Gallivant Global Eatery — Restaurant in Dover

I really dislike writing poor reviews, especially for local businesses, but the experience we had left us so disappointed—particularly given the high cost—that I feel I have to share. I’d always wondered why this place seemed so empty whenever I walked by. Now, unfortunately, I understand why.

For a table of three, we were seated at two small round tables pushed together, with a couch so low that I couldn’t comfortably reach my food. Eating out shouldn’t involve sitting on a crumb-covered couch and balancing your plate on your lap. To make matters worse, there was only one other occupied table during our entire visit, which added to the odd, unwelcoming atmosphere.

When ordering drinks, my significant other asked for a simple chai latte (listed on the menu) but was told we could only choose from the specialty drinks menu. He had to settle for a gingerbread chai latte instead. We couldn’t understand why they could make one but not the other. The drink was served in a tiny, impractical cup with a handle so small it required the finger strength of a bodybuilder to lift.

My son ordered the Gringe Milk—a cute concept of green-colored milk with crushed peppermint and whipped cream. However, at $4.00 per drink, I expected a bigger serving; he finished it in just two sips.

And then we got to the food. Oh, the food. This is where things went downhill—fast.

I ordered the bubble waffle from the kids menu for my son. I noticed on the menu they offered a seasonal fruit plate, when attempting to order the waitress tells me flat-out, “No, it’s not good. It’s not good enough to be serving to customers,” while making a disgusted face. Appreciated the heads up. 🤷🏼‍♀️

For myself, I ordered the plantains and carnitas hash, while my significant other chose a special—a “poutine” made with tater tots, gravy, and an egg. The waitress asked, “Do you want to add pork or choritzio?” (This might be nitpicking, but if you run a restaurant focused on “global eating,” educating staff on proper food names and pronunciations would go a long way. Hearing “choritzio” was like nails on a chalkboard.)

When the food arrived, the other plates were literally stacked on top of mine—in my food. This was unfortunate because much of the lime crema was now on the bottom of my family dishes.

I started eating, and my first bite was of a green plantain. Let me preface this by saying I’m Boricua and grew up eating green plantains—I love them. But these? Dry, old, and completely inedible. The pork, though dry, was decent, and the couple of bites of sweet plantain I found were enjoyable. However, my over-easy egg—normally my favorite—was so slimy I couldn’t “break” the yolk. Since we eat with our eyes first, it was very off-putting. Ultimately, I left more than half of my bowl untouched, still full of dry plantains and black beans, and left hungry.

My significant other’s meal was okay. He didn’t care for the gravy, describing it as tasting straight out of a can, and also found it odd that it came with only one egg, especially for a breakfast dish.

As for my son, he said the waffle was fine but complained that the boba tasted like chemicals and refused to eat them. Remember the seasonal fruit that was not to be served to customers, well that was served on his waffle. Once again, the portion was small given the price.

The staff, meanwhile, spent much of their time discussing how to add to the Christmas decorations while I endured a laser projector shining directly into my eyes. While I appreciated the holiday decor, a bit more thought could’ve gone into the placement of that LED projector. Food for thought. 🤷🏼‍♀️

For the amount of money we spent, the quality of food and service was incredibly disappointing. We left feeling underwhelmed, hungry, and certain we wouldn’t return. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this...

EDIT 7-14-2025:

1: I am indeed blocked from their Facebook page. A friend of mine visited their page, and my comment is gone as well. If the block is removed and my comment restored, I'll update this review accordingly

2: While the response to my review states that they have no scam fees now, they tactfully avoided my question about whether they've done so in the past. And they absolutely have done so in the past.

Their response to a customer they tried to scam a year ago is as follows:

"I’m sorry that you do not agree with the way we have chosen to do that. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as “raising the prices. We do have new menus in the works that will disclose this fee….And after speaking to your server I was informed that fee was removed from your bill after you had an issue with it. So thank you again for taking the time to negatively impact a local business for an issue that did not even affect you personally."

In other words, they absolutely did have an undisclosed fee at one point, and they only removed the fee for one customer who noticed it. And then they cried victim and claim that the customer shouldn't be mad since they only ripped off other people and not him personally.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Today on their Facebook page I saw a post essentially begging for customers to come in. The place looks nice and the menu is appealing, but of course I like to read the reviews first.

One of their older reviews is from a customer who was scammed by a bogus "kitchen fee," and I noticed that they didn't apologize. They mentioned that it's a family-owned business and that their food is "diverse," as if that justifies scamming people.

They did remove the unathorized charge---only because the customer pointed it out and complained about it.

They did also write that they're maybe someday one of these days going to start disclosing the fee on their menu.

The latest menu shown on Google Maps mentions no fee, by the way.

In hopes of finding a nice place to eat, I asked on their Facebook post if this unethical practice has been discontinued.

The restaurant's response was to block me.

Their choice to block someone for asking a question reaffirms my suspiction that they are unethical scammers who engage in dishonest pricing. ...

Restaurants fall into two general categories for me: 1) comfort/functional and 2) experiential/relational. At comfort/functional restaurants, I order things I know I will like. I know how it will taste and how I will feel before I ever take a bite. The food is "good" on whether it aligns with how it is supposed to taste and make me feel. At experiential/relational restaurants, I go to explore and relate. I explore the menu, the foods, myself, my company, the world, the moment. I want to be surprised. The food is "good" if it takes me on a delicious journey, leaving me different than I entered.

Gallivant Global Eatery is a beautiful example of an experiential relational eatery. Taking one look at the menu, it is clearly well crafted and thoughtfully done, but not ordinary. It invites you to explore both what they have to offer and yourself. I am glad I accepted their invitation. I ate here twice during a visit and both times were exceptional. Both times, I had different dishes, and both times found I enjoyed dishes I would normally not order or avoid because of ingredients that I am not fond of (pickles), and yet, I found them to be the most delectable part of the dish. I left changed, thank you.

I am not going to suggest too much (I tried quite a bit of the menu and everything was fabulous), as I'd like to leave the invitation open to explore their menu as I think that is really the wonder of Gallivant. It's not a single great dish. It's the entirety of their menu and experience.

If you need a starting point for your journey, then The Breakfast Bao is a great first step. See where you...