Shephard's Tiki Beach Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Clearwater

I’ll give a quick review & then a detailed review. 1. Food was just ok, typical bar food. The wings were good. Fries were pretty bland. The fish & chips had very little seasoning. Drinks were good. Overall service was horrible! Continue reading for the full details.

Our experience with one bartender, Ashley, was honestly phenomenal! She gave honest drink and food suggestions, was very attentive and just a fun person to interact with! I cannot say the same for the rest of the staff that we interacted with that day.

I went to Shepard’s tiki beach bar on Monday (5/31/2021) with two other friends to wrap up our Memorial Day weekend & unwind. We were able to get a seat at the bar with ease. Upon our arrival, one of the bartenders, Jenn S, was throwing several ice cubes out of the back window directly at her coworkers! Jenn continued to throw ice at them for at least 3 minutes… ignoring us to her immediate right. I was able to catch the attention of another bartender on the other side of the bar, Ashley. Ashley came over, apologized for her for coworkers behavior then proceeded to take our orders.

As we waited for our food, we asked Jenn if she could take a picture of the 3 of us in an attempt to lighten her mood with us a little. Jenn responded in a sharp tone saying “give me 15 minutes…maybe even 12.” Really?! Guess what, she never came back after 12-15 minutes to take out picture. Instead, she continued to address other customers around the bar and speak with her coworkers.

After about 30 minutes, Jenn approached the cash register that was right next to where my friend was sitting. My friend asked Jenn what her name was (because she was the only one not wearing her name tag at the moment) and Jenn proceeds to put her finger in my friends face & say “just a minute!” That was our last straw, we called Ashley over asked for our check and asked to speak with a manager. Tony came over and I explained all of the above information to him in a respectful manner. During our conversation Jenn decided to put her name tag on, walk over to us and say “my name is Jenn by the way!” IN FRONT OF HER SO CALLED MANAGER!! I was blown away!! It was very clear that Jenn has a terrible attitude daily and there has been no type of consequences.

Tony simply apologized & went to speak with Jenn after my conversation with him. A few minutes went by and Tony returned to inform me that his manager was now speaking with Jenn about her behavior. I asked if I could speak with his manager when he was done. The next person to introduce themself as a manager was Chris… Chris clearly does not interact with his clientele often. He had no remorse whatsoever about the situation and only offered excuses as to why his staff may have behaved the way they did by saying “it’s been a long weekend and everyone has worked so many hours etc” that’s unacceptable! The entire management team needs to be trained in customer service & conflict management.

What was supposed to be a fun, relaxing day out on the beach turned into an absolute nightmare! I will NEVER return to this bar or any restaurant, bar, venue etc affiliated with Shepard’s ever again! I’ll be sure to spread the word to my friends, family, neighbors and coworkers...

I pulled up, the valet parked my Caddy. We walked into Sheppards Ocean Flame buffet w/out a reservation at 6:05pm and was seated by the window overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and the Intercoastal waterway. There is a bridge there and a park right across the inlet. People were congregating on the low tide Sandy Beach and there was a band setting up next door to play live music on the beach. We ordered and delighted in the most fantastic foods, we had raw oysters and peel and eat shrimp that were just. Then I ordered a cold water lobster tail, $10.00 extra but worth it. You could have had it all you can eat snow crab legs for an extra fee. The servers and restaurant where well dressed and clean. the hostess was succinct and got us seated quickly and we were taken care of with the utmost care. Retract back and forth to the delicious fare that was laid out meticulously in the buffet area. There are plenty of chefs on hand to carve off of the prime rib and the smoked salmon or wienerschnitzel. Plenty of options and a delicious lava cake and other desserts were available in plenty. We then walked out of the porch door onto the beach and dance to the music being played by the live band. The waters were warm and the water was shallow and the sand was soft and warm. the price was right the place was great it was very romantic and my wife and I delighted and having a wonderful time. The first 90 minutes were free with the parking at the vallet station. by the time we got done walking up and down the beach and enjoying the sunset and enjoying our dance and listening to the music we still had to pay $6 for the parking as we made the most of our dinner, dancing and romantic kisses on the warm Sandy Beach with light lapping waves. We spotted a pirate ship and another boat, the Calypso Queen which is a buffet. We have been there for Sunday brunch and yesterday's dinner was great! I truly felt celebrated as a brought me a piece of cake and didn't call the other waiters to sing me Happy birthday. Friendly people sat all around us! Can't wait to go there again for another pleasurable experience! Dress up or dress casually so if you want you can enjoy the waterfront. From the valet station to the restaurant it's just...

I would give less than 1 star if I could. Me, my husband, and our two friends came here to celebrate my 24th birthday and had a terrible time thanks to the bartender, Shannon. We handed her our IDs and she accused us of having fakes and made a big scene out of it, causing everyone one to stare at us, saying (loudly) "Two of you are clearly faking it. You can either leave quietly and we'll forget this ever happened or I can call security and you can spend the night in jail and pay a fine and you'll get a misdemeanor on your records." We weren't faking it, obviously, so we waited for security. Shannon then sarcastically said, "Well if it turns out you're all telling the truth, your first rounds on the house. But if not it doesn't matter because you won't be here anymore." After 15 long, awkward minutes, security finally showed up and checked our IDs and two alternative forms of ID. They still didn't believe that I was legit so they pulled me off to the side and interrogated me (happy birthday to me). They finally decided that we were all legal and left us alone, but Shannon still would not serve us. She yelled to security "Are they good? Are you sure?!" Loud enough for everyone to hear before finally serving us, which she clearly did not want to do. Apparently the fact that security did not kick us out was not enough proof for her that we were who we said we were. At this point, we were humiliated. So then we tried to order our first drinks and Shannon decided she would only comp beer. It was obvious that she wanted us out. We tried to tell her that we understood her being precautious and tried to lighten the mood, but she continued being rude and treating us poorly. I politely asked, "so do you have any specials today?" And she responded with, "well I guess I could put the beers that I comped back onto your tabs." Her attitude was completely uncalled for. She was rude and degrading and had already humiliated us, on my birthday none the less. We left at the point and found a friendly bar that gladly...