Tigress Restaurant & Rooftop Bar — Restaurant in Bonita Springs

We went to this rooftop restaurant/bar last night with high hopes of it being something very different and interesting. What we found was a rooftop with a huge “identity crisis”

You must take an elevator all the way to the seventh floor of the hotel to enter the rooftop and honestly, from the time we stepped out of the elevator it was literal chaos. The young women at the hostess stand were managing not only people there for reservations, but also hotel guests at the same time who were coming and going. They explained that we were 20 minutes early for our reservation and would receive a text when the table was ready. We asked if we could just grab a drink at the bar and they said sure. When we opened the set of double doors to go into the bar area we were overwhelmed with people, including individuals walking by in wet bathing suits from what I assume would be, the adult pool that shares the rooftop space. The people at the bar were in no better attire. I understand casual, but this is more like a college spring break weekend looking bar. There were various dogs on leashes at the bar and a couch area that an entire family was sitting around including a baby stroller. It was crowded and nowhere to sit so we continue to walk through the bar area for about ten steps to the next set of double doors, which opened to an indoor restaurant area. This area was completely different. It was air-conditioned, nicely decorated and a complete contrast to what we just walked through. To say that this whole set up is disjointed is an understatement.

There have been other reviews with mention of the noise level. Yes, it is extremely loud. Even in the indoor smaller restaurant, my husband and I could barely hear each other talk. This is not a restaurant conducive to sitting down for a meal with enjoyable conversation. Trust me, that is just not gonna happen.

We went back to the hostess stand and asked if we could eat at the inside restaurant as we were originally scheduled to sit at one of the hightop tables outside next to the chaotic bar. She said “Yes, but you have one hour to exit the table once you’re seated. We have another party reserved for the inside table.” We said that’s fine. We could do that.

Well, the food was certainly impressive upon presentation. However, most of the dishes, tasted bland and lacked spices. Our waiter was extremely gracious and provided a complementary level of service. He is the only thing that saved this from being a one star review.

I’m not sure how this place is gonna survive asking people to sit outside in greater than 100° heat. Unless of course it’s just supposed to be a pool bar during the summer and not a seated restaurant. Which also makes no sense. There are no indoor bars in this whole hotel, by the way.

I hope this place makes it but based on what I saw last night, unless drastic changes are made, I highly doubt it. We...

In a word, our experience was annoying.

I’ll start with a positive. The food was good, but honestly nothing fantastic and overpriced!

Many frustrations filled our evening. After being seated, our waitress, Alex explained that they had a full bar. I ordered a Bombay Sapphire martini “up” and she explained that they did not carry Bombay Sapphire. Strike 1.

It took 15+ minutes to deliver our cocktail. Strike 2. The glass they delivered my “up” martini was not the traditional “up” martini glass, but rather something that looked like a parfait glass. Presentation is important when you are buying a $20+ martini. Strike 3.

The west view from the rooftop restaurant was OK, but nothing fantastic. However, there were no roll down shades on the west windows which created a significant glare for anyone facing west. The people facing west at our table were forced to put on sunglasses. Annoying.

We had dinner with two friends and hoped to catch up, as we hadn’t seen them for a while. It was so loud in the restaurant, that it was almost impossible to communicate across a small table. I checked the decibel level on my Apple Watch and found it to be between 80dB and 93dB. Strike 4.

Both couples ordered a fried rice entrée. However, right before the entrées were delivered, a bus boy removed our plates and silverware. On cue, an entrée was delivered to the table. We had to ask for plates and silverware. Annoying! Side-note, the bus boy that delivered the entrée looked like he’d rather be tortured than work at that restaurant.

However, only one couples entrée was delivered, and the other couple had to wait about five minutes before their entrée was delivered. Strike 5!

Sorry Tigress Roof Top, that’s “ONE &...

It was twilight when I arrived at the Tigress Rooftop Bar & Restaurant and the view was spectacular. The wrap around bar was busy and it took a while to order a drink as is usually the case with outside bars. When it was my turn the bar tender was very attentive and delivered my Old Fashioned promptly. However, the drink was overloaded with ice, this drink requires a minimal amount of ice. A single, large cube is preferred but this bar does not have any of those. When the rest of my party arrived we were seated promptly in the busy inside dining area.

The ambiance was pleasant and the noise level was not overbearing. There was a portrait of either Sigfried or Roy, I'm not sure which, with a tiger at our booth.

The menu offers a lot of "share friendly" dishes and since one of out party had been there twice already, he ordered about six or seven items.  The server also emphasized that sharing is encouraged. What we got included a few fried rice dishes, one with crab which was my favorite.  There is a duck entree on the menu that I was considering, foregoing the group sharing, but I decided not to order it.  However, one of our party did and the presentation of the dish was very nice.  He said the duck was excellent and not dried out as happens at some restaurants.

I was very pleased with The Tigress Restaurant, overall.  It gears its menu toward a sharing venue but also offers some very nice individual entrees.  It’s also a good value for the quality of food, my share came to about $100, which included some shared desserts and a very nice Petite Sarah. I would recommend this restaurant...