Drew C.
Yelp
This review is very mixed, as it was a roller coaster experience - the frustrating part of these reviews is there are so many elements to factor in... are you giving the food stars? the service stars? the ambiance? the management? the overall experience?
Upon arrival, you can tell it's a higher end place, especially for this part of Florida. The vibe was really cool, where inside was formal, and outside was more chill. The hostesses were great at accommodating us, as some larger straggling parties were causing a hold up on our reservation; but we're flexible, so we adapted, and honestly enjoyed being outside better.
The service and vibe was great to start, with the drinks and appetizers being delicious, but things gradually got worse until we were left with a bad taste in our mouths (though food was the only good taste left in the mouth). When you go to a restaurant that is expensive, and on the fancier side, you have certain expectations. When you write a review with this in mind, you hold it to higher standards all around then your local Arby's.
With this in mind, our first epiphany was when the special, a 25-28 oz tomahawk steak, came out for the table next to us, and you could see the shock on their faces when the actual amount of meat on it was the size of a filet minot. At $150, they clearly expected this to be something to split. We'd been close to ordering it, but thank god we didn't - I could imagine it coming out and being like this looks great, but what is my brother going to eat? While we averted this crisis, I couldn't help but think, that's just really deceitful. The 12 oz of bone should really be conveyed ahead of time.
Anyway, we had our meal come out, and another act of deception occurred (albeit not intentional, but frustrating none-the-less) with the snapper puttanesca being made with tomato sauce rather than white wine sauce (the reason this is deceptive, is it goes out of the way to say white wine is an ingredient, which just seems silly as there's no apparent flavor of it and doesn't indicate the type of sauce of the item; although it was still good, it's like expecting a pear and getting an apple... both are good, but just not what you were looking forward to). This is something we inquired about, and it was agreed that it's just confusing, frankly.
The biggest problem came when my father, currently coming out of eye surgery thus creating difficulty seeing, was given a meal that he clearly asked for no tomatoes in due to the disruption it causes his system, which he then had to attempt to remove and pick out (again, not a major inconvenience, but still something that disrupts the meal, especially when hungry and not something you want to think about dealing with when you're at a high quality and expense restaurant. Wendy's forgets to take off the tomatoes, whatever... but this isn't Wendy's).
The problem is, we brought this up and were told it would be compensated for, yet when the bill came not an effort was made to rectify any one of the several instances. Talk about leaving with a sour taste. How about another round of drinks on us? Great, appreciate the effort! How about a 10% off next time you come? Wonderful, that'd be awesome! We'll not charge you for the appetizers! Sweet, we're grateful for the thought. But no - nothing. Not a word, not a change, and not an indication of remorse.
Food was great, but I expect, and think everyone would expect, just an overall better experience from this level of a restaurant. No other way to describe this situation other than distasteful and disappointing.
