Catch 22 Restaurant — Restaurant in Hilton Head Island

With only a few exceptions in my adult experience, I've been treated very well by those in the service industry. Being that my wife and I travel the world as a function of hosting our respective TV shows, we're fortunate to have dined with some of the most humble, lovely, generous people on the planet. To that end, I'm forever in awe of the degree to which people are welcoming and kind to those that sit to enjoy their culinary expressions. When you're seated with them, you feel like family.

Having researched all the restaurants we'd like to visit weeks prior to our arrival in Hilton Head, Brittany and I were excited to finally be able to visit local food icons Larry and Penny Duren. After 25 years of successful business ownership, Catch 22 is the epitome of local flavor, with legendary steak offerings and down home seasonings riding shotgun. As a yearly deep-sea fisherman myself, I absolutely couldn't wait to experience the much-talked-about seafood presentation of their talented head chef, Robin Van Hofen.

Unfortunately, both our excitement and expectations were cut short at the door. As we walked inside smiling, we saw a woman standing near the entrance whom we immediately recognized to be Penny from the website, but were taken aback by the palatable look of disgust on her face in response to our entry. Confused... we walked about 2 more steps before being greeted by Larry, whose VERY first words to us were "Sorry.... we're gonna need some sleeves for that shirt".

Mortified that we were addressed in such a rude and dismissive manner, especially after such meticulous planning to have a pleasant experience, the 180 degree spin and wordless exit from the business could have broken several track records.

As we sat in our vehicle- flustered, embarrassed and unsure of how to even respond-the picture became increasingly clear: Larry and Penny's messaging and intent were unmistakeable, especially given the pursuant steady inflow of six to eight other sleeveless patrons with their shoulders exposed as well.

Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, I returned to the restaurant and asked Larry who the "sleeve requirement" was specifically for. He replied flatly, "the restaurant here". I then asked him if that applied to everybody, to which he informed me that "the upscale restaurants would probably do that".

Message Received.

However... by virtue of some strange and apparently recessed desire for me to risk adding insult to injury, when I pointed out the several patrons who did NOT have sleeves who were both presently dining and had entered unbothered behind me, Larry flatly stated "they all have sleeves" , but upon catching himself mid-lie, modified his assertion to apply to the ladies only.

By this point, what followed was of little consequence, as Larry continued to take his best swings at mumbling, stumbling excuses... with him ending up down some inane rabbit hole about male armpit hair and female patrons complaining.

Message Confirmed.

After thanking him for clarifying, I exited to meet a lovely family of 4, whom I feared might also be affected by this unwelcoming environment. After sharing my experience with them, the brotha went inside, confirmed with Larry what he'd just done to my wife and me, canceled his paid reservation and got his down payment back.

Salute King, I hope you see this later.

As for you... Larry and Penny...

I have neither words nor advice. Your word choice of "upscale", when weighed against the sandy, disheveled, wind blown general appearance of your preferred customers did all the heavy lifting for us.

We aren't upset. Thank you for sharing who you are and who is both welcome and unwelcome in...

Okay, so the best way to do this is to just start from the beginning of my visit to Catch 22. While waiting for our reservation, we sat at the bar and talked with the bartender, Derek, who was extremely knowledgable, kind and easy to talk with. He gave us some menus so we could start picking our food before we sat down. My mom ordered the drink called “the great thyme” and really enjoyed it. Once we got to our table, my girlfriend was given a water glass that had lipstick on it. Not a huge deal, the waiter was apologetic, took our order, and got us another glass, but not very quickly. While we waited for our appetizers, my mother wanted another drink, so I attempted to wave down our waiter, but it took several attempts to get the waiters attention and after about 10 minutes he finally saw me and we were able to reorder the drink. So far, not great but nothing unforgivable. Finally we got our appetizers, and unfortunately they were both cooked incorrectly. The baked brie was hard and chewy, not spreadable, and just overall not how baked Brie should be. The fried Brussels sprouts were EXTREMELY overcooked and tasted like nothing but char. There was no sprout left. It was just crunchy charred nothing. We sent back both appetizers and asked for them to be fixed. My mom DID mention that the Brie could just be heated more, but we really didn’t expect them to reheat the Brie that we had already cut up and put back into the skillet. The waiter came back and informed us that they had no more Brussels sprouts and that we could pick something else if we liked, but we decided to just get the Brie, which the waiter said they DID have more of so we assumed we would get a new one. When the Brie came back out it was hotter for sure, but still the same dish, NOT remade, and still extremely rubbery and unable to be spread onto the bread. Some of the bread was replaced but the chunks of Brie were still the same and they were firmer than before. It was basically inedible at this point. The arugula garnish was now wilted from the heat and that was pretty unappetizing too. The waiter came back to check how it was, and we informed him it was not any better, so they took it off the bill along with the Brussels sprouts. Next came the entrees and thankfully it was a slightly better experience, although the food was not very warm and we assume this was because of the whole Brie situation. They probably held our meals to give us time to get the Brie, but that resulted in each of us commenting on the temperature. Now the entrees were pretty good when it came to the taste, but the portions were small and the quality really didn’t live up to the price. We ended up paying $137.18 for 3 small, barely warm entrees and one mixed drink (my mother paid for the other at the bar). Overall, the waiter was polite, but wasn’t very attentive. My family doesn’t mind paying this amount, or more, for a good meal, but after this experience, we felt $150+ (including tip) for what we received was wildly overpriced. We will not be returning to Catch 22, unless we were just returning for a great drink in a pretty unique bar. Pictures of the appetizers are...

*Update, after I received the below response by the owner, I never received a phone call (let alone 4) from the restaurant and according to my parents the waiter (without prompt) approached the table and made that awkward announcement. Are they seriously calling me and my parents liars? What a convenient recollection of events for them. Accountability starts at the top, its no wonder this staff operates the way that it does after seeing the below response from the owner/manager. PS if they had my number how come no one called today to apologize? Eat elsewhere, customer service at this place isn't dying its dead!

I was so upset by the level of service I received from this restaurant. My parents dined there yesterday for my mother's 60th birthday. I called ahead to have a bottle of wine sent to the table. After calling 3 times (and being hung up on each time), I finally was able to connect with a very rude receptionist who showed no empathy or remorse when I explained how much trouble I've been having getting someone on the phone. She then put me on hold (twice) for a total of ten minutes while she looked for a wine list. After I picked out the bottle of wine the hostess was in such a rush to get me off the phone that she must have written down my card number (and phone number apparently) incorrectly; because later in the evening the waiter thought it was a good idea to announce to the entire table that I wanted to order wine "but my card would not go through." There is absolutely nothing wrong with my card, they may have taken down the wrong number and I understand mistakes happen, but they also had MY phone number. They should have called me to correct the issue and not announced it to the entire table where my parents were dining with their friends. Not only did they ruin the surprise (or any future surprise of doing it at another restaurant) but it was tacky and classless. I am mortified. Very undertrained and...