Bugaboo Creek Steak House

Went to Bugaboo this evening with 9 other family members. Used the «call ahead» feature and didn’t have to wait too long. Our server was very pleasant and accommodating. Service was quick and efficient. We all enjoyed our meals. The «talking moose» was OK but not a fan of the «flopping» fish on the beam above our table :-)

Excellent food and service. The steaks are tasty and the fish is cooked properly.
I have rarely been here when it was quiet or romantic, but normally filled with families capitalizing on the variety of menu options.

It doesn’t even deserve one star… that place is so disgustingly dirty. We walked out after being seated — the menus were the dirtiest I have ever seen. If they can’t handle cleaning menus or table properly, I can only imagine how dirty the kitchen is. No way in hell I would have eaten anything cooked there.

The restaurant is filthy. I was so embarrassed to take a friend to lunch there for a first experience. I worked at this restaurant 20 years ago while in college and it was new. I don’t think they’ve cleaned the air vents since 1995.

I love Bugaboo. The ambiance and décor is super fun and comfortable. All of our meals were yummy and the meatloaf is actually delicious. Some of the critical reviews might have been based on actual event?

Slow to seat us, slow to serve us (food took an hour to get served), and the food came cold. But they have a talking moose head, so there’s that.

Biggest mistake we made was stopping here for dinner. Wait staff was eager to put in our order before we could look at the menu and hovered until we did order. Once we finally ordered it took an hour to receive our meal (3 kids meals, 2 salads.) Needless to say no one ate. Steak salad had no flavor and steak tasted microwaved and dry for a med rare. Cesar salad was drenched in mayo. Kids burger bricked. Kids steak looked like beef jerky. Grilled cheese was even subpar. The only bonus of the whole trip was after 20 minutes waiting to pay they comped us because the computers were down. We used to love this place but not sure what happened.

Food was par for the course. Service was above average. I’m a chef so it’s hard to please me with food but this place I feel is solid. Very kid friendly which is great (in my case.) all in all a good experience and I plan on going back

Less than impressive. On a not busy Tuesday for lunch, we each had steak salad. The dressing was supposed to be on the side. It wasn’t. The balsamic was very sour. My steak was overdone and cold. The restaurant was also cold and drafty. The restroom was freezing with no hot water. They need to think about their customers more. Not going back.

The waitress was very helpful, and we left her a nice tip. It’s not her fault what went on tonight at Bugaboo. I went there for my birthday tonight (not telling them of course, because I hate that song they sing) and there was barely anything that looked edible on the menu. And everything was very pricey. I ended up ordering the Snowbird Chicken Tenders for 14 dollars! Whew! And when they came out, they had a gross looking baked beans cup with them, and some honey mustard sauce. I tried the chicken with the honey mustard and thought they were ok with the sauce. And when I tried it without, I nearly puked. The chicken tenders were extremely dry, and they were breaded heavily and weirdly. They were also very tasteless. The honey mustard was the only thing that added taste to them. I came here a couple years ago and there was no problem. What happened, Bugaboo? The menu is very limited, and there is not much for kids, so if you plan to bring the family be careful-​there isn’t much for kids, as I said before. I immediately felt sick right after eating about 2 chicken tenders and almost threw up. And on the walls were these creepy deer and moose heads that were stuffed and put on the wall. And bear paws and bear skin too. Seriously, I don’t really like the fact that they intentionally shot and killed these animals and removed some of their body parts to decorate a restaurant… If you are in the Clark’s Pond area of South Portland, find another restaurant nearby. Don’t choose Bugaboo. Please don’t choose Bugaboo.

Great and fast service. Meals were excellent and had to top it off with a Bigfoot cookie for desert. Wish we had one in my home state.

Won’t be going back! I went here for a nice dinner date, I asked for a well done burger and they returned with a piece of coal and flat warm soda… Really? On top of that the female waitress was making sexual passes on my date asking what he was up to later and if he wanted to go for drinks. If she put that much time and effort on my order I wouldn’t have walked out.

Stopped in with the family for dinner tonight. Food was good, all cooked as requested. Waitress however borderlined on business only and rude. Seemed irritated we were there. Food was good. Not worth a special trip back though!

If you don’t want food poisoning, stay away from this place. Even with the negative reviews, decided to give bugaboos a chance. Wish we didn’t. We ordered buttered noodles for my 5 year old. They came out with bright blue mold on them. Clearly the kitchen manager was doing their job. Made everything else we ordered immediately unappetizing. My husband’s steak had a funky aftertaste, the broccoli was both undercooked and burnt at the same time. The trout I ordered was cold and had no flavor and the rice was disgusting. The waitress and manager were both very nice and comped our bill. Not the waitresses fault so we still left her a nice tip. I would never eat here ever in my life and I’m just glad my daughter ordered butter instead of marinara or we never would. have seen the mold. Relieved no one got sick. Bugaboos. is.nasty.

Wait service is terrible. Food was disgusting. 5 hour old mashed potatoes that sat under a heat lamp, and microwaved steak. The restaurant was dead so there was no reason why the fully staffed kitchen couldn’t have prepared fresh ones. Absolutely atrocious. I came here back in May and was violently ill after barely eating an appetizer sampler.
This is extremely sad since this used to be a weekly thing for my family. This was «our» place. We loved coming here and enjoying their 5-​star quality food and service. They must have had a change of management or something. Whatever they did signed Bubgaboo’s death waiver. Do not come here or you will get some kind of food poisoning. Hope they change back to how they used to be or shut down quick before someone dies or gets food poisoning like I did!

Thank God two people 4-​star reviewed this place to bring up the average. After seeing the lone 1-​star review, I had to go back after years of being away, just to re-​remember what I’d originally thought — that this place is a CHAIN, but it’s a pretty decent/​solid chain. Not at all deserving of 1-​star.
1. What do you expect from chain restaurant food? In MAINE?
2. Cuts of meat are not of top quality, but what do you expect for the prices you’re paying?
3. Food selections are not inventive, but they reflect the staples of a steak chain, and they are designed (and succeed) to hit the greatest slice of the dining-​out-​family-​style demographic
That said, every piece of meat was cooked to our specs, nothing overdone. Waitstaff was helpful, chatty, funny, charming. We were seated right away and received excellent service.
Menu could use a dancing plethora of more healthy options/​choices. Bugaboo, don’t be afraid of serving the green stuff… you’ll get more of MY green-​stuff when you bring the leafies to the party!
I wouldn’t go back on my own, to be honest, but if someone else made that call, i’d tag along with no complaints.

I have one word that describes the time we had here on a Saturday night…
Fantastic!
So the last day here in Maine and we couldn’t figure out what local food to eat so we decide let’s try a chain.
What a dinner. The service was excellent and food was even better. I even got a coupon for a free desert when checking in here from Unilocal!Yum!
If I had any complaints I would have to say the annoying moose that talked and said some ridiculous sayings, but other than that we would definitely come back.

3 ~ A-OK…good for Kids though b/​k of the «talking» animals;-)

In the past we’ve had some good meals at this steakhouse but last night’s meal was awful. Food was poor and service v bad. Clearly standards have gone down and corners being cut. Give this place a miss. Texas roadhouse has much better food and service is much friendlier plus it’s less expensive.

Ok yes this place is not like Duckfat (which is nearby and worth checking out) or some other «New American restaurant» in the area this place is a chain restaurant that sells steak and things that go around steak.
If you accept the place on those grounds and judge it based on that then you are going in with the right expectations.
The staff was friendly and accommodating and the place was packed for a Saturday night by any standards.
For a starter I had a house salad. Not that great, clearly came out of a sub-​par bag of salad greens. The juicy, cooked just how I asked for it, prime rib with a side of crispy steamed vegetables more than made up for the lack luster salad.
My seltzer with a lemon was refilled 4 times which was remarkable service wise.
Overall this is a great place to go with friends who aren’t into trying new things if you want a guaranteed base line of food quality and over the top service level.
Yes I am even surprised I am writing a positive review of this after being somewhat dragged here for dinner with my family.