Restaurante Cala Gracioneta — Restaurant in Sant Antoni de Portmany

Extremely poor experience yesterday. We went on Friday and they had no availability ‘fully booked’ yet the whole time we spent on the beach, there were many free tables all afternoon. We booked for dinner yesterday, arrived for 8pm, had a very friendly waiter and sommelier and ordered starters and main courses. Starters arrived very promptly, after we had finished we were told our mains would be here very soon. 1hr20 mins later, 10pm, in the restaurant 2 hours at this stage, staff under immense pressure, waiter must have been serving at least 20 tables alone, running food, drinks, taking orders and clearly not his fault but the managements, and still no sign of our main courses or acknowledgement at our table, wine top, ordering more bottles etc.

I went to the desk to ask for a manager as didn’t feel fair to put the waiter under more pressure and just asked to cancel the mains as 2 hours to still have no mains and 1hr20 between courses in an expensive and what is supposed to be luxury experience restaurant is not okay. The manager was extremely dismissive, mentioned he would have our food down in ‘7 minutes’ which we declined and then as his way of apology was to offer complimentary desserts which is truly an insult. Offering desserts comp when you can’t even give someone their main course they ordered?? Coming from the luxury service industry myself, he mentioned that I should be aware of staff issues etc and these things happen. Yes these things happen but it’s how you as a manager turn a negative guest experience into a positive to keep returning clients and not put the blame back on your staff. He was shouting at me in front of other tables after presenting the FULL bill and when I explained I would not be paying the full bill for something/an experience we did not receive, he became aggressive and shouting ‘what discount do you want’ ’you want a discount’. Upon telling him a number of times I was not looking for a discount, I was looking to pay for the service that we had. He also REFUSED for me to leave tip for his staff when I reiterated numerous times that the staff were nothing but polite, courteous and clearly under immense pressure from management. We paid our bill and left and caught the staff separate to give them their well deserved tip.

Senior management are a disgrace and whoever the owner is of this location I would seriously reconsider who you have...

The place is beautiful, we got there at 1:30 and were able to get a reservation for 4:30 pm . So we ordered drinks and stayed at the beach until our reservation time. The food is good but the service was terrible. We started with wine. My son and husband ordered the filet which was very good, plus a side of vegetables. I wasn’t very hungry so I decided to order the Salmon tacos. When the tacos arrived the salmon was raw i was waiting for the waitress to come by but she was nowhere to be found. After 30 min she came to check and i explained that I don’t eat raw salmon because I’m afraid of worms. I wanted to see if I could order something else. I would of course pay for the next dish . So she went on saying if you’re afraid of worms you shouldn’t swim in the beach because you could get them in your nose. Then i said there’s nowhere in the menu that stated that the tacos had raw salmon. She says yes it does. So she goes gets the menu and shows us. It says marinated. So we told her that doesn’t mean tartar or raw nor does it say cold. At this point my husband says just take the dish we won’t order anything else and get your manager over because i will not pay for the tacos. So she says she will get the manager. She comes back without him and said i took it off the bill and left. Didn’t come back for the check. We had to ask another waitress. If she had been nice we would’ve ordered another filet, dessert wine and coffee. Of the whole entire vacation this was the worst service. We left there dissatisfied and it’s too bad because it could’ve been an...

It's difficult to comment on Cala Gracioneta. It seems to be a bit of an institution on the Island. I have no expectations when I made the reservation for dinner. Once I entered then I understand the vibe. It reminds me of Scorpios in Mykonos, if you've been before although Scorpios is maybe 10 times larger. But the same bohemian feel, music even. It is located at a secluded private beach/cove. I think it would be cool to be here in the afternoon have a drink and spend it on the beach chair/umbrella, not sure how much but should cost you but it's Ibiza. If you could afford it, it's not a bad idea I think.

The food is great, it's good and it doesn't disappoint. The service is a bit snobbish but I think it comes with this vibe sometimes. We don't look like the big spenders maybe. Once I've ordered wine/drink and not only water, maybe it changed a bit or might be my perception.

They whatsapp me to confirm my booking a couple of hours ahead which was great. Apparently, I forgot my cap at my seat (completely my fault obviously and a bit drunb tbh) it's dark there and probably the staff wouldn't seen it. The cap is actually worthless and pretty worn but since they whatsapp me before to confirm my reservation, they would of whatsapp me to say maybe I forgot my cap if they've found it. I suspect they see it hundreds of times a day and couldn't bother. TBH, if they've told me, I won't make a trip to go back to get it..:-)

Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful place. But if you ask me, would I come again, maybe not but would I want to try it for...