Beach House Las Olas — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

Review: Beware of False Advertising and Hidden Charges!

I recently visited Spazio located by the Las Olas Beach, drawn in by their enticing sign advertising half off appetizers. As a frequent traveler, I’ve seen my share of tourist traps, but this experience took the cake in terms of deception.

Firstly, the half off appetizers deal seemed like a great deal. However, the truth emerged only at the end of our meal. When the bill arrived, we discovered that the discount only applied to one appetizer. This critical detail was never mentioned when we placed our order. Had we known, we would have ordered differently. The staff conveniently failed to clarify this misleading promotion, leaving us feeling duped.

Adding insult to injury, our bill included an 18% service charge, sneakily disguised and not mentioned anywhere on the menu or by the staff. This charge only came to light when we questioned the unexpected hike in our total. The server’s vague explanation did little to alleviate our frustration, as transparency about such charges should be standard practice.

While the food itself was fair, the experience was marred by these deceptive practices. It’s a shame that a restaurant in such a prime location resorts to misleading advertisements and hidden fees to boost their profits. I urge fellow travelers to be wary and ensure you ask for all the details upfront. Transparency and honesty are key to a pleasant dining experience, and unfortunately, Spazio fell short on both counts.

Would I recommend this place? Only if you're prepared to navigate the fine print and potential hidden costs. Otherwise, there are plenty of other dining options that respect their customers' trust and provide a more honest and enjoyable experience.

**Update to restaurant’s response: I am an honest and fair customer, my review is also not the first to make note of these concerns, it would be nice if the owner responded with asking for more details about the incidence instead of accusing the customer being unreasonable and blasting your business online.

Business can have their own rules 100%, as long as it is crystal clear to the consumers. As a tourist, I did not appreciate how the staff handled our questions when ordering (if we could get the oysters promotion and half off one appetizer) and lack of explanation of how the pricing did not match what we were expecting (especially that we ordered with the same person).

You might have somewhere listing the 18% automatic gratuity on your written menu at the entrance (providing the benefit of doubt to be fair), but when we sat down, we were given a tablet to place our order, and there wasn’t easily-noticeable statement there to disclose this. The receipt also just listed that as “18% service charge” and proceeded to prompt us to add another tip.

I am writing this in hopes of management seeing this review (and a dozen others), and hence make an effort to improve the whole dining experience for future customers...

I recently had the opportunity to eat at Spazio on the Fort Lauderdale Beach strip. It is next to the historic Elbo Room on A1A. I was there on Tuesday, January 4 2022, the last full day of my recent trip to Fort Lauderdale. We decided to try Spazio for late lunch that day. Someone was handing out 10% off discount cards on the street. Spazio is an Italian restaurant with a full menu of appetizers, salads, entrees, pizza, desserts and drinks including mixed cocktails, beer and wine. It has outdoor seating with good views of the beach across the street and a great place to people watch. It also has indoor seating. It was not very busy so our server appeared fairly quickly. He was definitely a salesman and was trying to get us to get the ‘buy one, get one free’ drinks. These were very large margaritas but if I remember correctly this would cost about $40 for about 50 oz of margarita. I opted for a simple mango/strawberry daquiri and chicken alfredo. My lunch partner opted for the chicken alfredo with gluten-free pasta and a pina colada. Interestingly enough, garlic was NOT part of the normal seasoning for this dish so my lunch partner asked to have it added. I took my dish without garlic just to see. We split a caprese salad. The caprese came right away and was pretty tasty with the fresh mozzarella. The olive oil was just all right. My daquiri was also good. The meals came in short order. My lunch partner said that her meal, with the gluten-free pasta, was tasty except that the chicken was overcooked. I on the other hand, was not as happy with my meal. Fettucine alfredo is my favorite Italian meal and Spazio missed the mark. The fettucine was overcooked. The pieces of chicken, pan-seared, were hard and without flavor. The pieces were so hard that they were difficult to even cut with a knife. The parmesan cheese sauce in the dish has little flavor and as I said before, we were told that the dish was made without garlic. Luckily there was salt and pepper on the table but who has ever heard of Italian food without garlic. So, service was good. The alcoholic beverage was good. My entrée was NOT good. The appetizer was decent. I loved the location and the outdoor seating. Now the meal came to $96 without tip minus the 10%. After that a “serv. Charge” of $14.40 was added to the bill and this WAS NOT to cover the usual tip. It was not disclosed by the server and it was not disclosed on the menu. I am not a satisfied customer. Should I give Spazio a second chance on my next trip to Fort Lauderdale, I will not take a chance with their pasta and will most likely opt for the pizza, ask about the "service charge” before I order and if there is one, I will probably be walking away. Just my humble opinion but I am pretty fair with my reviews and I have done over 200 reviews of restaurants, hotels and other places that I have visited or services that I have...

I really hate to leave a negative review, but our experience here was so bad that I feel compelled to share. The food itself was average, and the pricing seemed reasonable. However, the blatant overcharge on our bill and the complete lack of appropriate resolution were unacceptable—and honestly, it felt like a deliberate scam.

My group of three ordered Classic Beach House Breakfasts ($15 each), and two of us opted for the "2 for 1" Brunch Faves Drinks "Brunch Punch", which were clearly listed on the menu as $16 per person. That brought our expected total to $77 before tax. With tax ($82.39) and the automatic 18% gratuity (which was odd, considering we were a small party), the total should have been $97.39.

When the bill arrived, it was $119. We immediately questioned the discrepancy, and after some back and forth, the server adjusted it—but only down to $109, still not the correct amount. After carefully reviewing the charges, we discovered the issue: instead of charging $16 for two drinks as the menu stated, they had charged $16 PER drink, totaling $64 for four drinks that should have been $32. Their explanation? They claimed they “took off” two drinks to account for the BOGO deal. But that still didn’t explain why each drink was being charged at double the listed price. At one point they tried to claim the discrepancy was the cheese 2 of us had on our eggs which wasn't listed on the bill either. $32 for cheese? None of it made ANY sense.

This wasn’t just a miscalculation; it felt like a deliberate attempt to overcharge us by $32 while inflating the original bill to increase their gratuity. Despite walking through the math with them, we couldn’t get a clear explanation, and they outright refused to correct the total to what it should have been.

To make matters worse, they charged my friend’s card twice—once for the incorrect $119 bill and again for the $109 adjustment. At some point after we left, they refunded the $109 charge and charged another $32 AFTER WE LEFT the restaurant. On his card, without consent. Under a DIFFERENT entity name. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!

The entire situation felt shady and intentional, as if they hoped we wouldn’t notice the discrepancies. Between the sketchy billing, the refusal to correct an obvious mistake, and the double charge on my friend’s card, this was easily one of the most dishonest dining experiences I’ve ever had. I would strongly caution anyone considering dining here to triple-check their bill—or better yet, take your...