LandShark Bar & Grill - Atlantic City — Restaurant in Atlantic City

First off, my boyfriend and I googled reviews on this restaurant prior to visiting. We figured since there were so many 5 star reviews, our experience would be great considering the beach is footsteps away. Upon entering, there were two Caucasian females at the entrance. Neither one acknowledged us. They were conversing about one being a new hire and how the customers will love her because she’s so “Great” at what she does. They literally looked at us and continued to converse. I’m not sure if one was off the clock or whatever the case is, but it’s completely unprofessional to disregard customers. After a minute or two, they both walked off and we were standing there waiting to be greeted. A woman came out, had us seated after two mins because they were cleaning the table we’d be seated at. A few minutes later, we were greeted by our waitress. We placed our order which included appetizers, main entree, and drinks. It took about thirty minutes JUST to receive our drinks. We spent over an hour and a half waiting on appetizers that didn’t come out until after our entrees. We inquired what the delay was, and was given three different stories from three different waitresses. One mentioned that there were new chefs hired, who didn’t know how to make a lot of the orders. That’s fine, because we all need to have patience as things take time to work, right? Another waitress mentioned the chefs had to remake the appetizers but failed to specify on what exactly was the reason our orders had to be remade. The coconut shrimp was decent, but I honestly feel it was because we were beyond famished, as we waited over an hour and a half for food. My boyfriend had the “Seafood Combo,” which literally reminded me of the frozen Gorton’s fish you buy at supermarkets. Attached are the photos of our meals. His fish looked as if it were refried, and our fries were mostly burnt. What shocked me about this whole ordeal, was the fact other guests who arrived after we did, were served first and in an efficient manner. We felt as though the staff were literally picking and choosing who to serve. Our waitress didn’t receive a tip and I’ll explain why. In that hour and a half of waiting, she checked on us ONCE, which we felt was beyond unprofessional. It doesn’t hurt to reassure your guests that although there’s an issue, you’re doing your absolute best to change the narrative so that this won’t happen again in the future. We spoke with a manager who didn’t charge us for the HORRENDOUS appetizers. Although we’re grateful for that, it doesn’t satisfy us that this was our first experience and definitely our last. We understand that everyday won’t be 100%, but in the same breath, this is an establishment that is showing us their food is a reflection of what’s really going on in the back. I don’t think corporate would appreciate the fact that plates like these pictured are being served, nor do I believe they’d appreciate the lack of customer service. Also, your staff should be aware that when it doesn’t seem “Busy,” it’s not the time to converse about non related work issues, especially when your guests can hear you. When the appetizers came out, we were beyond disgusted. My boyfriend ordered the “Peel & Eat Shrimp,” which states they’re “…served hot and topped with Old Bay® seasoning. Served with our house-made cocktail sauce.” They failed to mention that the shrimp aren’t cleaned AT ALL, and it’s literally sprinkled with Old Bay seasoning. Where is the originality in that?! I wouldn’t waste my time, nor money at this restaurant ever again. It sucks because you guys have the blueprint; a huge restaurant overlooking ocean views, so many staff members, and you all have dropped the ball. So many issues that need correcting, and I’m hoping someone from corporate can visit and shed light so you can bridge this gap. Another issue I noticed is the lack of cleaning when a guests leaves. I was very disappointed by the napkins and food all over the floors outside, especially on the actual beach. Again, you guys have the blueprint. You have...

We started at Land shark, a Cool place restaurant setting and that’s about it. Understaffed like every other big restaurant which is understandable and expected. What’s not expected are the workers that are there don’t really care. We went to the bar that wasn’t really full and wanted to get some drinks while we waited and after being laser eyed by the bar tender feeling the rush reading all the drinks this place offered was told the blender was broke after ordering a mixed drink. Could of probably said that while eyeing us looking at the bar menu 2 feet from us. We put in a time to eat at 7:30 waited a half hour with kids that We’re getting impatient so I decided to try Margaritaville right next-door which is owned by the same company to see what kind of wait that they had. I immediately met a hostess that did not enjoy her job which was clearly evident she told people it was gonna be a 40 minute wait. If I could explain her role of the company it was to turn away guest because she did not want to be there and she hated everybody that was walking in there. So given that I understood that this was the type of person that was working there I went over and played the slot machines for 10 minutes while I waited the 40 minutes she told us which is right outside the restaurant. Walked past the restaurant again after the 10 minutes waiting and there was another host that was shoveling food in her mouth and was told there was no wait right now lol. Told my family that was still waiting on the text from landshark 40 minutes now to walk over to Margaritaville instead. Seated fast and Rj was our waiter and is a great at getting drinks out fast. The man playing live music was great also. Fast forward food took over a hour to come out which if its good I wouldn’t care about that. But it was a grade lower than a fast food restaurant. Small overpriced portions not cooked properly, made correctly and plated. You can tell how much the help in the back didn’t care about their job or so poorly inexperienced. Being that I Cooking food for a living and don’t complain very often as I understand the business. I asked for a manager which was very nice and I felt very sorry for him having to deal with the Incompetency of his staff in the back. So the food is not worth it right now with the help making it, the place atmosphere is really cool both landshark and Margaritaville. The drinks are ok and the man playing guitar and singing does a great job. Rj our server at Margaritaville is great at what he does and The manager is nice and comped us and felt the stress on that man’s shoulders. I hope it can get the problems worked out. Needless to say we wasted 3 hours of our trip to leave there and get pizza on the boardwalk after. And also still never got a text saying our table at...

Tourist trap. Low quality drinks, subpar food and mediocre service. We initially ordered long island iced teas for our drinks and I specifically requested light sour. However, the place apparently uses alcohol, soda and some pre-mixed sour concoction that was absolutely overwhelming and disgusting. The waitress never bothered to tell us that when I made the request for less sour, so the drinks were returned as we could not force ourselves to drink them.

Also, if you are vegan / vegetarian, don’t bother. I ordered a veggie burger, well-done. The burger initially came out of the kitchen paler than a newborn’s a$$. I asked them to cook it more and the waitress returned it to me 20 minutes later on a dry bun with nothing else that I ordered (lettuce, tomatoes and onions), they even kept the chips that it comes with! After waiting well over an hour and some change to receive the burger, I ultimately sent it back and told the waitress to remove it from our bill. My husband ordered a regular burger which apparently comes with two patties, however, the waitress refused to charge us the normal price and omit the second patty?! So he was forced to remove and waste an entire cooked patty because our request could not be accommodated.

Not to mention, as I waited for food, I had the pleasure of watching seagulls drop in and eat scraps from plates that were left sitting in excess of 15 - 20 minutes after the guests left their table. Once the tables were cleared, I did not observe any attempts to actually disinfect the surface (yuck!).

The view and ocean breeze are truly the saving grace for this establishment. However, if they placed more emphasis on customer service, quality food and skip the pre-made drinks, the LandShark Bar could really be something special.

My experience was a huge disappointment as I have had this spot on my list of places to visit for quite some time. I have no plans on returning; AC has far better options that provide an all around...