read moreWatch Cafe. Being my first time here I was pleased with the view as it was a lovely day to be by the water. We had a 45 minute wait for our table. Though you're able to go to the bar seating around in the back where we waited for our table. We ordered our delicious drinks as we had a wait time. I ordered the pain killer drink which was so delicious and strong. Only drinks and can't order appetizers though which I was disappointed as I didn't have anything to eat prior and I started to feel my drink. Once your buzzer is called you finally get your table which they have 15 tables available. The hostess in this area escorts your party to your table. There really isn't a bad seats there. There is a separate waitress for the bar area so you have to settle your bar table before moving over to your table. The menu has a plentiful of meals to choose from. I went with the fish & chips which was a good amount of cod. Also we had the oysters to start off with. The food was very delicious. We declined with the deserts as we were full. If you haven't been to the Dog Fish Cafe you should as you won't be disappointed with the fresh seafood they serve there.

    Not just dig friendly but dig welcoming!!…read more Everyone we met greeted us warmly and then our pup with enthusiasm! Warmly summer day, sitting outside under the umbrella and watching the comings and goings of the dock. Awesome! We had a wonderful lunch. Local made brew offerings were a nice compliment to the bay scallops, which was a filling meal with veggies and potatoes. The Tuna Poké bowl was so tasty, I wish there was more! And a blueberry crisp special was shared by all. We will make the trek here again!

    Photos
    Dog Watch Cafe - Inside the restaurant

    Inside the restaurant

    Dog Watch Cafe - Calamari ($16)

    Calamari ($16)

    Dog Watch Cafe - Deck in the back

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    Deck in the back

    The Fisherman at Long Point - Swordfish Puttanesca

    The Fisherman at Long Point

    4.2(374 reviews)
    3.3 mi
    $$$

    By far our favorite sit down meal from our trip to CT! Our server was so sweet and accommodating…read more(very much appreciated her patience and understanding with our toddler) and the food was unbelievably fresh on all fronts. The steamers and raw oysters were so delicious - definitely recommend getting these to start. The freshness can't be beat! The views by the window were gorgeous and we ordered a bottle of sauvignon blanc with dinner and watched the sun go down - was pleasantly surprised the mark up on the bottle wasn't higher. My linguine and clams were so yummy - generous with the clams which I was happy to see. My husband enjoyed his steamed lobster - not cheap, but quality and they crack it for you for an extra $5. Skipped dessert because we were so full but their espresso was nice and strong. Would love to come back and sit outside next time!

    Came back two years later and I was also able to swing by during their happy hour where they had $1…read moreoysters. It was unfortunately very slow to get the order in. The waitress took about 20 mins to get to our table right before happy hour ended, even though it was not busy at all. The oysters were big and tasted really good! The main dish came out in another 25 mins and it was good, but not as good as I last remembered. Overall the happy hour oysters are a great deal. The mains dishes were a little more overpriced for what you get. Staff and service was unfortunately very slow. Not disappointed with the experience, but expected a little bit more from this place. Food(50%): 7.7 Staff/service(25%): 4.0 Value(25%): 5.0 Overall: 6.1/10

    Photos
    The Fisherman at Long Point - Fish Tacos

    Fish Tacos

    The Fisherman at Long Point - Tuna Poke

    Tuna Poke

    The Fisherman at Long Point - Classic Hot Lobster Roll

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    Classic Hot Lobster Roll

    The Helmsman - newamerican - Updated August 2026

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