Harvest Tide, Bethany Beach, DE — Restaurant in Bethany Beach

We started with the $10 bread service, which should set the tone at a restaurant positioning itself as premium; instead, the bread was dry and barely edible. The oysters were fine—fresh enough and, as most diners know, hard to mess up—so no complaint there. The Delmonico steak ($135) was marketed to us as a special by our server as 32oz and bone-in (I'm still confused who serves a $135 steak with onion rings on top?). We ordered it medium-rare, but it came out rare, which is a basic miss for a cut that’s supposed to be the star of the meal. We added a crab cake as a supplement, and it was cold in the center, another straightforward preparation issue (especially considering we're in Bethany Beach... this is where Crab Cakes should shine!!!). The Brussels sprouts were the only item at our table without a complaint; they were properly cooked and seasoned.

Our check came to roughly $270, including tip, which felt absurd for the quality delivered. That pricing might make sense if the kitchen consistently nailed fundamentals, but our meal didn’t meet that standard. The restaurant advertises humidity-controlled storage for USDA Prime steaks—a detail that implies precision and care—yet the kitchen failed to cook our steak to the requested temperature. Careful storage and premium sourcing are irrelevant if execution on the line doesn’t follow through; a rare steak when medium-rare is requested, and a cold-center crab cake, are not nitpicks but essential issues. At this price point, diners reasonably expect accurate temps, hot food served hot, and clarity in labeling, especially for a flagship steak.

To be clear, our server, Lisbeth, was lovely—professional, friendly, and attentive throughout (I leave it for another day to discuss being gaslit that my steak was indeed medium rare). My concerns are squarely with kitchen execution and the overall value proposition. I want to see this place succeed, and the path forward seems simple: cook steaks to the requested temperature, verify hot items are hot before they leave the pass, and ensure the menu clearly communicates what’s being served—particularly on bone-in weights for premium cuts. Focus on cooking to temp before premium add-ons and steak-program talking points. If those basics are tightened up, the price and the marketing might finally align with...

Truly terrible - leaves you feeling as if you wasted time, money, and your appetite.

Classic example of a place thinking they can serve up slop because of their location and charge literal top shelf prices. I guess the locals never say anything because they're all snowbirds with no context for what quality seafood actually is. None of the food we ordered was even close to the price point and what I would expect to get based on the cost of the items we ordered.

Started with the $32/dozen oysters. Pretty standard price considering we're local. Okay, we'll try it. I could shuck them better myself and most of them were mutilated. Picking through the grit aside, they tasted off and so did the accompaniments. We did not finish the dozen, and we love oysters, so that's saying a lot.

We added the seared ahi tuna. It's a $22 item (LOL). We got a piece of tuna that had to be no larger than a quarter pound. The cucumber pieces that came with it dwarfed the fish by comparison (isn't the tuna the star of the dish?) And made it look even more disappointing. Served in a deep bowl, hilarious. Looked like a joke and I knew immediately - we've been got again.

The meal ended with the $35 charcuterie board that looks, and tasted like, it was assembled in a CVS grocery isle. Cheap, processed cheese with terrible flavor. The meats looked off in color and smelled off. Clearly jarred low budget olives that tasted horrible.

Seriously what a disappointment. I dont usually write reviews but this one cut deep. This was a $155 meal where I left feeling like I got mugged, and all we wanted was fresh local seafood with a little care put into it.

STAY AWAY and owners... do you not have any passion for the craft anymore? It's just butts in seats and paying the...

My husband and I went for the Easter buffet, it was a disaster. We had reservations, we stood there for 15 minutes, no one acknowledged us so we finally went and sat at a table. The food that was listed on the buffet advertisement was not at all what was available. They had fruit and cheese and salad, some orzo dish with a few scattered shrimp. There was supposed to be ribeye steaks, there were none. They had some ham ends. We asked about the meat and we were told they had run out. We waited 25 minutes for them to bring out a piece of prime rib that was almost raw. We could not even get a waiter to bring us anything to drink or silverware. We had to take it from another table. I finally had to ask the manager if we could get some water. This whole experience was so greatly disappointing. They were so many other options for us have restaurants we could have gone to for an Easter buffet. The manager ended up bringing me a plate of 12 steamed shrimp and offered to make us something off the menu. By that time, we had been there for almost an hour and just decided to leave. It was not that the restaurant was overcrowded they were only about six tables Toto that had patrons The desert option was a boxed chocolate cake or fruit. The management did not charge us for the buffet. I would have much rather have enjoyed the buffet that they advertised. I definitely would not recommend this restaurant to anyone and if you are considering the Mother's Day buffet I suggest you choose a different restaurant as there are many in the area offering buffets that would probably be much more enjoyable. The service, quality of the food and the misrepresentation of available items to be served on the buffet we're all a very great...