Ocean Restaurant — Restaurant in Birmingham

I recently had my 40th Birthday party there and my experience was horrible! I had always heard about it and I was surprised and excited about going....five minutes later that was over. The eleven of us, were put in the hands of a server that seemed excited and happy that she was there for us. She advised us of the menu with a few things we were told, were not available. One of this, two left of that and none of this at all. My party and I took it all in stride and continued to have a good time enjoying each other's company. We started to notice that things were taking longer than usual and that our waitress was not as visible as she was in the first 5 minutes of me arriving. Getting drinks like tea and water became a 45 minute event. Later on, we were given silverwear and 30 minuts after that the food started to appear. The food was under cooked and disporptioned. For a few of our "white" friends there, they started to notice that things that we were told not available was suddenly available to them and to the other people in the establishment. When we advised the owner George of the issue, he was apologetic and sent the assistant manager in to diffuse the situation and the service we received. He first started out by providing the resume of the server. How she was from the other restaurant that he owned and started as a busboy and was "promoted" to fine dining. When asked if she was seasoned we were told no 🙄. In all honesty, we give people the benefit of the doubt because you never know what kind of day someone else is having. However it is still your job and responsibility to take care of who and what you are put over to serve. I say all of this to say, we were just there to have a good time, however the service from "Saucey" and the food being under cooked and the down play of the whole ordeal by management, will futher make me write reviews of the places I have visited; the great, the good and the bad! I hope that they read this to better themselves and the people that they entrust with their guests. However, as for me and the party of eleven we will not be attending any of his establishments and trust all of the ones we know...

If I had to recommend Ocean to someone based off of our dining experience 09-16-22 I wouldn't. Our wait staff started off fine at best, He acted as if he was in such a big hurry when it came to our questions and what he was recommend, spent minimal time when it came to us. A gentleman and his young daughter arrived some time after we did but the service and attention afforded to them was the complete opposite of what we were receiving not only that but they arrived after us and received their food before us. He ordered 2 different type of oysters as their appetizer ,whole snapper pan seared and the wood fired lobster tails which came out quite quickly. We ordered the ocean salads, oyster Rockefeller, pan seared snapper and Hereford filet mignon we'd finished our salads and sat for what I thought was an extremely long time , the oyster arrived lukewarm at best and lacked flavor then our entrees arrive the filet was cook correctly but wasn't even warm to the touch and the snapper was the exact same ended up sending the filet back we've eaten there before but last nights service was the worst service ever I don't want to say what I thought the problem was but it was very obvious to us why we were receiving a substandard service type of service from our wait staff because everyone around us was afford time and explanations concerning menu and what was offered on that nights menu. Everyone around us received outstanding service and received their food in a timely manner. Based on last nights service I don't think I will refer nor will we be visiting Ocean ever again. As I stated earlier we visited in July and that experience was excellent I even referred my co workers who later visited but after last nights experience I DON'T THINK WE'LL BE...

It was a Birthday dinner and our first visit since moving down from Nashville. Food: I had the Tuna. The Tuna itself was good but the bed of noodles it sat on was completely tasteless. The drizzle puree was lacking as well. My wife had the Grouper. It was cold and dry. It was not even a decent delivery of Grouper for a mediocre restaurant, much less a high end establishment. Service: The first opportunity came when the server forgot to bring her drink she ordered. The second opportunity came when she forgot to bring my wife's order of truffle fries for her meal. They did make it to the table but it was after the entree was finished. Atmosphere: We were seated in a small booth against the front windows. Our booth was separated from the table next to us by a shower curtain on plastic rings. We were crowed with a large loud table behind us which made me feel like I was intruding on their space although we reserved and were seated first.

The good: we had great friends for company to enjoy celebrating with and I was happy to see they offered Caymus wine on their menu.

In conclusion: extremely disappointed. Extremely over priced meal with less than mediocre food and service with a cheap decor feel. This is not a case of not meeting expectations, it is a case of...