The Grill At 1951 — Restaurant in Florida

First time there for my in-laws 75th birthday and walked into the place and it was nice. Great atmosphere server was wonderful and polite but that’s about all that was good. For the price paid it was no better than your basic chain restaurant. Dinner rolls were good but all the meals were subpar. I ordered chicken Marsala and it was anything but. They combined the pasta with the chicken which gave no gravy prob cause the pasta soaked it up. The Marsala gravy was non existent. It was basically just linguine with some mushrooms and chicken. Not a single hint of Marsala. It was not correct color or texture. It was thick and creamy almost white when it should be thin and dark. My mother in law got the large portion of the jazzy muscles and they were the smallest muscles ever and she doesn’t eat a lot and easily finished the muscles. There was also so much gravy the linguine was swimming at the bottom along w the floating corn kernels. The lobster Mac and cheese my wife ordered was disappointing, the lobster topper was very over cooked and she couldn’t even get it out of the tail. The prime rib my father in-law got was the only decent food of the night however you get no vegetables with that meal which odd. Then onto desert. The menu states fresh house made brownies and we were told by our server they were fresh made just coming out of the oven which was a lie. Maybe they just made a fresh batch however we were given day old ones that was nearly frozen. I’ve never been to any restaurant ever that didn’t at least heat up the brownie before serving: it was cold dry and not at all fresh. I don’t mind paying good money for quality food but this was not. It was our first and most definitely our last time there. We paid a little under $300 for (4) people and honestly we would have gotten better quality food for a third of the price at Carabas. I just wish this was a better experience and had to apologize to my father In law and will have to take him to a better dining experience next year.

Reply to business owner, Thank you for your reply however I have a few add ons.

1. I revised the post to be more detailed with the issues that we had. I also promptly removed that part of my comment as to be less harsh on my review in which I changed it to state it’s no different than your average chain restaurant.
2. We had no issues with the (bread) in which is exactly what our server called it, she did not state anything about fresh baked French baguette bread just bread and I simply referred to those as dinner rolls.
3. The fact you won’t respond to the meals is fine it just shows you have no words to describe how bad it actually was and take accountability for a less than great product. But looking at other reviews there’s many people that say there’s been a new chef recently and more than likely that’s why it’s not up to class standards.
4. Regardless I’m simply stating the facts of the meal and if we were to ask for manager while dining to basically take back the entire meal it wouldn’t have been a good convo. It was not anyone’s fault but the chef who prepared it. Just take ownership as an owner for a less than good meal and take it as a learning experience. Thank you for your time. Better luck in the...

We went for our 42nd wedding anniversary. When I made the reservation, their website asked if we were dining for a special occasion, to which I replied that we were. Our anniversary wasn't acknowledged in any way, which was fine, except, why even ask? We didn't mention it because that isn't our way. I had read that others had their special event celebrated with a balloon on the table which, sounded really nice.

Trinity served us sweetly but did not know much about any of the dishes we asked about. She asked if we wanted an appetizer from the menu which we declined. The menu stated bread came with the meal. We never got any. When she brought the meals I asked if we should have gotten bread. She stated we only bring bread if you ask for it. We had no idea we had to ask for the bread when we declined an appetizer off the menu. I noticed others had bread on their table. She did offer to bring it but we already had our meals.

We both ordered stuffed grouper which was delicious. My husband had mashed potatoes that he said were good. I ordered risotto which was not like all the others I've had before. It was dry and more like yellow rice with peas/red peppers. The one and only vegetable of the day was butternut squash. My husband loved it but I did not. It was prepared fine but I don't care for that vegetable. Why can't they offer two choices....It's strange a restaurant would only offer one for every single dish. We shared creme brulee for dessert which was delicious.

I had a glass of Cabernet for $11 and my husband had a martini for $17. Our total bill with tip was $144. We chalked it up to a special occasion. I have had better for less but again....it was our anniversary. Live and learn. Our meal was fine but we won't return. You get one chance to make a good first impression....so...

Dinner

This was out second trip to the restaurant and it was as good as the first time. We made a reservation and we actually were seated at the time we reserved. This usually does not happen at other restaurants. The service was great and the food arrived quickly. I started with the mushroom soup, which tasted great. The entree for me was the braised beef, my wife had the chicken Florentine, my sister went with the pork with linguine and capers. My brother-in-law had the same as I did. All meals tasted great and were presented very nicely. We all ended with the Crème brûlée. This was great as well. The top was a tad overdone, would be my only negative. We had the two for fixed price so the meals were a great price. Definitely will return!

On 5/20/22: Back this week for a special dinner. At this point changing my rating to 3 stars. So the great deal on the fixed price menu is gone. Sad to see this happen.

The place is still great with music, ambiance and service. The menu is missing many of my favorites, risotto, osso buco, others gone. That risotto we expected was gone. We ordered two things to try. Brazed beef was good but the Mac and cheese was cold. The server attempted to warm up, it came back when we were finished the meal 15 minutes later… still barely warm. I took it home to doctor up and heat. The crème brûlée was still good but seems a bit thicker.

We still like the place but not real satisfied with the food and menu missing some favorites. The service was great and we enjoyed the evening. We look forward to see if items make it back to the menu. Lumpy mashed potatoes is not a substitute...