Oasis on Straddie - Cocktail bar, Traditional Mexican and Wood-fired Pizza — Restaurant in Greater Brisbane

Went a few months ago & have been meaning to post...

Before going I read reviews & saw a few 1 stars in the past months but the 4.3 average & photos won us over. How foolish - we should've taken the snarky & unprofessional responses on here from the owner as a sign.

The good - stunning venue, lovely servers. We had the chicken wings which were great!

The bad..

Entering the venue we were faced with a man on his phone laid out on the couches. He offered no welcome as we passed. We correctly presumed he was an owner & this set the tone for a poor experience.

There were 2 dogs at the welcome area. I see this as no bad thing - loved them! I only mention them as their relevance will be made clear & I imagine some guests would hate to dine in a restaurant with dogs free to roam.

After entering a boy of about 10 (the owners son) asked the server if "he could do it". He brought us 2 menus & walked off. We were left with no idea what to do from that point before being told by the nice server we could choose any table. We returned shortly to order, the young boy asked again if he could take the order. He did, and whilst sweet, we had the pleasure of ordering as he sucked on a juicebox (despite being asked by the servers multiple times not to).

Our first dish was brought out by the boy & another server. They left us with no share plates, cutlery or napkins. Having read prior review responses - Donna, don't worry our legs are OK & we weren't too put out at having to stand up to get our own. Still poor given it has been pointed out to them prior & there were only 4 customers in-house. Once he'd finished serving the boy decided he would love a piggy back from the server, to which she said no despite him loudly pestering her.

The tacos were a good size but the beef was shocking. Dry & flavourless (apparently to "appeal to wider pallets"). We ordered the corn too which was sub-par, mushy & lacking in flavour again. My partner ordered a spicy marg. I hate to drop this line as it makes me cringe..but as 2 people who have worked extensively as bartenders it was howling. Watered down & oddly poured at the table. The spice was nice but couldn't taste tequila.

We watched the table next to us be served their food & died inside. It was the turn of the daughter (7/8 yo) to play server. The plate must be very hot so a tea-towel needed. What wasn't needed was the girl holding it whilst pushing the tea towel over the rim & into the food, along with her thumbs. Made all the worse by the fact that in between "serving" guests the children were playing on the floor of the welcome area, eating food & playing with the dog. When the owner was confronted with this fact & that we knew she almost certainly hadn't washed her hands prior, we were met with a shrug of the shoulders & "well I hope she did".

We left before returning to see the owner - he'd moved from the sofa & now slouched on a chair in the welcome area on his phone, surrounded by dirty plates, children's toys & rubber gloves blown up like balloons which the children had grown bored of. I made it clear we weren't there for a refund or even to moan about the food (you take that risk dining anywhere) but more to do with his behaviour & the service. I've never met an employee, let alone an owner, with such little care for a workplace. It took minutes to establish that he was an owner. He said he wasn't in charge but "just overlooking as I'm crook". Why are you even in the venue if you're sick? He said he agreed with the issues but asked "what do you want me to do about it?" & attributed it to "island life". Similar to responses on here - nothing but excuses, referring to people who are satisfied, despite the numerous poor reviews in a short time span. It ended with him rudely shouting at his server to just give us our money & get them out of here. The only moment of action, whilst he otherwise stood awkwardly shuffling offering...

Wow what a night. Extremely poor. We were initially quite excited to visit this place, after a couple of recommendations from friends we knew - what a surprise it turned out to be! We arrived just before 7pm, we ordered by 7.05, and our starters eventually came out after 8.05. The poor elderly couple next to us had a gentleman receive his food, and his wife never receive hers, eventually leaving and getting a refund for her meal. As another table left even before receiving any food!

There was hardly any communication during this. We also saw one of the staff leave at 8 at the peak of business! After our starters came out the waiter gave us no explanation / apology, and instead offered us a patronising ‘happy days’. The mains eventually came out after 8.30. The waitress was quite apologetic and gave us a free round of beers. But it all felt too little too late. We spoke to the ?floor manager after, who was very non-understanding and tried to give us a 20 dollar pay off instead of a refund, which we declined. We discussed that if the staffing is too thin then please just turn us away!

The chicken wings tbh were crispy, overdone but a bit tasty. The fish tacos were quite average, the avocado proportion was too much, taking away the flavour of the dish.

Overall the food was alright, but the service and organisation was extremely poor. Essentially you want staff to be understanding , but I felt the floor manager was very arrogant (the waitress was very kind!) and did not take on our concerns. This seems like a place that works on foot traffic due to a touristy destination and can afford to be poor...

The venue was stunning. Though that's the only positive I can give to the Oasis. Despite booking for 10 early in the day, we were carted from our first table; to two wet bar tables and stools which seated 6 each. Which we had to move together ourselves.

We were prompted to use the QR codes to order, and told "let us know if you run into any issues, and we'll take your order". 15 minutes in, we were unable to order through the site, and we had to inform 3 different members of staff that it wasn't working before someone came to take our orders manually, AN HOUR after we'd first sat down!

Additionally, I had ordered a frozen margarita jug (approx 5 glasses) for the table, and it wasn't until 40 minutes after ordering, that they informed us they could not fulfil that order. But we could instead order 3 glasses for the same price as a jug? I said no, and they said they could only refund me in cash. The only consolation was a single shot of tepid tequila, with no chaser to wash it down. Which no one wanted nor asked for.

The main courses themselves were serviceable, but the extras were ridiculously expensive, and woefully inadequate. I ordered a $4 (closer to $5 with the "Saturday" and "app" surcharge) "Pico De Gallo", which consisted of a thimble sized vesicle of diced onion, and 2 tiny diced pieces of tomato. On top of this, one of us ordered a beef nachos with the sour cream extra, and they forgot to bring out the sour cream - another thing we had to ask the staff for.

I cannot...