Castaway's Pub — Restaurant in Lavallette

On a super slow, off-season, Tuesday night, my fiancé and I ordered two Bullet bourbons, appetizers and dinner to celebrate our anniversary. Instead of getting Bullet bourbon, we each received a foul-tasting, very light yellow drink. We politely asked our server what we received and we were told the drinks were what we ordered. When we questioned it, letting her know that Bullet bourbon (like all bourbon) is dark brown, yet what we got was light yellow and off-taste, she got defensive and insisted we were wrong. Next thing we know; the bartender starts holding up a bottle of the brown, ACTUAL Bullet BOURBON. She starts screaming at us across the bar, in front of many patrons. She and our server insisted that our drinks were watered down, which is why they were light yellow instead of the dark brown color of our favorite bourbon that we drink regularly. 1) If the drinks were actually what we ordered, why were the ladies both proudly insisting that our expensive drinks were watered down from the start, which is why they were very light yellow? 2) Why did we still have to pay for these unknown drinks that we did not order, and did not drink, even after politely saying we received the wrong drinks? As full-time locals who live here year-round, along with our huge families, it would be nice to have Castaways be our local bar to frequent. Too bad… Whoever was working there tonight ruined that for us, and ruined our anniversary celebration. We both love Lenny’s (and used to love Castaways) but we were so disrespected and disappointed that we don’t want to go to Castaways or Lenny’s...

We are locals that commonly order seafood all over different jersey shore restaurants. So when I say I was very disappointed at the quality or lack there of offered here. I can look past the overpriced fish and chips entree, which included (3) small pieces of fried cod soaked in oil at the bottom. But when it comes to the fish tacos... what happened guys? You need to make people aware what they are ordering up front, and that these tacos will include a smokey fennel after taste that may not appeal to everyone, which we were willing to over look if not for the un-eatable bones or hard pieces in each taco. Your right near the water so the expectation of fresh seafood is almost certainly expected. The unsavory smell of old fish while our meals were being prepared was very unpleasant, which the table next to us recognized as well. We had high hopes of a great dining experience but left unfortunately disappointed and hungry. Please address these quality control issues before serving any more food to your loyal...

As a local, we have come over in the winter months to enjoy a few drinks and music. Today, we went for lunch. We were seated at the bar, as they were quite busy. Our first impression was the bartenders snippy comment because only one of the four of us ordered alcohol. The beer that was ordered was warm from the tap. Then we sat for at least 25 minutes without the bartender even glancing our direction, let alone asking for our order. We decided to cash out and leave. We paid and left. As we were walking down the block, the bartender ran after us, accusing us of not paying our tab (they took our cc upon ordering). We explained that we did pay. He then told us that we didn’t have to be nasty, he only works there and was doing his job. We were not nasty, we just didn’t appreciate being ignored which is why we left. What a disappointing experience. I will not be returning. 0 stars for service. I cannot rate food this time, as we were not given the...