Solluna — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

Beware the deceptive business practices at this establishment with respect to its service charge and happy hour deals.

We decided to try out Solluna based on its sandwich board on the sidewalk advertising "$7 drinks & [AND] bites / * Quesadillas / * Chips and Salsa" (picture attached).

We sat down at the bar and first ordered two of the happy hour margaritas. We then confirmed with the bartender that the chips and salsa were also $7 as advertised, only to be told that no, the happy hour only applies to the drinks, seemingly in direct conflict with the advertisement on the sidewalk.

I don't know how this could be described as anything but a bait and switch. We were looking for a place to eat, and had we known that the "bites" were not $7 as advertised, would have gone elsewhere. Unfortunately as we had already ordered drinks we were a bit stuck.

Finally when the bill came, the total amount on the credit card receipt seemed higher than it should have been. I reviewed the itemized bill, only to see an $8.85 charge with the label on the receipt smudged. When I asked the bartender about it, she proceeded to get a seemingly intentionally obtuse answer, that it included "a service fee and taxes and stuff". It took me three times of rephrasing the question to get her to confirm that the entirety of the $8.85 charge was a gratuity.

I have no problem with a service charge being added, however it should be made clear on the credit card receipt that a 15% gratuity is already included. Instead, Solluna simply displays the total charge (which includes the gratuity) labeled "Amount", followed by a blank "Tip" line.

Every other reputable restaurant I have been to in the past that includes a service charge has made it clear on the receipt, either by pre-filling the tip section with the included gratuity, or by printing the included gratuity followed by an "Additional tip" line. At the very minimum, the bar tender should be straightforward when asked in explaining that the service fee is a gratuity, rather than giving unclear answers about "taxes and stuff". After re-scrutinizing the menu, I can see that the 15% fee is mentioned at the bottom, but only immediately following and on the same line as the "undercooked foods" warning.

It is very disappointing that Solluna has chosen to operate in this manner as it reflects poorly on the city as a whole to tourists who visit only to be ripped off by a restaurant with a prime location on the beach. I plan to file a consumer complaint about this establishment with the Broward County Environmental and Consumer Protection as I believe they are intentionally trying to deceive consumers with their happy hour advertisements and service fee.

Lastly, the business permitted a customer to place his pet dog to roam free on the bar top, including in other customers' areas. Now I am a dog lover myself, but would never allow my dog to get up on the kitchen counter or table at home. The fact that the restaurant allowed such a blatant health code violation to persist in the front of the house cannot, in my opinion, bode well for their overall attitude towards hygiene and...

I’ve been there quite a few times and the service has got progressively worse and last night was the last time ever. We wanted to sit at the top bar and was told that was fine but after sitting there for around five minutes a ‘waitress’ informed us that we couldn’t sit there as it wasn’t open for service, that should have been the first clue as to how our visit was to pan out. So we sit at the bottom bar and again waited for several minutes before the girl behind the bar could be bothered to attend to us even though we were the only ones at the bar. We ordered drinks, I got a beer plonked in front of me and my gf ordered hot saki which in all honesty looked like pee and tasted just as bad, when my gf brought this to the attention of the bartender she replied that ‘ oh yeah that’s because of the machine’. So basically she was admitting she could care less. Anyway we ordered food ( appetizer’s) and as we were waiting we discussed how much the place ( not decor) has changed from when we first went there, then there was a dispute outside with a customer over his bill which all the so called staff seemed more interested in than doing their jobs so yet again to try to order another drink was another chore especially when I asked for a glass for my beer. So when the aggrieved customer finally left ‘normal business was resumed’ (sarcasm). I must admit the food did arrive rather quickly, which is how I wanted to get out of the place. The food was pretty good but nothing like how it used to be but it certainly wasn’t worth the money. So annoyed we were about the whole experience l didn’t even take notice of how much we were charged for what ,which was definitely my mistake, I just looked at the total gave them the money and left not remembering they already added a gratuity. This used to be a great place when the sushi bar was up top where the top bar is now and you could watch chef Tim work his magic. I honestly think this place is now geared towards spring breakers and tourists only but forget about the locals like us that are here year round and keep local businesses going during the off season. I will never recommend or ever visit this place again, it’s such a shame because it really was a great place to go, the owners obviously don’t seem to care or they don’t read reviews on there restaurant, and it’s no good trying to talk to the manager because one can never found whereas before he used to walk around and seem to take an interest the patrons experience. Anyway people be warned and...

I was sitting at this place thinking about how many reviews I could write of this place just using four words.

The drinks were okay. This isn't a "roll." A significant learning opportunity. I'm sorry we came. This was a mistake We paid $75???? It didn't say, "cooked." Or, to quote my daughter, "That was a rip-off."

I could come up with a lot more of them, but a four word review doesn't tell you anything. I get the whole thing about how you're paying for a beach view, and I factor that into my reviews. However, we've eaten in every restaurant for the two block of this area and this is the first time I've been so completely disappointed. Yes, the drinks are a whopping 45 oz., but most of that is fruit juice. There is about enough alcohol for a 16 oz. drink. After watching some orders come out, we decided on two apps and a sushi roll, since the rolls were pretty substantial and the apps we've had along this stretch of beach have always been a decent serving. We went with the Thai calamari, the sesame crusted tuna and the "Over The Moon Roll," which was billed as "fancy salmon, crispy Japanese yam and chef's special sauce and marked as spicy. It didn't take long for the food to come out. First, there was a small serving (even for an appetizer) of calamari. Calamari is one of my favorites. This was not good. It was very inconsistent, with the majority of the pieces being tough, the coating was falling off in clumps and there was a pool of grease in the bottom of the dish. Next was the tuna. The six small slices were properly cut and nicely served but completely bland. At least they came with a side of soy sauce. Then there was the sushi "roll." First of all, it wasn't a roll. It was four small pieces, served nigiri style. The salmon was completely cooked through (the menu didn't mention that it was cooked at all) and served on about a teaspoon of rice. It was completely lacking any flavor. The service had started out well, right up until the food came, but then our waitress disappeared. After we ate our few bites of food, we waited for the check......and waited.....and waited. My daughter finally got up and went inside to find someone to track her down. We did get a 10% "discount" from a coupon, leaving us with $75 for about 15 small, bland bites of food and one drink. Nope, won't...