Ana's On The Beach — Restaurant in Antigua

We visited Anas By The Beach in Antigua twice. The first night was great, with delicious food (fresh + tasty) that brought us back for a second visit.

However, the second night was disappointing. We were seated quickly, but it took a long time to get menus, place our order, and receive our main courses, with minimal updates from the staff. We waited 45+ minutes for our food! For what its worth, the neighboring table on our first night told us they waited 2 hours.

When we shared our concerns, the owner was defensive, claiming we had been warned about the wait, which wasn't accurate. The owner's loud reprimands of the staff were audible to everyone, adding to the discomfort. This created a really negative atmosphere and I'm sure the staff don't enjoy working like that.

We also noticed other diners facing similar issues. A nearby table experienced a long delay between receiving their food (already late) and getting cutlery, which caused their food to become cold, leading them to leave without eating.

It’s unfortunate, as the food itself was the reason we returned.

A few tips:

1. Service is a massive concern. Train the staff to state dishes which are out up front, highlight the catch of the day, regularly check in with customers.
2. Teamwork matters; it was obvious some staff members are doing more than others. Less occupied staff can help with bussing, getting cutlery, etc.
3. Accept customer feedback sincerely. Saying you care about the guest experience is empty when not backed up by actions. Despite multiple parties being upset, no goodwill gesture was offered to a single one. Even something small like a bottle of water would go a long way towards...

If you're interested in good food or service you should stay away from Ana's.

We arrived for dinner before the restaurant had any guests and were told that we could not choose our seats since they had reservations. After waiting for 10 minutes to get the menus, and having to explain to the waitress that 30 seconds wasn't enough for us to make a decision on what we wanted to order, we then waited another 15 minutes for her to return.

Once we had ordered, it was another hour and a half before our food arrived, luke warm (it had clearly been microwaved), and in some cases (the mussels we ordered) were uncooked. Aside from the lackluster presentation, the food was bland and relatively flavorless - not adjectives usually found describing curry and mussels. If the lack of food wasn't bad enough, the portion sizes are small, and not just small for a touristy Caribbean resort - needless to say we left hungry.

To top it all off, our server was cold, rude, and inattentive. She couldn't provide a recommendation for our food or drinks, and seemed to barely want to engage with us. After we saw that we weren't going to have enough food we asked for a menu which never came. She never checked on us after taking our order, nor after we received our food. The icing on the cake is that all of those tables that we were told were reserved were empty - with the exception of a handful of other guests (less than 10) we were the only people, and certainly arrived first.

This establishment is frankly embarrassing. Do the self respecting and cost effective thing...

I waited over an hour for my food. I told one of the employees I’d be on the beach and he said ok. They cancelled my order because apparently they “didn’t see me”. No one came and looked for me. I was literally on the beach, sitting down just waiting. One of the employees did nothing to fix the problem and brushed me off even though he could see that I was visibly upset. And to top it off, the food wasn’t even good. The owner needs to make some changes.

When I was getting ready to pay, one of the managers stepped in to help. She was very nice and apologetic. I appreciate the way she handled the situation.

UPDATE: someone from Ana’s has replied to my review and what they’re saying is false. I DID tell the bartender where I’d be and he said “ok no problem”. I even asked a second time “is it cool if I wait on the beach for my food?” Again he said “YES NO PROBLEM”. When I went back to check on my food he didn’t quite know what to say and blamed another employee. There was hardly anyone on the beach so if your employees actually came and looked for me they would’ve seen me with no problem.

Also, I left a review under a different name because I wanted to keep it anonymous and maintain my privacy. The fact that you disclosed my real name is inappropriate and I kindly ask that you remove it from your response. However, I stand by the feedback I gave. My experience was not up to standard, and I wanted to share that with others. I hope you can take it constructively for future...