This place might be great, might not-- we have no idea because we couldn't get a seat, despite multiple tries. We stopped by on a Monday night-- just tw0 of us-- around 5:00 and were told it would be about an hour long wait; no problem; it's a busy and popular place, it's dinner time/happy hour, and they took our phone # and would text us when our table was ready. An hour and a half goes by and we stop back to check in bc we haven't heard anything and they said oh, we must have missed you or something, haha, sorry, we skipped you, maybe lost your number, but now the wait was two hours long-- and now it's nearly 7 pm. Then as we were debating whether or not to stay they came out and said sorry, they wouldn't be seating anyone else that night bc they close at 9 pm. We thought hey, anyone can make a mistake, we know the island is really busy and lots of places are understaffed, so let's try again the next day. We were hungry by then and had a great meal at Jason's up the road-- really good food, super friendly and swift service, and only about a 15 min wait.
So Tuesday we try again-- because the reviews are just so good-- so we get there around 3 pm, and stood around in a little crowded area for a good 15-20 minutes before anyone came over and asked to take our name for a table. We can see a good 3-4 empty tables. There were three young teenagers working at seating and bussing tables, plus maybe 2 waitresses trying to serve. Again we get it, it's busy and high season. This time there was a short wait of about 15 minutes (on top of the time it took for anyone to acknowledge we were there.) So we waited, and they called us-- and they sat us at one of the only tables in the place in full sun. We asked if we could put up the umbrella, and they said oh, there was some wind earlier so it had to stay down (every other table had an umbrella open on it.) I said you know what, no worries, let's do this-- we will go back to the end of the line and wait for a table that is not directly in the sunshine. (I've had some close bouts with skin cancer and do my best to avoid full sun.) We were smiling, pleasant, not in a hurry. They said no problem at all-- and again, took our phone number and said they would text when a table under shade was ready, and that it would be about 20 minutes. Again, no problem at all-- we were patient, willing to wait, we understand that it's busy, etc.
We wandered over to the art gallery, thinking we had a few minutes, but our phone went off almost immediately, so back we go: to a table with ONE seat in shade, one seat in full sun. Sigh. We tried to gently move the corner so we could both sit on the shady side, and the girl said hey, you can't move the tables & chairs. (which I understand-- servers need space to walk, but we would have been out of their way.) Just at that point the table next to us cleared, but they wouldn't let us move there because a group had come in behind us with 4 people.
At that point it was pretty clear we were not really important to them at all, so we left. Please understand I get that it's busy, that there are tourists, that servers need to do all the things they need to do-- but the whole attitude of everyone, the lack of communication, bringing us back to seat us again in full sun-- it just was a terrible vibe, and a two-strikes experience.
The location is charming, I understand the food is really good, and I know it's outside so sure there will be sun and bugs, etc: just be CLEAR with your guests. Don't cancel us after we've waited over an hour, don't seat us specifically where we asked not to be seated, don't be terse with us when we are being very calm and when we happily tell you we are not in a hurry and will wait. But leaving us hanging in the middle of the place, losing our number the first night, and not listening when I said "anywhere but in full sun" (which was 80% of the restaurant!), well none of that makes me want to give it a third try. read more