Bonefish Grill — Restaurant in Bonita Springs

Surprisingly disappointing.

ZERO stars would be more accurate.

My girlfriend and I are some of the easiest people to please.

Upon seeing the hostess last evening we made a simple request of sitting outside, to which she replied, "I'll be right out to set things up".

Within 2 minutes a different young girl came out and asked if we needed any help. We let her know we were taken care of. (we refrained from sitting anything on the table we were sitting at because it was dirty & sticky & there was a sliver of carrot in front of us).

As that waitress made her way passed us and back in the front door, a woman dressed in "all black attire" passed her, came to our table and started setting the dishes in front of us, at which point we kindly commented the table still hadn't been cleaned. Her reply was that we should have told the waitress that we were just talking to (as if it was not her problem that we have a dirty table, and that we were a bother in keeping her from setting the plates and silverware in front of us.) We laughed and said the hostess said she was taking care of us. "All black attire" proceeds to get a small dry square bar napkin and wipe the table as we sat there watching all the disgusting-ness being smeared across the surface. We jokingly laughed again as to make light of the situation and said "no really.... it's sticky and gross and needs cleaner and a wash cloth or something." She stopped wiping, gave an exhausted look and said, "well, it would take me 10 MINUTES to go to the back and get this cleaned!"

We.Were.Shocked!! We sarcastically laughed as to say "You Must be joking, right!?!?"

[Soooo sorrrry to have interrupted your evening and the more important things you have to do while on the clock tonight besides providing a clean table for us to eat and TIP YOU!]

As she hastily left our table and proceeded inside, I simply told her to her backside "That's ok, we just won't pay :-) "

My girlfriend, (who has more than paid her dues in the service industry back in the day) asked disappointedly "do you just wanna go somewhere else?" "Of course!" was my reply.

She made her way inside to advise the hostess we were leaving and I grabbed the business cards for:

Toby Schofield - Manager Brian Franke - Manager Brecken Boyd - Culinary Manager

We all have our bad days, but above all, our workplace professionalism is a reflection of the company, as well as ourselves. I have no idea what was going on in her life last evening, but in this case we hope this isn't a true representation of the culture at Bonefish Grill.

Somewhat surprised that management didn't do anything to clarify the situation before we drove away.

;-)

Special THANK YOU to google for making me a Level 5 Local guide based on honest, accurate, helpful...

One of our favorite alternative casual dining places to go to in both Naples and Bonita Springs. The fish dishes are fresh and tasty and the staff is always welcoming, attentive and friendly. We’ve been fans since they opened.

We hadn’t been to this location in a year and chose it as some of us were coming from different areas (St. Petersburg, Tampa and Naples). We made 7:30pm reservation (8/30/18) for four, requested a table vs. booth and gave them a heads up that it was an 88th birthday celebration dinner.

Upon our arrival, we were directed to sit at a booth and we kindly reminded the host lady about the table we had requested. She mentioned she did see the note, then sat us at a table in the dining room. It was a Thursday night and the place was very empty at that time, only us 4, two other tables of 2 and 4 persons sitting at the bar area.

Our server, Chip, seemed to have had a chip on his shoulder throughout the entire time. He was not attentive at all and made us feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, like he was bothered that we sat in his “area”. We ordered a glass with ice that took forever to deliver, no water, our finished plates remained on the table for a long time before they were retrieved...

We had a feeling he wanted to get us out and go home because by 8:00pm we were the only diners in the restaurant, besides the four people sitting at the bar. We wondered if they were closing for the night. The place closes at 10pm on Thursday’s according to their website and their posted store hours.

Right after we had our birthday dessert, a woman who introduced herself as “the manager” (Meghan, maybe) came to our table and said she noticed we had dinner and that we were through, is there anything else you need now!? The demeanor in which she spoke to us was “can I get you your bill/check now so you can leave!”

Any “I also noticed you’re here celebrating a birthday, happy Birthday ma’am!” “Thank you for choosing us for your special occasion!” Would have been nice. We didn’t let that spoil our night though, and kindly asked for our bill and thanked her. Our server came over with our bill, we asked him about the beautiful panoramic artwork on the wall, it was a lovely Sunshine Skyway Bridge rendition. He said it was “just artwork”.

It was apparent that the manager wanted to either send the servers home early or close shop early. It was only 9pm. On our way out, the manager was slouched on the booth bench behind the host podium, chatting with another female server, they looked at us and not even a good night or thank you.

I came home wondering about the artwork so I checked Bonefish on Wikipedia. There is actually a reason and a meaning for that iconic landmark to be displayed in there. Bonefish was founded in St. Petersburg, FL and this iconic bridge is on the south side entrance to the city. I...

This has been our favorite go to place and we often meet friends at the Bonefish in Bonita Springs for dinner. In the past, it has been wonderful. Last night was so bad that I doubt we will go back. After being seated, outside which is great, a friendly waitress came and took our drink order. The drinks took forever to arrive. In the meantime another waitress, Tina, came and said she would be our waitress. Drinks arrived, bread was delivered and the food. That is where it went downhill. One person had the fille and lobster tail. The steak was way overcooked. Instead of medium rare it was medium in the middle and the rest was medium well. Another person had the grilled salmon which is her go to. It was way overcooked and had such a tiny portion of mashed potatoes that it was a donut on the plate. The center was totally hollow and only a small ring of potatoes. It looked like someone had scrapped a pan of the leftovers to use. The third dinner was the Fish and chips special that had such a thick breading that it was not edible. He ate one bite of fish and one bite of fish. The breading or batter was raw in the middle. I had the Risotto Del Mar. I requested that it not be spicy. It was covered with a cajun seasoning so thick it burned my mouth and there was oil floating over tha whole thing! It was awful. Th waitress finally came back and I asked her if she had told the kitchen about the spice and she said she forgot. We told her everything I just wrote and she told us it was her first night. Why was she on the floor without a helper? She should have been in training instead of having a section. When we paid in cash, she never brought change and when we asked, she said she thought the rest was for her, which it was but we wanted to add to it. Lastly our friends who charged their meal received later that night a second charge for our meal. A...