Sofia Restaurant — Restaurant in Margate City

We went to dinner here as a party of 8, 2 of which were kids under 5. The food was very hit or miss depending on what you ordered. Service was awful and the owner won’t talk to customers bc “she has floor managers to do that”. Honestly, there are a lot other choices, go to one of them and avoid this place and its nasty owner at all costs.

The full story…

The evening stared off nice enough. It’s a pretty restaurant with a nice outside seating space. The food was hit or miss depending on the dish but the issues came with the timing of the food and the service itself. The waitress was inattentive, took our order and that was the last time we saw her. She never came back.. not to follow up nor to ask if we needed anything, but there was another waitress who was helping out as she could and was lovely. Other odd things .. ordered a salad w/o cheese bc of an allergy and it came covered in cheese and a flatbread that was ordered the same time as the apps and meal and showed up 20 min after the rest of the dinner came out. I asked for the bill and ended up having to go downstairs to ask for it from the manager after 15 min of waiting and no check showing up.

Here’s where it gets fun. Given how bad the service and experience was, We didn’t want to pay the automatic 20% gratuity they added by default. The floor manger was very nice and tried but the owner herself, Sofia, whose name is on the restaurant, said no. When I asked to speak with the owner, the owner refused to speak with me, even after multiple attempts to trying to. They didn’t offer to try and make it right with the salad or flatbread and wouldn’t budge on an adjusted gratuity.

After multiple attempts of asking the floor manager to speak with the owner, I went and found her. As an owner should know what is happening in the restaurant and the experience that the customers are having both good and bad. From the start of the convo, she was very aggressive and defensive. I asked why she didn’t want to talk with me after I asked for her multiple times, her answer “Thats why I have a floor manager. If I had to talk with every customer who wanted to talk with me, I’d never have time to do anything.” To me that is the crux of the problem with this restaurant, the owner thinks she’s above the customer. She didn’t want to hear what I was saying and the entire time was shaking a finger at me and telling me why I was wrong. When I repeatedly asked to stop shaking a finger at me and she didn’t, I did get a bit frustrated with her.

I’m sure she’ll read this review and say that I’m in the wrong somehow … FWIW, I told her exactly what I planned to do… write about my experience on all reviews sites, tell all of my friends and their friends about the experience and dispute the gratuity with my credit card.

Even if the food was the best food of my life, I’d never go back...

This was my first time dining at Sofia's because one of our friends had recommended it. The hostess greeted us upon entering, showed us to our table, offered to take my date's cost and gave her a ticket. Standard stuff. The lighting was nice, and the place reminded me of the episode of everybody loves raymond when they all went to Italy, although it's a greek restaurant.

The waiter was charming and told us about a few special items he recommended from the menu. We received our water first, and then our bread, which was toasted perfectly, just a single loaf but good. It came with a greek oil mixture that was quite tasty. Bread worked well throughout the meal for dipping.

My date had the house salad that was a quarter head cut in two pieces, topped appropriately in tomatoes, bacon, and caesar dressing (no ranch available) that she substituted from blue cheese. I felt it was a wise move. The dressing had a good flavor and not too overpowering which mixed well with the rest.

For an appetizer I had the Souvlaki (chicken on skewers). The chicken was grilled well, not dry, came with a small greens mix in vinaigrette, and Tzatziki (The greek cucumber sauce) which was excellent! Each item on this plate stood on it's own yet complemented each-other. Very happy with this.

For a main course, my date had the Seafood Plaki which arrived in a Volcano Shaped dish. I wasn't too impressed by it. Plating was something of a crock pot. Everything inside seemed too light in flavor, probably could have used some salt, however the shrimp were semi pre-cooked/seasoned on the grill before being added to this dish and tasted amazing.

I had the Pan-Seared Chilean Sea Bass with Wild Mushroom Risotto, Asparagus, and Jumbo Lump Crab meat on top. Platting was well done, and appealing for fine dinning. The risotto was on point and asparagus was good. The lump crab meat on top was perfect, and the bass itself melted in your mouth. The sauce they used on the plate had excellent flavor and complemented the bass perfectly, but I do wish there was more of it.

I didn't think we could eat another bite after the size of everything. However after the meal we were treated with a small desert tray, complements of the chef :) "Who says no to free dessert?!" The tray consisted of cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries, grapes, and two small pieces of Baklava. The fruits were sweet and strawberries were exceptional! Baklava was excellent; not too heavy or sweet. I felt like I could still eat it after the substantial...

I have never been spoken to with such rudeness, arrogance, and disrespect by any restaurant. Ever.

We had a Saturday night reservation for 5 ppl at Sofia and were genuinely very excited. In a traumatic turn of events, our 2 dogs (yes, real dogs, not a made-up excuse) got into onion bagels and chocolate chip cookies that afternoon and had to be rushed to the emergency vet. We arrived at the emergency vet at 5pm (2 hours before our dinner reservation). As soon as I had a moment to breathe amidst the chaos, I immediately called Sofia to let them know the situation that we would not be able to make it for dinner.

The woman on the phone was understanding, told me it was no problem, and said she’d cancel the reservation with no issue or penalty. That should’ve been the end of it.

But 3 days later, I’m blindsided by a $125 charge on my credit card for a no-show!! I called the restaurant to straighten it out and was transferred to either Sofia or Angela, the so-called "owner." What followed was one of the most unprofessional and infuriating conversations I’ve ever had with a business.

She cut me off before I could finish a sentence, aggressively accused me of lying, claiming that people “make up all kinds of stories” to dodge cancellation fees -- essentially calling me a fraud and a liar. When I offered to send her the timestamped emergency vet bill to verify the situation, she flat-out refused and continued to talk over me, raised her voice to tell me they're "running a business here", and made it clear she had zero interest in listening, let alone resolving the issue.

Her final words? “Dispute it with your credit card company.” No apology. No empathy. No decency.

This is not how you treat any customers, especially those who called ahead and were dealing with an actual medical emergency. Instead of any grace or understanding, I was met with accusations, condescension, and a completely unjustified charge.

This restaurant may serve food, but it serves up zero customer service and a hefty side of arrogance. I will never step foot in Sofia and if you value honesty, professionalism, or basic kindness, you...