The Reef Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Madeira Beach

Whether casual or upscale, when eating at restaurants serving seafood, I inquire as to whether it’s farmed-raised or wild-caught so that I can make an informed choice about my meal, have confidence in the food I’m eating, and don’t inconvenience the establishment by having them prepare food they will have to throw away because I sent it back. If I know upfront, I can make proper selections and feel sure I’ll enjoy my meal.

Before placing my order, I asked my server if the seafood was farmed-raised or wild-caught. She said she did not know. I asked if she wouldn’t mind finding out. She left the table, came back, and assured me it was wild-caught, as told to her by whomever it was she asked. I ordered the bang bang shrimp. One small bite, the shrimp chewed like gelatin. I knew immediately it was farm-raised. I told my server that unfortunately I had to send the shrimp back because they were not wild-caught. I told her I could tell by the textured. They were watery and gel-like; not meaty like real shrimp. She apologized and assured me she asked and was told they were wild-caught. I told her I understood that it wasn’t her fault, but she could take the shrimp away. I then ordered the loaded fries with lobster and the buffalo fried cauliflower. My husband ordered the grouper sandwich. The food was awful.

My husband tried eating his grouper sandwich, but stated several times that something about it wasn’t right. He said it wasn’t meaty like grouper, the fish was watery and hollow. He said he didn’t think it was real. Knowing the difference between farm-raised and wild-caught, he was sure it was farm-raised. He didn’t eat it, but elected to not send it back. I tried my cauliflower. It tasted previously frozen, mostly bread, tiny pieces of cauliflower. The sauce was good, but the cauliflower was not. I did not eat it. I dove into my loaded fries which looked good. I noticed from the start that there wasn’t a lot of topping and it didn’t look like what I expected. No chunks, no knuckle or claw meat, just finely shredded crumbles topped with two sauces. Still hoping for a better experience, I moved the fries around in the butter and took a bite. The butter garlic sauce was delicious. The garlic aioli was awesome. The fries were good. I ate a few more fries around the sides, dipping them in sauce, but not picking up much topping. What I had was delicious so at this point, when the server checked in, I told her I was fine, but that was before I tasted the topping. I took a couple of bites of the “lobster” and the texture wasn’t right. It was soft and mushy. I almost spit it out. Then I saw a few thin, flat, wide, discolored pieces and I knew. I asked the server to ask if they used imitation crab meat. She adamantly said, “No, that’s lobster.” I said, can you just ask please. She said, “Ok, but it’s lobster.” I then said, I think its surimi, the imitation crab stick, but can you just check please. She came back to the table and said, “He said it’s half and half.” I was in disbelief that this restaurant would lie on their menu and serve something they didn’t have and that I had repeatedly been misled about what I was being fed. I planted my face in my hands and had to take a deep breath. I told her, “YOU ALL CANNOT DO THAT. You can’t mislead people in this way. I knew this wasn’t lobster. You can’t put that in the menu and give people something else. I cannot eat this. And what you’re doing is dangerous. You could make someone sick. What about people who are allergic?” Bless her heart, poor thing actually told me, “He said IT WOULD BE TOO EXPENSIVE IF WE USED REAL MEAT.” At that point, I was entirely done. I told her she could take it away.

My husband asked for the check and told her he wasn’t paying for the fake shrimp or the fake lobster. He said his grouper wasn’t right either, but he’d pay for it. I told her we’d pay for the cauliflower as well. I also told her not to worry, she’d get her same tip because I realize none of this was her fault. We gave her a $10 tip on a $28 bill for food...

First time in Florida from Canada and first time eating out on our vacation. A local recommended this place so we gave it a try. We were a group of 9. Our first impression was the place was lovely, we sat outside as they had a table big enough to accommodate our group. Our Waitress came and that’s where it all went downhill. I can’t say she was rude but she definitely gave the impression that she seemed Annoyed when anyone had a general question like “what kind of pop do you have”. We ordered fried pickles to start, they came out quick and hot and were delicious. We did not have a long wait for our meals. The server that delivered our meals also seemed very bothered and unfriendly. I ordered the nachos which were loaded with toppings and would have been delicious if they were cooked, like they forgot to put them in the oven to melt the cheese. My son got the classic burger and that was very good. We did not see our waitress ever again until the end . Did not come back to ask how our food was or if anyone wanted anything else to drink. when she came back I told her my nachos were not cooked at all ( I actually thought maybe they don’t melt the cheese here like we do 🤷‍♀️) but she assured me when I asked that it should be hot. I had two bits only bc I was hungry. She asked if I wanted something else but of course I declined as my whole table had already finished eating. She did offer to take it off the bill. She came back with the bills and We didn’t even have time to ask for a takeout container as she basically threw them on the table and left. We looked at our bills and they were wrong. Went to go in to clear up the bill and pay and the waitress was just coming out the door. we asked her if we pay inside and she stated “well that’s not how it usually works but you can “ and she walked away. Honestly have never seen staff treat customers so rudely ever and than expect a tip ! P.S we did tip even though it was definitely not earned !! We would never recommend this restaurant on the...

We were looking for a place without too much of a wait on Mother's Day and we decided since The Reef had parking spaces open, to try it. Not a great sign but we were hungry. Our server was an older guy who was fine but just didn't seem like a server. Kinda reminded me of a Cheech & Chong kinda guy. We ordered drinks and my son wanted to spicy margarita on the posted sign we walked by in the parking lot. The server seemed to not understand and said, "How about a watermelon Margarita?" My son agreed because it seemed not worth the trouble to explain the sign. He thought the taste was very artificial and couldn't taste hardly any alcohol.

We ordered the Lobster fries as an appetizer. They came out with the food which wasn't a big deal. Pretty good except they sat in pool of drawn butter. So the top fries were good, the bottom just soggy buttery soaked fries. The She Crab soup was VERY good and definitely the highlight.

I tried to order the asiago shrimp and grits but the server waved me off and said someone just complained about it. I don't know how to feel about that. Glad he didn't let me order something gross but disappointed they were serving others something gross.

Our party had: The classic burger, which was very good. The chicken ceasar wrap which was just standard. The mahi sandwich which was very dry but my son liked it. The crab cake blt which was also dry and my son didn't like.

Overall, I could see why it wasn't crowded on a busy day but I would try it again as the food was hit and miss but the hits were good enough to give it a...