V L.
Yelp
I have dined at this establishment a couple years ago and was very satisfied with my dining experience. Unfortunately, I cannot claim that Avalon Brew Pub has stayed consistent over those two years after my prior visit. This is a huge shame since the pub is beachside--an ideal location for an upscale dining spot.
For the most part, the food faced mixed impressions from my entourage. For one, the calamari appetizer we got was hard as a rock, like it was frozen and then shoved into the microwave for way too much time. We brought up this issue to our waiter, who was steps away from hand-waiving our grievance aside by saying "that's how the chef cooks it." I'm sorry, but NO ONE cooks fried calamari to the extent of inedibility. When we got a new plate of the calamari, it was only slightly better, but remained somewhat hard and bland. This was a bitter disappointment alongside the average chips and guacamole. You can find better chips & guac elsewhere in Avalon/Stone Harbor. The chips were partially stale and the guacamole tasted like plain avocado without lime, cilantro, onion, etc. On a more positive tune, the large Bavarian pretzel and the cheesesteak egg rolls were really good and were swiftly devoured.
The entrées faced even more inconsistency. The servers swapped two diners' burgers, who both requested different cooks. In other words, two diners were given burgers that weren't theirs. It seemed like a careless oversight to mess up such an important detail. This, unfortunately, wasn't the worst of it. The fish tacos were flavorless--an absolute shock for a restaurant so close to the shore. The fish was hard and the tacos were simply underwhelming. The fish & chips were average: nothing special but also nothing egregious. We simply expected better. The only well-received entrée was the crispy chicken sandwich. To their credit, this is one of the best crispy chicken sandwiches I have ever had. The chicken was satisfyingly crispy, and the mustard made for a really nice flavor combination. The pickles were very much appreciated, too. The chicken could've perhaps been a bit less dry, but the other ingredients made up for the lack of moisture. The fries were crispy and not greasy at all, which was a nice surprise considering the low status assigned to the appetizers. I suppose I ordered the right item, much unlike my fellow diners.
The inconsistency with the food would have been more easily forgivable had it not been for the disastrous service we received. Our waiter was negligent, possibly to a gross extent, on numerous facets of our dinner. We requested that we receive two separate checks--our party was two families, so one check per family--but by the time we started ordering entrées, the waiter told us he had lost track. Check-splitting is an uncomplicated matter for the mass majority of restaurants, so blundering that early was unsettling. This is especially true considering each diner said which family they were part of before even blurting an order. We made it as easy as possible to keep track. The waiter's apology didn't seem sincere whatsoever, to top it all off.
On top of this blunder, and the whole "the chef cooks calamari that [rock hard] way" debacle, our waiter didn't take our menus after we ordered our entrées, so they just stayed on our tables in wide-open vision for him to see; yet he didn't notice, even when our entrées were being placed on our table, and as everyone struggled to find space on our table to put all the plates. We were left with no other choice but to stack 10+ menus on the floor - as if we were in one of those stereotypical scenes in movies where someone at a library starts stacking papers on the floor because all the desk space is occupied by more papers. I have never experienced service like that up to this point. To add to our waiter-induced frustration, our waiter was placing his thumb far into the top of everyone's plates, practically touching our food. Again, this level of negligence is bordering at a gross level. Lastly, the waiter took my fries while I was away to the bathroom, and didn't bother asking me if I was done with my meal. I cannot determine who to assign blame for the quality, or lack thereof, of the service..
As for the beer, it was good and everyone liked what they ordered. The only issue was that anyone who ordered beer flights received four beer glasses that were unlabeled. Hence, no one could identify which beer was which.
It's hard for me to review this location favorably keeping in mind everything I've noted above. There are several places in the area that have disappointed and have failed to maintain high-performing years. This is one of them. And for such a high price point, not even the chicken sandwich will save this place from feeling like a rip-off. I will probably not be coming back. There was way too much that had gone wrong, so I sincerely hope this establishment sets itself straight soon.
