Windrift Restaurant — Restaurant in Avalon

This place is a family institution and has always been a part of my summertime plans. But after my 30+ years of going there, tonight was a dealbreaker. We showed up and knew something was up. Took forever to get a table and our table then wasn’t wiped down. We didn't get water (asked and never got them - asked twice actually), we were never given utensils (had to grab them from another table) and the food was downright disgusting. I know that places are getting hit with Covid shortages and I truly feel for anybody in the service industry right now but this felt beyond that. The shrimp cocktail was returned, something which I would never do normally. It was cold and hard. It felt like it was sitting out and then microwaved. $22 for that garbage too. Bun on crab cake was seriously stale and falling apart. My partner's sushi was gross. We got comped our shrimp cocktail but honestly, half this meal should have been comped for the service and the fact that my partner ate like 2 pieces of her awful sushi. This place has hit rock bottom. It makes me sad to post this but hope mgmt sees this and changes course quickly because it’s gonna be a while until I trust this...

If Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel of bar backs, it would be Erik at the Wind Drift.

This man wasn’t just a bar back—he was a hydration ninja, a glassware whisperer, a human blur of ice buckets and perfectly stacked lime wedges. I watched in awe as he refilled garnishes with the precision of a neurosurgeon and restocked beer faster than I could finish one (which is saying a lot).

He moved like he had Red Bull for blood and a sixth sense for when a bartender was about to scream, “WE’RE OUT OF TEQUILA!” Tragedy averted. Erik was already there, bottle in hand, probably with a joke too. And let me tell you, if bar backs could be rated like wines, Erik is a full-bodied 2010 vintage with notes of hustle and a finish of pure legend.

Wind Drift better have him on a lifetime contract—or at least name a signature cocktail after him. May I suggest: The Erik Explosion—served fast, strong, and always ready when you need it most.

10/10. Would let him restock my night anytime.

Want it even more ridiculous or with...

We reserved a table for 9. Got there was we were sat at two tables next to each other. We moved the tables together (we were against a two walls, not center tables) and the manager came over and told us “we don’t do this here” and made us separate the tables for “traffic reasons” and “because they were two different sections with two different servers” he was very rude about it - well, ended up with 1 server anyway…. 1st table got water, 2nd table didn’t….so we had to ask for water - Loud music at bar and acoustics in dining room terrible so hard to hear each other. Just loud in general. Food was fine. But very disappointed we could not sit together on my birthday. Seriously there was no harm in moving the tables together with plenty of room for “traffic” since we were on the back wall anyway. Other guests commented and agreed we should have been able to sit together. Poor...