My husband and I were visiting the area for our Anniversary and decided to give Oceana's Bistro a chance for lunch one afternoon, after reading some decent reviews. I was especially pulled in by the photos of the fish tacos. They looked really good.
We came in on a Sunday afternoon after visiting the beautiful Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The place was busy, but there were 2 tables available still yet, one table for 2 at the beginning of the dining area and a high top table for 4 against the corner in the back. We were seated in the back corner at the high top. We weren't sure when we entered where to go in and accidentally went into the bar area. Looking around confused, a guy from the bar asked us, "Seating for 2?" as he grabbed two menu's, walking into the dining room and seating us. He put one menu facing one wall and one menu facing the other wall, so that both of our backs were facing the rest of the dining room, with no view of anything, other than wall space.
It's true that we could have taken the back seats instead, so we could face the restaurant as opposed to the walls, but the table was practically pushed up against the wall so you had no choice. I understand that they want to squash as many people in there as possible, and the dining area truly isn't that big, but it doesn't make for a pleasant experience. We felt like we were being punished; put in the corner and hid from the rest of the patrons.
And although my husband, who happens to be black, never ever pulls the race card, he immediately felt a feeling of racism as we entered. When the guy who seated us saw me enter, he smiled and welcomed me. But his smile quickly dissipated upon seeing my husband enter right after me. My husband's feelings were intensified when the waitress came over and was super rude. She flashed a quick smile and then her face went completely blank, as if she was deliberately being condescending. My husband, retired military, is a white collar worker who is always dressed very nicely, even on his days off. He was wearing a polo shirt and khaki shorts and there was absolutely no reason for the looks, other than the color of his skin. The entire place was white, with not one other person of color dining there. I personally think they prefer it that way.
We ordered water with lemon as we often do. Neither of us are alcohol drinkers and I have a medical condition in which I can't have soda anymore. The waitress seemed a bit annoyed that we weren't drinking...or maybe it was just her attitude. She came back with our waters and seemed even more annoyed when we told her that we were splitting the fish tacos and the cheese quesadillas. She said, "Is that it?" I responded with, "Yes, that's it!". If you read through my other reviews, my husband and I always split our entree. But we also generally order an appetizer (and/or dessert) and split that as well. It is always more than enough food for 2, and we don't see the need to order extra food that we're not going to be able to eat. It isn't a money issue, but rather a preference. I have a very small appetite and I am offended when people seem put off when I say we're splitting our meal.
So service was awful to start. Our fish tacos were good. I was able to eat one and my husband ate the other two. I couldn't even finish one quesadilla and my husband was only able to eat partial (so we still had leftover food go to waste). The quesadillas were just okay at best. Nothing gave us the wow factor and the service was enough to keep us from ever going back. Hence the 1 star.
At the end, when the waitress took our plates and dropped off our bill, my husband immediately put his credit card up. From there we waited...and waited. Initially, I didn't see her on the floor. Then she brought food out for some folks, stopped at another table and brought them out refills. When she grabbed the bill from another table, it was then that we decided to get up and walk to the register. We had been sitting with empty glasses, our table had long been cleared off and it was evident that all we were waiting for was for our credit card to be taken. We had been waiting with our bill for at least 15 to 20 minutes! Completely uncalled for. There were at least 2 to 3 servers on duty, so she wasn't overwhelmed.
My husband walked to the register and handed our waitress our bill. She didn't thank him, ran his card, handed it back to him without a word...but she did hand him some Hershey kisses, as if that was supposed to get her a tip. He left the chocolates on the counter. We don't want your candy or anything else from this rude restaurant. No way!The only thing she was getting from us was our displeased looks.
My husband's demeanor was quiet for the rest of the afternoon, on what was supposed to be a great day for us. It made me so mad. I will NEVER visit this establishment again and I will be sure to let all my traveling friends know of our experience. read more