Alambique Beach Lounge — Restaurant in Carolina

After much hype from Google reviews we were excited to try out Alambique despite the hour wait for a party of six. After being sat by a very friendly host, it took about 5 minutes before our waitress (Alexandra) came to the table. After getting our drink order, they took over 5 minutes to arrive for just two sodas and a water (three of us had drinks from the bar already).

When placing our food order, my wife wanted chicken strips that were on the kids menu (she didnt fancy anything on the adult menu). Alexandra said that the kids menu was for 14 and under. I said I understand, we are fine with a larger price for an adult, she would just like the chicken strips. She was hesitant about this being possible and said she would would see what she could do. We go out to eat very regularly and have never had a server question us about this if my wife wants a simple meal from the kids meal that isn't offered on the adult menu.

We didnt see our waitress for over 20 minutes after orders and everyone at the table had been out of drinks for quite some time. She did provide drinks when flagged down.

30 minutes after ordering our food we received our appetizer. WAY too long. Our main order should have been delivered faster than 30 minutes.

45 minutes after ordering we recieved our meals. My chicken mofungo was excellent, however. After my daughter mentioned her meals tasted burnt, I noticed my sons and daughters quesadillas were made by a panini press that was too hot, resulting in burnt lines on the tortillas. My wife did receive her chicken strips and fries (we weren't sure if she would as Alexandra didnt let us know after ordering). Unfortunately the fries were cold, but the chicken was fresh. They did send out fresh fries after telling them.

When we received the bill, we found she added an extra $5 for my wife's meal. We were not made aware of the extra charge untilwe received the bill. Also, gratuity was automatically added. The menu states it will be added to parties OVER six. We had six so it should not have been added. This was important because I planned on giving a shorted tip due to seeing Alexandra much less than we should have. I let Alexandra know I wanted to give a smaller tip and she said it's automatically added for 6 or more. I said no, its 7 or more. There was some back and forth then she begrudgingly grabbed a menu and found I was correct. She said she would speak with a manager about it.

5 minutes later she comes back saying the manager couldn't come out and stated it should be added but that they would "let" me enter a custom tip. 🙄

TL;DR: The food was okay and our server was mostly polite but...

View-tiful Beach[ish] Bar with great drinks & amazing food! Only 4 stars cuz the reviews containing “attentive” are misleading, while the staff is attentive it is why your food/drink may take quite a bit of time to make it to your mouth-hole once you’veplaced the order(s) — “island time” basically means slow is beautiful, so be prepared to sit & wait for either/both a seat at their [limited-seating]small bar or dining area as well as your order(s).

While staying just above @ the Racquet Club for just over a full week(7d), I had the pleasure of meeting most of the staff & enjoying the beautiful sounds of the ocean, camaraderie amongst neighbors, & the overall chill-vibes & good time; surprisingly, only local-mgmt was ever seen, sadly no Ownership whatsoever. With a daily-workload on the shores of Isla Verde, it would have been an extreme pleasure to give the literal compliments to the person(s) in charge of such a great bar-restaurant!! Hailing from Myrtle Beach, SC I’vecome across many Beach Bars & Restaurants, so I oughta be trusted to know a good one when I experience one.

Major shoutouts & recommendations to future visits for the following January’23 Staff @ Alambique: Sarelle (lovely & especially exceptional in attentiveness & care; under-appreciated, I’m certain) Diana (great at her duties & lovely during every second of it, rough day or not) Sergio (excellence in attentiveness & friendliness; wonderful bartender!) Alexandra (excellence in Management, as her staff is just like her family; mad respectful & respectable young-adult) Domingo (while not 100% English-versed, knows how to pour’em!) Vanessa (lovely individual whom is very attentive to the needs of the Patrons) Patricia (lovely individual whom is very attentive & concerned about each of the Patrons)

While a couple of people may have been left out, this Jan’2023 working crew made my 1st time on the island a truly...

I came in the service was slow, the food was disappointing. This is my first restaurant visiting pr and this was absolutely not it. Me and my party ( total of 3) charged our phones, and as one of us walked away he told us you cant keep coming up back and forth as if we were kids. We went up to put the phone on the charger and thats it. We left and a couple hours later my friend went back to charge her phone everything was fine for around 10minutes. Then a bartender screamed in her face they dont allow charging, and then used the excuse the charger doesnt work when we were jusr there charging our phone. He must have just started his shift because we didn't see him, and he literally straight up lied saying it dont work. From the jump when we got in there we was getting treated weird, and idont know if it was our dark skin tone, but multiple people were coming in after us and recieving their drinks and food while it took them an hour to bring our drinks, and they were watered down. One its unprofessional and with covid around screaming in someones face like that is unacceptable.

Like I said yelling peopes face doesnt follow covid guidelines. Conduct ur business correctly and no one would have problems. We were wearing masks as well, maybe you should point your concerns to the under trained employees who cant act right. There were multiple people at the bar as well. We charged our phones there no problem the first time. Go watch ur cameras and get back to me because you clearly don't know what you're even talking about. We need answers to whoever screamed in my friends face that's disgusting and disrespectful. The nerve to tell us to follow rules and guidelines, and your employees weren't thats...