Union League Whitebrier — Restaurant in Avalon

I want to start this review off by saying that it is the first time I’ve ever had to review a restaurant, and that I myself serve and bartend. When my girlfriend, our two kids and myself arrived, we were seated promptly, so this was great. Our water and kid’s beverage were delivered within 2 minutes of seating, so again, this was fine. This is where it got bad. We did not meet our waitress until 12-14 minutes after the water was delivered (I know the exact time based upon texts I had sent out when we got the water) Our waitress greeted us with, “Sorry about the wait. Are there any other drinks you wanted?” We never even got her name. At this point, we ordered our entire meal because we were already tired of waiting. We asked for bread for the table, french fries for our daughter and a beer as well. The french fries came out before the bread, and they were barely warm. The bread followed about 6 minutes later, and at this point, I was already complaining to another waitress. My waitress showed up right behind her, and when I asked about my beer, she said “well it’s not actually a special out here so I have to go to this bar to get the beer” It took 20 minutes for me to get a beer from the time I was seated. Our food arrived about 20 minutes after the beer, and we all but left before it even arrived. The food was good, which is why I’m leaving 2 stars. I tipped the waitress 20% because I can’t in good conscience leave a poor tip, but she deserved $2 at most. My girlfriend eats here with her entire family every year, but this was my first time, and we were both displeased. I would love to have a reason to return, but it’s not worth it. Also, working in the restaurant industry, if a guest ever complains to me, that is grounds for me to seek a manager no matter how small the complaint. I saw my waitress 3 times let alone a manager. Like I said, I’ve served and bartended for 3 years, and never have I once complained about service, but something had to be said about our poor experience...

We spent a lovely Wednesday evening at the Octopus Garden.

First, I was surprise at how much parking this place offered! Plenty of free spaces. We chose to eat outside at the very casual and relaxed octopus garden. It’s seat yourself; we were easily able to walk right in on the week day. It had a low key and quaint ambiance. Plenty of tables for parties of all sizes and plenty of shade. In the late evening when the sun goes down and all the bistro lights turn on it transforms into a magical space. I absolutely loved the feel of this great hangout spot. Also, they had live music on a Wednesday in the Mermaid Cafe (which was attached), a really pleasant surprise!

First we ordered drinks. It is a little jarring to see the wine come out in a disposable cup and my green tea cocktail be presented in a Dunkin’ cup…but that’s what happened and they both were delicious. I enjoyed the refreshing tea beverage, but it was light on the vodka.

Now we came with the intention of getting sushi and that exactly what we did. I ordered the Seaweed Salad, Romantic Roll, and Amazing Tuna. Honestly…the rolls didn’t present the wow factor for the price. The Seaweed Salad, although generously portioned, was plated over mixed greens, which was extremely odd. The Amazing Tuna packed no spicy tuna punch or tempura crunch…the ahi tuna on the top was extremely bland. The mango BBQ sauce didn’t have any kick too it. Just a let down for a 26.00 price point. The Romantic roll was simple, the mango on top gave it great flavor…but it was supposed to be topped with caviar…to no avail.

The food was being presented to other tables looked far better than the sushi, so I do have hope that this is a great spot to hang in Avalon. I’m going to try again, but I will be ordering off the regular menu and I hope I’m able to add more stars because I’m rooting...

We had a party of seven. We visited on a Saturday, and we had reservations for 7 pm.

The venue was really loud. The restaurant was not overly crowded. We waited for a bit before our waitress, Teresa, came for drink orders. For the most part, the drinks were good, but one in the party was forgotten.

We ordered apps of the coconut shrimp, the pretzel, the crab cocktail, and the cheese steak egg rolls. The apps were good and were delivered promptly.

We had quite a wait before Teresa returned for our dinner order. As we waited, the air conditioning unit above our table dripped water onto party members and the table, something I considered a health violation. This continued even after we pointed it out.

Once our order was taken, our food was rather slow in delivery. I ordered the crab cake dinner, and a side salad. The salad greens were crisp, but had a funny, moldy taste. This could have been the dressing. I asked for honey mustard which was served in plastic serving size containers. The honey and mustard had separated.

My crab cakes were nice portions and were pretty good. However, the mashed potatoes were broken, and grainy, with the consistency of grits. They were not as warm as I would have liked.

There was no salt or pepper at the table. I had to get up and scavenge for them myself. I also had to scavenge for cocktail sauce for one of the party members. Not one staff member approached me to help, even though the items were in a high traffic area near the kitchen.

After dinner, I had to seek out our waitress for the bill. Our tab was $445 which I feel, for the quality and service, was overpriced.

In my opinion, the restaurant...