Cockeyed Gull

Wow! What an unbelievable mess this restaurant is! We went here because it was the only place open and I can now see that is how they get most of their business: being open while other places are closed. The only reason to go here would be for a beer or a whiskey. AVOID THE FOOD BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. The funny thing is, this place could be awesome if they just did maybe four food items well (is a lobster roll too much to ask for [?] …we are in Maine after all… I don’t even think there was any lobster on the menu at all), but they operate under a guise of semi-«upscale» dining with outlandishly overpriced entrees when the food they put out is pretty much just flavorless slop. It’s actually compelling in its badness. A good place to go if you want to stick to that diet!

My husband and I came to Portland for the weekend with some friends. Everyone that we met, told us to take the Ferry over and venture out to Peaks Island. So we did, we got to the island, and rented a golf cart, which I would totally recommend! It was so much fun. We took about a half hour drive around the island, taking in the scenery and taking some pictures. After about 45 minutes or so, we came across Cockeyed Gull, and decided to stop in. We order a few beers and just relaxed for a little bit. After about a half hour or so, there was some commotion at the bar. A server came up to the bartender and asked if that couple that was sitting at the end of the bar paid there tab. The bartender said no, therefore, the server went outside to find them. The gentleman came back and told the bartender that he did pay, he paid $ 20 for two beers, and was never given his change. The bartender, changed his story about 339 759 times. At first he said he didnt pay, then he said he did, then he said that he couldn’t remember, then he said that he left which is why he didn’t get him change. It was bizarre. The bartender started getting a little short tempered and nasty so the patron walked out. A few moments later, the wife comes in, and starts asking questions. She was very nice, and simply asked how much each beer was, and why they didn’t get change. The bartender started getting nasty again, and actually raised his voice with her. He said «I don’t care what you think, please get out of my establishment!» How rude!!! You do not speak to a woman that way, actually, you shouldn’t speak to anyone that way! How unprofessional. My friends and I didn’t like that at all, so we asked for our check. As we were squaring away our bill, the man siting next to me, said, «Don’t forget your change», we looked at him and said that’s not ours. The bartender put the couples change in the wrong spot! Rather than giving it back to them, he put it closer to us! So they did pay, and he did back the change, but rather than try and make things right, he raised his voice and got nasty with his customers! Learn some management skills bud! Oh and please stop wiping sweat off your face with a sweat rag and then cutting the lemons and limes that will eventually end up in your costumers drinks, without washing your hands. How is this place still open? Worst part, this bartender is the owner!!!
Do yourselves a favor, skip this place and head down the street to The Inn on Peaks Island! Friendly service and much cleaner!

My husband and I stopped by about two weeks ago while visiting Peaks Island. We read decent reviews online and it seemed like a cute little place to get lunch. Well… when we arrived around noon, we were greeted by the host who told us it would be a long wait. The restaurant was crowded, so we asked about how long the wait would be. He told us he didn’t know the wait time because the kitchen staff was behind on the orders of customers already seated. Since they were «inundated» with customers, they shut down the kitchen to give those staff a break!!! Additionally, he said (gruffly) it would take at least 40 minutes to then get seated once they were up and running again. This was totally unacceptable!
Despite having a long wait for the ferry, we left. On the way out, a gentleman «taking a breather» outside mentioned that he had to wait 25 minutes, after he was seated, just for a drink. He also placed his order before learning the kitchen shut down. After hearing this, I was super glad we decided to leave. We found a nice place for lunch a little ways down the road.

Bad beer selection. No IPA? Grumpy server. The view is great, but i immediately felt uncomfortable like I didn’t trust anything they were gonna put in front of me. So we decided to leave after a drink. We ordered the curry soup togo so we could catch the ferry back to better food options. Glad we did. The soup was really boring. It was curry coconut. How can that be boring? Its should have spice.

Not a good experience today, first to arrive and they said they only had enough for 2 people to have the special which were fried clams. Really you just opened and you are already out of the daily special. And when it arrived the portion was so sad, we counted 6 clams on a bed of French fries for 15 dollars. The only reason I’m giving a star is because the view is beautiful. Sorry, but i can’t let this one slide.

First time on peaks island, wanted a quick bite to eat. Beautiful view! I had the fish & chips and must say the best fish I’ve had in a long time, my companion had calamari and fries. Also delicious! Great service, amazing food!

My husband and I stopped here for a drink and an appetizer while we killed some time waiting for the ferry. We sat on the deck and enjoyed the gorgeous view while we waited for our server. It’s a good thing the view was so beautiful because we waited quite a while for a server to come to our table. Not a big deal, we weren’t in a rush, but when three tables are seated after yours and are waited on first, it gets a little annoying. Our server did apologize when he finally greeted us and we ordered a beer, seltzer and the hummus plate. Both the drinks and the food took an incredibly long time to arrive and our server continued to be apologetic, muttering something about problems in the kitchen. In the end, we got our food and drinks and all of this was fine. My husband and I both have worked in the service industry so we tend to be sympathetic toward servers who usually are doing their very best. Our server was young and polite, just inexperienced at his job.
Now, the only reason I am even writing this review is because of what came next. We paid our bill and went to the beach to wait for the ferry. As we were walking toward the dock we were stopped by the police and asked if we had just ate the the Cockeyed Gull. We said yes. And she proceeded to tell us that the restaurant said we walked out on our bill. Ummmmm, no?
She seems to believe us but asks that we go back to the restaurant to see what happened. Now, the ferry is pulling into the dock and we have to run up to the restaurant to solve this problem. We arrive and our server is standing at the door. We question him and he tells us he had just misplaced the receipt, sorry! I DON’T UNDERSTAND. You took our debit card, returned the receipt, and said have a nice day. How do you forget these things? And you immediately decide to fetch the police over our twenty something dollar tab? Please stop waiting tables and try something else.
Also, that hummus plate was bullshit for 9.50.

Very mediocre.
The restaurant itself is pretty dingy. We sat on the back deck at a sticky table where we spent half the meal swatting at flies. Can’t beat the view though.
Service was fast. Server didn’t waste time with small talk. She was great.
Food was good. Nothing spectacular. I got the lobster roll and fries. Not a beautiful presentation but it’s a hard dish to mess up. My boyfriend got the seafood chowder. Being from California he loved it but his standards are much lower than mine. He also got fish and chips with the «house sauce» which was the best part of the meal. I normally hate tartar sauce but was pretty much licking the plate.
I would come back if I were hungry enough.
(Bonus points for the fact that they write «lobster» instead of «lobstah» and «chowder» instead of «chowdah.» That drives me nuts.)

We arrived at the Cockeyed Gull ready to eat! We had a reservation, as the night before was busy and we couldn’t get a table walking in. I’d highly recommend making a reservation for this restaurant. When we arrived, we ordered 6 waters. It took about 15 minutes for our waters to come out — foreshadowing the rest of the evening. Another 20 minutes for our drinks to come out, and about a good half hour passed until we got our appetizers. The restaurant was incredibly busy, but at no time did our waitress come and apologize or tell us things were running a bit slower than usual. One of my friends did not even receive the appetizer he ordered (the soup du jour). He actually ended up getting his soup AFTER his main course, and it was cold as well, and not very flavourful. The only saving grace this restaurant had was the amazing food. I had ordered the special of Lobster polenta, and the others at the table had the New York Strip steak (amazing), the special steak wrapped in prosciutto, and bacon (also amazing), with incredible fluffy potatoes. When we finished our meal, it took our waitress about 20 minutes to come and ask us if we wanted dessert or more drinks, and she did not even clear all the plates from our tables (we ate our main courses with the empty appetizer plate on the table still — we ordered the hummus — this was good, nothing crazy or special about it).
All in all, the food was really good but the service really sucked. Two waitresses for this restaurant are not enough (not sure if thats only how many they have, but its how many were working and it clearly wasn’t enough, as I noticed other tables were getting impatient and even some patrons ended up standing and looking for the waitress as she wasn’t giving enough time to all her tables).

I tried the fried Calamari with fries and it tasted okay. Friends had smoked salmon and crabcake sandwich and thought it was okay also. Our waiter was nice. Maybe a bit too nice. But overall, good view of the seaport and the food tasted average.

Had a great dinner there with 3 others. Everything was delicious and deck views of the sunset were stunning. One fly in the ointment… My credit card number was phished there. Found out the next day when the credit card company called to inquire with concerns. Card was double billed for our dinner (and there were disturbing charges suddenly popping up in Florida).
So, good food, great view, and pay with cash.

The restaurant has a beautiful view of downtown Portland and Casco bay. It is one of only a handful of restaurants on Peaks Island. The menu options were rather limited. I had a caesar salad, which was very good, and the New York steak which was a bit overcooked and tough. My dining companion had the chicken stir-​fry and was less than impressed. Accept the fact that if staying on Peaks Island you’ll probably come here more than once.

My friend and I decided to go to Peak’s Island not knowing what was out there. We came across this restaurant and at first glance, we weren’t sure what we were in for. Once walking in, there was a really nice deck off the back of the building overlooking the water. The food was really good (I recommend the Crab Cakes appetizer). The service was wonderful. It was $ 102 with tip for two people, so it isn’t the cheapest but I would definitely return.

Stopped by for lunch, food was decent. However we were not pleased with service of abrupt waitress. Maybe she was having a bad day, but we didn’t appreciate her poor attitude. Timing was off on service as well, when you order soup it should come before the main meal, not so in this case. Even though food was o.k. we would not go back again. A good view is diminished by indifferent service. We are not fuss budgets, we are just looking for good food and cordial service.

We really enjoyed the view from the deck and the shrimp appetizer that we ordered. However, the service was not good, as I believe we were judged for only wanting drinks and appetizers. We were seated with attitude. We were not told the appetizer specials, despite the next table with the same waitress being offered these (and they sounded delicious). When we received our food, we requested silverware/​napkins that we didn’t receive initially. We were provided with a paper napkin set that differed from all of the other guests who received fabric sets. Overall, I would only recommend for a full meal, as then you may receive appropriate service with good food.

The location and the view are fantastic and beautiful. However the food and the service are nothing to write home about. It is expensive and the amount of food is poor. We had the crabcakes, and we were highly disappointed as they were mostly fillings and not crabmeat

We stopped in this little restaurant because it overlooks the water but was pleasantly surprised at the freshness and good taste of the food. The haddock sandwich was fresh and really hit the spot. The waiter also was very helpful and professional. I would highly recommend this place if one is visiting Peaks Island.

Came to this restaurant after arriving in Peaks Island after 6pm, when many of the other restaurants/​diners/​food trucks on the island were already closed. To be honest, I wished that I had walked around a little more to explore my options rather than go into the first open restaurant that I saw.
Our waiter didn’t seem to know too much about the food that he was serving… and it seemed like he cared a lot more about the other tables that he was serving and blatantly ignored our table. I think that tables are supposed to receive a plate of bread rolls & butter before their entrée, and while he gave bread to the tables all around us, he never even offered to give us bread. It was pretty disappointing to see a waiter blatantly treating two parties differently. We were also served our entrée before our water even came, which is pretty unacceptable at a restaurant.
In terms of the actual food, the clam chowder was pretty tasty. However, the bowls are very, very wide, so the amount of chowder that you think you get is drastically different from the amount that you actually get once you start eating. We also had the Sesame Encrusted Salmon with Wasabi Aioli… and I would recommend to stray away from this dish unless you are a big fan of wasabi.
The only super positive part about this meal was the view out the back deck, which was beautiful since you can see straight out towards the Portland skyline.
Ultimately, I would recommend that you arrive in Peaks a little earlier so that you can get a taste of the other, much more affordable options at the other dining locations (or maybe even bring your own food for a picnic…) Nothing too special at this restaurant.

The seafood selection and prices are pretty standard fare. The service was very friendly for us. The view is awesome, especially on the deck, and the place is small enough that most tables have a good view. Not many options on the island but this place is a good choice for a meal… plus the name rules.

Beautiful view on the back deck. Food is decent, nothing special. Drink prices are reasonable as well. Also, note that they do turn off the fryer around 5.