The Citizen — Restaurant in Florida

BACHELORETTES BEWARE: Don’t be tricked by The Citizen. Don’t know if I’ve had in recent memory such a rude & unpleasant experience with a restaurant. I waited a few months before I wrote this review trying to see if I would settle down from thinking about it, but every time someone asks me about how I liked my trip to Rosemary Beach, I tell them about my awful experience at The Citizen, and get absolutely enraged. To me, that’s a sign that I should probably warn other restaurant-goers about this unpleasant place. Buckle up:

At first glance, seems like a great spot. Cute, Instagram-able, and in the thick of it all. But it was the abysmal service and sense of entitlement and disdain from the staff that made this place stand out as so overwhelmingly BAD.

My party consisted of 15 girls as it was, in common Rosemary Beach fashion, a Bachelorette Party (which, warning to all other Bachelorettes - I think our treatment here was a microcosm of how this entire town feels about Bachelorette parties: they hate us, and no matter how good or respectful you are, you are immediately treated with hostility because of unknown bridal parties before you). The maid of honor reserved our table ~2.5 months in advance, and emailed with the staff to double confirm our booking the week before. We had to book in two groups: for 7 and for 8, asking that we just be seated near each other. We were told that was fine.

Upon the first group of 7’s arrival at our designated time, we walked in to an empty restaurant, where, I watched as one of the waiters came out of the back, looked at us, ROLLED HER EYES, & walked back into the back. Excuse me? Then, out came the host. The maid of honor gave her name, but the host kept saying he didn’t see that reservation. Since the WiFi doesn’t work in this place, the Maid of Honor FINALLY pulled up her email threads, showing proof that we did, in fact, book for these two parties.

Ok fine - the Host proceeds to tell us that he can’t sit our two parties near each other as it, “overwhelms the kitchen” - GUYS THERES NO ONE ELSE THERE YET AND WE ARE OFFERING TO PAY ON TWO SEPARATE CHECKS. They said the only way that we could be near each other would be with a table outside (which like, that’s suspicious, because how does THAT not overwhelm the kitchen hmmm?) In 95 degree heat in June? Respectfully, no thanks, that’s why we booked in advance!

So our first party gets seated, second group arrives from Ubers, and they get seated on the other side of the restaurant.

We sit down, the waitress who rolled her eyes at us comes out, SLAPS MENUS ON THE TABLE, and goes, “Have you ladies thought about what you want yet?” …sorry, what? We just sat down & there’s still no one else here?

We look through, place our orders, whatever. The whole time we’re sitting there - being, mind you, not rowdy, loud, or crazy, just a group of girls out to brunch - the vibes are just ABOMINABLE. The waitress keeps circling our table like a Great White Shark in waiting.

Finally food comes out - except, not the maid of honor’s. She proceeds to wait, we’re all eating, finally waitress comes out again after, I kid you not, 20 minutes and goes, “oh we broke your plate so we’re going to remake that.”

Ok… MOH’s food finally comes out, she eats, we are done at this point, so decide to pack it up. We get the check - do you think we got some kind of comp for the food taking 30 extra minutes? Nope. Nothing.

We walk over to the other table to see how things fair over there. Turns out, not much better! We all go to leave, and once outside, the other table tells us that as THEIR waiter put the bill down, he goes, “There’s a 20% tip already on their for parties over 6. Just so you know, I only see 18% of that.”

HUH?!! WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?!!

Mind you, we all realized then that at the first table, we probably tipped ON TOP OF the 20% they already took.

Just a truly comical, yet enraging experience. I can only guess that this level of poor service is by design, and they only want small groups to come here? Hope this review...

I had a phenomenal experience. The aesthetic, the service, and the cuisine are on par with the exceptional quality I would expect from a restaurant on 30A. Harrison took care of us and is a master of the craft. He knows the menu well and provided service akin to that seen in some of the finest dining establishments. The food was delicious. We tried the pork fried rice, the whipped feta, and the oysters. Whipped feta was a favorite with a creamy richness that paired well with the candied almonds and warm naan. The oysters from murder point are a decent change from others in the area. They emphasize quality over quantity. Instead of giant, flavorless, gummy oysters, these oysters are smaller, about the size of a quarter. However, they pack a punch when it comes to rich, savory flavor of the sea. The Kumamoto oysters were also delectable, offering a beautiful presentation on their waved shells and a sharp, yet delightful salinity unlike any other. The pork belly fried rice was rich and tender. The addition of an apple kimchi provided a refreshing nuance that separates this rice from the rest of the competition. Moving to the entree, I had the special of the evening, the fried whole snapper. Firstly, I was delighted by the presentation, as I found it unique to serve the fish upright, almost as if it had swam out of the frying pan and onto the plate. The flavor was rich with sweet nuttiness that complemented the natural flavor of the fresh snapper. The meat was tender and flakey, falling right away from the bones as Harrison had promised. The accompanying slaw was a welcome addition, providing a sweet acidity that both complemented the sweetness of the snapper while balancing the dish, cutting the savoriness of the fried fish with some acid. Finally, we move to dessert. We shared the bananas foster bread pudding, the pecan pie, and the beach pie. Of the three, my favorite was the Bread pudding. In addition to being s large portion fit for sharing, it was also served warm with a sweet glaze and ,of course, a la mode. Second place goes to the pecan pie, which surprised me. This is no traditional pecan pie, but a modern rendition. It is served almost like a warm empanada or filled croissant. A toasty, sweet glazed outside with a warm pecan filling. I particularly enjoyed it because, unlike many other pecan pies, this one was mildly sweet in comparison to the typical pecan pie that is loaded with sugar. Finally, the beach pie was very good, but it was the least stunning in my opinion. It was essentially a piece of key lime pie with an extra mixed citrus twist added to make it unique. The difference is subtle, but noticeable. Overall it was a lovely experience and I look forward to returning in the future. If there was ever such a thing as a fusion of casual fine dining, this...

We have made it through the menu mostly and sat in the dining room once and bar a few times. I would recommend sitting at the bar. Our server was really weeded and with a server assistant I don’t know why service needed to be so slow. She kept saying the bar was too backed up but I noticed she looked at our table after realizing she didn’t put in my drink order and went to go order it - or so it seemed.

Here’s my feedback on the menu most of what I have had…

The heirloom tomato the Johnny cakes were over cooked and needed salt on the whole dish. First time we had it it was better.

The fisherman grits sounded really homey but was pretty disappointing presentation

The grouper dish was perfectly cooked fish but needed some salt and I think they rely on the bentons bacon to bring salt to the dish but still needed a finishing salt.

Short rib dish was great the beans were delicious and the bite of the beans with the carrots was amazing.

Smoky and the peach was my favorite drink and I have tried most of them the que sera Serrano was good too.

The jerk chicken was fantastic.

The hamachi dish was light and a great starter not overpowering I think it could have been great with just a little salt over the top.

Cheese board is actually one of my favorites on the menu believe it or not. I love all the choices but it needs a couple more pieces of bread.

The Calabrian shrimp is way too much oil - like way too much I understand there is bread but it’s too oily.

Octopus I remember being great.

Waffle fries are delicious super crispy

Nutella icebox pie was better the second time - not so consistent on the pie crust first time was too hard to break with a fork second time it was easier.

Japanese shaved ice was awesome I had the ginger peach flavor.

My mother in law had the cauliflower and the rice was horrible it’s as if they cooked it in a rice cooker and put too much water and left it on too long because it was mushy and no flavor.

Not the best restaurant in town but pretty good overall.

I also thought it was extremely stupid to have the transgender sign on the bathroom for a single bathroom it could just say water closet because obviously anyone will use it it’s not a community bathroom I thought the political statement was unnecessary.

I will be back to sit at the bar and have a plate or two but it’s not where I will...