9 Elm American Bistro

Dined here this past Saturday night after having such a good first experience. We were so disappointed.
Appetizers. I got the tomato burrata salad special. it was good. our friends shared the mussels, while they said they tasted good, several of them did not open.
Dinner. 3 of us ordered steaks. All three were over cooked. 2 of us ordered the Filet Mignon, 1 of us ordered the Rib Eye special. This was particularly frustrating as we had a conversation with the waitress about ordering our steaks rarer than normal so that they would be cooked the way we wanted them (i.e., ordering medium rare if you really want the steak to come out medium). The waitress assured us that the chef knows how to cook steak and that we should order it the way we want. I ordered medium, came out well done. My friend ordered medium rare, came out well done, and the ribeye was to be medium and came out well done. Also on the rib eye. It was a special for $ 33. One would expect a nice, thick, steakhouse quality rib eye for $ 33. This rib eye, no joke, was about one centimeter thick. Our 4^th diner ordered the swordfish which — you guessed it, overcooked and dried out. My friend who ordered the medium rare asked for a re-​fire which never came.
We skipped dessert. My friend spoke to the manager (owner?) and she comped the steak that should have been re-​fired.
Im sure they have a strong following of regulars, so it probably wont matter to them that we wont be back. But again, disappointing as it was SO GOOD the first time we went. :-(

Very cozy and comfortable. Food is good and Service is good. I have the duck breast and i like it better than those i ate at French restaurant. Highly recommended to try duck breast

This is a good place for a meal. Small menu but good specials. Good beer selection. Good service. Worth every star. I would definitely recommend the pork chop.

Wonderful night with good friends! The food, atmosphere, and service were terrific. Starting with the crab cake and ravioli; then scallops, filet mignon, and the flat iron steak special were excellent. Dessert was a great end to a great dinner — we’ll be going back for more!

From beginning to end, 9 Elm is the perfect restaurant.
At the risk of being accused of being morbid or over dramatic, I’ll say this, if I were on my death bed, and I had a last meal request, 9 Elm would be a [sic] good option!
The night started off with a dirty martini. Now for the past month, I’ve been enjoying dirty martini’s from various locations. I have yet to have a bad one, thank god. 9 Elm made a very good dirty martini to start off the night.
Appetizer: My date (wife) and I started off with the Butternut Squash Ravioli. It was very good, to say the least.
Both my date and I ordered their Grilled Filet Mignon medium rare. The blue-​cheese butter along with some kind of au jus (perhaps it was a reduction or something, I can’t tell, but it was good) mixed with the mashed potatoes was out-​of-​this-​world fantastic! There were carrots, green beans, and asparagus included, and-​despite not being a major part of the course-​were also cooked perfectly and paired extremely well.
Desert: My date and I shared the Warm Chocolate Cake, which was simply delicious. It would be a sin not to try at least one of their deserts while dining here.
Summarize review: 9 Elm is simply perfect. The wait staff is excellent, the atmosphere is simple… yet comforting, the food is nothing short of excellent. What more can I say other than, it took me 2 years to finally come here, I hope it doesn’t take me 2 weeks to come back!

I ventured out to 9 Elm with one of my dearest companions on a quiet Wednesday evening in January. The venue is so petite in size that reservations are a must. We were celebrating a special occasion and so made a reservation in advance. At our intimate table against the far wall we perused the menu to make our selections. Our cocktails were unremarkable, as was our waitress, but the food was sublime. We shared the blue cheese stuffed dates to start and I must exclaim that it was a perfect dish for two. For our meals, I had the duck breast and my chum had the filet mignon. The duck was delectable, expertly cooked, and served with a scrumptious gastrique. The atmosphere at 9 Elm is ideal for a peaceful night out and, though the service is lackluster, the food will win you over.

We went here on a Tuesday and needed reservations. While at dinner we saw multiple groups/​couples come in with no reservation get turned away. There are only 13 tables in the place and maybe 6 – 7 seats at the bar.
I loved the atmosphere and intimate dining setting. It was relaxed but formal at the same time. We got amazing martini drinks and the couple sitting next to us said they looked delicious.
We had the muscles and the sauce was so good we soaked it all up with bread. I got the duck special which was actually an appetizer that they were able to make into an entrée for me. It was delicious! My fiancé got the fish I can’t remember which but it was really good as well. Good portions for a fine dining establishment.

New Years Eve spent here… food and staff all great. My wife and I got and shared an onion soup (because how could you not on a cold winter night?), crab cake, shrimp ravioli — all very good. The shrimp ravioli did have a very strong wine taste as though not all of it was cooked out, but otherwise tasty. Scallop dish was delicious, although did get a few bites of sand unfortunately.
This was the second time at 9 Elm and certainly not the last. Danvers does not have quality restaurants, so it’s nice this place offers something to counter that trend.

Best place to eat in Danvers hands down. You can’t get a bad meal here.

Very, very good food. My wife and I were both delighted with our meals.
Be aware that the restaurant itself is small. This has two effects. First, make sure you have reservations. We were seated near the door and heard at at least half a dozen walk-​ins turned away because they were book solid all night. (This was on a Saturday, so maybe there are more openings on other nights.)
The second effect is that the tables are very close together, and also close to the bar. Which, of course, leads to the room being very loud.

Delish!!! My boyfriend brought me here a couple times and we were both very pleased :) very small quiet casual atmosphere but definitely worth it!

My night here was so-​so, 3 ½ — 4 stars. The lamb I ordered was cooked perfectly, a little on the bland side, but still good. Appetizers and desert was good too. Bar makes excellent drinks, wine list is great. My wine pour was good too. Service was superb as well. I would definitely come back for the food again…
Only reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is the seating arrangement. It is very tight in there, and you are eating on top of people at the tables next to you. I have to say if you have a rude and arrogant table next to you, it ruins the night. We were next to two tables of loud mouth couples that were totally into themselves, bragging. One of the tables, the guy was about 50, and he was having an animated conversation with his apparent date flailing his hands, and making faces trying to impress her. I wanted to vomit at times. This is not the fault of the restaurant, but if they know they have clientele like this, they should do something with the seating arrangement.

Fantastic.
My wife and I came into the restaurant mainly because other reviews made the place sound so good. We could not have been more pleased and truly feel lucky to have gotten to eat here.
We ate at the bar which offered the full menu. The employees knew all the locals yet treated us like old friends. It was such a great atmosphere.
Each dish was delicious. Would highly recommend the dates, salmon and duck.
Hope to come back soon. Maybe tomorrow!

We have dined at a lot of North Shore and some Boston restaurants.
9 Elm is our favorite! We have been several times now and have
always had meals that were absolutely delicious! Would give it more
stars if we could.

I took my 75+ year old mother here for dinner on a Friday night at 6:00. We had a reservation. As you walk in the door, there’s a weird gold curtain to walk thru, with heavy weights at the bottom so it doesn’t move. I guess it’s for privacy, but doesn’t mix well with an old woman walking with a cane.
We were seated at a small table for 2 right against the wall, next to a blasting air vent coming out of the floor, and a loud party near the window. The place was only half full at that time, but the place was extremely noisy, probably due to the wood floors, hard walls, etc. Place is tiny, so that exacerbates the issue. It was so noisy with the party behind us that we couldn’t hear each other and asked to be moved, to which they said they couldn’t accommodate us. To give you an idea, Texas Road House can be noisy, but not so loud that you can’t carry on a conversation at the table. 9 Elm was way louder than that. So, we ended up leaving. First time in my life that I’ve had to leave a restaurant due to the atmosphere.
The food could be great, but I’ll never find out as I won’t bother going back.

Amazing & Consistent Perfection!
What else can be said for our cozy little Danvers spot. We are foodies and like exploring other spots in Boston and around the Northshore. But since 9elm, we have a new rating system. Was it «as good as 9elm». It almost never is and is the reason why we just stop in hang out at the bar and enjoy the perfectly cooked meat and seafood, great drinks and scrumptious desserts — all at a reasonable price with a chill romantic setting. Go to 9 elm!

Went here with my two sisters for my birthday dinner. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere. As soon as we walked in we were kindly greeted and brought to our table. We were then given water to start off with and some bread and dipping oil. The bread was so delicious and fluffy, you could tell it was hand made.
I ordered the fillet mignon, it was delicious! I ordered it medium rare and it was cooked perfectly. The asparagus and whipped potatoes that accompanied it was delicious. And to top off the dinner, me and my sisters shared the chocolate cake and the white chocolate bread pudding.
The bread pudding was amazing! Highly recommended! Just be sure to make a reservation, in order to ensure you will get a table!

Probably one of the best spots in the Danvers/​Peabody area. The space is a little small and I felt quite cramped at our table, but the food was delicious. We had the heirloom tomato salad and beet salad to start, then the cod (special) and salmon for our entrée. I thought the salmon was cooked perfectly! The desserts were great as well — the white chocolate bread pudding was to die for and the chocolate cake was great too.

9 Elm has some of the tastiest fine dining in Danvers. But let’s be real — the food in Danvers is not very good nor are there a lot of fine dining options there. This lets 9 Elm stand out for taste alone.
My meal — a Golden Beet salad and Seared Duck with Bacon and Summer Squash Risotto was delicious. But I can’t say it was THAT good to be worth the price I paid for it. I’m no stranger to paying high prices for a fine dining experience, but that’s not what I got despite the food tasting quite good and having a nice presentation.
The menu was really boring overall with nothing unique about it. It has all the basics, and keeps them very… well, basic.
The only thing more boring than the menu was the décor here. Which was pretty much nothing but tables and bland walls. No color. No pop. Really just nothing.
And what the hell is up with the weird curtain you have to walk in through? I guess it’s supposed to give the restaurant an intimate appeal — and it does have that going for it — but instead I was expecting to see the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain as I entered. Bizarre.
Worse, upon entering I was asked if I had reservations in such a manner that made me feel like I shouldn’t be there without reservations. Like a «you don’t have reservations?» shocked type of ask. I also saw the staff ask another couple the same way. Meanwhile, more than half of the tables were empty by the time we left at 6:30 (we arrived about 5:30). I don’t doubt the place gets jammed — I tried to go before but couldn’t get reservations and the wait was too long — but still.
Our waitress was really nice, though. And my wife really enjoyed her cocktail. So I can’t say my dinner was bad. But I wouldn’t ever go here and drop $ 75 again for two entrees and two salads when I know I can go elsewhere and get wow factor, unique dishes, and actually leave full.
I really don’t understand why such a high rating here, but as I said, Danvers has some awful food compared to Beverly, Salem, and other surrounding towns. Huge disappointment.

The food: The chef uses high quality ingredients and the food tastes really good. We both had salad $ 10 and the the swordfish special which came with a few fingerling potatoes and some vegetables in a white wine sauce that was outstanding – $ 25. Fish was fresh and cooked perfectly. Both the portions and the price points are responsible. I really enjoyed my dinner.
Service: Could be better. Food arrived to the table in a reasonable amount of time. Our server was not all that friendly. My dining companion ordered a cocktail and I ordered a soda with our dinner. She never checked back with us to see if we would like a second drink. We had to wait a long time to get our check.
Ambience: You absolutely need a reservation. The restaurant is charming and very small. There are maybe 10 – 12 tables and bar that holds about 6 seats. The tables are very close together– so not a good place to go if you want a romantic evening, or for business. On the night we went, there was a party of 6 that was super obnoxiously loud and they overwhelmed the dining room, making it very difficult for the other diners to have conversation. They seemed to get all of the attention from the server, which is why we were neglected.