Aruba Beach Cafe — Restaurant in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea

We popped in at 5pm right after the Ft Lauderdale Air Show on Saturday. It was my first time, but our friends had been there many times before and it was their suggestion. We were seated immediately, table of four, inside with nice cool AC. After Sun on the beach all day our crispy skin welcomed the atmosphere. Immediately, our server, Lindsay, offered us some drinks and, after perusing the menu, we ordered the food as well. The drinks showed up lickety split. That Lindsay really knows what's important. I ordered a Pinot Nior, which was a nice pour, and my fiancee ordered a Bahama Mama which she said was very delicious. Our friends ordered draft beer and they looked ice cold. The food showed up relatively fast. In fact, we hadn't finished our first drinks beforehand. But, Lindsay was on the ball once again and took our order for another round. I ordered shrimp tacos and 2 generous beauties arrived on a plate with corn chips and salsa as well. The shrimp were lightly blackened and perfectly seasoned. Even those that don't like spicy could easily handle the extremely mild heat. But, since I like them spicy, there's a nice pile of sliced jalapenos on the side that come with the meal. So, I loaded up those babies and gobbled them down. My fiancee ordered quesadillas and the plate was loaded with big fat tortillas chock full of goodies. I tried a bite and they were delicious. Our guests ordered what looked like a grilled sandwiches and fries. The portions we're very large and looked quite delicious. Overall, I would say that a restaurant, RIGHT ON THE OCEAN, would have prices much higher. Aruba is a great value with quality food, great service and superb atmosphere.

Ok, so now the bone to pick (I always find at least one): I ordered a side of cole slaw for $6. When it came out I was insulted by the size, which was like three bite fulls. But, the quality was a big hit, which kinda made me even more upset. But wait...Here He Comes to Save the Day! The manager, Teddy, pops in and says, "how was the meal, was everything ok?" Well, I jumped right in and told him how much I liked everything and yet, how insulted I was about the "thimble" of cole slaw. He said don't worry and took it off the bill. That generous gesture shot the review up from a four to a five star rating. Smart man, Teddy. Take the Commercial Blvd exit and drive due east until you hit the ocean. Valet park at Aruba's, go inside and get a fantastic meal at an affordable price. Yeah, like me, you'll be...

⭐☆☆☆☆ If I could give zero stars, I would.

This was, without a doubt, one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had — not because of the food or the setting, but because of the disgraceful, hostile, and deeply unprofessional behavior of the staff at Aruba Café.

This afternoon, my friends and I — along with our children — came to enjoy what we hoped would be a relaxing and memorable afternoon by the beach. We’ve always appreciated the vibe at this restaurant, but what happened today was completely unacceptable.

When we arrived, we were initially greeted politely by a host who explained the restaurant’s rule that all members of the party must be present before being seated. We were only missing four people, and after a respectful conversation, she kindly agreed to seat us.

However, within minutes, another young female host came out — rude, condescending, and full of attitude. She spoke to us with arrogance and disrespect, completely ignoring any sense of customer service or basic decency. When I calmly asked to speak to the manager, thinking we could resolve the situation, things only got worse.

A young man appeared, supposedly the manager, with an even more aggressive and confrontational attitude. He spoke to us in an openly hostile manner — raising his voice, making threatening gestures, and insulting us in front of our wives and children. He acted like he was trying to provoke a fight rather than de-escalate a situation. I have never witnessed anything like it in a professional setting.

The behavior of these two individuals was not only unprofessional — it was disgraceful. There was absolutely no justification for the aggression, the shouting, or the insults. We were a group of respectful, calm adults with our families — not rowdy or disruptive in any way.

This place needs a serious review of its hiring practices and a lesson in customer service and human decency. Aruba Café may have a nice view, but no view is worth being...

Our swim team of 20 girls has eaten here once a year, for the last four years. Tonight was no exception. When we called to make our reservation we checked to make sure we could split our bill apart. They replied “we could split it four ways”. Upon being seated for dinner, we made sure to ask about splitting the bill, our waiter then told us we could only split it three ways. Before ordering, we tried to group off the three bills to make the process easier and our waiter brushed that idea off. When we received our drinks, we got THREE extra drinks that were charged to our tab even when no one claimed them. We then got our (delicious) food and enjoyed. When it came time to pay, our waiter asked if we would just split our LARGE bill three even ways. Of course we said no thank you as everyone ordered a variety of dishes with varying costs. He then tried to convince us to split the bill evenly three ways. Again we said NO thank you and asked him to split it the way we had originally planned out when we sat down. He then “agreed”, we then sat for twenty minutes waiting for this split bill. Finally upon returning to our table he tells us he could not split it that way and instead of splitting the way we wanted or even the three even ways…. he cut every. single. item. in half three ways. He then told us it would take 20 minutes to fix this horrible mistake. While leaving we had to take a picture of the menu in order to figure out how much each item was. Our bill was longer than ever, we now have to struggle figuring out what is what and how much each item is. I understand how difficult it is to have a party this large, but we made suggestions that would have made this whole process easier. Not only did he make this large mistake, we didn’t even receive an apology. We left very upset and are unsure if our large party will be...