Old Tavernier Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Islamorada

It’s so hard to explain the horrible experience I had last night at this restaurant. It was about 6pm empty restaurant literally 2 other tables on the main room where we where seated. I asked for the wine menu while the server was at our table my son and daughter 4 & 3 years old where talking about having pizza and the server just stormed my wife making it uncomfortable to us that if we where going to have pizza we had to move our party of 7 to the bar side, mind you it was 5 adults and 2 kids yet they want me to move to the bar side. At that point I asked the server why wouldn’t they serve pizza to my kids if I have dinned there before and they had there pizza. I made it clear we where not there to eat pizza as a matter a fact I wanted the lobster thermador I had last time. I asked to speak to a manager and he was the worse I’ve seen in many years of dining experience. The funny part is that I was having dinner there roughly about 3 month ago and they where encountering problems with there POS system and when the server tells me I quickly look at there system and it’s the same POS as the one I use at my restaurants. I immediately went up to her and asked her if she need help that I was very familiar with the system and I did get the system back up and going while the place was poorly staffed and didn’t have a manager on duty as all restaurants are demanded to have one by state inspectors. We where so disappointed that we didn’t feel right staying so we left to another restaurant in Islamorada “Pierre’s “ which we had an amazing dinner spent $945 that would of been great for this poorly staffed restaurant. I own 14 restaurants and unfortunately they underestimated me and my family. From our arrival they where not happy about our kids being there. Not a kids friendly restaurant, poorly staffed, rude, disrespectful these are all NO, NOs at a restaurant specially in such a small town that everyone knows each other! I highly advice you to try other great options in the island before having a bad experience at Old Tavernier!!!

I contacted my POS guy and had him call Chris the owner. Chris told him he would call me and again failed to support his team of managers and servers that will destroy...

I would give it no stars if I could! The negative reviews are absolutely accurate and not overstated for this restaurant. I should have trusted the poor reviews that all say the same thing - arrogant service and over priced reheated packaged food (it tastes overcooked because it is-cooked and then reheated). I rarely write reviews, but I felt compelled to spare other potential customers the time and disappointment.

We had hoped to stop for a good seafood meal and we were really disappointed. We are from Hawaii, where we have excellent fresh seafood and I am more than happy to pay a premium for great quality, but...when I asked our server if I could have my Ahi Tuna appetizer cooked to order she said she would have to charge me for the entree rather than the appetizer and began a lecture about how it is prepared. It sounded like she was trying really hard to cover up the fact that it is pre-seared or cooked from frozen, but either way-I decided to pass. This continued with each item I inquired about. Ultimately I decided that I would order soup and avoid any further frustration (and get a better meal somewhere else) Even the soup was a disappointment. The minestrone soup had to have been scooped before it was done being prepared, because it only had two vegetables (zucchini and carrots) in a Tabasco broth-absolutely nothing else in the bowl! The entree my husband ordered, Shrimp Scampi was worse, and the entree my daughter ordered worse still. The shrimp was dry-most likely pre-cooked, the rice was some variety of instant rice - very strange color and texture - and the scallops were drowned in a bland, super doughy thick sauce (probably an attempt at Bechamel sauce?). The worst part was that after our absolutely disappointing meal, the bill was an insulting reminder of the mistake we made in choosing to eat there. When I asked our server if they offered a military discount, she gasped and was insulted, even saying "we don't NEED to give ANY discounts here". Obviously we are not their...

We were visiting Key Largo with friends and chose this restaurant based on a recommendation from an acquaintance. Unfortunately, our experience was extremely disappointing.

To start on a positive note: the shrimp scampi was delicious, the Greek salad was fresh, and our server, Rene, was friendly and attentive. Sadly, things quickly went downhill from there.

The wait for our food was over an hour, which set a frustrating tone for the evening. When our dishes finally arrived, they were underwhelming. The chicken parmesan had an odd aftertaste and the chicken itself was extremely dry—so much so that I couldn’t eat it and sent it back after just one bite. My husband’s chicken and shrimp pasta was also dry, and the sauce tasted flat—not what you’d expect for a $28 entrée.

After I politely explained to the server that I couldn’t eat the dish, a man abruptly approached our table just two minutes later. He didn’t greet us or introduce himself, but simply pushed a chair in and asked, “What’s wrong with the chicken?” in a rude, confrontational tone. I calmly explained the issue, to which he responded with a cold “OK” and walked away. We later learned this man was the owner.

It was incredibly disappointing to be treated that way—especially by someone who should care the most about guests’ experiences. A good owner engages with patrons respectfully, especially when there’s an issue. Instead, we were met with rudeness and no effort to make things right.

We won’t be returning, and we would caution others who expect not just good food, but also hospitality and...