Magnolia Cafe — Restaurant in Port of Spain

I visited this establishment on October 16th, 2021 to have brunch with some friends, and my experience was anything but excellent.

Our reservation was for 10:00am, and when I arrived on time, the staff was now getting ready for customers to enter so I had to wait outside. Once my friends and I were seated and we ordered our food, we waited over an hour for our food to be served, and the food proved to be undeserving of such a long wait.

I had ordered the Breakfast Burger, which was dry, tough and tasteless and the mushroom omelet inside of it was watery and cold. The potato wedges that accompanied this meal were extremely salty and near inedible.

After our brunch, I had sent my feedback to the staff through email, to which they responded with the promise of a voucher for the value of my meal or a full refund. I informed the staff (again, through email) that the best option for me would be a refund, and I never heard back from them after that!

Definitely the worst dining experience I've had in a very long time. Not recommended. (0/10)

Edit: As of November 2021, I am yet to be fully refunded for my meal. Edit: I was contacted again by this establishment, and my meal was...

What a gem of a restaurant. I was carried here as a surprise, and both me and my date were actually the one in for a surprise. We were seated faster than the time it took to find the place 😅

We opted to go straight to drinks and entrees, and I must say that was actually a smart choice because the entrees were hearty and filling. I had a classic mojito which was on the strong side and perfect, my date had the Money & Progress which she loved. For entrees, I chose the Jambalaya Risotto with chicken, shrimp and sausage. My date got the BBQ Shrimp with cheesy grits and broccoli. Both dishes tasted amazing, I was blown away at how much meat I got in the risotto and everything was perfectly cooked. In both dishes the shrimp were juicy and fork tender, there was almost no reason to use a knife to eat. In the risotto the chicken was cut up small and was throughout the rice. The cheese grits lived up to its name and was finished quicker than the shrimp. The broccoli as well was well seasoned and tasty.

Overall, I highly recommend and will be visiting again soon to try their other dishes, particularly the...

Frustrating Experience and Poor Service

I went to this place for breakfast, and it was a complete disappointment from start to finish. The restaurant was supposed to open at 10:00 AM, but the doors didn’t open until 10:25 AM. Notably we had a reservation for 10am. There was no communication or courtesy to explain the delay. I even knocked on the door to ask when they would open, and the staff told me they were cleaning, but still didn’t provide a clear answer. Frustrated, we decided to leave.

We eventually decided to come back, but things didn’t improve. It took ages for someone to attend to our table. The drinks were good and tasted great, but even basic service, like bringing water, wasn’t provided. Up to now, no one has checked on the table to see if we were okay or needed anything else. The food took too long to arrive, and the staff’s lack of attentiveness was incredibly frustrating.

This level of service is unacceptable. While the drinks were enjoyable, everything else about the experience was disappointing. I’m fed up and won’t...