I wanted some Floridian cuisine while I'm down here, and since this place is based in Florida, we went for it. Things started well enough, brought to our table, order went in promptly, bucket sat on our table... the bucket being standard for a seafood restaurant. I get it.
Okay, so let's start with the food. Hushpuppies were decent, small but not bad for 50 cents a pop, and they came unannounced with a sauce. Problem #1: lack of announcement. I would have chosen a sauce different from the one I ordered with my meal, to have a bit of a comparison. The Boom Boom sauce is good, but ended up a bit overused. We got done, our order came out shortly after, and the waitress came out twice in short order to check on how we were doing. The second time, she brought us more water. The mussels were fine, all healthy and I enjoyed dipping them. Generous portion of cole slaw. So overall the food gets a solid 4 from me. Wish there was something spicier than just the cayenne powder they brought (read on).
Next, the ambiance. It's a bit too large in there. There's a bar in the middle, and from anywhere in the house you can see everywhere in the house. Could have used lower ceilings or something to set the bar aside. It just felt empty there with a lot of space between the bar and the tables. 2.5.
Service: I noted the positives above. The first negative was when I breathed a little cayenne in. I was coughing copiously, even as our waitress came to the table, but she didn't ask "are you okay?" or anything similar. Then - this is a special case here - at one point I dropped part of a mussel in the sauce-cayenne mixture and _powder splashed into my eye_. Medical emergency, and I am not joking. I jumped up, ran around with my one good eye open, and saw not a single staff member on the floor. No waitstaff. No bartender. No front greeter. I had to use my friend's ice water to begin rinsing my eye, then brought that to the bathroom to fill with warm water and keep rinsing. People at other tables were looking... but no service at all. I came out of the bathroom, dripping towels and holding a water glass to my eye, pouring water into that bucket they'd brought to the table. At this point a couple of staff were back on the floor - none of them noticed this. When our waitress returned, I told her what happened and said we needed to just take the check and go.
"Do you want anything else?" "No we need to go." "Do you want the check now or...?"
Canned responses. Service gets a solid 1 star, and that's unfortunate because it started so strong, including from the waitress herself.
4 + 2.5 + 1 averages right on the bubble. Since mine was a unique case I will round up, but I hope the owners notice this and do a better job having someone out on the floor at all times and looking around to check on diners _just. in. case._ You never know whose eye, or whose life, you might save.
(P.S.: I think I have avoided any major damage. I typed this review with both eyes open.) read more