Waxin's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Bonita Springs

We’ll start with the positive, the food is delicious. From starters to dessert, everything was so good. Kudos to the kitchen team because they really made this experience.

Unfortunately the service end of things really hurt the evening. When we walked up to the restaurant, no one was up front and since it’s a bar area, it wasn’t clear if we needed to go in to get seated (apparently we didn’t). We walked past a bartender who just looked at us and didn’t say anything (wait here, etc) We even walked past the host/manager (not sure) who said hello, but then didn’t ask us if we needed help. We did eventually get seated.

We were there early, so the restaurant had very few people. That being said, it did get busier as the night when on and as best we could tell, there was only one server. He was just polite, but not sure I can fault him, because he had very little help. This lead to every step of the evening just taking a long time. A while to get drinks, then starters, etc.

The final bit was the entire front of the restaurant is open to the outside. This must be beautiful in the fall and winter, but not July. It was just hot and it made the evening uncomfortable.

We can deal with the heat, we live in SWFL after all. But the service is hard to get past. Which stinks because the food is so good. It’s hard to imagine what it will be like in season when it’s super busy.

Even though they have been open for months, maybe a little more time will help a few more details...

Each stop at the bar:

1st time was slow service, cocktails on their menu not that good. Food was weird and not great. Beef Rydberg was basically poorly seasoned meat and a plate full on grilled onions. 2nd time, service was slow fish tacos were great however ice in the martini’s isn’t a martini. The Swedish meatballs? Dry, lean meat made them boring. 3rd time was not a charm and the last time. Service was again very slow and they had 6 customers at the bar, with 3-4 bartenders -zero excuses. Tried to order early dinner, had to wait 15 mins as they start at 5pm. Ok no problem. Grabbed a bartender, at 5:05, placed the order. 25 mins go by, nothing. Ask another bartender, no order was placed. 25 mins later food finally comes. Burger is small, fish tacos over cooked didn’t taste the same as the second visit. The bar staff is awful. Worst in Naples. Not kidding. They’re always talking to each other, never checking on customers with empty glasses. Too busy loading glassware and cutting lemons…where is the barback?? Management better figure their issues out or they’ll not make it. They have side tables by the bar that sit empty all the time, why? Can’t even order an appetizer at them, just drinks zero food. Bartender said the kitchen can’t handle the extra load!!! What?!?! From a few small tables?! We really looked forward to Waxins, now it’s a...

A most disappointing evening! Party of 12. Advavance reservation and planning. Arrived on time and table was not set up. They scrambled to set up 6 high tops and I actually had to help. Table was against a wall so a server could not get to the other side of this long table. Everything had to be ordered and served over the shoulder of one side to reach the others. The menu appeared interesting and most everyone ordered different food. When dinners arrived they had no idea who ordered what! We played the "who got this and who got that game show". Items were missing and some got the wrong food. Food was cold and pasta dishes lacked a sufficient amount of sauce for the quantity of pasta. Overall most did not like there dishes and being cold added a nice touch. Management was lacking and it was apparent that they should not have accepted this reservation. The facilities were very pleasant but that is the only good thing I can say about our experience. At the end of the evening all but one couple said they would never return. I was embarrassed to have brought folks to this place. Based on our experience I would suggest you choose a different...