The Island Grille & Raw Bar — Restaurant in Florida

First, we've been here several times and it's been fantastic. We travel about an hour each way a few times a year just to come here. So pretty, great food and live music. We always request to sit on a high table in front of the live music. The service is not always great there but we get it bc they are slammed in the summer. Today, really bad experience. No one was sitting there but there were tables all around filled inside of our area. Took several min. before the server came out to get our order. We ordered all at once bc we know they get busy and won't come back often. Our food came before we received our drinks. We ordered 2 Nutrols. After waiting 10 min, my husband walked up to the manager who was chatting with the guitarist and someone else. We told him what's happening. He was bothered that my husband bothered him during his casual Sunday. A few min later our server comes back with our drinks (not with ice as we requested) and laughed that our food came out before our drinks. It wasn't funny. We also didn't have any silverware or anything to even eat the food. She explained that the bartender was overwhelmed because there was somebody new there, and that, even though the neutrals were right there in the refrigerator, she didn't want to bother the bartender. Not something that you tell your clientele. Our favorite oysters are the caviar oysters. They were barely edible. I ate one and did not eat the rest. Usually they're so fantastic. They weren't cold at all. Then we ordered for the first time, the ceviche. It wasn't cold and it was not good. I've never had bad ceviche. Very tomato sauce-y...weird and no acid. I ate two bites. At this point we just want to leave. Our server comes back after a long while and asks about the food bc she sees we barely ate it. We told her it wasn't good and that this experience had not been pleasant. She apologized and was nice but....too late. Also, the manager never came up to ask us if we received our drinks, nothing. He saw us leave, not a word. Great management skills. That so called manager needs to take a course on customer service. We get that things get busy but this was unacceptable. The server even told us it was way busier yesterday and they didn't have these problems. Again, she was super nice but that's not a good customer experience. Just apologize and say we'll get right on that. She was going on about how busy the bartender was and she felt bad. There were 3 bartenders there in the one bar and there are 3 bars. While I empathize, that's not my problem. We spend good money there. None of it made sense. Used to be one of our favorites but we will not be going back. That manager could have done the right thing and talked to us. That would have mitigated any issues. Look and hear your customers bc you just lost two and I'm sure that lovely so-called manager doesn't care at all. Just to add, we tipped 20%+ for the server even though the food and service did not...

I and my family visited Pass-A-Grill, Florida for several days in September. Our first afternoon we chose to take in an early afternoon dinner at The Island Grill and Raw Bar. We could not have made a better decision.

The ambiance was spectacular. The interior reflected fine dining (IMHO), while al fresco was more lively with background island style music on the speakers. Beyond was a tiki bar, a pool, and docks for those arriving by boat.

Within a minute of being seated we were greeted by our server, Anna Kate (a.k.a. “AK”) who was friendly yet efficient. She handled our questions with aplomb, offered her input when asked, and efficiently took our orders. Within minutes our drinks arrived, quickly followed by our appetizers (mussels). A short time later our dinner arrived, two $20 Three Course Dinners, Lobster and Mac ‘n Cheese, and Grilled Grouper. The presentation of our food was excellent and the taste extraordinary. Anna Kate checked in with us throughout the meal to assure a pleasurable dining experience. Upon consuming our dinner, Anna Kate unfortunately offered dessert – Key Lime pie, cheesecake, chocolate brownie sundae, and drunken bread pudding. We could not resist and settled on the Key Lime Pie and drunken bread pudding. OMG! The desserts certainly did not disappoint.

We enjoyed ourselves so much we quickly decided to return for dinner on our last night in the area (two nights later). We requested to be seated in Anna Kate’s area; the hostess promptly whisked us off to the outdoor dining area (we had two dogs with us). Soon Anna Kate appeared wearing what is evidently her customary big, warm smile. This time our dinners consisted of a Caesar salad, coconut shrimp, oysters, grilled Grouper (again), and baby back ribs. Once again the kitchen hit it out of the park in presentation and taste.

A few last comments: • The Island Bar and Grill is dog friendly! They offer grilled chicken and burgers especially for our pups. • Proceeds from all purchases go to Feeding Tampa Bay, Habitat for Humanity, and Tampa Bay Watch – pretty cool. • All in our party agreed if the Island Bar and Grill were more proximate, we’d be weekly customers, of not daily clients– they offer a fun setting and excellent food. • Lastly, and this is directed to the management of The Island Grill. The server can determine the customer’s impression of a restaurant. One can enjoy a scrumptious meal, but if the service or server is lackluster, the outing will be a disappointment. You have a fine staff. That said, Anna Kate is exceptional. Her ability to relate to her customer, to serve the customer, all the while in a positive, friendly matter is priceless. I would sincerely appreciate it if you could find some way of...

Service dogs and the Island Grill.

Although the website states that the Island Grill is ADA compliant, I found the management team was ignorant of the service dog federal laws. They also do not enforce good customer relations with their staff. I am writing this to warn other disabled veterans/persons with service dogs of their handling of my service dog.

I was on vacation visiting my grandchildren and was told about the restaurant with the fabulous pool. On Sunday, my sister, my grandchildren and I paid the fee to swim in their pool and entered with my service dog. The staff was excellent and welcomed my service dog. We spent a wonderful day swimming and eating on the patio. Of course my SD spent the entire time laying by my chair.

We had so much fun we decided to go back on Monday, however, my service dog was not welcomed on Monday. The employee at the bar informed her manager that I was entering the pool area with my service dog. He came to me and told me to leave the pool area. I told the manager that we had been welcomed the day before. He wouldn't believe me. He said he was working the previous day and never saw my dog. Of course he didn't see my dog because it was where it was supposed to be, laying by my chair. I wasn't very happy and I'm sorry to say I didn't handle it well. I'm afraid I was very outspoken to the point the employee at the bar called me a "Karen" I apologized to the manager but he and his employee were not forgiving. The owner was called in and he backed up his manager.

My sister and I attempted to show them the ADA law stating that service dogs could be on the pool deck but not by the pool unless needed for entering and exiting the water. They would not listen to us, so I phoned the police. The police came and advised the manager of the ADA law. I was then allowed entry but the employee on the patio was in such a frenzy the rest of the time we were there that she continued to be belligerent. She even told anyone that came to the bar about me. One such customer came to me and told me what she said and how her behavior shouldn't have been tolerated by management. Instead of addressing the behaviour of their employee, I was told to stay away from the bar.

I hope that the Island Grill will be compliant moving forward and no other disabled veteran/person with a service dog will be...