Steve L.
Yelp
Beach House should be a 5 star restaurant and would be with just a little effort. We went there for our 22nd wedding anniversary. The meal started sooooo well. We were seated outside on the patio with an incredible view. Talk about right on the beach, the Beach House really is on the beach. We ordered our drinks and got our picture taken. Waiter comeback with the drinks and bam, everything changed. He drops the entire tray of drinks on the table, and they splash all over my wife. He didn't even do much to clean it up, though he as apologetic. Someone else did most of the clean up. It took awhile to get our drinks again. My wife had to move seats her area was so wet from the spills. They should have moved our table, but didn't even think about it. Our appetizer came, the tuna avocado nachos. This was soooo good. If you go to Beach House, get this, one of the best apps I have had in a long time. The flavors were so good and went together so well. I had such high hopes after the nachos. Then, our main courses came. I got the stuff grouper. I think the chef lost his salt and other spices. It was one of the most bland meals I have ever had. My daughters have worked as servers at an assisted living facility. Their chef has a better understanding of seasoning than whoever cooked my grouper. It was not a cheap meal, and I expected it to be cooked better. My wife had the honey-fig glazed salmon. I mean this had to have flavor, right? Nope, the glaze was fine, but the salmon had no seasoning. Now, there was a wedding reception going on at the same time we were there, so maybe the kitchen was impacted. And it was a Saturday night. But, if you are going to charge that much for your entrees, use some salt and pepper. It isn't that hard. Thankfully, my wife, and the view, were beautiful so the night wasn't a complete waste. At this point, Beach House was between a 3 and 4 star review.
Then we received the bill. Now, I never complain or make a scene at a restaurant. In life, I have a philosophy of doing the right thing, and if people do the right thing with me, we will get along fine. If they don't, I don't complain to them, but I might just say something on Yelp. My wife worked, and my daughter works, in higher end restaurants. Heck, I have had a waitress at Denny's spill stuff on us. The common courtesy in the industry is they comp you something. You spilled at tray of drinks, comp the drinks. It is a way to say sorry for negatively impacting your dinner. Usually, I have seen people get their app comped. Nothing major, more of a gesture for spilling something on you. Accidents happen, and I don't hold it against anyone, but the waiter response was not great. We, especially my beautiful bride, was very gracious, maybe too gracious. There was no deduction on the bill. I won't ask for something to be comped, again, doing the right thing only works if you do it on your own. I have to say I was disappointed. Just thinking about it as I write this, every time something like this has happened in the past, the manager also came by to check and apologize. Never saw the manager. My friend recommended the Beach House and we went based on that recommendation. He loves the place. We didn't. I don't think we would ever go back. We left dissatisfied with the food, a very wet dress, and memories of being together. Wife and I ate at the beach together, and that was enough for our anniversary. But not enough to give Beach House anymore than a 2 star review.