Lazy Pirate Island Sports Grill — Restaurant in Carolina Beach

This was my family and I's first visit to The Lazy Pirate in Carolina Beach, after we spent the day down in Kure Beach. We've passed by TLP many times before, commenting that we should try them out sometime...and we finally did. We weren't starving, by any means, but wanted to order a variety of foods offered by TLP to fill our bellies before dinner and get an idea of their flavors.

FOOD: We ordered a sampler of Samplers! Crab Dip; Crab Cake Balls and Fried Gouda Mac & Cheese bites. Let's begin with my favorite...the Gouda bites. Crispy exterior with soft mac and gooey Gouda is a recipe for something heavenly. Each small bite was wonderful and fried golden brown. There was more Gouda than the starchy mac inside and that was A-Ok with me. Trust me...they're delicious and a must-order. The only small flaw to these was the Ranch dipping sauce. When we popped the top to the small Solo dipping container, there was a fine piece of hair (appeared to be an eyelash or arm hair) floating on the top, so we asked our server if we could have a replacement dip. She was very apologetic and returned with a fresh Ranch dip swiftly. Next, the crab dip. The crab dip was wonderfully creamy, cheesy, with a modest amount of crab and dusted with, what appeared to be, Old Bay seasoning. The dip was served hot and with plenty of Pita wedges, making it very easy to eat. Although the dip was very good...it was not "elite" compared to others I have enjoyed throughout my lifetime. Finally, the Crab Cake Balls. I'm not quite sure I would call these Crab "Cake" Balls, but they definitely included the ingredients you would find in Crab Cakes. The difference? Most crab cakes have a semi-firm consistency and great crab cakes include lump crab meat. The Crab Cake Balls were fried wonderfully, but included a loose, moist center with small bits of crab. They tasted nice and somewhat similar to crab cakes but missed the mark due to the loose, gooey center. SCORE: 3.9 STARS!!

SERVICE: Before diving into the personalized service, I want to note that TLP only has outside dining during the COVID-era, under their large, Caribbean-style canopy. This offers patrons an Island feel as you dine and drink. It was cool. Disco ball spinning over the bar, large area for live bands and some scattered picnic tables add to the beach ambience. As for the service? Sydney did wonderful. Even with a mask on, you could sense the smiles she was giving as she interacted with us. She was quick to apologize for the Ranch dressing, did well with refills and had our order to us promptly. She is an asset to The Lazy Pirate. The manager also paid us a visit (please forgive me for not remembering her name at this moment), also to apologize for the mishap with the Ranch dipping sauce. Without me asking or hinting at anything, she owned the shortcoming and removed the Gouda Bites from our check. Everyone was very friendly, social and appeared to be happy in their roles. On a side note...I was especially digging the fashionable cherry socks that one of the staff members was wearing with his red Vans shoes. Dude....nice! SCORE: 5 STARS!!

OVERALL SCORE: The Lazy Pirate is a great place to visit when you want to dine outside, kick back and enjoy good food and conversation. The service was excellent, the food was good but the pricing is on the high-side, most likely due to tourism and vacationers. I will say that I enjoyed my visit and felt I got a decent value for what we ordered. Looking forward to my next visit in order to try a dinner entree! SCORE:...

WATERED DOWN DRINKS FOR $15!!

My mom and aunt arrived at 6 to ensure we got a table, were told by host that it was a 1.5 hr wait and that they could sit at the bar and order drinks and appetizers while they wait. The other four of us arrived at 7.

Bartender was great but admitted that he had only been at Lazy Pirates 2 days. Left him a good tip for good service after saying we could order the all you can eat crab legs at the bar and get it delivered to our table once we got called in. We placed those all you can eat orders at 7:40. Host said if we were not seated by 8 we could not get the all you could eat crab legs. We were frustrated because we got there at 6.

We were sat at a table at 8:06. Waitress put in our orders and told us that she didn’t know how to pick up our food from the outside bar and had to ask her manager. Pricey food but we were getting sick from waiting so long. Asked for time frame and waitress didn’t know that either. Came back 10 mins later to say an hour wait.

Aunt asked for a manager. Manager came out to say that they’d take care of our bill and admitted there was a mix up with a couple tables and the bar, but we didn’t want to stay bc it had been too long. Manager admitted she was working in the kitchen herself. We were very sympathetic to the staff as they were completely understaffed (you would think… see picture as waiters/waitresses were found huddling outside avoiding understandably frustrated customers)

Food finally came out at 9:09. Food was not good, crab overcooked, no seasoning on corn, only enjoyed hush puppies. No silverware, were told by our waitress (who had also admitted she had only been there 2 days) that she would “try and find some” because they were low. There were families leaving bc of the wait, and tables were empty. How were they low on silverware?

The only reason we had waters was because we got them from the bar, not once were they refilled or even ASKED for.

We had to steal napkins from another table.

Bathroom had puke all over it.

Everyone had stomach aches and didn’t like their food. Our first server hid from us after we asked for a manager and when manager said she’d cover our bill server stopped serving (assuming she wouldn’t get a tip maybe???) one person at our table waited until 9:50 while the rest of us ate bc his order was “misplaced.”

Second server came in and got things done. Gave us the missing silverware, gave us actual cups of water, refunded and gave receipt of refund of our money to us (after asking the first waiter 10 times), got us to go boxes and apologized for the service and wait and empty promises. Even got us more crab. In the span of 30 mins this waiter got done what the first waiter couldn’t do in 2 hours. We tipped her instead… we were sympathetic, we have a girl who also waitresses at a different restaurant who was trying to defend the waiters but even she admitted first one sucked. Left at 10:10. I really thought the manager would fight my aunt the place was heated and people were pissed!! Emphasis on LAZY and PIRATES for the experience and the...

Leaving a good review helps potential/new customers looking for a place to eat. The Lazy Pirate does not seem to care about that. I was new but my sister-in-law liked this place until tonight. We are not $50 check people. We tend to spend $200 or more with drinks, appetizers, and entrees. We arrived at 7:20 pm and sat at the bar waiting for a table ordering drinks and apps. We were sat at 7:40 pm at a table. Our appetizers arrived just before 8:00 pm. Our server came around 8:05 and took our order. We waited until 9:25-9:30 pm before our food arrived. Around 9:12 pm my wife asked for the manager and after 5 minutes she came out. Wife let her know of the situation and her sister came and told her that we wanted to just leave. The manager apologized, begged us not to leave saying our order got "bumped" and she would take off 10% and comp the crab dip (do not order the crab dip; it is a creamy soupy watery mess with little to no crab meat). My sister-in-law reluctantly said ok. Our food came and another waitress came to refill our drinks saying she saw our table's ticket/order 3 times. I worked in food service for 30 years, all front of house. One thing a server or manager should never do is blame the kitchen because they work so hard. If a server or system error occurred an apology with someone taking responsibility should be a priority. A manager offering 10% off a check after an hour and a half wait for a food order is unacceptable. Our check was $152,46. I tipped the server $50. I believe the restaurant is worried about not charging someone for food but a manager should have discretion on customer satisfaction and customer retention. The Lazy Pirate lost 3 high paying customers tonight. It's not about the money. It shouldn't be. It should be about organizational effectiveness. This restaurant lacks that. I am not sure how much longer an establishment that doesn't care about customer retention can last but we'll see.....good luck. In food service make sure the customer is happy and the manager should use discretion to judge when to take action. Lots of flies. Fish tacos do not need a half pound of cranberries, salmon on pearl sandwich should be cut into at least two pieces and not a big chunk of salmon with bread hanging out, crab dip needs crab meat! Try it. You'll make more money. And inform customers that you charge them the 2.5% credit card processing fee instead of sneaking it onto the charge receipt. My charge was $156 and total was $206 with the $50 tip. You have to...