The Landing Strip Tavern — Restaurant in Florida

TO THE OWNER: In your response below, you never seem to address the poor quality and mistakes in our orders. My biggest peev with your response is the fact that you added an "or" before coleslaw. There is no "or" in the menu description. The way your menu reads is that I should have received "Fries, Cole slaw and 2 corn fritters." Your answer added a simple "or". With that I would have received "Fries OR coleslaw and 2 corn fritters". Your menu punctuation is incorrect which means that I absolutely should have received what I clearly ordered. You stated that a sandwich includes a side of homemade chips. Where were they? You took them away. The waitress never stated that we could not receive both. Your waitress absolutely stated that the fees come out of their paychecks. Florida law prohibits adding a credit card fee. However, that law has been ignored and not enforced statewide. You should state that there will be a fee for not using cash BEFORE you order. You wash over the mistakes and quality. You never once offered any special incentive for some of us to come back and give you a second chance. In twenty years, you should know the simple statement that's on the order of "A happy customer returns and brings back more customers. Those new customers bring back more. One poor experience hast the opposite effect. The balls in your court now. BTW, our group has hundreds of members in Florida alone. Nine friends and myself made a mistake of trying High Jackers. They definitely earn that name. Only 6 , out of 10 meals were somewhat correct. I ordered the “Corned Beef Reuben Cuban”. Their wording is very clever. Says “Corned Beef piled high with sauerkraut”. They are correct. It’s a little bit of corned beef, piled high with sauerkraut. Since for $10.99 for the sandwich, you get no side, I decided to order one. (I stand corrected. You get a side of chips)This one is very misleading, if not stated incorrectly. Menu states “Add French fries, or blacshould have receivedk beans and rice, coleslaw and 2 corn fritters for $3.79”. I ordered “French fries, Cole slaw and 2. Acorn fritters” and she went to the next person. A lady in our group ordered the same way. I received coleslaw and 2 corn fritters. She received French fries and 2 corn fritters. I questioned my order and the waitress quickly responded “You ordered the coleslaw” and then dismissed me. The same with my friend. I took a bite of my coleslaw and it was very strange tasting. I told our waitress there was something off with the coleslaw and she responded “It’s got a lot of celery seed and a lot of people don’t like it.” I stated that I was one of them and she just walked away. One lady at my table ordered a Kabob dinner. She was given the wrong protein and told the waitress so. The waitress went and got a plate and asked if she could remove the kabob. My friend said it was ok. The waitress said “Thank you for giving it back” and then reached down and took it from her plate. My friend waited a long time before asking our waitress if she would get her kabob soon? The waitress replied “I’m sorry, we’re really backed up”. I would expect her kabob to be a priority. Another friend ordered a shrimp basket. One of the shrimp was a battered and fried shrimp outer shell without the meat. He asked the waitress about it and then just asked for a discount instead. She reduced the amount and then when he got the bill, it was now higher. He asked her why it was higher and she replied “It’s because you used a card”. And there lies the last “Hijack”. It was not until we got our bill that we found that we would be charged a 10% fee for not using cash. Our waitresses response was that the cost and time to do credit cards comes out of our paycheck. Say what! Needless to say none of our group will return. I checked out their separate room in thoughts of bringing our groups chapter and we all decided that they would probably tack on another fee. First time…Last time. I just looked down the list of reviews and there are 77 one...

This restaurant is a local right of passage. It is right next to, and by right next to I mean the gate to the runway backs up to the restaurant, the local airport. They have an outside seating area (and inside!) that is always clean, accompanied an equally clean children's playgroud. There have been many occasions I have came here with family to sit outside, eat, and watch the sunset. It is beautiful and the ambiance is great.

The food reminds me of something like upscale bar food, if that is a thing. Their wings are great! But, their salsa is one of a kind with amazing flavors that are not too hot, not too bland, with lots of flavor! While I don't enjoy seafood at all, my family does and believes they have excellent quality and selection. My mother's favorite is the (I believe Thursday) U-Peel-'Em Shrimp Special.

Their service has always been great with the exception of placing a to go order. I'd say about half of the time I order here it is to take the food home rather than dining in. But it can be difficult. You can not place your order for a specific pick up time. Say you are having a party and would like to order from this restaurant for some eats. One cannot call at 6:00 to place an order they'd like to pick up at 7:00, I have been told several times to call back this is not allowed. They have told me multiple times I have to place an order over the phone right before I am in route to get said order. Now that I know that's their deal, it's pretty much no problem. Except for one occasion. I know that businesses get busier on the weekend and that's great for them, more customers more profit. We wanted to order some of their delicious wings to have for dinner but did not want to deal with the crowd so decided to place a to go order. I called about 45 minutes early to order to be fair with their possible congestion. I was told to call back a half an hour to fifteen minutes before the order was planned to be picked up. No problem. I know their deal. I decided to call 20 minutes before we wanted to pick up the order to place it. The order taker told me is it was a little early to place the order to which I told her I called previously and was instructed to call back at this time. She sighed over the phone and told me "Look, we're really busy right now" and that she couldn't guarantee the order at the time I requested to pick them up (about 20 minutes from then). I told her that was fine we could wait a few minutes extra for it. She then told me again "but we're busy right now and you're calling too early". I asked her if she was asking me not to place the order, which would have been fine. The order taker then shouted loudly asking me if I "HAVE YOU EVER WORKED IN FOOD SERVICE BEFORE? LIKE HAVE YOU EVER? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M TELLING YOU" I was shocked and told her yes I have and if I can't place the order now I understand just let me know. She was increasingly rude and told me again I was calling too early. I found this was shocking that I was calling too early when she had already told me the order would arrive later than original pick up time. She now stated she did not know if I placed an order when it would be completed. I told her it was fine I would wait. She asked "WELL did you still want something?"

To be completely honest, I understand that they were busy I was also trying to be fair and considerate to the restaurant, but never in my life have I been yelled at by anyone in the dining industry until this time or been treated as nasty as a customer as I was at High Jackers on this occasion. I still love their food, but don't know when I'll...

I went recently and I have been several times over the years, but not one for fried food I don’t go regularly. It used to be a relaxed and fun place. I know locals who used to go quite a bit. As I local who tries to support local business, I have been several times over the years during trying times, such as the current situation. I was really shocked by the impersonal feeling when I last visited. My stomach was a little upset and couldn’t find anything on the menu that wasn’t deep fried. I ordered a salad and a pretzel. Sure enough, it came out deep fried. It crumbled when I broke a piece off, so asked for one not so overcooked. I think they brought me back the same pretzel. I told the waitress I couldn’t eat it because I don’t eat fried food, sure enough the manager was over and ready to argue. She told me it was my fault I didn’t read the menu closely enough, because it said it was deep fried. She made me pay for the pretzel I didn’t even eat, basically because they had wasted two pretzels on me. I swear I have never heard of a fried pretzel. I just couldn’t believe her attitude. I ended up paying 35 dollars for two side salads and a few soft drinks for lunch. The vibe there has totally changed, and the food isn’t all that. Nothing unique or special about any of it.I may go back for a few beers but why go back if they going to be rude and impersonal? There are too many other great places to go..

Responding to the post from the owner below: here you go arguing again! It completely blows my mind you continue to blame the customer for being human.You must deal with difficult issues all the time, which is part of the business. I hate to think about the poor person who has an issue far worse than a burnt pretzel!!! I broke off a tiny little piece of the first pretzel and took one bite. It tasted like corn oil do I should have known then how it was cooked. It was laying there on the plate when I sent it back so how in the world can you say it was half eaten? No one explained it was deep fried, they just said that was how they cooked it, so, I asked for another one, not so overcooked. If it was explained it was fried I would not have asked for another one, obviously!!! My fault for not reading the menu but why would I have to read the details about a pub pretzel, and I was rushed to order as we were only on a lunch break.I thought about asking for the pretzel back to give to my friend, as I was paying for it, but she said no one she knew would eat it, and no one I knew would either, which speaks for the quality of your food. It must be fried because it is frozen. pub pretzel is a baked pretzel everywhere else!! Again, I don’t appreciate the reaction. You were working to half capacity and I was made to feel humiliated in front of my company for being human. I go into restaurants where the atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming. I am sure there are lots of unknowing new residents who will wander in and don’t know how it used to be so they have no comparison. Unfortunately those pretzels that you maybe paid a few dollars for wholesale will keep my friends and family away in lieu of a place where we feel we are valued as returning customers. If customer service was a priority your manager never would have reacted the way she did. Very unprofessional. I could not really find any unfried or greasy sandwiches that are not served with your fried chips are on your...