International C-food Market Restaurant — Restaurant in Florence

My last experience here was so bad that I'm not sure what they are in business to do, other than catch tourists. I used to be a fan of this place a few years back. So, in spite of one really mediocre experience after another I kept going back... No more. The food is never very good or fresh and the service is usually unfriendly. We felt like we were an interruption to their day, although the seats there are always mostly empty.

I now place this restaurant on my list of classic tourist traps. A seafood restaurant on the coast -- without fresh seafood -- and not frequented by the locals.

On our last visit it was a mix of mediocre for my partner's meal to just plain bad - really bad. Add to this, the service was terrible and the waitress made for an unpleasant experience that we couldn't wait to see end.

I wanted a seafood sandwich with crab or shrimp, so I asked the waitress if the seafood was fresh. Her response, "No, we let it hang around here for a while." I clarified that I was referring to fresh or frozen and she said the shrimp was frozen, but she was pretty sure the crab was fresh. Shouldn't she know?

If it was fresh crab, then it shouldn't have finished defrosting on my plate, err, ciabatta bun, which made it super soggy within a few minutes. I tried putting it on a few napkins so it wouldn't soak all of my fries, but the napkins were quickly overwhelmed with all of the water. I couldn't eat it, but never send things back, so I removed the small wet pile of crab and asked for a new bun.

What they brought me was a bun of a different kind, it looked like a small hot dog bun, but the funny part, is that it looked like it was at the bottom of the bag for a while - it was stale and a little smushed. At first I was really annoyed, but decided it was so bad it was like a joke - I had to laugh.

No apologies for the wet bun or totally disjointed meal as I tried to put my wet crab back into a bun, that had now lost the flavor/dressing it was supposed to have - adding it to a bone dry bun - which is better than water-logged, don't get me wrong. And now my fries were cold and some of them wet... so, it wasn't a good meal to be sure!

It was so bad it was almost funny, except that it wasn't. I like good food and this was a waste of my time and money.

Never again. They should be ashamed...

WHO SAID C FOOD! WE GRADE IT A C- We kinda knew what we were in for, but the other great seafood restaurant was booked solid and this place……… Well……. this place has a deck on the river. The restaurant at the time was 10% occupied. When I walked into the men’s room and saw paper towels overflowing onto the floor from the waste can at 4:15pm, I became even more dubious. When my friend used the women’s restroom she thought it hilarious that the sign on the women’s restroom door read “knock before entering” (as the lock was broken). My other friend ordered a Bombay sapphire martini with two olives. What came out looked like weak tea with two olives. Upon tasting it we surmised that it was most likely 2 parts gin to 1 part sweet red vermouth. He sent it back and asked for just a martini without any vermouth and two olives. What came out was room temperature undiluted gin with the olives. I finally got up and asked the bartender for a spoon and a glass of ice so I could at least finish making the martini, since the bartender was obviously clueless. The lackluster clam chowder must’ve been from Food Services of America and was adequate (if you’re eating MRE’s). The crab cakes fell short by the tiny amount of crab included in the recipe and had some sort of filler and way too much egg. Remember, this restaurant is billed as a seafood restaurant! The good news was the daily special shrimp tacos were delicious! The French fries were also good. When we were checking out, the waiter dropped our three credit cards on the deck and we were very thankful that none of them fell through to the water! We enjoyed our time on the deck and imagined what kind an actual SEAFOOD restaurant could actually do in this nice large space. I own a small business and absolutely would never let my google ratings go this...

So, I am still not used to doing my fun job, of taking delicious food photos, during Covid, like I used to, before Covid. So again, I enjoyed getting to go & eat out, SO much, that I ate my food, without remembering to take a photo, AGAIN...arghhhh! Sorry! Anyhow, I ate my delicious lunch, out on the wooden deck, while overlooking the bay. What a beautiful day it was indeed, it was sunny, no wind, 2 other people sitting far away at their own tables, practicing social distancing & mask wearing. Our Cod fish & chips came out to us FAST, after ordering. We got 3 fresh, crispy, piping hot, thinly battered, uniquely seasoned, pieces of cod, a generous portion of handcut french fries with skins intact & sweet, cool, crunchy, refreshing, homemade coleslaw, topped with raisins. Our dips were, tarter sauce, catsup & malt vinegar. I chose my favorite beverage of course, yes, water. Once we were done eating, our check was brought to us, along with an awesome surprise, of two complimentary, cloth face masks, with the very delightful art of 2 red crabs! We were tickled pink. I go to old town Florence often & am looking forward to returning here & actually REMEMBERING to take photos for y'all to see, next time. In the meanwhile, here are a few photos of our time here & us wearing our new free crabbie masks! So, we went back a different week & got take out. I have now included photos of our take out. I had the grilled Salmon dinner, which was HANDS down, the best Salmon dinner I have ever had. My dining partner had the fish & chips, that I had on our last visit. I would gladly eat here weekly, if I didn't...