The Tropical — Restaurant in Carolina Beach

My wife and I came here for our anniversary in April and had an incredible experience. We were served by a male waiter / bartender who was excellent, and the food was so good we ended up eating here every single day of our trip. Normally, we visit Wrightsville Beach, but this time we came back just for the food at your restaurant.

Unfortunately, this visit was completely different and not in a good way. When my family (a party of four) walked in, including my pregnant wife, the entire vibe was immediately thrown off by one of your staff members. I believe she may be the owner I had spoken with her father on our last visit, who was very kind.

It was her and another waiter working, and although they were clearly busy, we waited patiently for about 5 minutes without a single greeting, acknowledgment, or word from anyone. I finally asked, “Excuse me, is the upstairs seat-yourself?” Both she and the other waiter looked directly at me, then turned away. She even rolled her eyes. No response.

After helping another guest, she returned to assist a lady who had come in before us. That customer actually spoke up and said, “He asked you a question, ma’am.” So it wasn’t just me who noticed.

I think the customer may have recognized me from my food blog I actually record our visits using my glasses. We usually visit twice before posting our reviews.Maybe the waitress mistook us for a different “shade” of locals, I’m not sure. Either way, the experience completely ruined the food part of our vacation.

We came back to this area specifically for this restaurant and this other really good breakfast spot Malama Cafe because the last visit was so memorable. Sadly, we left The Tropical feeling disappointed and disrespected. In the lady’s defense, she may have just been having a really bad day. We all go through those. But unfortunately, we were just hoping for a little help and some...

We went to Carolina Beach for a family trip, and of course, we had to stop by the Boardwalk. After walking around for a while, we got hungry.

We walked into The Tropical after checking out their menu online… best decision we could have made!

We ended up on the second floor and got lucky it was empty - they just finished up a party. The dining room was nice and cool - a welcome break from the heat.

• There are three floors in the establishment: 1st Floor - South Beach Bar, 2nd Floor - Midtown Dining Room, 3rd Floor - Rooftop Bar.*

My husband and I ordered 3 egg rolls (we saved $1 each by ordering them together) - I chose The Jalapeño Face, my husband ordered The McLovin’ and The Rocky. I also ordered a side of fries.

That Jalapeño Face roll was probably the best thing I ate during the entire trip!! My husband also really enjoyed his egg rolls - he said the pulled pork and the macaroni and cheese went very well with the barbecue vinaigrette (McLovin’). Not to be outdone… the fries were crispy and delicious! (And the spicy ranch sooooo good! SO good!)

Our kids ordered the fried chicken and fries - they enjoyed their food as well.

As if the food wasn’t enough, the service was absolutely wonderful!

My only regret is not going back for another Jalapeño roll (and not getting...

My husband and I are visiting for our honeymoon and I’m vegan so I was really excited to try the food here. We went in and the ambiance was beautiful, laid back and clean. We went to the second floor where there was a nice young lady there to take our order and I asked about the vegan options. When she went to the back we heard a young man say “idk what the f* is in it”, she did her due diligence to find out what options were available to me & I was going to order the fancy bowl. But there was another young lady who came and peeked out the door and we heard them in the back laughing. When the young lady came back to share our options and told us the young man would be making out food we decided to leave because with that mouth and attitude, I wouldn’t want him touching my food honestly. I’m going to try and come back a different time though.

Update: we came back the next day and the owner was there and his energy was so inviting we decided to sit for lunch. He was so helpful and very passionate about his establishment, providing amazing service for everyone at the bar. I got the fancy bowl and a slushy. The bowl was amazing but the slushy had a weird taste to it. I’d recommend for anyone to come here but it’s vegan...