The Grille at Stonegate Golf Club — Restaurant in Florida

Parents brought us out and we were reasonably confident we would enjoy the place. We are not unfamiliar with nice establishments and are pretty easy-going. However, in spite of every opportunity to look past its shortcomings, this was the worst dining experience we've ever had. So bad in fact, my parents have sworn the place off, and intended to leave a review on nextdoor, but found many similar experiences.

The wait: there was no one else waiting to get seated, yet we sat waiting for the hostess for 25 minutes - she was not at the station the entire time, told us she was caught tending to tables and laughed. My father waited longer at the bar for change. Several minutes passed before menus were brought over, and still longer for a waiter. I cannot stress how patient we were, and how extraordinary a wait this ultimately was. In other words we were not being fancy or expecting anything excessive. There was no shortage of servers, we counted at least 4. We ordered drinks appetizers and our entries because of the long wait between seeing our server and drinks.

After a fair amount of time they brought the entrees. Wondering why we didn't get our apps, the server said he flat out honestly forgot to put them in. They were on the same dang ticket, at the same time as the entrees... Like you had to actively try not to put that in, he wrote it down... Between bringing food, and seeing our waiter again, was quite a while.

The food: all of our entrees came with fries and out of 6, 1 was at least warm, while the rest cold. When told, they nuked the lot and fried the sweet potatoes fries in oil that was too cold. I have never in my life seen a bowl of sweet potato fries with actual fryer oil in the bottom. They were drenched in oil. On it's face a kitchen can make a mistake or two, but this was wholesale disregard for quality. I would hazard a guess the fryers weren't even on, and they were simply microwaved originally. They had no intention of bringing the apps and we asked more than once before waiter said let me check on those. The chicken tenders were dry. But the apps... Omg after all of that, what an awful disaster. Pickle chips were awful, the worst we've had anywhere, ever. The chicken wings had no sauce, or dipping sauces. Plain and fried hard, and I mean hard. The pot stickers were the only really decent thing.

The management/problem resolution: first props to the afternoon bartender/manager - he stepped up and apologized, and made a good faith effort to address as much as he could. However, his day shift manager heard the story and came up claiming she has no idea. Was not terribly interested in what the details of the poor service were. She got us a basket of fries and a basket of sweet potato fries and took the apps off the bill. Had she not claimed to have no idea what was going on, after clearly being read in before she came over, I'd have appreciated her approach more. Again super kudos to bartender/management gentleman.

It's weird, after all of that I wouldn't have expected to see a gratuity for such awful food, and yet there was an 18 dollar insult to injury fee.

Now if you made it this far, I'd like to mention that there really is no cause for service and experiences this poor. I should never regret a choice in restaurant so much, like wishing I could have my actual 2.5 hours back. And judging by the number of boiler plate comments from the management. I expect this to continue as it would appear little regard is paid to choice in cooking staff, and corners need to be cut. It looks like this could have been a great place, and some of the dishes have the makings for something great, but from other comments it looks like this is the direction it will continue to head.

Whole close, and maybe convenient, there are significantly better casual dining establishments not a lot further away, and perhaps you should reward their attention to detail vs casting your money down a well here. 0/10 I cannot more strongly encourage...

Ok, some perspective. This is not a Michelin 3 star restaurant, but rather a casual grille for golfers and the community. At that, I feel they succeed quite well. Some context...

I own a consulting company near Atlanta and service primarily medical facilities thorough out the southeast. I work long hours and try to find good local restaurants instead of the chain fare. Out here near Poinciana Medical, there's not a whole lot compared to other places I visit.

Today I decided to search out restaurants on Google Maps and this one was very close. Since I also love golf, I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did!!

The hostess began the experience by being very pleasant. She let me select a table and then brought me my coffee and water when she learned the waitress was occupied. That's high touch.

My waitress, Michelle, was soon there as well and took my order...the Shrimp Po Boy. She was also pleasant and attentive, but not smothering.

The food came out quickly. I won't lie and say it was the best ever or life changing. But, it was very good with large, nicely fried shrimp. And the Cajun Remoulade was perfectly spicy. The fries were both hot and crispy...so good!!

Light pop music in the background behind the various groups talking about life over lunch rounded out the experience as I relaxed with my second cup of coffee. I was not rushed at all.

For a respite away from work that included great food and service, I was charged a grand total of $15.86. What a steal!!! Unfortunately, I'm only down here...

I have never had a truly bad experience here - I don't think the locals give it enough credit. I live in NYC and have access to great food anytime I want it - I know good food. This place is great! I have yet to have a bad meal here anytime I'm visiting. The service can be a bit slow, that is true, but the food is solid. The signature burger is excellent, the wings are delicious and have a number of seasoning options to suit any taste, the steak salad is on point, they have a wide variety of gluten free options, brisket is excellent, kid options are perfect, the soups are very good, and try the sweet potato fries. Based on my experience, I would say the area this place suffers the most is breakfast, unfortunately. But I think the lunch and dinners make up for that. The new renovation that just happened is beautiful - very clean, modern and updated. The drinks are great and the new bar is huge! If you tried it only once and were disappointed, give it a second chance. It's like an upscale diner and I highly...