Flipperz Family Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Emerald Isle

TL;DR:

I wouldn’t return after my family’s experience tonight. Service was terrible, food was extremely underwhelming, read on for more details if interested.

My family and our friends family (9 total, including 5 kids under 7) were searching for a fun place to have dinner for our last night at the beach after renting here all week. We chose Flipperz due to its ratings, which seemed decent enough. My family of 4 arrived first and noticed how small the restaurant was. We inquired about seating for 9, and were told it would be an hour or more before the center tables would become available. Since they had 4 person booths available, we all decided to sit separately and just get the kids fed. My family was sat first, and our friends arrived about 10 minutes later and were sat separately about two booths away.

We noticed about 15 minutes in that no server had approached us to take our drink or appetizer orders. Seemed like they were all just walking around to random tables, and returning to the kitchen after each one. Many of the waitresses seemed to hang by the bar, socialize with certain guests they knew personally, or just chat with each other. We finally had a server stop by, took our drink orders and we went ahead and placed an appetizer order. (Mozzarella sticks and firecracker shrimp)

45 minutes later (!!!) we received our salads that are supposed to come with the entree, but still no appetizers in sight. My wife and I eat our salad, trying to keep the kids from pulling their hair out due to how hungry they are. 15 minutes later we get our appetizers. (That’s 1 Hour later for those keeping track) The firecracker shrimp were dry, chewy, barely any sauce. The mozzarella sticks were run of the mill mozzarella sticks, nothing fancy which is fine.

As we are trying some of the coleslaw on the shrimp dish, I immediately noticed a large piece of plastic sticking out. We notified the server once I could get her attention, and she notified the manager. Manager comes out, apologizes and says she’s taken it off the bill and gave us a 10% discount. A nice gesture and I thought it appropriate all things considered. My wife and I resolved to continuing to be patient and wait for our entrees. I got the crab cakes with baked potato, wife had fried shrimp with baked potato, kids had corn dog and a hamburger.

First, the crab cake. Terribly dry, not much flavor, and hardly warm, and definitely seemed like it was frozen and reheated. Wife’s shrimp were again, hardly warm, seemed like frozen breaded shrimp. Kids food was not much better, only thing that seemed at least hot was the corn dog and the French fries.

To wrap this all up, after this horrible service and food, we get our bill and notice an 18% gratuity charge included. I ask for the manager and she explains that for parties over six, they always include it. I ask her how they can consider us that large of a party considering we were seated completely separate, and at different times. They couldn’t accommodate our party, so we all sat separately and still get charged a forced gratuity?! I don’t think so, I told the manger to take it off, I’ll pay my bill, and be on my way, after giving her an earful on how terrible the whole experience has been.

Don’t waste your time and money on this place, I don’t understand how it’s been in business this long. Our friends had almost the exact same experience as we did, had to ask where their food was multiple times, had to flag down...

I would actually rate this place at 4.5 stars, for its class of restaurant, instead of 5 due to an experience the day before. I'll start with the negative first and finish with the positive. We first stopped at Flipperz on Tuesday, July 12 after reading reviews of the place on Google Maps. We arrived at approximately 7PM and while approaching the restaurant noticed that there were several tables free in their outdoor seating area. We were greeted by a very friendly young lady who informed us that it would be an hour wait, at least, until we could be seated. She informed us that Flipperz was one of only two seafood places open on Tuesday and that their kitchen staff was overwhelmed. I asked if it was possible to take one of the free tables, have drinks, and wait it out. The answer was 'no'. Note: There was no waiting line or customers hanging around to be seated. My criticism is that if it is already known that they are one of the only two seafood places open on Tuesday, why don't they plan for the increased demand? Now for the positive. Upon arriving the following day, Wednesday, at approximately 5:15PM, with nearly all tables occupied, we were greeted by the same pleasant, young lady who immediately recognised us from the day before. She gave us a table immediately without any urgency or pressure from our side. We were serviced quickly and efficiently by one of the waitresses and had drinks in front of us within a couple of minutes. The food was fantastic. I had a seafood bisque and the shrimp platter which was loaded with perfectly grilled shrimp. My wife had a combo seafood platter which not only exceeded her expectations of quality, but also quantity. My son stuck with the old standby; grilled cheese sandwich. For the finale, we all shared a homemade cheesecake. We waddled away satisfied and happy. If not for the 'ding' for bad kitchen staff scheduling on Tuesday, I would have giving the full 5 star rating. Even with the full restaurant, the kitchen was able to get food to us quickly on Wednesday. I highly recommend Flipperz, but avoid Mondays...

I visited this restaurant tonight, and unfortunately, it was an extremely disappointing and concerning experience. We were initially seated outside, but after our food arrived, it began to rain heavily, so we were moved inside. The interior of the restaurant was in unacceptable condition. There was a strong odor that smelled like an electrical fire coming from the back, and smoke was visible coming from the kitchen area. Inside, it was excessively hot — the servers were visibly drenched in sweat while trying to do their jobs. (This is the 2nd time we have witnessed this) What was even more troubling was how the staff was treated. Throughout the evening, we witnessed the manager and/or owners repeatedly degrading the employees in front of customers. Our server, John, was the only positive part of our visit — he was kind, attentive, and professional despite being openly disrespected and spoken about poorly by management within earshot of guests. Overall, the conditions inside the restaurant were unsanitary, unsafe, and unprofessional. I sincerely hope the owners address these issues immediately for the safety and well-being of both their staff and their customers. I feel terrible for the staff. Owners DO BETTER!

OSHA is needed at this...