Merlino’s Steak House

Fair —
Will not return
Not a steakhouse

No real complaints on food service. I would say drink service was poor. We elected this place because it was called Merlinos Steakhouse. When I see «steakhouse» I was expecting something more. This place is casual family dining and the food is very underwhelming. We were a table for 4. 2 ordered the prime rib which was mediocre at best and 2 ordered steak tips which were also just ok. Had pre meal apps– Cesar salad and French onion soup. Both were ok. All in all I can’t see the locals keeping this place alive but rather unsuspecting tourists that are looking for higher end steakhouse experience. I will say the place is dated but I have great meals at dated places before so I really won’t deduct for ambiance. This place should step up their game a bit.

This place is not Amazing. I should have listened to all the other Unilocalers, but I came here years ago and remembered that I enjoyed it. Idc that’s it’s not decorated nicely or the plastic table cloths. Some of the biggest shitholes have great food. Merlinos isn’t a shithole, but after the meal I just had to endure with my gf. It’s pretty close. The Caesar salad was the only thing the two of us Enjoyed. She got the chicken parm, she loved the sauce with the linguini, but the chicken was completely pink on the bottom. I got the surf and turf, 6oz sirloin and baked stuffed lobster. Steak had to be 3oz! It was hilarious how small it was, delicious and cooked perfectly though. But so small that it receives no points. If a restaurant has baked stuff lobster I will get it. It’s by far my favorite meal. This thing was awful. Prob a little over a pound, the shell was so soft, prob from sitting in a steamer all day I didn’t even need my crackers. The meat itself had the weirdest taste too it, almost sugary. The stuffing wasn’t even cooked, no scallops or shrimp mixed in with it. Just a pound of stuffing plopped on top of the tail meat. Waitress was fine. $ 110 with tip! Please listen to me and never go there.

Should have gone to the 99, food would have been the same, and the environment… cleaner?

Great food, attentive staff and reasonably price. Baked stuffed lobster was awesome!

This place was amazing. I arrived at around 6:30pm on this past Sunday without a reservation, and was told the wait would be about 10 minutes for a booth. Within about 15 minutes, we were seated upstairs by the window. The menus were great, and had something for everyone in my family to enjoy. They have a wide array of drinks, although soft drinks are Pepsi products. I ended up ordering French Onion Soup as an appetizer and a Filet Mignon as a main meal. My appetizer, along with the Nachos my friend ordered, and the Oysters my father ordered came out about 30 minutes after ordering, which we did not like. The oysters were not served on ice or with lemon. The order of nachos took up all of a fairly large plate and was enough to share with all 4 of us. My french onion soup was tasty, but a bit too peppery for my liking. The main meals came out about 20 minutes after the appetizers. My filet was absolutely one of the best I have ever had. It was tender, juicy, and cooked just how I ordered it, medium. It was grilled, but it tasted as if it was barbecued. The vegetables that came with the steak came in a little dish filled with water, and they looked kinda sad. My father, who ate the vegetables said they were very good though. I ordered the steak with mashed potatoes and they were quite good but a little under seasoned to me. I just can’t get over how delicious that steak was. It was one of the best I’ve had in my life. I completely recommend ordering the filet mignon there. Over all, the prices were fine for a tourist area and the service was great. The quality of my steak made up for the long wait time for the appetizers in my mind. All in all, a good family restaurant with a great atmosphere and phenomenal steaks.
I made this Unilocal account just to praise this restaurant.

Had the 8oz prime rib. Was not a great cut of meat. Oysters on the half shell were fresh and tasty. They only had two waitresses who doubled as hostess. After my main course arrived, I didn’t see her again for 10 minutes with an empty drink. Not horrible but I won’t return.

The bartender was friendly and funny. Prime rib was good. Would defiantly return to eat there.

This is quite not the steakhouse everyone perceives it to be. Had the turkey dinner plate last night. The sweet potato and mash potato sides seemed to have come out of a instant mix bag. Turkey was okay, nothing too grand. Stuffing seems to have come out of a instant mix bag as well. And to top it all off, we got the apple crisp dessert IN A PAPER BOWL! Geez! I don’t know if their dishwasher got tired or anything but serving dessert in a paper bowl when everything else was served in proper plates is telling me something. STAY OUT of this one. There are other options in the North Conway area that you can try out. I would rather go to a fast food than go back to this one.

We turned around to come here. It was well worth it. It may not be a Capital Grill steakhouse but I wouldn’t change a thing. The food was good and the employees couldn’t be nicer.

Have to agree with my fellow Unilocalers here. This is an average steak house with average service charging big city prices.
Similar to higher quality steak houses everything here is priced ala cart. If you want mushrooms or a side salad or vegetable prepare to pay $ 5.00 or more. While this flies in nicer restaurants here it’s just plain silly.
I ordered a simple sirloin steak with a baked potato. The potato was the size if a radish and although the steak was cooked correctly the two were not worth $ 20.00.
I’ll gladly pay higher prices for higher quality steaks and service; however, here it’s just a matter of fleecing the abundant tourists.

the food was really yummy. the hubby & I had a good night. we took half of our food back to the hotel and drank @ the hotel b4 & after to save money. left overs were just as good!
cons: salad comes with meal we got ceaser i don’t know if the dressing is homemade but to me it tasted slightly watery. croutons not house made (store bought) so if they spent an extra 45 min prepping those 2 things merlinos would be amazing!

Hands down, the worst steak i have ever had. The meat had an odd watery taste as if defrosted or washed. My daughter loves steak and ate only a bite.
The mashed potatoes and lasagna were very sweet and sugary.
One star because the antipasto plate was good.
And the menus were dirty.

This place should be categorized a «Misteak House». Let’s get the one good thing out of the way first. The waiter was very nice and seemed willing to please. It was a party of 3. It was a Monday night. We were on our way back from a day on top of Mt. Washington. I was very hungry. I picked out the smaller cut of prime rib for $ 22. This is $ 5 – 7 more than I normally pay and usually very satisfied in the lower price range. But, we were on a short vacation and splurging is what vacation is about.
As I was waiting I had a cold draft which seemed to make me less impatient. I noticed there were no dinner rolls, or small house salad in advance. The steak finally arrived. Even though it was the smaller cut, it was quite thin and extremely fatty (even for the rib cut). There was also a small cup of lukewarm, garlic mashed potatoes provided, and I mean very small. No other sides ever arrived. The steak was tasty, but maybe that could only be from my case of near starvation. My wife and daughter did not have steak, and they said their entrees were less than impressive as well. It’s a good thing my daughter has a small appetite as I was still hungry and finished her meal as well. All total it was $ 70, and I will never go back again. For those who gave very positive ratings and had a great experience, did you all go on the same night in 2014?