My daughter and I visited Otter Cove recently (6-27-2024), and unfortunately, our experience was…read morequite disappointing. My daughter's hot dog arrived cold, and after we brought it to the waitress's attention, it was returned to us seemingly refried, with the bun still cold. This raised concerns about food safety as the hot dog had already had a bite taken out of it.
Additionally, while her hot dog was in the kitchen, I took a bite of my BLT and noticed something off with the bacon--whether it was an odd smoky flavor or simply due to prolonged heating, I'm uncertain. At that point, we decided to ask if we could settle the bill for our fries and drinks and find dinner elsewhere. When the waitress returned, she said they could remove the cost of the hot dog but not the BLT (that I had only taken one small bite of before deciding better of it). I asked if this decision came from the manager, but the waitress explained the manager was temporarily unavailable and she had to ask the cashier. She let us know we could wait for the manager and we did, which only took about 5-8 minutes.
When a man hung up the phone and approached us, he directly informed us that the general manager had authorized a 20% discount on the BLT but that they could not remove the charge. I questioned whether they were aware that the hot dog had been returned to the fryer after being partially eaten, and if they knew about the bacon issue. He confirmed she was aware and did not correct me when I stated they had put it into a communal fryer that other people's food would also be cooked in.
I reiterated that we were willing to pay for what we did consume--excluding the hot dog and the BLT--and leave, but if we were to pay for those items and still must find dinner elsewhere, I would leave a review of our experience. He then apologized and explained he was trying to fix up the place. We wished him good luck, paid for what we consumed as well as what we couldn't safely consume, and left, opting to end our evening elsewhere.
Our interaction with the staff regarding this request was less than satisfactory. While the staff was apologetic, it seems they are not permitted authority to make customer service decisions on their own. The handling of our concerns, particularly regarding food quality and safety, left us disappointed.
I've previously had positive experiences at Otter Cove, but this incident, particularly the practice of putting touched products anywhere near other people's food or actually IN the shared fryer, is concerning and not reflective of past visits. I hope this feedback encourages improvements in food handling and customer service.
