Mavi Waterfront Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Jacksonville Beach

I DO NOT intend to return to MAVI based on my experience this evening. While the waterfront atmosphere, live music, and drink specials are all indeed excellent . . . the food and dining experience leave a lot to be desired.

My chief complaint to the management (who are hopefully reading their google reviews) is that I paid $17 for "Fish And Chips" and . . . was served fish sticks, comparable to something you'd expect from The Kid's Menu. This well priced "entree" is reminiscent of something from out of a frozen bag or box. Forgive me, but when I order traditional Fish & Chips, I expect a nice big filet of Cod breaded and fried to golden perfection. If you can't swing that, please remove it from the menu. I ordered my french fries or "chips" well done or "crispy" and that, evidently, was too much to ask of the chef as they came out lukewarm, under-cooked, and droopy. I suspect my server made a note while taking my order, but dropped the proverbial ball when she served it to me. Professionalism?

Given this establishment is located in the Beach Blvd Marina and positioned on the river, I'd chosen Mavi hoping for an excellent seafood dish (something special perhaps?), but my server didn't project confidence when we discussed the Stuffed Flounder or Salmon Entree prominently featured on the menu. She did not know the "Specials" when I inquired or have a good recommendation for me. When I asked her for a recommendation, she replied "Well, it depends on what you like." No, Darling, I'm asking what YOU like . . . What kind of a Server stammers when asked to recommend a few menu items? Furthermore, she continued to call me "Sir" long after we'd exchanged prenoms. I'd characterize the service as impersonal instead of pleasant. Meantime, I'm sure she's probably still wondering what happened to her tip? I went with 15% instead of my usual 30 or 40%

FYI: Lynch's Irish Pub, right around the corner does a brilliant Fish & Chips (Friday's Special $10) and there are plenty of great seafood restaurants in the area. I'll name a few for you: Dockside Seafood, Fish Market (on 3rd Street), Fish Company, North Beach Fish Camp, Sliders, and Ragtime.

If you want to drink and be outdoors on the water, this might be your spot. And I'm sure the burgers, wings, and fried shrimp are just fine, on par with your standard pub fare. But don't go to Mavi expecting great seafood, great service, or any kind of special dining experience . . . they leave that to their competition.

*Incidentally, the bathrooms, on this night, were positively disgusting! Floor duct taped together and peeling up, trash basket overflowing onto the floor, empty soap dispensers (during COVID, really?) and urinals overflowing with smelly piss! Now Bon Appetit!

PS: Mavi appears to be a bit of a "Meet Market" for the middle aged locals, so ENJOY that! And see also Ragtime in AB...

Location: 5/5 Server Kindness: 5/5 Server Promptness: 4/5 Atmosphere: 4.5/5 Food: 4/5 Cost for quality: 3.5/5 Cost for quantity: 3/5

Explained below:

The location is very cool (on the water). It’s a pretty standard seemingly upscale marina restaurant. Our server was kind and thoughtful. The employees were helpful, nice, and polite. Unfortunately, there was supposed to be live music while we were there but we didn’t hear/see it… bummer!

The food is pretty average in a good way. It’s not bad but it’s not the best I’ve ever had. I’d definitely eat here again, but I’m not seeking out a time to eat here again.

The salmon tasted as expected with your standard rice and broccoli. Could definitely use some more lemon/seasoning though!

My husband got the clam chowder which he said tasted more like a potato soup than chowder… and he wasn’t quite sure where the clams were. I took a small taste and it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t have a bold flavor (needed lots of salt and pepper). It was definitely overpowered with strong scallions that made the whole thing taste of raw onion (which is great if you like that sort of thing, but not so great if you like a more subtle scallion taste verses the strength of straight raw onion). My husband also ordered the wedge salad. He said it tasted pretty standard for a salad- not stand out, but not bad either. Definitely delicious if you’re craving a salad!

In terms of price: it’s pretty overpriced for what you get… ESPECIALLY if you order a salad. The portions seem inconsistent. For example, if you’re VERY hungry (or eat a lot like I do) and You order a salad, even with protein, you may still leave hungry afterwards. I have a huge appetite, and left satisfied after my meal (the salmon filet), but may have left unsatisfied had I been a bit more hungry. If you have a small to average appetite, then you should be fine! If you have a large appetite, you may want to consider an appetizer. Circling back to price though- protein added to a salad is quite a bit much. With salads already running in the teens, protein is an additional $$ which will run you close to, if not more than, $20+ dollars… which, for a salad, is kind of crazy! The salmon was about $26 if I’m remembering correctly. A bit pricey, but I expected it from a water front dining experience.

They have great drink specials on, what appears to be, most nights! Tonight it was $6 martinis, so that was a cool option.

Overall not a bad place to go, but I’m sure there are places much cheaper for just as delicious and perhaps more filling!

P.S. they didn’t have gluten free substitutions, so you just have to order things that are naturally gluten free if you are...

Everything was pretty good and the rating would have been all 5 stars but when the bill came we were charged $.50 for a second Cocktail sauce. Our order came a Cuban sandwich and the Shrimp basket both of which were great. With the Shrimp basket was a 2oz cup of Cocktail sauce which was had good flavor. It should be noted that the cup was somewhere between 1/2 & 3/4 full, so maybe 1 1/2 Oz of Cocktail sauce. The Shrimp basket was $19.00 and had 10 Shrimp needless to say I was out of sauce by about the 4th Shrimp so I asked for more Cocktail sauce. The 2nd sauce came without fanfare and I ate the rest. This is a restaurant on the water in Florida beach where I have lived for 40 years. There are numerous seafood restaurants within a very short distance and there is none that I'm aware of that charge extra for more seafood condiments. Condiments as a standard in the industry are only considered in the food cost when creating a menu as part of the dining experience. If the restaurant wants to charge additional for to go orders or bulk amounts, say 4oz because the person that is ordering or picking up doesn't know the preference of the end customer. Charging the way Mavi does is not only irritating but is a very slippery slope, it makes the customer concerned what else do I have to pay attention to at this restaurant, are they going to charge me more for soy sauce for the seared Tuna or hot sauce, lemon, horseradish because I like my Cocktail sauce spicier. I have decades long experience with restaurants and the hospitality industry and charging $.50 more for 1 1/2 of condiments hasn't ever been on the management meeting minutes of any restaurant I've been associated with, however this kind of decision usually comes from a restaurant business struggling to find revenue but as someone who lives within a mile of the restaurant and don't want to see anymore waterfront restaurants disappear. If I can suggest some price point marketing and other rotation advertising, loyalty programs etc. There is no reason that this restaurant can't have line like Safe Harbor and the pull and upscale feeling of Pussers. Good luck! Oh and by the way even if this is the restaurant policy, most experienced servers would never charge the customer for this because it serves no purpose to have to be confronted by the customer for a nuisance charge that may impact their tip, just alot of experience here talking is this...