The Golden Lion Cafe — Restaurant in Flagler Beach

Date of Visit: Monday, 7/22/19 Time: 8:20 p.m. Group: 4 adults

Seeing positive reviews both on Tripadvisor and Google, I had very high expectations dining here and planned on vlogging our experience to showcase their business on my Youtube channel. I picked The Golden Lion with great care being that we were celebrating my parents 41st wedding anniversary.

8:22 p.m. They were not busy upon our arrival at 8:22 p.m. on a Monday night. We requested the top deck seating to get the best views. We waited about 5 minutes, then the girl who seated our party of 4 actually took Another couple (NOT in our group) to take all of us upstairs, which I thought was a little unusual. Looking back, I should've taken that as a sign.

We were taken to a table that was not clean (yet). The hostess seemed in a rush to clear the table quickly that a glass and something else fell off the table that was crooked.

Knowing that it was already past 8 p.m., we were ready to place our order the first time our server came for our drink orders (just 4 waters). We ordered 4 things (I asked for calamari as my entree) and we also ordered chips and salsa for our appetizer.

At 9:11 pm (time stamp on my iPhone XR) and over 30 minutes later, the chips and salsa came. AND my calamari (ordered as entree) came together when it should've come out with the rest of our food (another sign). At this point, we really should've left but my parents were patient and my brother and I were enjoying our time with them (albeit our hunger).

We kept waiting. Our server rarely passed our table. My father had to ask for his water to be refilled and my poor mom was growing tired and hungry, understandably.

At 9:20 p.m., we have waited longer than what is acceptable. Feeling embarrassed that I took my parents here, I walked downstairs to the hostess (since our server was nowhere to be found) and told the girl at the front that we were ready to leave. I asked to see the manager very kindly. I also showed her the timer I had going, on my iPhone to show exactly how many minutes we had been waiting. She said the manager, Tony would come up and that our food should be coming.

9:25 p.m. the rest of the food finally came. Keep in mind that we were seated at 8:25 p.m. I asked the server what happened and she said like 2 of the cooks went home. I don't recall if she apologized or not.

I completely lost my appetite (since I was the only one with the food that came out about 40 minutes after placing it).

Although their website boasts they're open 7 Days from 11am to 11pm, at 9:25 p.m., the place was close to empty, their umbrellas downstairs were all closed/folded and their clear blinds were drawn. (No, it was not raining on Monday night, 7/22, weather was actually nice that evening).

My mother's fish and chips were bland, dad's Philly cheesesteak was on the smallest bread he had ever seen on a Philly, and my brother's burger was underwhelming.

We couldn't wait to leave. Oh, and by the way, I told the hostess on the way out that the manager, Tony never came to see us. All she could do was apologize.

I had high expectations for this place and wished that I could give a more positive review but sadly, it is unlikely that we...

I recently dined at the Seafood Restaurant and unfortunately, my experience was quite disappointing overall. While there were a few positives, there were several aspects that fell short of expectations.

Let's start with the negatives. The oysters I ordered were visibly dirty, which was a major turnoff. It's crucial for seafood to be clean and fresh, especially oysters. This lack of attention to detail in the food preparation was disappointing.

Furthermore, the service was subpar. After being seated, I had to wait an unreasonably long time before a server came to take my order. It felt as though I was being neglected, and this significantly impacted my overall experience. Prompt and attentive service is a crucial aspect of any dining establishment, and unfortunately, it was lacking here.

Moving on to the appetizers, they were not up to par. The flavors were underwhelming, and the presentation lacked creativity. It seemed as though they were hastily put together without much thought or care. Considering the importance of a strong start to a meal, this was quite disappointing.

On a more positive note, the ocean view was indeed pleasant. The ambiance of the restaurant with the view of the ocean created a serene and relaxing atmosphere. It was a redeeming factor that added some charm to the dining experience.

As for the main dish, it was acceptable. While it didn't impress me, it didn't disappoint either. The flavors were average, and it lacked that wow factor that would make me want to return for another visit.

In conclusion, my experience at Sefool Restaurant was a mixed bag. The dirty oysters, poor service, and lackluster appetizers were major drawbacks. However, the pleasant ocean view and an okay main dish were the few saving graces. There is certainly room for improvement in various aspects, especially in terms of cleanliness, service efficiency, and culinary creativity. I hope that the restaurant takes customer feedback into consideration and strives to enhance their overall...

Probably the best wings I've ever eaten. Lobster roll and fried shrimp were delicious.

Update: We liked the food so much that we scheduled our wedding reception there. The servers were great. The food was definitely not up to par for a wedding though. The filet mignons were great but almost all of the lobster was overcooked as well as the ribeyes. I just wish they would have offered a tasting of what was going to be offered at the wedding prior because to be honest I was disappointed. I also had a very clear itinerary that I provided to them that gave them detailed times as they requested. On top of that I had wine glasses for each guest with their name it on the table where they were going to sit. So I did a lot on my part to try and make it run smoothly. There were no more than 30 guests there. So if you have a big party food quality may be an issue. A server told me that my cake began melting because the entrees came out about 15 minutes later than they should have and that was just to start with. two people went the whole wedding without having any food and had to get it boxed up. It seems like they were more concerned about refilling our alcoholic beverages than they were about making sure our food was present. When the cake started to melt the waitress said they can bring it into the back and cut it and we agreed, but after 5 minutes no one did anything with the cake and flowers started to fall off so we went up there real quick and cut it and started handing it out. If anything we were running a little ahead of schedule so then I really didn't understand how everything got so messy. So for small family dining I recommend them but for larger groups you may want to look elsewhere. The manager also told us that the owner would be calling us. We have yet to receive that call and it has been a couple of weeks. So for 3k both my husband and I wish we would have booked somewhere slightly more...