Forked at Waterside — Restaurant in Florida

I just paid $65 for breakfast for 2.

I don’t usually write reviews, maybe just on the very high end or low end. Unfortunately this wasn’t good.

We visited Forked in LWR Waterside on a Monday morning. The restaurant wasn’t crowded at all. That should have been a clue for us.

The space and the environment were nice enough. Clean. Good morning light, etc.

At first glance of the menu my initial reaction was “this place is pricey”! I guess I should’ve expected this since the location was in an upscale, Main Street area.

The service was okay. Somewhat indifferent. They weren’t bad, but certainly weren’t welcoming or glad that you were at their restaurant. Does anyone smile anymore?

I settled on Coffee and Avacado Toast $16, and asked to sub the eggs for hash browns. Initially the answer was yes. But then I asked for the Denver style Hash Browns and it just turned into a $9 up-charge. Eggs as a side were $6 so I’m not sure how that math worked out. My step-mom ordered the eggs Benedict and cappuccino.

The coffee $4 was good and hot. The avacado toast was very disappointing. Chewy bread. Plain bread from the grocery store, nothing to warrant the $16 price tag. The avacodo was a spread, not really avacado. And it barely even covered the toast. I’m not sure how you mess up a fruit cup, but they pulled it off. The cantaloupe still had the green rhine on every piece. Not just a little. But the entire side was covered! The $9 Denver hash browns were an enigma of fine cuisine. Rock hard crunchy on one side, with undercooked barely warm on the other. My guess is they came straight from the freezer. Overall undercooked, but I choked it down not wanting to waste my $9.

My step mom’s breakfast wasn’t much better. Bland cappuccino $6, probably a pre-mix. Bland eggs Benedict $15. And the same poorly cut fruit, with the addition of some pineapple pieces that still had bits of the core attached.

Overall when you’re in LWR at Waterside your thinking to yourself; new, different, interesting, trendy, quality food… Forked didn’t live up to any of this. The whole experience was on par with the Waffle House.

I get it with food inflation and labor shortages, service industry pay standards, etc. It’s tough for the small business and the workers. I’m typically pretty sensitive to this having worked in retail for almost 30 years. However, bad is bad.

The king of breakfast in our area is First Watch. I’m kicking myself for straying from them in this instance. Do yourself a favor, no need to wonder about Forked, just go to FW.

p.s. I live about 10 minutes from Forked. Let’s just say… it was a photo finish.

p.s.s. The first tip option is 20%. Indifferent service, bad food, poorly cooked and prepared food, expensive… And then give me more money to seal the deal on this...

We walked past this place and it looked really nice. Lovely big menu of sweet and savoury items.

I got the hangover burger. Came with fried egg, bacon and shoestring fries. The menu said it came with chipotle ketchup which I'm not a fan of so asked for it without.

When the burger arrived I found it really spicy and when I checked there was chipotle ketchup on the bottom bun, and it was really spicy!

I told the server who took it away to get another one made. When the next burger arrived I took a bite and immediately realised it still had the chipotle ketchup on it! Again, the server took it away to get another one made.

The 3rd burger was really really good. Hot, juicy, flavoursome, amazing smoked well cooked bacon, loads of crispy shoestring fries, and all in a really good soft bun. It was worth waiting for! (And the manager brought it out and apologised and adjusted the cheque for me which was greatly appreciated)

The waffle fries that came with the burger were really lovely (although strangely had no salt on at all, but guess that's a good thing as customers can always add their own to their preference)

My wife got the chicken Florentine crepe which was good. Big and really soft crepe with plenty of fillings. However there really wasn't enough cheese to hold all the fillings together and the chicken was a bit plain. Would have been good to have more cheese, or even better a cheese sauce!

The servers were very nice, but we did feel they weren't around very much. It took some time to find someone to ask for mayo, and I had to go find someone to inform them about my spicy burger (both times). I also had to go find someone after the original food came to ask for cutlery as we never got given any after we ordered, or with the food.

Overall the food (eventually) was very good. Service could have been better, but hopefully it was a random one off, but really appreciated the manager apologising and sorting out the burger issues.

Will come back for breakfast crepes next time we're...

Although I didn't get a chance to experience this restaurant, the staff deserves this review. I belong to a womens group, and we were going to have our Christmas gathering at Forked at Waterside. The leader in our group who set up this gathering had called the restaurant to make reservations, she was informed that the Forked at Waterside restaurant does not take reservations, however if she called an hour prior to our arrival that would be fine, then they would set up for our group consisting of 15 people. This information given by the management, Our group leader called this establishment 3 times to make sure thst we would be accomated and she was told it would be fine. On the day of our gathering, which was set for Sunday, December 15, 2024 at noon, our group leader called the Forked at Waterside to inform them that we would all be arriving at noon, the person who answered the phone stated that she could not accommodate us because they were busy and couldn't guarantee a table, our group leader explained the set up that was told to her and again, it was stated that they could not accommodate all of us...of course when asked to speak to management, it was stated that management wasn't it. So now we all had to be contacted at the last minute fir a change of plans to find a REAL establishment who could set up for a group. It a good thing that I got the message for a quick change of plans before heading to the Forked at Waterside. Things always turn out for the better as a nice restaurant was found in place of the unorganized Forked at Waterside....As far as I am concerned, the incompetent staff at the Waterside can go Fork themselves....I will make it a point to inform all my friends to think twice about thinking of even trying out this...