Barefoot Restaurant — Restaurant in Oranjestad (city)

Worst Valentine's Day ever. There was a rave going on next door. About 8 feet from our table. Complete with bumping music, glow sticks, whistles, extra loud DJ, drunk screaming people in the water. Not romantic at all. OK maybe we can get past that if the food is good. Our server Rod was great but he couldn't change the situation. So we ordered drinks, my husband's rye and ginger ale came flat. 0 bubbles. I had the strawberry champagne cocktail. It was pure alcohol, with a splash of champagne. For appetizers I ordered the lobster bisque, him a caesar salad. Bisque had 3 pea sized pieces of what I thought was lobster, only to find out later (from the manager) that the lobster bisque has zero lobster in it. Zero. It tasted like burnt tomatoe soup. Worse than a can of Campbell's. His caesar salad was sweet and limp, but he ate it. For our mains I ordered "romance of the sea" he asked for the chicken parm. Romance of the sea is supposed to have grouper, snapper, and Mahi Mahi. The snapper ( which I found out later was tilapia. A bottom feeding fish that I would not have ordered) had the texture of snot. It was gooey. Grouper ( which I found out later is Asian cat fish. Another bottom feeder. I would have never ordered cat fish) was to tough to cut with my knife. Mahi Mahi was cooked ok, but was from a tiny fish. Maybe 1/3 inch thick. Like 3 pounds or less. The mashed potatoes were watery and I'm sure from a box. All soaked in that yummy Chinese garlic. Barf. Husband's chicken parm tasted like chef boyarde. All the while the music pumped, people screamed, and the DJ cutting in to sing his favorite parts of the song. Terrible. Thank God the manager ( Rick) noticed we had pushed our plates away and came to inquire. He apologized perfusely, begged us to come back another night ( not a chance). On the drive home we had to open the windows because we had gassed ourselves out, our breathes were disgusting. I had to brush my teeth twice with a floss in between.

Thankfully Rick compt our bill and we happily left. After tipping Rod( not his fault). Don't go here. Save your money and get Wendy's ( which would be better). All in all it was the most memorable valentines, but for all the wrong reasons. We were able to laugh about it. But won't...

The ambiance makes this restaurant 4 stars, but since I prefer to judge restaurants primarily on food, I only give it 3 stars. The on the beach dining experience was super cool but should be matched with exceptional food! Guests were literally barefoot if they preferred. We were seated just as the sun was setting so that was beautiful to see. 2 days later I can’t remember the food, it was not exceptional nor great it was just something to eat. There was a lack of seasoning so the steak minus the seasoning there wasn’t salt nor pepper, it was just beef and my grouper was just fish. And I LOVE grouper but this made me think hmmm is this grouper or a waste of a $30 piece of fish? The fish was supposed to be “crusted in cheese” it was just cheese melted on the fish then the tomato sauce on top. It tasted like mozzarella not Parmesan cheese, there was no crust to it. I imaged a seasoned fish pan seared with the cheese to make a crispy crust before adding the sauce, but that was not how they prepared it. I just wasn’t impressed with the meal. The crab cakes were ok but again lack of flavor and it was more breading filler than crab. Or maybe just we’ll blended, so not your traditional chunky crab pieces. But it was fried well with a nice crisp. Cesar salad was good with fresh lettuce. The snicker cheesecake was phenomenal so great points to save the food experience. The other thing lacking was privacy from the next restaurant/bar which was playing loud fun music. So if you are looking for romantic, that kind of spoils it. Maybe Barefoot can play romantic music that will distract guest from the fun music. Now if you are not looking for romantic quiet dinner, then it’s a cool vibe. The wait staff were great! Very attentive, tried their best to anticipate needs of guest. They were patient when taking out order and called a taxi for us when time to leave. The manager was doing his rounds as well, which I do like see. They sang a cool birthday rendition with a surprise candle for my...

The service is phenomenal! Really great attentive wait staff. The food was not that great. I ordered the Chickpea Salad (on the menu it stated lettuce, chick peas, peppers, onions, parsley, balsamic dressing thats it) I added chicken for a topper. Whatever I got was HORRIBLE. It was HOT not a cold salad which I was looking for since we were there for sunset and it was still 85 degrees. There was no lettuce, there was broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, summer squash (???what, hot soft vegetables not even listed)...I tried to eat it best I could, couldn't even choke it down, and instead asked for a box and left it on the table. It was terrible. Seriously terrible. I should have spoke up but lost all faith in the menu after whatever the hell that was so just took the L. But for the cost, angering. My son ordered a steak and said it was good but not impressive by any means. There were people partying in the water on either side, loud music on either side and people in boats jumping off into the water with loud music themselves, kids running up and down in front of the beach playing/swimming, a random homeless looking man started playing guitar in front of the sunset that was not employed at the restaurant, a stray dog (and at this point he was the highlight because who doesnt love dogs) that the staff dragged off the beach :( and airplanes landing right next to you. For a sunset view not worth it. Super weird situation all around. It was like watching rich people just ignore their surroundings to get a good view. But again the waitstaff is phenomenal which it's why I'm giving it 2 stars otherwise it would get zero. Go somewhere else imo.

*included photo so you can see how much this isn't the Chickpea...