The Bistro at The Grand Oaks Resort — Restaurant in Florida

We won’t return. The Bistro has a decent atmosphere and is much quieter than many restaurants. The menu is appealing. So there is clearly potential here.

After telling the hostess my name for the reservation, she pointed toward the table, saying, “this is your table and your waitress will be here shortly.” She did not walk us to the table.

At first we thought our young female server was new but then we decided she was under qualified. She never gave us her name. In our party of 4, the 3 others ordered Manhattans. Our server asked if brown sugar were an ingredient??? She assured us she couldn’t make the cocktails. I told her I was ordering a glass of the Pembrook Cab which she could handle. She served the Manhattans, then she returned to ask which wine I ordered!! She made no effort to hurry my wine altho I reminded her twice I didn’t have my wine! So, my wine was delayed about 10 minutes.

We ordered when she brought my wine, already realizing our server was inattentive and scattered, at best.

I ordered the Mahi piccata which allowed me to choose my sides. I ordered a salad and mashed potatoes. The whole table joked about my dislike of veggies to the point where I would have thought the server would have caught that.

Another server brought my salad. I asked “do you serve bread?” A brusque “no” was the response. (The salad was excellent.)

Our server brought our food. My plate had the Mahi with the dreaded veggies. I said, “this is not what I ordered.” The server froze. I offered, “would you bring me an order of mashed potatoes?” She seemed to be relieved and agreed.

All of our plates of food were luke warm. (Except the mashed potatoes!). Everyone was disappointed. We ate it anyway. While we ate, our server rarely checked in on us. When she did, I told her the food was not hot enough; she had no response. We finished our meals, some plates were removed.

We waited 25 minutes for our check. Finally, one of our party went to the manager/hostess/bartender to request our checks. Altho she approached our server, still nothing happened. So we all approached the manager/hostess/bartender. She reviewed our check which was not split between the 2 couples, as ordered. Then she had to re-run our bills to correct them. She said of our server, “she doesn’t usually work nights.” And “don’t let this deter you.”

There was no apology from either our server or the manager/hostess/bartender.

We felt disrespected and under appreciated. This was the absolute low of lows in...

Our Wednesday lunch was very nearly a 5* experience. If you tried them in past years and were disappointed, give it another go! Lots of changes have been made.

Hubby and I sat on the patio, viewing the lush greenery, shimmering ponds, and Spanish moss cloaked majestic oaks from comfortable shade. The Romanesque columns, arches and planters add to the beautiful surrounds.

Hits: Our server was polite, attentive, and personable. Iced tea was refreshing and a frosty mug to keep my Stella Lager cool was super nice. BLT Croissant was great: croissant was huge and flaky; lettuce was crisp; tomato was juicy; bacon was not too greasy or chewy. Homemade Chips are nicely salted and delightfully crispy. The lunch portion of fettuccini alfredo is quite generous, super creamy with great cheese flavors and freshly ground pepper. Pasta was perfectly al dente. Scotch and Gin pours were accurate, not skimpy. Bourbon Pecan pie was fantastic: crumbly crust, velvety filling topped with whole, tender pecans alongside fresh whipped cream—and yes, I make whipped cream at home from scratch so I can always tell the difference between fresh and bottled. We shared it and I only got 3 bites before it vanished lol.

Areas for Improvement: Navy bean and ham soup was a touch salty, and I’m not sensitive to sodium. However the beans not being mushy let me know it was fresh, so not a total miss. Hubby asked if they had Rye and was told they did, Bulleit brand. He asked a second time: the rye, not the bourbon? Again, he was told yes. When it arrived, it was in fact bourbon but our server apologized, removed it, and quickly replaced it with his next selection and it was removed from our bill. That’s classy. My fettuccini was mixed with broccoli, which wasn’t on the menu description. Had I known it was a part of the dish, I’d have ordered something else. It was well executed, it’s just not my preference. Hubby remarked it was strange for a BLT to be served without mayo and said the first half was good but when he got down to those last few bites, it was a bit dry. Also, they were entirely out of vodka for some odd reason.

A year or two ago, we’d had back-to-back sad experiences here: grumpy servers and sub-par food, but obviously they’ve turned it around and I heartily recommend giving...

Horrible customer experience. We were so looking forward to coming back to the Grand Oaks. We had a great experience the last time. But alas - Something’s gone terribly wrong. We were shown to a table and gave our waiter, Nick, our drink order. We also asked what the soup was. Nick went off to check. Came back and said “Bistro Beef.” We said, “That sounds interesting - what’s ‘Bistro Beef?’” Nick went off to check. (Beef Vegetable, BTW). Two of the four drinks came. (No straws). Then we saw him bringing the other two drinks, stop by the bar and grab 2(!) straws. (So of course he had to go back to the bar for the other two. Efficiency isn’t Nick’s strong suit.)

But then the best (worst) part. Nick ignored us for a full 15 minutes. We counted 11 passes. No eye contact. Nothing. So we went to the hostess and asked if we could get some service, and that’s when the Bistro failed utterly. Instead of apologizing for the delay she condescendingly told us that we’d only been waiting 10 or 15 minutes and we shouldn’t be bothering her with such issues.

We couldn’t believe it. Did she really just say that? After a few more minutes and a chat with the table next to us, we left. So did the other table. We spent $120 at another restaurant that should have been spent at the Bistro.

Coaching opportunities:

Teach the waitstaff efficiency. Never walk anywhere empty handed. Always make eye contact with all your tables - even if you can’t get to them at least they know you’re aware. Never leave guests for 15 minutes with no contact. Nick is young. He’ll learn.

But the hostess (I wish we’d gotten her name) was old enough to know better. She dismissed us as if she couldn’t care less that her waitstaff was falling behind. We could have dealt with Nick, but the condescending attitude of the hostess was intolerable.

I hope the owners of this establishment take note. It has the feeling of a place being run on the cheap and that never ends well. You need quality staff and enough of them to succeed in a very competitive market. And that’s especially true when you’re off the beaten path -...