Poe's Tavern — Restaurant in Atlantic Beach

I'm making sure to hit all the review sites so anyone thinking about going to Poe's will hear about my experience: I grew up in the area and moved back a few years ago. My husband and I have been trying out the new spots and finding places to call our favorites. Poe's was on the list and we finally made it there full of excitement and expectations. The place is super cute - outdoor patio for eating, cool vibe inside (love the bathrooms with book pages on the walls and a haunting voice reading Poe). When we first sat at the bar, we were thrilled to see a server who we had befriended through many visits at another favorite restaurant down the street. In fact, we had a Friday night regular date at this place, in part because she was so lovely and made our Friday night that much more special. She moved on and we always wondered how she was doing. We were excited to catch up for a minute (understanding that she was on duty . . . ). She was literally a minute into updating us as to where she had been/how she was doing in the months since we last saw her when the bartender (manager?? - long hair and beard) interrupted her mid-sentence with a gruff voice (couldn't hear what he said). She immediately walked away, head low, looking obviously humiliated, and stood at the end of the bar. I don't know if she was in trouble or what was going on, but this guy's behavior was completely inappropriate at the least, no matter what the situation and I would venture to say emotionally abusive/misogynistic - and in front of customers no less!! Being a 62-year-old woman seeing this approach toward a 20-something year old woman, and the way she cowered away when he barked under his voice at her, I wanted to give her life advice that she should NEVER accept behavior like that from ANYONE, let alone in a workplace environment. He totally humiliated her in front of us. Horrible! After that, it was all down hill, in part because we were so angry. The guy behind the bar was not super cordial with us, but did provide what we needed. Husband's burger was okay. My flounder sandwich was served on stone cold and hard toast (like my husband picked it up and dropped it on my plate and it made a thunk noise). I pulled the fish off of it and it was just okay. The pumpkin beer was great (and needed to calm me down . . . ) and my husband's Poe's Punch was also wonderful. But not enough to bring us back. Too bad because we live right down the street and were hoping to add Poe's to our list of regulars. I hope our young friend leaves this place and finds somewhere that will give her the respect...

My daughter and I decided to try Poe’s Tavern yesterday for dinner at about 8:30. It was pretty dead for a Wednesday, but the quiet was good. The food was really good relative to bar food, but we were definitely disappointed with the service. The hostess was on her phone when we arrived and our server, Elijah, was either poorly trained or just very inattentive. Seemed more interested in getting his side work done than anything. A few examples: we were very thirsty after a day at the beach and when we placed our empty glasses on the side of the table, we expected Elijah would offer to refill them. Instead, after taking our order he started to walk off. I called him back and requested he refill our glasses. Ok. No big deal. He just overlooked it. Then when I was done with my perfectly cooked burger I set my dishes to the side. Elijah came back and asked if I would like another beer. Sure I said and then he walked off to get the beer without taking my dirty dishes with him. When he brought back my beer he again started to walk away. I stopped him and asked if he would take my empty dishes away. Same thing when my daughter was done with her delicious nachos. Clearly he was distracted by the cleaning he was doing while we were eating. He had a flat affect that did not make us feel welcome at all. I understand that it can be annoying when customers come in close to closing, but that annoyance should not come through to the customer. I don’t like feeling rushed or like a bother. Hopefully a better effort will be made if we decide to go back. If not, there are plenty of other options in the area to...

(Note: camera has a filter & the food looked much worst in person) When Poe's opened, they had the best burgers at the beach. Now, all the other good restaurants in that area are on a wait or reservation only on the weekends. Today, lunch time, beautiful day, Saturday it was nothing but bar flys and dog owners. They are dog friendly. The quality of food, staff, cleanliness, everything has gone from a 5 star to 1star. We noticed the decline 2 or 3 years ago, but thought we'd give them another chance since it had been awhile. I didn't think it could be worst and it was. We ordered $11 old fashions. They had no flavor but cheap bourbon, no cherries, bitters, high end ice. It was like a drink from a dive bar. You can see in the pics. The cheese fries came out cold, but worst it took an additional 10 minutes to get plates and napkins while the fries sat and got more cold. The burger, ordered mid rare, was over cooked, dry, DRY, messy (like sauce dripping into the cole slaw messy), and unflavored. The cole slaw was bad and looked sickly. Atmosphere...when I say it was disgusting, look at the pictures of the fans and tables. We sat by a table that didn't get cleared the entire time we were there and they weren't busy. The food just sat looking all disgusting. The table propped up by sugar packets. The fans above us were just gross. Thank God they weren't on. Poe's is the worst managed restaurant in Atlantic Beach. I would be embarrassed if I was the owner. All I can guess is the owners are never around. If you go to Poe's and you're not disappointed, then you're missing out...