Ovation Bistro & Bar, Lakeland — Restaurant in Lakeland

Never again. I tried this restaurant for the first time on Mother’s Day with a reservation for six. They were probably not putting their best foot forward due to the high Mother’s Day volume. They sat us at two two-person tables pushed together. One side had a booth bench that extended well beyond the end of the two tables. The other side had three side chairs that required us to sit thigh to thigh. The two tables were different sizes so the person in the middle had to straddle tables with one table about five inches closer to the chair or bench than the other. Please see the photo. The person in the end chair was told she couldn’t have her purse on her chair back because that would stick out in the way of servers. She couldn’t put it on the other side because the chairs were too close together for there to be room there. We asked that they remedy this before ordering by providing a full sized two person table to replace the smaller one and they said they could not. Because it was Mother’s Day lunch, we probably couldn’t get in somewhere else quickly, and we stayed. They forgot silverware and then couldn’t find enough for a time so we sat waiting as our salads came to room temperature until hot-from-the-washer utensils were delivered. They had the syrup wrong in the fountain drinks. Maybe that was meant to eke out more servings per ounce of syrup? Or maybe it was another symptom of having more customers than they had capacity to serve well. The taste of those wasn’t great but not awful either. They overcooked and dried out their signature chicken entree so much that a sharp knife pulled it to shreds instead of cutting cleanly though. Given the customer volume, they couldn’t quickly clear away unneeded dishes, which made the tabletops even more cramped. We had decided in advance to have Mother’s Day dessert there rather than homemade at home after, but the situation was so uncomfortable that we skipped Mother’s Day dessert altogether to get out sooner. They comped half an entree and an appetizer, for the many problems then when a bill error was pointed out, they comped the second half of the entree. We didn’t need to pay less for such a bad experience. We needed the adequate seating for which we had a reservation and better quality control on the food and drinks. The server did her best with a situation designed...

We had a bad experience here and will never go back. We asked to try the house cab, but our waitress returned and said they were out. We sampled the house Merlot, and it tasted like fruit juice. We ended up ordering glasses off the wine menu. One of the glasses was off, as in not sound, likely due to incorrect storage. We are certain on that, my husband is a sommelier. They took it back, and I asked for a glass of the Bordeaux instead. I was brought something that didn't taste anything like Bordeaux and was also slightly tainted. At that point, I said nothing and was just going to eat the expense so as to not be difficult. I did not drink the wine. The food was fine, but nothing special. Salads were overdressed. She talked me and my mom into a steak sauce and never told us there was a charge, which I think is shady. She never refilled our water, so I was sharing my mom's by the end. Then comes the bill. First, it was a tablet that she held and scrolled. No printed check, and not handed to us to review in detail. She sees that the spoiled wine had not been removed, so she goes and has that corrected. Then we notice a wine on the tab that we didn't order. Come to find out, she brought me a Chianti, not a Bordeaux. So the 2nd wine was both unsound and the wrong one. At that point we asked to have it removed as well since it was their error and not drunk. She went in the back and got it taken off. We see the revised tab of $180, which is correct. Then the tablet glitched and wouldn't take a payment. She goes and swaps tablets, and again we see a net total due of $180. Then tip options pop up, with a minimum of 22%. We had to manually calculate and fill-in for the standard 20%, which again is shady. Net total with tip came to $216 and change. The pending charge also came through as $216 on my card. Then she shows us the tablet again and says it charged $216 and shows a balance still due of $22 and change. We're laughing, saying no. Discussed the amounts. She fiddled with the tablet, and then says, we're all good. Just checked my card statement. They went in and changed our charge to $238 after we left. So they either added back the wine that they showed us was removed, or they gave her a 40% or more tip. Third shady thing in one meal. Lastly, ambiance was dark, low end, and it smelled. Kind of felt...

EDIT- RESPONSE TO OWNER: I don’t know if you have the wrong person, but I was never asked to leave. I did not confront anyone in the restaurant, nor did my family. I didn’t even complain because I just wanted to leave! I was not intoxicated or aggressively whatsoever and it’s disgusting behavior to lie and accuse someone of that over a bad review. That is defamation of character and a lawsuit! Maybe you are just mixed up, but this mistake is unacceptable. Either you have the wrong person or it’s unethical conduct. We were a table of three woman, my girlfriend and her mother. I am genuinely insulted.

This place had the worst server I’ve ever seen. She was incredibly cold and generally ignored us the entire time. I’m assuming this was because we weren’t dressed up, because her demeanor towards the small group of men in suits was a Jekyll & Hyde switch. They came in after us yet left before us. Getting a refill was a STRUGGLE- we had to ask twice and wait at least 20 minutes with empty drinks for her to even come back. When she did, we were already done with our food, and she didn’t say a word to us before running off. The wait repeated with the check- we had to find her and flag her down just so we could leave. I don’t know if the fries were burnt or just bizarre, but after looking at other review photos, I don’t think they were right. They were hard, somehow empty, and clattered like a bag of bones. It was almost comical. The owner was very nice but for the price we paid this place was a total bust. It was like Glory...