Mussel Beach — Restaurant in Delray Beach

Good Morning,

I have thought about this for 2 weeks and have decided to write to you to let you know of my dissatisfaction with the customer service of your restaurant. I cannot comment on the food because sadly we never got to try it. I made a reservation 2 weeks ago for a table for 6. It actually turned out to be 7 but that is not the point. There were 3 of us there first. When I arrived I went to the short dark haired older gal (compared to the 19-20 something)and asked for a table to sit and have drinks with my friends why we were waiting on the rest. It was 6ish and the bar stools were full but the tables only had 1 other diner there with 3-4 people. In other words it was not busy. I was asked if I had a reservation. Not a problem but it was the way she asked. She eyed myself and my girl friend up and down and asked if we had a reservations so snippy as if we were bothering her to even ask her anything because she was clearly busy on her cell phone. This just set the tone and I was immediately offended. I am a 55 year old business woman and would never tolerate someone treating ANYONE like that, least of all a paying customer. I was told by this rude "manager" or "hostess" unless our entire party was there we could not be seated. Now I would understand this had the place been packed or at least busy, but this was not the case. We went back to the bar area where our other friend was seated having a drink and having mussels at the bar. We waited for a good 15 minutes with the bartender passing us by even though he told us he would be right back. My cell phone rang and because of that he informed my other friend he would not wait on me if I picked up the phone! I wasn't even by the phone when it rang. I was back up at the hostess table trying to get a table in the bar area so we could sit and perhaps get a drink and some appetizers, which I was informed the bar tables were for 2 people and we had 3 in our party. At this point now I am very frustrated and disappointed because my friends and I really wanted to try your establishment. I love Tempano's in Ft. Lauderdale, but because I am a Delray resident, hoped this would be my new "go to" place. After more rudeness and still not permitted to sit ANYWHERE, even though there were a number of tables outside as well as inside, I was again told "no, your party is not all here" I made the decision to go somewhere else.I kindly told your "hostess" to remove my name and we would not be eating there which she snipped, "suit yourself!". So myself and my friends, which all showed up right then we were going to the Blue Anchor, to which we had a lovely time, were greeted with smiles and superb service and spent around $300.00. Happy Birthday to me! I am writing this to you in hopes that someone that really cares if the restaurant really has a home here in our city of Delray stays or goes. It is approaching off season and your locals are the only ones that will keep you open, so if you continue to treat them poorly not only will your business fail but also your workers will be unemployed. I look forward to trying your establishment again, as I said I never got to try anything there, and I hope there will be some changes. I am not sure whom should get this complaint, but I hope it does get addressed.

Thank you,

Local...

Have you ever been cursed at by a restaurant manager? Have you ever been told to "leave and never come back here"? If not, come to Mussel Beach and you'll have that experience first hand. After being seated and ordering some drinks, we were served complimentary truffle fries. They were delicious! But the good times, they stopped there. Our server Michele came to take our appetizer order. Our party of 6 all ordered soups. However, we wanted to wait to order our mains until after our apps were finished. We did not want the mussels, which take less than 5 min to cook, to come out too quickly. Our waitress told us "I'll take your full order now and I promise not to rush you. I know what I'm doing. Plus you'll get the menus out of your way and more space on the table." Reluctantly we ordered our mains as well and waited for the soup to arrive. The SECOND that half of our party's soup bowls were clear, we saw the server start to bring our our order. We still had soup on the table. Upon seeing that, the server turned around and brought the order back to the kitchen. We alerted our waitress of that fact and she denied that the food was ours, stating that "those were complimentary fries for another table." All well and good except we were the last table in the restaurant waiting for food so obviously they were ours. 30 seconds after the last soup bowl was cleared, food started to come out of the kitchen. Our server Michele saw me waving at the server telling him no we don't want that yet. She screamed "just throw it out just throw it out". Not even a minute later, our Mussels came out. 4 pots, 2 of which were luke warm (that's being generous) and rubbery beyond belief, the other two being halfway decent. Clearly our pots were sitting out wasting away while we finished our soups. We asked the waitress to refire two of the dishes, and she begrudgingly did so. Once finished, we expressed how disappointed we were in the meal. The refired dishes were 10x better than the ones we returned and only then re realized how long the other bowls must have been sitting out for. Michele had answers for everything. Since we were 6 people, the bill had an automatic 20% gratuity. That was until we asked a hostess to bring over the manager. 99% of the time there would be no problem with that, however as condescending as Michele was, she did not deserve a high tip. Well, surprise! Michele was the manager and when "brought back" to the table, acted like she had no clue why we were as disappointed as we were. Her response was "well I don't know what you want me to do. I'm not taking care of your bill." To which I replied "I'm not giving you 20% to treat us the way you did." To which Michele, the apparent manager of this establishment said "Get the f...k out of her and never come back." Well Michele, you got your wish. We will never be back here, nor will the many couples who frequent this place with us. After this experience, it's clear why at 9pm they were ready to stack the chairs and go home while every other establishment on Atlantic Ave was still packed table to table with HAPPY patrons. Good riddance Muscle Beach, you won't be around much longer. An expensive corner for a dying restaurant. Can't wait until something better...

Update: Again, don't say I didn't warn you.

At first we thought our waiter was very new as he was very inattentive the entire meal (until the check came). Rather than coming by to fill oater glass they give you glass bottles so you can do it yourself. I don't mind that at all as it tends to be better for all. However, when our water bottle was empty he took it and never brought back another until I asked. Not once did he stop by during the meal to ask how everything was or if we needed anything. Now to the food. Thankfully they removed the scallop dish I had a few years ago. Unfortunately, I got the stuffed "jumbo" shrimp disk. The stuffing was delicious, lobster, crab and breading. The garlic butter sauce was also very good. Too bad the shrimp were over cooked. I could not even cut them with my knife. I would have sent it back but as I mention the waiter was not to be found. BTW, the dish was $35 and I got 5 medium-small shrimp. On the good side, my friends got the mussel beach kettle for $105. Thankfully it was delicious with plenty of food. In fact when I was finished with my meal I helped myself some of theirs as they were never going to even come close to finishing it and I was still hungry. The only negative I could say about that dish was that the sauce is at the bottom and you cannot get to it until you are mostly finished with the meal. It might be nice if they provided the sauce in small cups for dipping. That dish came with King crab leg, snow crab legs, mussels, clams, jumbo shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes. The shrimp were larger than the ones I got with my jumbo shrimp meal had the shells removed but not deveined. When the waiter did finally show up for me to ask for the check I mentioned the tough shrimp in my dish and he did bring us one free dessert. I am glad I came back to give it another try but I am starting to know what dishes to stay away from, a very expensive lesson.

Old/original review Don't say I didn't warn you.

The short story is bland extremely over-priced food. Myself I got the calamari app and scallop with risotto dinner. The calamari were greasy and under cooked. The scallop dish had 4 scallops and a ladle of risotto. Scallops were not cooked well, 2 were tiny little things. Risotto was not creamy and was also lacking flavor. $34 for 4 scallops and a scoop of risotto. My wife had a shrimp and pasta dish. The shrimp were cooked horribly and had way to much batter. Again, little flavor. The bill came and because there were 4 of us so it included a 20% tip, 20%.! We all agreed, never again.

Management commented below and ask that I contact them so they can address my concerns. I am not going to call them. I don't want a free meal and I will not be going back there again. They know the issues I had because I listed them. 4 scallops and a small portion of risotto for $34 is robbery, especially when you can't even eat all 4 scallops because they are undercooked. There are so many other much better options within walking distance. Save your money and spare yourself the disappointment,...