Station 117 Tavern and Garden — Restaurant in Beach Haven

Our waitress was very nice which is why I didn’t want to mention the issue with the food as she is not responsible. I had lobster tails and the taste of ammonia was so strong I was concerned. The rice that came with the meal was barely cooked. Perhaps it was bad luck but left me not impressed . We have been coming to LBI For over 20 years and Look forward to new places to dine. I called the restaurant asking for a manager to call me as I feel he/she would want to know of our experience. Hoping it was a just bad luck because otherwise all was very nice ! Update: Manager called back and apologized for my experience. she said lobster is one of their most popular dishes and this situation is unusual. She offered me “ a free desert or appetizer at our next visits” 🤔 I asked her to please consider offering something more as I had spent days concerned about this meal and getting sick. Perhaps inviting us back for a meal? Second chance ? Later this day another manager called me and also apologized . She asked me what I would want and I explained the situation “ I wanted a reason to come back “. She said she would leave me a gift certificate in the amount of the lobster meal. This was certainly more appropriate although I do not believe the best customer friendly business move . This manager also told me “ lobster is not usually on our menu “ what? The other manager told me it was their specialty! We went to pick up the gift certificate and use it for a drink. A couple next to us told us they will never eat there for similar reasons. Sadly I think we will not as well. What a pretty restaurant set up so nicely ! Definitely not crowded as most other places on LBI which was suspicious . Too many empty tables at prime dining time . Oh well, perhaps they will pull it...

Service took quite a while. We sat for about 10 minutes until we finally had a server come up to us with water telling us he would be right with us. He then went to the table next to us and got their order. They were waiting just as long as us, maybe longer, to place their order. Drinks were decent. Honestly, I've had worse, but i definitely have had better. Had the lavender haze and the peach spritzer special drink. Our table had two lobster bisques. Mine was alright, but apparently, the other one was more cold rather than warm. They had one piece of lobster each. The food was good. The old beach haven spaghetti was good. My main complaint was, fortunately, not for my table, but the food runner brought food for the table next to us, and i guess, dropped some french fries on the tray. I watched him pick up the french fries with his bare hands and put them back on the plate to serve that table their food. A little unsanitary, in my opinion. Also, the hosts and servers didn't feel very aware of their surroundings. The hosts were talking and on their phones, and the servers were walking wherever they were going barely looking around at the other tables. Overall service took quite a while. Kevin was nice but pretty soft-spoken. My table had trouble hearing him talk, especially in the loud restaurant where the sound resonated from all the other tables (we were indoors). The bathroom was pretty messy, but thankfully, i interacted with someone who worked there who replaced the paper towels, which was out. The tables were cleaned fast. I shouldn't complain much since it was a sunday night and everywhere was busy with wait times, except for a table inside here. But it was my first time here, and honestly, i was expecting better, especially...

Really disappointed to even write this. Since they opened, I’ve eaten there at least 7 times; given we live right down the street and it’s super convenient for us (kids included). I was impressed by the food, service and of course the atmosphere, however tonight was a different experience. My 1 and 3 year old love the salmon dish so naturally that was our go-to staple dish to order. We also ordered the burrata and calamari app along with a side salad and soup as another entree. We received everything at once (which has never happened before) and overwhelming. The salmon was so small compared to the other 6 times we ordered it and came with what I guess was smashed cauliflower (tasteless to say the least) and NOT the delicious gnocchi we’ve always had with it which is on their menu. When I asked about it, the waitress said they changed the menu. Really?!? Why?! Why take something that was such a hit off the menu? The portion sizes were so small for the price. The side salad has no dressing on it whatsoever and was completely overpriced for what you receive. Really disppaointed and I was probably your biggest fan and advocate of the food. You really need to get it together and start caring about your customer reviews as I’m seeing and also hearing from other friends of their negative experience. Side note, you also may want to change your menu pictures. There is no bread that looks like what you serve; hard-break your teeth pretzels and today something new - crackers; neither of which look like the delicious bread on your website. Hope someone important is reading these comments because I’m not sure we’ll be returning after...