City Fish Market — Restaurant in Florida

Summary: Great food experience ruined by horrible service, unprofessional management, and a clueless hostess! Got hung up on twice and didn't get our full order. Hidden "packing fee" of $2.50 on takeout orders. Giving this restaurant any stars because the food is absolutely delicious. Details: We have been regular customers at the City Fish Market for a while; due to Covid, we switched to the takeout option - for years, there weren't any issues with either type of dining. We live by the ocean in Delray Beach, not far from the Atlantic Ave, but even with all the new restaurants poppin up in Delray, we continued to be loyal to the City Fish Market. We were hosting an important guest for dinner and decided to order from this restaurant. Our first call went unanswered, so we redialed and got a hostess on the line. As soon as we told her that we are calling about a take out, the line got disconnected - no idea if she hung up the phone experienced a technical issue, but we redialed again and this time were able to place our order. We picked up the order ourselves, and upon arriving home, noticed that one of the entrees is missing. What's more, on the receipt, the missing item wasn't crossed out, which means that it was very obviously not packed. Whoever packed the bag and whoever handed it to us should have noticed that. Given that the restaurant charges a "packing fee" that's  unacceptable. We called the restaurant and got the same hostess who said she needs to discuss the issue with her manager. After a few minutes on hold, our call was dropped again. If the restaurant was going for the "add an insult to the injury" effect, they have certainly achieved it. We redialed yet again and got the manager on the line. His first reaction was "I'm looking at your entree right now! Want to swing by and grab it?" When we informed the manager that we are all the way in east Delray, he apologized a few times and said that our credit card will be refunded for the amount of the missing entree, but only IF we were charged for it. We informed him that yes, we were, in fact, charged for it, which is why we are calling in the first place, but he made us feel distrusted and reiterated that he will check everything to make sure. The amount of the entree was subtracted from our credit card charge, but even with that, the experience was thoroughly unpleasant. One person was left without an entree, a mistake that several people at the restaurant allowed to occur. Besides "I'm really sorry for that," the manager did not attempt to compensate for our unpleasant experience or to retain us as customers. We will not be returning regardless of how great the...

I would love to give this establishment NEGATIVE five million stars, but I am trying to be fair when I write this review. I was initially a bit hesitant to try this restaurant because the reviews led me to view it as a "hit or miss" type of place, and I was right. The first time I went, it was a busy night, senior management was present, and everyone was on top of everything. The result: good food and good service. I even let the hotel staff that had recommended the restaurant know that I had had a good experience. Naturally, I decided to go back. All I will say is NEVER AGAIN! In fact, you could offer to pay for my meal and throw in an extra $1,000 for my time, and I still wouldn't go back! With no sign of senior management in sight, and on what seemed to be a slower night, I had a totally different experience. First, the food was inconsistent. Some of the people at my table liked what they had, while others felt it was so so. Further, the staff was not on its game. For example, before appetizer plates had even been cleared, the entrees were being served. Fish cools down pretty quickly, so if you are wasting time waiting for the servers to clear dirty dishes and get you new silverware, it can make a significant difference. There were other mistakes as well, one of which involved the bill and quite frankly seemed unethical in my opinion. But worst of all was a situation which I can only describe as the most outrageous, inappropriate experience of my entire life as a patron of restaurants, and I have been at some of the best in the world. I will not get into the details here, but I will simply say this: do NOT go to this restaurant for any important occasions such as trying to impress a business client or a significant other early on in a relationship, or a rehearsal dinner. It simply is not worth the risk. However, if dinning with friends or family, you might get lucky and enjoy your meal like the first time that I went. The choice is yours. As I said, for my part, I will never return. And to the senior management that made my first experience such an enjoyable one, I will say this: it is obvious that when the cat is away, your wait staff will play so get on top of things! It is a poor reflection of you that my party and I had to deal with the outrageous events that occurred the second time I visited your establishment! The hallmark of a good restaurant is consistency, and you failed that...

I wrote the following 5-star review two months ago. I had been back to bring friends and had good experiences as well. However, after 2 very unpleasant experiences in the last week, I need to update my review.

Last week, I went to City Fish to introduce a friend to their restaurant. Unfortunately, we ordered the salmon tartar. It was incredibly greasy and I actually got sick. The one good thing I do need to say is that the bartender did take it off my bill, but I was sick all night as a result of the dish. However, due to how the bartender handled the situation, I did not write a review.

Unfortunately, last night’s experience required that I update my review. I went for Happy Hour. It was MLK Day and, apparently, the management was unaware of holiday schedules and had not staffed properly. I understand this can happen, although it’s pretty poor management. However, that does not explain just how poorly I was treated. The bar was crowded, but I have certainly been at far more crowded bars. I waited for FORTY-FIVE minutes to get a bartender to acknowledge me and allow me to order. During that time, other people came and ordered. The woman next to me asked the bar-back for bread and asked if I could PLEEEEAAASE order some food. He responded “not with me”, but yet did not get a bartender. Finally, I went to get a manager, but he was busy on the phone, talking to someone, presumably about a reservation, but he was on the phone for quite some time. I spoke to the hostess, but I was afraid of losing my “spot” at the bar, so I then returned. I started wildly waving a menu to gain the attention of the bartender, who was not moving from the other end of the bar. He acknowledged me and said, “I’m sorry. I’m the only one here”. Well, that wasn’t true. There were 2 bartenders, a manager and a bar-back, AND that still doesn’t explain why he had taken orders from people all around me, who had come 15-20 minutes later, before settling at the other end of the bar (both bartenders were at the other end while the manager was in the middle). I went back to the manager, who was now available. He offered to put my order in for me, but offered nothing else for my trouble. I told him quite plainly that I felt unwelcome.

Clearly, they were profiting from being understaffed. I saw no reason to add to it.

“Excellent food, great happy hour prices and really fun...