Varsity Club Sports Bar and Grille — Restaurant in Clearwater

I really wish I could give zero stars. I arrived in town from Texas to see my mom. It was a pretty long and tiring day. Especially after recovering from bilateral pulmonary embolisms and an ICU stay. My first time traveling since.

This was our first stop. We FIRST asked if they prepared the wings extra crispy (I do not like soggy, soft, bone-in chicken). I would have ordered something else, if extra crispy wasn’t an option. The waitress told us the it would take 30 minutes if we wanted them crispy, she told me they are cooked to order.

I ordered lemon pepper and spicy garlic (as indicated on the menu). We waited over 45 minutes for our food to arrive. This place was not busy, might I add. They were the softest wings I’ve ever been served. Especially for the dry-rub. The meat was slimey and seemed undercooked. Some wings were hot and some were room temp.

As soon as the waitress brought our food, I asked if they were well done and extra crispy, due to the texture. She replied yes in a snobby manner and walked away. I found it quite odd that she wasn’t even concerned with our food. The spicy garlic had the taste of something dairy. The waitress didn’t check on us, I had to flag her down to ask about the wing sauce. She told me they only had spicy parmesan garlic (I’m allergic to cheese/dairy). I reminded her of the menu and it clearly indicted parmesan garlic and spicy garlic as a wing sauce option. She was very short and said we only have spicy garlic parmesan.

I again looked at the menu online and in the restaurant and then kindly asked for my bill. Spicy garlic was an option. I was convinced that she wasn’t interested in providing any sense of customer service.

This was a waste of $45, my time, and my first experience in Clearwater, Fl. I could have insisted on getting what I ordered, but I didn’t want to be disrespectful-the waitress was very short and rude. The workers seemed extremely rude, no one smiled. I just wanted to get out of the building ASAP.

The worst customer service ever. Why is it so hard for employees to take their jobs’ seriously and serve the paying customers in the same manner they would like to be served?!?!

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First of all, I have been in hospitality for many many years. Recently I have been a food and beverage trainer for luxury hotels. I feel I can spot excellence from a staff and from the quality of its food. I have always enjoyed varsity club even when it had other locations.I have always had consistently good food and welcoming and efficient service. I usually get takeout and I always sit at the bar. Shout out to Marianne who is amazing along with the entire bar staff here, the manager and the owner... All of them are lovely. I really recommend this place. The one thing I have not had on the menu is the pizza, I have heard excellent things and I will be trying it soon. Recently I had some dental work and I really couldn't have wings and I was kind of disappointed but I still ordered boneless wings from them and I can't even talk about how great they were. But I will lol. The breading was light and seasoned perfectly the chicken was tender the blue cheese I believe may be homemade it was amazing and all of the sauces are spot on. Thank you so much to the staff of Varsity club Clearwater. I will always send customers here who are looking for a great sports bar with amazing food!!! You can tell that they have a focus on guest service which is not seen every day for sure in my industry. Please check for their daily features I highly recommend the pot roast...

Sat down at the bar @ 11:55 AM. Ordered drinks and an app. Had to wait as bartender was busy but placed our order at approx 12:05 pm. App arrived and was tasty and hot at about 12:15 PM. Food (salad and sandwich) was taking a really long time to come so at 12:45 pm when the bartender showed up food in hand I stated I was sorry but we needed to get it to go as it took a while to come out and I have a 1 pm meeting. She immediately snapped well we have a lot of tables and we are having a busy lunch. I looked around and the place wasn’t even half full. She took the food back and brought it to us but the entire time looking pissed off as she cashed us out. I would not be writing this review as I know sometimes kitchens can get backed up and when going to lunch when there is a tight window can lead to this but the attitude from the bartender has me here. I’m not sure if she is having a bad day or what the deal is and I’m sure the place won’t miss a couple of guys on a lunch break but we will not be going back. For the record there are plenty of places in the area where you can sit down order and have lunch in under an hour that are just as busy if not more busy. On a positive note the soup and salad I had were tasty. A bit pricey but still good. Service attitude and kitchen being slow...