Aqua Grill Aruba | Fresh Seafood and More — Restaurant in Aruba

Bottom line up front: don't waste your time or money!! I chose this restaurant after a quick Google search. The reviews were good, the food looked good, and the photos of the inside looked amazing. Turns out, the atmosphere of the restaurant was the only thing that turned out to be true. I have worked in the service industry, as have several of my family. We are accustomed to the challenges that arise when serving a large party, so I write the review with a lot of grace.

A party of 15 people - we told our server, Joyce, she might want to get some help. We were ignored.

Some people asked to order some apps when placing their drink orders - Joyce told us she was taking drink orders only. Uhh okay....

She comes back for the app orders, I order mine, Ceviche, it never arrives.

Dinner time.... the food takes 2 hours to get to the table. It's mediocre at best. Small portions, room temp, not well seasoned. The Cioppino was $62. I'll pay money for good food, even if the portion is a bit small. It was a step up from Long John Silvers / Captain D's. And I would've gotten more food for a third of the cost!

The finale comes at the end of the night when we're trying to pay the check. Joyce informs us she can only split the check 4 ways. Okay, would've been good to know at the beginning; we'll figure it out. Once it's sorted out, Joyce begins to chastise and instruct us that WE should've told her HER we were going to do separate checks. And basically scolds our party for not telling her. How about you ask the party?!

To add insult to injury, I note there is a 15% service charge added - I assume to be gratuity. Joyce asked me if I want to leave a tip. I asked, well what is this service charge for then? She says "for the front and back of the house staff." Well that also means you! Like she EXPECTED me to tip ON TOP of the already added gratuity.

All that to say, terrible experience. Maybe just go for a drink to enjoy the vibe, and...

My family and I have been coming to Aqua Grill for the past 10+ years, but tonight was our last time.

This was the worst meal and service we had on our Thanksgiving holiday in Aruba.

We had a reservation for 7pm and didnt eat until 9pm, when our food came out, it was cold and 95% of our orders were wrong.

Our server did not acknowledge us for the first 30 minutes of us sitting down and finally came over to acknowledge our presence after we got up and told the hostess. Our orders for food and drinks were placed haphazardly and sporadically — after seeing other tables receive bread service, we finally asked for it and got 2 loafs for our party of 11 and had to beg for a refill.

All of our fish was dry, overcooked, or cold and the best part — the salad and water!

Aside from the orders being wrong and cold, our table remained cluttered the entire meal and the manager wasn’t apologetic about our experience nor our server (until the very end) and tried to make good with offering us a birthday acknowledgment — which atp we did not want it.

After coming to Aqua Grill for many years, this was a huge disappointment. This experience put a damper on our family vacation, especially dealing with a staff that didn’t want to willingly provide accommodations for poor service, stating they would “loose their job” for applying any discounts — but we lost 2 hours of time only to remain hungry on vacation, and expected to pay for 1/10 service.

They stated their system was down, but this went beyond that. Our server was simply not attentive and their manager displayed a mere lack of customer service and communication.

I hope this improves as we love Aruba and for years loved AG, but tonight was so so bad for my family, we hope others can avoid this...

The place was recommended by our hotel concierge and I really regretted taking his advice. The quality, quantity, and service don’t deserve the price at all. We sit down at 7:30 for our dinner. The appetizers came maybe 15 minutes after we ordered them and were gone in three minutes since the portions were so small, especially the salad. And then begin the long wait; by the time our entire were server, it was about 9:15. I’d NEVER had to wait so long for dinner, and I’ve traveled extensively all over the world, so having a busy night can’t really justify such long wait.There’s something not right the way they manage their process. And the veggies on the main dishes are all the cheap ones: mainly carrots and zucchini. The server did come once to apologize for the wait but didn’t offer anything to make it easier, not even more bread. She did offer two free deserts on the house at the end but we usually don’t get dessert anyway, especially when it was already so late. (I’d rather that she has offered a free salad during our wait) So a very disappointing experience at Aqua grill overall and I suggest any people interested in dining there look for some alternatives first, unless you really have time and money...