Ocean's At Arthurs — Restaurant in Little Rock

Went here for the first time for a girls night and ordered a sushi roll and the bourbon chipotle steak. When ordering, I asked the server if I could switch the ribeye for a filet since the item was not listed as gluten free and I was concerned about the bourbon since I’m pregnant. I let the server know and she said it wouldn’t be an issue to make the swap but keep the rest of the meal as is. The food took 40 minutes and the filet was under seasoned. The mashed potatoes tasted like instant potatoes. The Brussel sprouts were good. I ate a few bites of the steak and potatoes and maybe 4 brussel sprouts and pushed the plate to the side. The server came back and asked me if I wanted to box it and I let her know the meal did not come out good. She picked up the plate and later came back with the checks. To my surprise she brought me a bill for $92, with all items a la carte. When she came back, I let her know that she did not notify me when I was ordering that the meal would be charged differently than how it was listed on the menu. She said there was nothing she could do about it and offered to get her manager. The manager was very rude and told me “well you didn’t know it would be a different charge?”, to which I let him know it was my first time at their restaurant. He again said there’s nothing he could do but comp one of the sides. I again let him know that wouldn’t be an option, since the server did not provide the information up front of the price difference or how the meal would need to be charged because I wanted the filet. He then went and talked with the owner and the server brought back a bill with just the filet. I still don’t agree, but paid it to just get out of there. At no point before receiving the check did the manager check on how the food was or how the meal was going, even after I sent back almost an entire plate of food. The server also at no point said there would be an additional charge for the swap and assured me multiple times “it’s no problem yes we can swap it”. The service was 3 stars up to this point. The manager’s inability to rectify the situation or show any sort of customer service or understanding for the situation brought the experience down to 1 star for me. I was really looking forward to trying this place, but unfortunately the food and service did not match the expectations for a...

Restaurant:

Oceans at Arthurs (Right Side Entrance.)

Location:

Little Rock, AR (Across from the Promenade at Chenal.)

Price:

Medium to High ($9.00 Salad, $12.00 Burger, $15.00-$50.00 Sushi, $12.00 Desserts.)

Upon arrival to Arthurs Restaurant you are greeted with an older themed two story building. You have two options of an entrance of which neither are marked. One side is a very classy high end restaurant serving high quality beef. The other is an open bar, sushi bar, and seating for a more casual dining experience. Upon seating in Oceans you are greeted with kind smiles and caring staff whom tell you their name and how they can start your night off. The menu given could use some reworking as it’s not very clear where everything is on the menu. Maybe an organized tabbed booklet would be a good change? None the less our purchase consisted of Two “Alex’s Special Sushi” a beautifully plated dish consisting of Blue Crab, Mango, and Avocado. The overall flavor was equivalent to a flavor explosion. A perfect mixture of Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Salt and Pepper… Truly an excellent spin on anything I’ve had before. Our Entrée of choice was the Arthurs Steak Burge… Freshly ground dry aged beef trimmings on a thick buttery toasted bun, pickles, onions, and lettuce with Mayonnaise, Ketchup, and Mustard served in Ramekins. The Burger is cooked to a temperature of your choice as well as a cheese of choice. All of this with a side of your choice. I ordered the blackened red potatoes which were perfectly cooked and seasoned with what was more than likely Tony Chachere’s Cajun Seasoning. The desert of choice was a more or less okay chocolate and caramel pecan cake. The flavor of the overall desert would have used some work and for some reason was paired with Pink and Blue icing which was confusing for a dessert served with Chocolate Liquor and Caramel sauce.

Oceans at Arthurs offers an excellent modern dining experience with an amazing array of food choices. I will be revisiting Oceans at Arthurs for my next special occasion and suggest anyone reading this review give this Restaurant a try. If you have any issues ask for Martin Juarez whom is the Head Chef. Your issue will be resolved in the utmost...

Yeah, we didn't have a good experience. From the get-go staff didn't really seem interested in having us but things only got worse from there. Now granted, we had a party of 13 so we knew to be a little patient but when our server told us that it was illegal to bring in our own bottle of wine, she did not set a good tone for the rest of the evening. After she shut down our carefully selected wines and we had to order something from their menu, which was definitely not optimal, she didn't even bother getting some drink orders at all. Never did. A few in our group had to drink water the entire evening. She rarely bussed any empty dishes or refilled waters. And it was almost two hours before she took our entree orders and another 45 minutes before they arrived. And my blackened red snapper was just okay. The mozzarella sticks were...too much. And the oysters, while tasty, hadn't been separated from the shells so that dampened the enjoyment just a bit but mostly seems inconsiderate and hurried. All reports on the sushi seemed satisfactory except for the wait time.

Mostly our complaints, as a table full of past and current servers, was that ours needed some help in the customer service and hustle department. We felt like we were bothering her by asking for things, like a second cocktail, and it seemed like she avoided coming around so that she wouldn't have to do anything extra. All this on top of the fact that she had automatically tipped herself 20% because of the size of our party and we were really put out. Firstly, she didn't earn that 20% but secondly, if she had done a great job and made us tipsy, satiated, and welcome, she would have gotten much more than that. She played herself.

Basically, Ocean's may have lost those thirteen customers and their friends because we can go have better food with nicer service for less money at restaurants closer to our homes.

(Two stars because the sushi helped...