Casablanca Waterfront Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Miami

To be sure knowing how important customer reviews are to a restaurant or any business for that matter, I rarely leave a negative review except when I believe the business has worked to earn such. Occasion: Sunday Pre show dinner and light bite prior to show at Arsht Center for my wife and I. Location: Excellent, Reservation system: Excellent, Ambiance: Excellent Noise Level: High, Oysters Excellent, Cocktail with Absinthe Excellent Initial Service: Friendly with Upsell, Followup Service non existent after drinks received and order taken. Food Delivery: Very pleasant person with big smile. Paella: Tasty but quite overcooked which is not unusual unless prepared per order at better restaurants. May I say I enjoy dining out and don't consider the cost. I don't expect 5 star service but appreciate it when it occurs. It appears to me that the setup at this establishment is not geared to return business. The server was not seen for 45 minutes after taking the order. No check on our drinks or food order. I had to ask a staff person walking by to find server. She had to ask another and then he appeared to see if we were done and wanted dessert. I enjoy leaving a gratuity of not less than 20% to show appreciation for the server and the establishment. I know these times are not easy but there is only on way to get the message across. I though I'd leave 10%, but as the server was working the bill and payment machine I thought I'd leave 15%. Lo and behold 18% gratuity was added to the bill ( must be indicated on the menu?). With a usual tap option in percentage for a TIP above the gratuity. Two diners and an added gratuity? Unusual and Unappreciated, the customer that is. We will not be back but the proprietor I'm certain is not surprised. Hostess: Openly arrogant when asked for outdoor seating responding its full, I asked for a wait time, through narrowed eyes 1 hour, really was my response. Love new experiences and on to the next as we will not return. Not on Open Table...

I wish I could give this place 0 stars.

Great view -- horrible service & expensive for what it is.

My family and I were in town for a cruise and stayed close by this place, so we thought we'd try.

Went on a Saturday evening & with only 4 tables sat, we were there for almost 3 hours. Sat outside and waited to be greeted about 10 mins. Waters took another 20 minutes. We asked for stilled water initially & got charged for water (did not know this until my father told me after he had paid). I had some family members order oysters and apps and the server said verbatim "is that it? nothing else?" very disrespectfully. Our food took about probably 30-45 minutes. An hour and a half passed and we've only been served water and our oysters. Food was bland. No one came by to check on how the food was. They gave us essentially an amuse, due to the long wait & it was literally tuna salad with chips. Our waters were never filled and when they were we ended up getting charged for bottled water -- when we only ever asked for stilled. At the end of the evening, our server presented our check, we asked if it could be split by items and he looked at us as if we had asked a stupid question. We broke everything down for him and wrote it down and the checks still came back incorrectly but we just wanted to leave. We paid for more than what we should have. It was only then when my father pulled out his black card, your server had the audacity to ask for an additional tip, upon the apparent automatic grat (again probably due to a large party, but nothing was in fine print or spoken to us about).

I work in the hospitality industry and this was the worst service and disrespectful experience I've ever had.

I highly DO NOT recommend this restaurant. You're better off with anything else. There is so much potential especially with the view. It's sad that this is...

We came as a group which can be hard sometimes in this industry. We had a group of 8 that came in for a wedding party. Most of group could not order what they wanted. The restaurant was out of crab meat, snapper, ravioli, and tres leeches. The problem with this is they don’t tell you until your group has already ordered then they come back and tell you it’s out. ( puts the customer in a rough spot) good restaurants will let you know upon arrival as you sit down the. They are out of certain things beforehand. I understand that is out of their control.

So when I finally got the manager he said he understood my frustrations and he would take 10%off, well this restaurant charges 20% gratuity whether you get service or not(so taking 10% off of an additional 30 is not doing me any favors). This restaurant is under bad management and the service staff is paying for it. Manager tonight (9/2/24 8:30 pm) actually stated if I wasn’t happy with the service I didn’t have to tip. Which was not the case I still tipped over 25% as I’ve worked as a food service manager for over 10 years. My problem was that this restaurant is not following proper procedures. If I order something I expect it, I don’t expect to have somebody come out numerous different times to tell different people that different items are out of stock. Manager said the best he could do was take 10% off of two people out of ten. If you want your group to be taken care of, steer clear of this place fore sure. Managers could care less about your experience, and only care about getting your money. Save yourself the grief and go to a reputable place, do not think this place is going to be your family outing or family celebration spot, they DONT CARE, JUST PAY THEM, like the manager said. Miami has some great spots this...