Bonefish Grill — Restaurant in Matthews

Saturday, April 16th, 2022 a friend and I decided to have lunch at Bonefish Grill located on Independence Ave., in Matthews, NC. We've dined many time at this location. The food was good as usual and the service was ok. We each paid our bills and left a cash tip for the server. The problem was discovered a few days later with the bill and the server. When we checked our credit card statements online we both found that our cards were billed for more than what the original bill in the store stated. The server had placed an extra charge to our credit cards without our knowledge. We contacted management to make them aware of the issue. She was extremely apologetic and said she would investigate and speak with the regional manager as well. The regional manager contacted myself and my friend with apologies and expressed that she's never experienced such incident with any employee and that we wouldn't have to worry about the server again. She took my card information to refund the money charged without permission and offer to send a gift card to smooth things over. I told her no, that wasn't necessary just please address the problem, but she insisted and ask that I come back to dine with them. So, I said that's well and find.

About a week later I received the $25.00 gift card. Days after receiving the card I decided I would just order a meal to go. The meal didn't total up to the full $25.00 and the server didn't return the gift card with the money left on the card. I ask for the card and she said we aren't able to give back money left on the card. So, I said 'so you're just going to take my money'. She left to find a manager and the manager came and I explained the matter and she reiterated what the server had said. I was quite perplexed by a restaurant freely taking money left on a gift card simply because they can't give back money or wasn't able to leave in on the card. (so I'm being told). The manager said you can purchase some of our great deserts to close out the card. I ask, 'what was the cost of your deserts?" She rambled off items that cost more than what was left on the card and mention I could add money to purchase. So, at this juncture I'm annoyed with this whole issue I've been having with this restaurant. I told her 'I'm not spending any money that isn't on this gift card.'

Money left on a gift card is money owed to the gift card holder. It feels like this establishment just reached into my pocket took whatever moneys they wanted. It actually amounts to the same.

I have to question how many people has this type incident happened and is this a practice of this restaurant allowing servers to add extra charges to patron's...

The location we visited has a gym next door to it, but the atmosphere in the restaurant would not reflect that in the least. The host staff immediately greeted us upon our entry, and we were seated almost immediately. The restaurant was adequately lit, and easy to maneuver if one were in a wheelchair or walker.

The food was top notch. We had an appetizer of Calamari, which was cooked well, was not rubbery, but the breading was crispy. I ordered the Filet Mignon with Lobster tail, with a side of asparagus, and garlic mashed potatoes. My wife order the Cod Imperial. My filet was cooked to a near perfect medium, and the lobster tail kept a smooth texture that was pleasing as well. The garlic in the potatoes was not overpowering to me, but was definitely a prominent flavor. The asparagus seemed to be cooked at the peak of its ripeness. It was hot, but remained crisp without the stringiness often found in undercooked asparagus. My wide enjoyed her Cod Imperial, but did mention the sauce was almost too strong for the dish. It had an almost bitter first taste that would fade into a wine butter taste after a moment.

After we ordered a Molten chocolate cake which sounds like a very generic dessert, but it had a very signature twist. It was topped with some of the best whipped cream I have tasted in a restaurant setting, and was surrounded by a berry mix consisting of strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. The mix of chocolate and fruit sweetness was a great way to finish of the meal.

Our waiter was extremely personable and friendly. When asked about 2 different dishes, he gave a couple reasons he enjoyed each of them, but did not attempt to sway one way or another. My water glass never saw anyrhing less than half full, and he was very attentive to our needs and kept the table clear of dishes that were not in use.

All in all, I found my visit very pleasing, and will make an effort to return to this location. The food was very good, the restaurant was very good, but the waiter was most likely what secures the 5...

Our daughter decided she wanted to go out to dinner for her 16th Birthday so we figured why not try Bonefish since they had moved to their new location! It was a Monday, so I didn’t expect them to be super busy; however, since our family is larger than most, I always make reservations. I attempted to do make the reservations online but wasn’t permitted to since our party was larger than 6 so I called. The gentleman who answered the phone was polite and informed me they can only do reservations for up to 5 people. I asked if there was any flexibility in that (we’ve eaten at the old bonefish many of times and never had a problem with our size family). He spoke with someone else and they said they could but the earliest we could be seated was 745. Fine. We arrive at 745 and the new place is beautiful but seems significantly smaller than the old one which now I see why they don’t do parties larger than 5; there just isn’t enough room. Our “table” wasn’t ready and they informed us they expected the family to move soon. We decided just to take two booths back to back because we were starving. Bad idea… not fun to not have everyone together so after we see the other family move (about 30 min later) we ask to move to that table. They happily accommodate us and clean the table so we could move. It was very tight for 8 of us and the only other option I saw was moving two 4 seat tables together but didn’t want to continue to ask for accommodations. The waitress we had provided excellent customer service. She was friendly and very attentive. The food was ok. All Steaks with the exception of one, were over cooked and I imagine that was because they held the food waiting for fries. The manager was kind enough to remove our calamari from the bill as an apology which was not needed but appreciated. Overall the staff was great, ambiance was very nice and food was good. Only taking one star because they’ve lost the ability to accommodate larger parties which just means we won’t be able to frequent them as often as we had...