Pelican cafe — Restaurant in Lake Park

I'll start off by saying that the food here is good. It is however overpriced, and the wait staff was terrible. We went for Sunday brunch, the hostesses were very friendly and welcoming. Then it went downhill. There was a series of events that perhaps one on it's own wouldn't be so bad, but at the end of our brunch, they compounded and we left very unhappy.

As the waitress was taking our order, my mother thought it was her turn to order so she started talking and the waitress raised her finger up to her and yelled WAIT!! since she was still writing down my order. It was extremely unpleasant and unprofessional. We ordered a bottle of champagne and the bottle was already open when it came to our table. I dont know if that's customary here, but everywhere I've ever been, they open the wine in front of you. The waitress didn't check on us once after giving us our drinks. I had to go find her to get silverware and napkins that she was going to replace since she spilled champagne all over it. While we were eating, the manager (?) was yelling at the waitress in front of all the customers because their computer system was on the fritz and they had had to comp a meal. It was quite a scene and several of the surrounding tables were looking to see what the commotion was about. Our order was messed up. The bacon came on my mother's plate and the egg was missing from my boyfriend's plate. We sat with empty dirty plates for 15 minutes. I once again had to ask someone to clean them up. There were two waiters sitting at the bar less than 5 feet behind us just chatting and folding napkins the entire time and the hostess had to ask them to come clean up our table. We sat another 15 min and again, had to flag someone down to get our check. The waitress dropped it off without saying anything to us, but apologized for any delays or issues to the two tables next to us. Clearly, either she knew them or decided we didn't deserve an explanation or simply didn't care for us.

I had the Pelican Cafe on my "want to go list" for a very long time. I was really looking forward to having a nice brunch with my folks and my boyfriend and I left the restaurant really sad. You can tell that there are some people there working really hard and believe in the restaurant but it appears that the wait staff might be either overworked, lazy, or need some...

Pelican Cafe offered a mixed dining experience during a recent weekday evening visit. Arriving at 5 PM, our party of four found the restaurant relatively empty, with a busier bar area contrasting with the sparse dining room and patio. The host provided a warm welcome, setting a positive initial tone.

Our server, Tom, was consistently friendly and efficient, promptly attending to our drink orders and providing menus, along with complimentary bread, butter, and eggplant dip. The menu, focused on Italian cuisine with daily specials, offered a wide selection. However, when seeking recommendations, Tom's general endorsement of 'everything is great' proved unhelpful, lacking the specific dish insights we anticipated.

We opted to share a Greek salad, the daily special, and two Eggplant Rollatini from the happy hour menu. The salad, while fresh and well-dressed, was notably small and did not feature the abundant feta mentioned by Tom. The Eggplant Rollatini, despite a flavorful tomato sauce, suffered from chewy eggplant.

Hesitant to commit to individual main courses, we decided to share a Margherita and a Scampi pizza. Both pizzas were adequate but unremarkable. The Scampi pizza, in particular, was perceived as very similar to the Margherita, with the addition of shrimp being the primary differentiator.

Overall, the food quality was rated a 3, the atmosphere a 3 during our early dining time, and the service a 4. The overall experience was a 3, indicating room for improvement in the culinary offerings. While we would mention Pelican Cafe to friends and family, it would be positioned as a lower-tier recommendation, suitable for those residing in close proximity with limited alternative dining options. The restaurant's potential is evident, but a more refined and consistent approach to food preparation is necessary to elevate the...

My wife and I came here for dinner (we usually come in for their amazing breakfast) and we had an incredible meal. The food is 5 star. However our waiter was not good. We both had trouble understanding him due to his thick accent (thankfully the specials were written out on a board so we could read them) but more importantly, after dinner was served, he didn't come back to us once to check on us. To order dessert, ask for more water, and then later to request the check we had to flag other workers to attend to us. And we know he was still there as we saw him running around like a chicken with his head cut off attending to other tables. I understand they were really busy but this was really poor service. He seemed overwhelmed and nervous. This was for this past Saturday night, party of 2.

I would be doing Pelican Cafe a disservice if I didn't write about their food. We ordered the beef carpaccio and the fried calimari for appetizers. Both were exceptional. The calamari is among the best I've ever had. Not too breaded, and the calamari was perfectly tender. AND they serve the heads and not just rings. For dinner I had the chicken parm which was a great portion and my wife had the special which was veal ravioli's and hers was delicious as well. We will definitely be back, just hopefully the table service will be...