Bar Zin — Restaurant in Fernandina Beach

Just had the most insanely unsettling experience here after being chastised by the manager for not liking our cocktails.

We have been really excited to try Bar Zin after moving here! Had reservations tonight and started with a pecan old fashioned from the menu. We are whiskey drinkers and enjoy an old fashioned a few times a week. The cocktail arrived and it was aggressively sweet and we didn’t love it, so we asked our waiter for a regular old fashioned instead. We never asked for it to be comped, just wanted a replacement drink. Our new drinks arrived and they were crazy bitter. The person behind the bar just didn’t make a great old fashioned, and that’s fine, so we decided to order whiskey instead. Not an issue at all.

Never did we ask for anything to be free! We would have happily paid for all of the drinks that we didn’t like. Suddenly the manager appeared and was very aggressive and said we would have to pay for the second round of drinks. Which was totally fine, but her approach was absolutely unhinged. She didn’t apologize for us not liking our drinks and immediately launched into “this is a small business” etc etc. and said that they knew how to make an old fashioned and questioned our taste. “You said the last ones were too sweet and now these are too bitter!!!” It was absolutely wild. I was shaking by the end of the interaction which was pretty embarrassing. We are locals and that’s why we are here, to support small businesses. We were prepared to sit and eat and drink whiskey and wine all night but she was so rude to us we asked for the check and skipped dinner. We felt absolutely terrible, all of the wait staff was LOVELY especially our server. We tried to tip him as we left but we had no cash and he didn’t have Venmo or anything. We apologized profusely to our server. The calamari was delicious! I wish we could have stayed for the rest of our meal but we didn’t feel welcomed at all. Will never return and make sure to let our local friends know to avoid this place...

I will agree with the person who left a review 5 days prior stating that the front of the house needs a major overhaul. We came today expecting to have a great meal in a posh atmosphere. What we can say is that the food is excellent, (saw lots of delicious main dishes coming out) if you can bear the lack in service. For this reason, we did not order entrees when placing appetizers. We decided to do this nearly immediately upon entry to the restaurant because when being seated, there was some discussion in front of us among the servers as to where we could be seated as the host tried to seat us at a particular table. Seems there is one waitress who really knows her stuff, but the other servers are far less experienced. That being said, we left after the appetizers due to poor service. There was little to no mind paid to us throughout the hour we were there, and when we asked for the check before even trying the appetizers, there was no inquiry as to why. What really cooked the goose was that when I put up the check with credit card, we then were paid no attention and had to actually get up and ask for the card to be run so we could leave and go somewhere else. While eating the appetizers, I tried to talk my husband into giving our waitress another chance, only to glance over and see all three servers huddled in the area between the kitchen and the main dining room, each one on their cell phone with screens glowing in the dark. I'm sorry, Bar Zin... I've been to so many establishments in the area and this is not acceptable service, even during tourist season. For the prices on the menu, the service needs to be skilled and poised.

EDIT: I have increased my review to three stars due to management reaching out and attempting to remedy the issue. We appreciated the call and offer made to us to return. I'm glad to see local businesses providing superior...

Having been a huge fan of the "old" Bar Zin, I was a bit disappointed in the atmosphere although the food was quite good. The new place was loud, and I was seated 6 feet from a large TV showing sports. I thought this was more fine dining than sports bar but I was mistaken.

The waiter was very good but unable to provide optimal service because he was trying to serve too many tables. I could have used a second glass of wine or a refill on water, but nobody stopped at the table after dinners were delivered until we were finished and were ready for dessert, and he was too slammed to be flagged down.

The prosciutto and melon was great and my husband's salad was excellent. My catch of the day was VERY slightly overcooked but very tasty. The decadent chocolate cake was just that, and plenty to share between us. For us, the "small plates" were more than sufficient to fill us up. We left satiated but not stuffed.

I'd have given the food a 4+ rating, but the atmosphere was not what we expected for...