Seasons 52 — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

This place (about a decade ago) was the spot for middle income earners that wanted affordable(ish), fresh, and low calorie meals. The Darden line has been collapsing since the 2015. A lot of the quality, that was once their bread and butter, has been lost.

Came in on Saturday (August 23, 2025) at noon. Greeted and sat very quickly as the building was pretty much empty. After the rain stopped (it was pouring) more people eventually came in.

Our server was friendly and gave us the run down of the menu. They had three different menus going on (regular, magical dining, and chef specialties), so it was a lot to take in.

Prices seemed okay given the current inflation of all things dining out. Our orders were the following...

SUMMER CORN SOUP : Grandma like it, but thought that it had almost no substance. She was told it was a lighter soup, but didn't expect what she got.

WOOD-GRILLED CORN, AGED CHEDDAR AND SPICED BACON FLATBREAD : Grandma liked it, I tried it and was like, "meh". She did not get the sour cream dressing, which would have made it better.

CEDAR PLANK SALMON : Son liked it, said it was good, but a little overcooked. Plank was super burnt, I don't think I've ever seen it that black.

MEDITERRANEAN WOOD-GRILLED CHICKEN SALAD : Wife thought the chicken was okay (not great, just okay). The salad itself was a mess. She had to pile up a stack of kalamata olives as the kitchen decided to dump about a cup of olives on the salad. She got one in every single bite. They were not small. She came home and took a nap because the salt was bothering (between the dressing, kalamata olives, and feta, it was a salt fest).

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP : I wanted to like it, but did not. The veggies in it were good, the consistency was a little thick (corny), and the broth was barely warm. The pieces of chicken feel like an after thought. Just boiled pieces of white meat that had been chopped and thrown in. Would not order again (and I love tortilla soup, made it a week ago).

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK FLATBREAD : This was the worst of the bunch. Thinking back, I should have said something to the server, but I'll try anything once. The flatbread itself was limp, soggy, and not holdable. I had to support it from the bottom with two hands to get a bite. Second bite of steak was gristle. Then another two large pieces of gristle later on. Since Season's 52 uses cloth napkins, I had no where to put the chewed steak. Just put it on the plate (should have taken a picture, but it seemed uncouth).

Deserts were decent, but that's pretty much all dessert; it's just sweets.

Nice place with a nice view of the water. Clean bathrooms and dishes. Friendly service and mostly fair pricing. But when you factor the quality of the food, it doesn't make up for the price. It has always been a smaller chain under Darden, but this last visit was one of the first times I felt like I was just in another private equity chain restaurant brand. Quality needs to improve. They should never have sent out that Cheesesteak flatbread. It looked pretty, but tasted like a frozen meal that...

AMANDA is by far the WORSE person I have ever encountered working at this restaurant. I have been dining here for 10+ years and never had a bad experience until dealing with her. I made a reservation for 8 people one month in advanced for my birthday dinner. I had an additional 3 people last minute that decided to attend and I called the morning of the reservation to see if I could modify. Amanda answered, immediately had a very cold tone and told me she could not accommodate me because they were “fully booked.” She said fully booked probably 10x in our conversation. She acted like it was Mother’s Day and I was asking for something impossible but instead it was an early dinner on a Wednesday night. So I asked if I could make a second reservation for a table of 3 and we could combine the tables or be seated close together. Again, she said no because they were fully booked. So I got off the phone, went online to see how fully booked they really were, and reservations were available for 5:45, 6:00, 6:15, 6:30, 6:45 etc. I made reservations for a second table at the same time. I arrived early for dinner with my family and Amanda was at the hostess stand. She immediately said, “I was the one you spoke to today on the phone and I told you we were fully booked.” We waited for over 20 minutes and I saw the staff clearing off 2 tables that were in close proximity but not next to each other. One table we would’ve had to squeeze 6 people in a half circle booth seating which I knew was not going to work. I asked if those were our tables and she said, “yes, I told you we were fully booked but we’re trying to accommodate you…we’re also trying to see if we can get the same waiter for both tables but not sure if we can.” After seeing our seating arrangement and being spoken to poorly by Amanda, I decided to take my family across the street to Vines which I had made backup reservations for after speaking to Amanda earlier that day. As long as she’s working there, I will not...

We had a phenomenal first experience and meal at Seasons 52. First off, it’s a lovely restaurant with a great view of the lake. We opted to sit interior inside with the view instead of exterior side because it was a little loud in there. But both areas are lovely.

The hostess were very nice when we entered. Our server Zachary D or Zach might be my favorite server we have ever had a restaurant. He was knowledgeable about the food and he was just very friendly and attentive and went above and beyond to make us feel special. He recommended some items for us and he was spot on in his suggestions. The food runner Francesca was very sweet and they worked well together.

The drinks: we did Prisoner wine and Prosecco with OJ, both were perfect choices. I love a place that will decanter your wine which they did. The cocktail choices on the menu looked yummy so the next time we will go we check those out.

The food. Wow, so good. We had the Ahi Tuna Tartare to start. It’s huge and so fresh and the flavors really are delicious together! Just need more of the wasabi cream! Yum! Then came the lobster bisque. I applaud any place that puts fresh lobster on the top and they did. Their soup was the perfect balance and was creamy and flavorful.

I ordered the Chilean Sea Bass and it was cooked perfectly and all the flavor profiles were so delicious together. My husband got the rainbow trout (he asked for no potatoes and extra asparagus) and he loved it so much he didn’t even want to share. Both fish entrees were excellent.

Dessert. They are cute minis with many choices and they bring you a display to see. This way you can order as many as you want. We ordered one of the Pecan Pie and one of the Turtle cheesecake. Extremely decadent and tasty. Perfect way to end the meal. We were so stuffed that we were glad they were a mini!

We would absolutely return to this location and I can’t recommend it enough. Ask for Zach! You won’t be...