University Grill — Restaurant in Florida

I lived in this area for 20 years. Tuesday evening was our first evening dining at this establishment. Being in the restaurant industry for 15 years locally you don’t have much time to go out and enjoy dining out yourself, so we make a point to select well established restaurants. We have made a reservation on Tuesday evening for 4 guests. Actually, it was our first visit for everyone dining, so we were definitely looking forward to an amazing evening. Our server who seem to be in quite a hurry didn’t have time to share any of the bar highlights or no drink menu was given for any selections. We chose our appetizers and entrées & within a short time our drinks and appetizers with delivered by someone other than our server. After our appetizers were finished, she then came by to check to see how everything was. I always taught my employees to do the three minute rule after three minutes of the item arriving at a table you always go by to check to make sure everything is to their liking,. She then took her dishes away, and we had to ask for refills on all of our drinks. Without her taking notice, our entrées were delivered again by someone other than our server, and once again failed to come back to make sure everything was perfect. Two of the four dishes were adequate (steak over done)and two dishes were definitely, not to our liking. One of the fish dishes was truly in edible and tasted with hints of ammonia, the other was definitively over cooked. The steak was ordered a medium rare and definitely came back more medium to well done. Once again, she cleared away the dishes without even inquiring about the two fish dishes that were untouched. She then brought our bill without ever asking if dessert was wanted. With a check total of over $190 and a $50 tip ( she didn’t deserve that much but you never know what the circumstances are, so I always give them the benefit of the doubt. I would’ve expected an unforgettable dining experience, which was definitely far from that. On Wednesday called to speak to the manager in regards to dinner experience on Tuesday evening, he was unavailable so I left my name and phone number….and here I sit on a Friday evening with no return call received. Again being in the restaurant industry, it is most important to reach out to your customers to make sure that we did our job and creating a wonderful dining experience, I guess some restaurants don’t have the same mutual understanding as in our business, returning customers is most important for longevity of a...

DO NOT EAT HERE!!!! Contacting the Health Department so no one has to go through what I did. Totally disgusted. Had a similar experience as other 1 star reviewer. My food was packaged in the back and (not at my table) "server insisted" and then brought back less food in the box than what was originally on my plate. This must be a regular thing?! Took Togo box to manager and she asked the server in front of me what happened, and the server stated "They must have screwed me in the back, or eat it?!" WHAT!! I'm thinking. It took the manager 15 min to come back to table. When they finally returned they acted like nothing happened and stated food should never go back to the kitchen to be boxed but server said that isn't true...Hmm 🤔. Manager was so nonchalant plus refused to cover or remove order from check. Wow! I also had a separate Togo order that I had been waiting on prior, and during this whole ordeal I still had not received my order?! It took over 45 min to get order for home. Listen...Do yourself and family a favor and GO SOMEWHERE ELSE more reputable and respectful and who conducts their business in a sanitary manner. 1st mistake: Box at the table= This place violated food handling as no one else should touch or eat your food. 2nd: Manager did not properly correct the situation as we still ended up paying for the missing food. The manager said they would make a new order of my food but again brought back half the order. I'm shocked And disappointed that University Grill would NOT cover the cost of the plate when another employee deliberately touched the food or eat it. 3rd: Fess up to the mistake! Server should have looked at what she was bringing back to the table and avoided the situation. She knew what was originally on the plate. Plus, server was arguing with us= A big No No. Management should have been more proactive by going back to the table immediately and providing the customer with a lasting impression vs. a plain ungenuine "sorry" and doing nothing else. Again: DRIVE AWAY- Do...

I was at the University Grill on Friday, Oct 6, 2017 for a late lunch (about 2 pm). The restaurant was about 20% full and there seemed to be a surplus of servers.

First, the "good". The crab bisque was outstanding! The interior of the restaurant is lovely.

Now for the "bad". The 60-ish heavy-set hostess never greeted me, did not ask me to follow her to the table, and did not tell me that my server would be with me shortly. I am assuming that she was angry about something and took it out on me. She spoke not one word to me. Personally, I have a problem with this. Bad day or not, if you are working with the public, put your happy face on or get a job working in a cubicle. Horrible first impression. After more than 5 minutes, a chunky blonde female server came to take my order. I asked about the bisque. She said it was fabulous, so I ordered a bowl. She did not lie. It was wonderful. When I ordered the bisque, I kept the menu and told her I would order the rest of my lunch when the soup was served. Well, guess what? Blondie did not serve my soup. It was served by a food runner. Blondie never did show up to take an additional food order. I actually had to flag her down to get my bill.

I have given time and date of my visit and physical descriptions of the two people I interacted with so the management will know who they were. My guest check had something like "a.m. bar" listed for the server, which I am fairly certain was not my server's name.

I doubt seriously that University Grill will get a second...