The Wine Imperium — Restaurant in Florida

Let me preface this by saying we used to absolutely love Imperium. Unfortunately, our most recent visit was vastly different than those prior and is cause for concern regarding the food quality and level of service others might expect moving forward.

At first, we didn't mind that our table was visibly dirty (old food from the table was stuck to the bottom of our glasses), that our waitress emptied beverages onto the ground near us from bussed tables, that the food we received was different than described on the menu and from previous experiences (literal frozen chicken patty in lieu of "hand-battered chicken breast"), or that we weren't checked on a single time in the 30 minutes between receiving our food and the bill despite a very light crowd.

What pushed our experience from an inconvenient anomaly to a highly disappointing experience was that, despite asking very casually whether recipes had recently changed, we were met with indifferece and hostility from our waitress. Rather than acknowledge our experience and the clear variance between the food we received and the menu descriptions, we were offered a $2 discount and told that the menu was brand new. Really, it's the exact same menu we've ordered off of for months - if not a year or two at this point.

Upon clarifying we were not new patrons and had most certainly ordered off the same menu before, we promptly received our check and were again left to ourselves without any form of verbal conclusion from the waitress. It's not clear whether this is the new norm for food and service quality at Imperium, or a...

I came in at 6:30 pm for a glass of wine and felt like I really annoyed the bartender on duty just for being there.

I entered and asked if I could sit at the bar (just to confirm it wasn’t a reservation only type of place) and was told I could. The bartender never greeted me and never introduced themself, so I felt really awkward right from the start. I was the only person and the bar and there were only two other tables in the restaurant.

Eventually the bartender came back and I ordered a glass of wine. He told me they were out of the one I ordered, so I ordered something else. He said “that’s really different from the one you tried to order” then dropped off the glass of wine and walked away. Didn’t have me try it first, didn’t come back to see if I liked it, didn’t offer me any water or ask if I wanted to order food.

30 minutes later, I was able to get the attention of someone else for the check. The bartender came back and dropped off the check, didn’t say a word. He didn’t ask how I liked everything, didnt even say “thanks, have a good night”…literally completely silent.

There are many places in the area with great service who make you feel welcomed. Don’t waste your time...

Good food and very nice and accommodating waitress. Our 4 year old was being very frustrating... At first I didn't want to eat there, then hit the table we were set at, then he didn't want to eat at the table he chose. All the while. Our waitress was incredibly nice and trying to make sure that we were all happy. She made sure we were very well settled and had a smile on her face the whole time. She also guided us towards good options and away from some of the things that we were going to choose based on reviews from other customers.

We ended up ordering two different wine flights, the charcuterie board, and the margarita pizza with prosciutto added. It was all very good. She brought out a side of the spicy jam because we wanted to try it. It was awesome. On top of the pizza. Our son ate macaroni and cheese with a side of fruit. That was also pretty tasty.

Definitely would recommend this place. Eating outside was perfect because our kiddo could run around a little bit while we sat at the table and...