Island Ocean Star — Restaurant in Anna Maria island

We called yesterday asking if we could make a reservation for outside, and were told reservations have to be made a day in advance, but if we come in, it may be a little wait but should be ok. We get there and the 2 before us with no reservation were seated immediately. (I know because they asked me if it was a good restaurant...which it was last year). We walk in and asked the woman if we could get a table outside. She told us no, they have people with reservations coming and it's booked. I reiterated what was told to us over the phone and she said no. She went on some long tangent....I have no clue. So I asked can we sit inside (it was basically empty) and that was ok. I was going to concede and just take that option, but my partner knew I really wanted to be outside and asked if I was sure, and then said maybe we should just go elsewhere and come back another time. Low and behold they now have a table open outside! There were bar chairs facing the water that were open, the table just in front of us opened, the table next to us stayed open the entire time and the table behind us didn't have anyone until we were about to leave. Now service. We ordered drinks, 2 apps, and 3 sushi rolls, but sat there for quite a bit waiting for our order to be taken. The drinks came 30 min later with 1 "complimentary" salad to share with imitation crab...the gyoza soon after. Then we waited.....and waited. No combo tempura....which I would think would have come out with the gyoza. Sushi comes out and about 10 min later the tempura. It was not nearly as delicious as it was last June and the service we received in June was 100x better. We went inside to ask for out check because we know we would have been sitting there forever. $106 later I was sick as can be. Spent 2 hours in and out of the bathroom. Never again. We have been talking about this place since we came last and was really looking forward to coming again. We will definitely other options on...

The ambiance is very nice. The views from the outdoor seating area are fantastic. The food is average. But now let's talk about the customer service.......not good!

I want to walk the line here and certainly talk about the positives (views, ambiance) but something must be said about the way the business is run. It could be so much better with more focused management.

I have eaten at Ocean Star (Anna Maria) at least a dozen times and will continue to go there but I need to take a break due to their service. You just have to be prepared to be ignored at the hostess stand for about 15 minutes, then when you finally get seated you'll wait 10-20 minutes for a waiter to show up, and finally you will wait anywhere from 45 min to over an hour to get your sushi order. It is almost like a running joke when you go there and the waiter says "sorry about the wait, we are backed up with sushi orders tonight". I don't have the heart to say "we hear the exact same excuse every time we come here so please stop lying to us". The problem isn't the wait staff, it is management. The woman running the front of the house does not know what she is doing.

My last straw was last week. We had friends in town and took a party of 8 to Ocean Star (with a reservation). We walked in, waited 10 minutes for someone to acknowledge us. Waited another 20 minutes for someone to seat us, waited 10 minutes at the table until a bus boy was sent over to give us water (and filled everyone's glass 1/4 the way full??) and then sat around for another 15 minutes completely ignored until we had enough, got up and went to Sand Bar to eat..

Ocean Star Anna Maria, you could be so much more if you could get your act together.. I am hopeful...

We went for dinner last night. We were a party of 7. We were seated within 30 minutes which was fine. We planned to see fireworks after dinner and gave ourselves two and a half hours thinking it would be plenty of time. After ordering our sushi, we waited almost two hours for our food. We even waited 1 hour for the soups and salads and the sushi never came. The waitress tried her best and we asked for the manager. The waitress said that the owners were there so I asked to speak with the owner. At this point three tables around us had been seated more than 30 minutes after us and all had their food, sushi etc . Our table still had nothing. When the owner came out she told us it was normal to wait two hours for sushi and asked us in a very rude tone “well do want to eat or watch fireworks? Do you want your food or not?”, then tries to blame the waitress for telling her the wrong table to visit. No “I’m sorry your food will be out shortly or let me make sure it comes out now”. She yelled at my friend for being rude and basically told us we were welcome to leave. I have never been treated so poorly by an owner or manager. After two hours our food came out but by that time we decided to pay for the soups and drinks and leave we were so disgusted with how we were treated. Went and had Tacos instead. We missed the fireworks at Swordfish Grill. Don’t eat here, the kitchen has no idea what they are doing. The owner is a rude, nasty person and she treats her staff horribly. We left a nice tip for the waitress who honestly tried her best but I would never work for that woman myself after witnessing the interactions. Best of luck Ocean Star you have lost our...