Aqua Seafood, Steaks & Raw Bar — Restaurant in Bonita Springs

Katherine and I always research restaurants and places of interest before making our journey to them. Today was no different but various circumstances redirected and necessarily led us to Aqua (Bonita Springs) instead of another confirmed and confidently chosen destination. We sensed Aqua would not be the likely candidate that would check all the necessary previous review and research criteria, but decided to try it and see since it was in our immediate neighborhood. We aim to review as many establishments as possible, yet it’s never fully enjoyable when you secretly dine and spend around $100 and both were not fully wowed.

With this said, we were kindly seated when we intentionally showed up for our 5:45 PM reservation and were served with expediency, helpfulness, and kindness within the first 5 minutes since the happy hour was going to be concluding within a few short minutes—which we knew. Our server got our order taken care of in record time and with kindness and an amazing comforting demeanor and resting assured we would be taken care of.

Over all, the Happy Hour (HH) Old Fashioned and Gin Martini we respectively ordered were average at best but were not a surprise for $9 each. I (James) am a mixologist and these cocktails were simple, “Well”bartender basic cocktails. Don’t expect a CRAFT cocktail that wows your senses for this HH.

Every HH food item we ordered without exception had a 4 to 5 star presentation! Beautiful.

The Grilled Caesar Salad and the Shrimp taco were definitely the best crafted food items out of five food items we ordered.

The crab salad stuffed in the avocado was just average and too sweet and too “mayonaisee.” For the caliber of quality and exceptionalism that the presentation that the stuffed avocado seemed to want to achieve, the crab salad was likely created for those who are going to like more of a grocery store deli crab salad.

Katherine is an EXPERT, Texas-based Grill Master and literally makes the Best Center Cut Filet Mignon I have had throughout the entire USA. Both of us thought the Filet skewer was still cooked beyond the desired Medium Rare and lacked necessary and even simple salt and pepper / spice presence and or levels along with a couple other expert marinade moves.

The crabcake was a good value for the HH and a generous size, and I liked it more than Katherine. Yes, we agreed it’s a bit sweet . . . and had a bit higher ratio of breading in proportion to the crab presence.

Whoever designed the Shrimp Taco was apparently in their wheelhouse and nearly perfected it. Delicious and more exceptional.

The grilled Romaine along with the anchovies made it a TRUE Caesar salad and was Katherine’s favorite item out of all we had.

Overall, Katherine was not wowed by anything and I saw the potential, but yes, with more refinement necessary.

Katherine and I both agreed that this Aqua still has the old Perkins feel. The room we sat in still had the shape and remnants from a 1980 Pop in Fresh, Perkins, Baker’s Square, …you get the picture. We can see that the owners tried to convert the previous restaurant into a nicer establishment and portions are decent, but overall it was like putting lipstick on a Perkins.

The entire staff was friendly, hospitable, and made us feel welcome. Katherine has a couple legitimate serious critiques concerning some observed etiquette to share with the owners but will express them through private messaging if they reach out.

Food: 3.85 stars HH Cocktails: 2.5 stars Atmosphere: 3 stars Date night, trendy vibe: 1 star

My wife, Katherine, who is a very respectful and loving person, just shared that the entertainment on the little stage sounded like an off strip Las Vegas lounge show. I don’t know if Bonita Springs is...

I had read the post from next-door neighbor none of it seem to be any good about this restaurant, but my 90-year-old Mom insisted that she wanted to go there and try it out online. I tried to make a reservation for this evening never got a confirmation, so I called later in the afternoon confirmed that they had a children’s menu. The woman on the phone had asked what time I said six had said should be able to get you in . Beautiful restaurant great bar we were sat next to the piano. The waiter came right away and asked us what we wanted to drink and then took our order. No complaints on the service at all I waiter did nice job my mom and I shared the Muscles an appetizer, nothing wrong with them. They were OK nothing special We ordered and wanted to share the sea scallops risotto there were four big sea scallops. I placed one with risotto on my plate, took half a bite with the risotto and this was horrible very oily no taste. I proceeded to take a little more risotto mentioned to the waiter. Maybe we needed some lemon and some salt. My mom did the same thing took bite into it and said she didn’t like it. I changed my mind and asked the waiter if it’s possible to send it back in order something different, not in my mind that I wouldn’t have to pay for the other meal. we received the bill. We were hit with a 4% credit card charge which I know some of these fast food. Restaurants have been adding but my mom and I go out several times a week to dinner and not have countered this yet at a restaurant i have worked in the restaurant business when I was younger overhead was always counted for credit card fees, since they are most often used in restaurants. I I had asked the bartender did they normally put on a 20% tip for three people he said no normally with six people or more which was the same back in the day. I had asked to see a manager when she came over I explain the situation and she was very defensive and very very rude. The 20% tip is because there’s music which makes no sense to me restaurant usually pays the entertainer a certain amount and they makes tips. What does that have to do the waiters tips. she also said that everyone is putting on a 4% credit card charge and I tend to disagree since my mom and I go out several times a week to restaurants not liking my answer. She said they did us a favor by not charging us the dish that my mom and I totally did not eat and did not enjoy. She accused us of eating half the dish understandable, sometimes in the restaurant business that people try to get away by not paying. This was definitely not the case. She also said she did us a favor by squeezing us in at 6 o’clock. Trust me it wasn’t that busy there is no line out the door. I normally do not write about negative experiences, but this one hit me to the core. As a former business owner, you’re only as good as the talent you hire is whoever owns this restaurant has no clue what he has hired. I can definitely tell you this if this is the way my employee treated any guest or client they would’ve been fired in a second and she supposedly a manager I highly do not recommend...

Aqua @ Perkins…considering I’ve been to Aqua on 5th many times and have always had good experiences, we gave it a try at their Bonita stand-alone location in the old Perkins building. Yikes. They definitely missed the mark here. First, it’s very loud. Now I know why Perkins always had carpet to buffer the noise. Maybe Aqua should have done the same. We sat down and immediately noticed the noise and there weren’t many people in our side room. There was another table seated next to us and realized the same thing once they sat down. Food Quality is great. We had the Ceviche appetizer and it was outstanding, minus the 2 inch piece of saran wrap that I was chewing on. The server was embarrassed and he was kind enough to not charge us for it. There were many "miscommunications" with the kitchen and although the server was nice, he wasn’t knowledgeable about the menu. Everything kept going downhill as I sat in the Perkins booth. I went to the restroom and walked into a major sewage backup. At this point, I wanted to throw up. I understand something like that might not be able to be controlled, but what a nasty, gross experience and I will certainly not return to Aqua. Food can be great, but with the saran wrap, communication issues and sewage backup I question what's going on here. Seems like poor management and trying for a vibe that really doesn’t fit for Bonita. I can't imagine this restaurant will last beyond their lease term. Stick to...