Roy's Restaurant — Restaurant in Bonita Springs

Second experience at a Roy's. The first having been about 7 years ago at the Baltimore location when the wife & I were dating. My wife was born in Honolulu, & has a soft spot for all things Hawaiian.(more)...

The Bonita Springs location did a great job. They hit a lot of notes right--more hits than misses. We arrived considerably later than we would have liked...around 9:30pm, having lost track of time at the beach. We're both former servers and hate to be "that guy" who arrives right before closing. We were on our games by knowing what we wanted before we got there: the ahí Hawaiian poke appetizer, the macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi for her, the tepanyaki shrimp with baby bok choy for me, and a pineapple upside down cake to share.

The mahi was absolutely delicious, grilled to perfection--nice & moist. The sauce was pleasant, although we couldn't identify it, and could have used a touch of salt, but the dish was fantastic overall. Complements to the chef.

The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the sauce was just the right blend of tangy Asian flavors to strike a nice balance. The baby bok choy were succulent and tender.

Our drinks get the only real criticism. (Full disclosure: my wife attended bartending school and worked a few bartending jobs in her day. She makes a mean cocktail, and is critical of technique & taste...but fair. The drinks at this Roy's--hers a Hawaiian martini, mine a Mai Tai--just did not impress either of us on any level. The martini didn't taste so much like a drink as it did a glass of booze. The mai tai was fairly weak and uninspired. Everybody has off days--perhaps this was just one of those days for the bartender.

Where the drinks let us down, the staff certainly did not. Everyone took obvious pride in their jobs and conducted service as one would expect at a white tablecloth type of establishment. They really made the experience enjoyable. Erica, our server, was attentive, as were some of the other servers on duty who looked after us just like we were their table. Every member of the staff we passed on the way out thanked us and wished us a good night. (And no, we were not the last one's there--there were still a few people dining)

We dined inside due to the hour of the evening and the rain that was pouring as we arrived, but their outdoor area looked very cool--glass chip fire pits looked very inviting and big torches adorned the gates. The interior decor felt a bit dated in places and the lighting was a bit too dim (I noticed some other reviewers shared the same feelings on the light levels...) We're both in our 30's with no night vision issues...Mood lighting is one thing, but you need to be able to see.

The meal described, plus a cup of coffee, came to about $120 plus tip and was totally worth it. If you mention to the server that you are celebrating a special occasion, they will take your picture and bring out your photo in a card frame. It's a nice touch.

Bonita Springs is full of a lot of cookie cutter restaurants. You can go to a Bonefish anywhere. Roy's is a chain, but it's different and it's an upscale taste of Hawaii for us mainlanders....

Ahhh. I do love myself some Roy's.

First off, the atmosphere is usually pretty nice. In general, it's a darker restaurant, which I prefer. It makes it perfect for date night. This last time in particular that I went, we were sat in the very back along the window wall however, and I pretty much had a tiny spotlight in my eyes and on me the entire time I ate (I think these lights must be made to illuminate the curtains?)

Anyway, Roy's is mainly a seafood restaurant, which is funny, because I do not like any seafood at all, however they have a handful of "non" seafood options (We always get the filet.)

The food is delicious. I cannot complain about the taste of the food at all.

The reason for 4 stars this time is..

Roy's used to offer free edamame to every table. We had not been to Roy's in some time, and when we didn't get any edamame, I asked the manager if they still offered the free edamame? She said "No, we do not, but let me get you some on the house, from me." I thought, "wow, how nice" thinking it was like a little freebie for our anniversary from the manager. This was an amazing gesture. and we were super happy about it - however when our check came out, it was not free. I would have gladly paid for the edamame (and I did) however, just the fact that we were told it would be free, and felt excited about that, and then have that taken away, was a bit of a bummer and let down. I'm sure we could have said something to the waitress, but I don't like to do stuff like that, so we just paid for it.

Then, I asked for a well done steak. I am currently expecting, and I cannot have any red or pink meat. I told our waitress several times, and even exclaimed that they could burn the steak, just exclaiming how much I really really wanted the steak well done.

When it came out, it was a big fat steak piece. I could tell before cutting it, that it was not cooked, but I cut it open to see/show, and waited to send it back. Normally, I do not have any problem sending my steak back (If you like it well done, you know it almost never comes out well done at restaurants). HOWEVER - This is Roy's. I paid $190 for 2 side salads, 2 entrees, 2 sodas and an edamame + tip. We didn't have any alcohol. If you are going to charge $200 for 2 people to simply have dinner, it would just make sense to get the dinner order 100% perfect, pretty much every time.

We went on our anniversary, and was one of very few kid free days for us. It wasn't bad, but we will probably choose a different place for our next special occasion.

** They also used to give a free picture for your anniversary or birthday, which was one of my favorite things, because you didn't even have to ask the awkward question of having someone get your picture, but apparently they do not offer this...

This rating is based only off our most recent visit (February 18).

My wife and I have been dining at Roy's at Bonita Springs for over a decade - it's always been a 5 star experience. We love your restaurant and it's the place where we go for all of our special occasions - birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, etc. We have always had a tremendous experience and that is why we always go back.

On Thursday the 18th we went for our anniversary and when making the reservation a few days before, was not asked if we were celebrating anything, this was the first time that happened. I mentioned we were coming to celebrate our anniversary and the hostess simply said "ok".

The waiter never acknowledged our celebration, again doesn't mean that much to me but it was ruining the experience for my wife. I asked the waiter some questions about the limited menu and he said he was new and didn't know. This the beginning for what started to get me very upset. If we are at an Outback and have a new waiter that doesn't know things - ok. But it is inexcusable to have that at a fine restaurant like Roy's. We waited 30 minutes just to get water and another 30 to order our appetizers and meal. After our appetizers we waited almost an hour and a half to get our food and my steak was overcooked - my wife's was ok. The waiter asked us if we wanted desert and we told him yes and reminded him that we had ordered the lava cake when we ordered our meals - he took out his order pad (which no waiter / waitress at Roy's has ever used) and said "oh yes you did I'll be right back with that". We waited about 30 minutes to get the cake and he simply dropped it off and walked away. No happy anniversary written on the plate or anything. My wife was very upset at this. Over the course of the dinner we saw our waiter maybe 3-4 times and were there for over 3 hours. Once done with the lava cake we waited almost another half hour just to get our bill. Another waiter noticed the displeasure on our faces and came over. We told him how the evening had went, apologized and my wife asked for the manager. She never came to the table yet we saw her walking around the establishment. The other waiter came back to our table and again apologized and quickly took care...