It was only a few short years ago that Bonefish was one of my favorite restaurants, but unfortunately after my latest visit I probably won't be back for awhile. I went on a Tuesday evening before Christmas around 6pm, and the place was packed. People were standing at the front of the restaurant waiting to be seated, and unfortunately this just causes such a bottleneck in the restaurant because the people stand right in front of the doors, so others can't get in or out. However, we did make reservations and were seated within 3 minutes of arriving, so that was great.
Our waitress, Hailey, seemed excellent at first but quickly went down hill. After ordering, Hailey brought the table our bread and quickly left without saying a word. We quickly realized we were without bread plates while all other tables had them, so since I could see Haley at the table three over I tried to wave her down to ask for plates. Once I finally caught her attention and she came over for me to ask her for plates, her reply was "yes, I know--I didn't have a hand for them so I'm bringing them out." Well, Haley, why didn't you say this when you brought the bread? It would have been very easy for you to say "I'm sorry I didn't have a hand to bring plates but will bring them to you in one moment." The restaurant was busy, so I gave her a pass on this.
I've always been a fan of the bang-bang shrimp and bang-bang tacos. So of course I ordered my usual bang-bang tacos with a side of fries. When the entrée came out, I was severely disappointed; at first glance, the taco shells were huge but the fillings didn't quite fill the taco enough. Why give such a big shell if the filling is going to look inadequate? While the shrimp themselves were very good, it was maddening to feel that a $14 entrée came under-filled. However, the biggest complaint came about from the fries. One taste and I quickly recognized that someone had dumped a whole thing of salt on them. I like salty fries, but wow--these were beyond edible. I'm not one who usually sends food back, but I knew I could not eat these with the amount of salt on them, so I decided to ask Haley once she came back if it would be possible to get fries without salt. Well, it would have been nice if she came back--at least to check on us and make sure the food came out to our liking. However, she didn't. After 5 minutes of waiting, I finally asked the waitress at the table over if she would be able to get Haley for me. Once Haley returned, I informed her about the fries, and her reply was "Oh yes, I agree. They are really salty. I will bring you a new batch without salt." Thanks, Haley--that's great. But you agree? Did you try my fries before giving them to me? Or is this just such a common complaint at the restaurant? And if that is the case, then why do they continue to send out fries with that much salt?!?!
As for other food at the table, my dad had the fish and chips, and although he said his fries were way too salty as well he really enjoyed the fish and said it was excellent!
The final ordeal of the night came when we paid the bill. Our bill came out to twenty some dollars and 6 cents. No one at the table had any change, so we just gave a $50 bill. When the change came, well--there was no change. Our waitress, Haley, had rounded UP our bill to the next dollar and given our "change" all in bills. While losing 94 cents is not going to hurt my family nor I, it was the principle that this was done and it really angered me. At first I just thought I would make that 94 cents part of her tip, but it irked me so much that this had been done that I decided to ask Haley about it. Once again I had to track her down, and when she finally made her way to the table I asked her about the lack of change. Haley's response: "We don't do change here." Um, okay, Haley--so why did you round my bill up from six cents to the next dollar? Why wouldn't you round down if you don't do change? After questioning her about this, she then said "oh that was my mistake. Here is your dollar." Again, the 94 cents that wasn't given back wasn't the problem, but at this point her response had just irked me enough to ruin the experience.
Again, Bonefish used to be one of my favorites, but based on the high price of the bang-bang shrimp tacos and the lack of filling--as well as the experience with the waitress--I won't be returning any time soon. read more