Bodega Olé — Restaurant in Naples

I took my husband to Bodega for Valentine's Day dinner. We were very excited but there were a few hints that things might not go as planned. Firstly, I booked through their reservation system with Open Table. I got almost daily e-mails from OT requesting I confirm the reservation. By the time the day arrived, I was concerned there was a problem with the reservation and called Bodega directly to confirm. All good. We arrived 1/2 an hour early and were planning to sit at the bar and have a drink, if necessary, but were taken directly to our table. Unfortunately, it was right next to the speakers and we had to request to be moved so we could actually talk and enjoy our dinner. The staff was very accommodating and eventually we were moved. Our waitress from the Dominican Republic was charming and delightful. Although she seemed a bit overworked, we were very well taken care of the entire evening. Now the food: When booking our reservation there was no indication that is was a special menu that evening. I was looking forward to the grilled octopus which had outstanding reviews but, alas, this was not to be. This should have been advertised on the face page of the website so customers would know what to expect. Granted, the choices were excellent, being either Seafood Lovers or Meat Lovers. Although my husband loved the ambiance and, in particular the music (drummer), he wasn't terribly impressed with the food. I thought the food was excellent, particularly the short ribs which were the best I have ever had with mushrooms and a lovely wine sauce. I had the paella which should be a no brainer for a Spanish restaurant. Unfortunately, I should have heeded previous reviews that suggested to avoid it. It was tasteless and cold when it arrived at the table. This was extremely disappointing. We have made much better paella at home. This being our first experience, we will probably avoid this restaurant for a while. They clearly need time to figure things out a bit. I wish them luck because they have clearly tried to make the place charming but it seems they don't take constructive criticism to heart. Best wishes for...

I had the wrong idea about Bodega Ole'. I was thinking "fine dining" when we made our reservation. Also, it is fair to make it known that we have only been there once. The bartender, by default, was acting wait staff. That turned out to be a mistake.

My wife ordered the branzino (whole fish). It happened that I had looked at the menu prior to coming to the restaurant and had already decided on the gazpacho and the pork shoulder dish. I could not remember the name of the dish (Perlin) so I described it to the bartender. He assured me that there was no pork shoulder on the menu. Before I reviewed the menu for another item I took a stab at the name of the dish which surprisingly I said correctly - “Perlin”. He immediately recognized the name “Perlin” and said that the dish was on the menu. The dinner arrived and the fish was beautiful. However, here is where things really began to go downhill in a hurry. The "whole fish - head and tail on" was not deboned. Okay, given that the restaurant is not a fine dining restaurant I am thinking that this is not insurmountable. I simply asked if he would debone the fish. He refused to take the plate and said that I could debone it myself if I wanted it deboned. But it got worse. He literally said, “I will get you a spoon”. I really was taken by surprise by such a high level of crude service. I now find myself in this very dimly lit bar area deboning this beautiful fish with a butter knife and a soup spoon with my bare hands. In the middle of all of this I look up at him and he looks at me and says “This is how we do it here. This is part of the Bodega Ole’ experience”. I speculate that Nick the bartender was just doing what he had been told to do and say. I put the deboned fish in front of my wife and realized that i was going to need to wash my hands. I looked at Nick and he looks back and says, “the men’s room is down the hall”. I wash my hands go back to my cold dinner. The food was cooked well - the prices were inexpensive - the service was inconsiderate. We left the “Bodega Ole” experience behind, went home with our...

Updated review:

It's been 2 years since this unfortunate event happened to us, honest clients who wanted to enjoy, and contribute, to a family-owned business. Never an apology from the owner, just the deletion of his rude answer to this review.

My wife and I enjoyed going there for salsa Fridays and even dined in, not long ago, to celebrate our anniversary.

That, until an unfortunate situation happened when the owner approached to me and started being rude and disrespectful; as he was holding me accountable for an unpaid bill from an acquaintance of ours that happened to be there with us on one of the previous nights. On one point the owner was coercing me to paid for it or else I would had to leave the premises.

I firmly believe that there were many ways to have handled this situation better without accusing us of something we didn't do. You, as the owner, really need to brush up on you interpersonal skills with the honest customers when something of this nature occurs. As a Naples resident for 16 years, this has never happened to me before.

Sadly, until we don't get a proper apology to my wife and I, we won't be coming back anytime soon.

P.S. Props to Austin, our bartender that always served and treat us with respect despite the mishappening.

(Update to owner response)

How unfortunate it is your response even though someone else, from our group, took responsibility and paid for it in order to keep enjoying the night at your place. I feel sorry for your attitude against a customer (myself) who enjoyed investing money and quality time in your establishment.

I will stand by my word and no, I did not commit any "shameful act" and I'm not trying to "redeem myself", as you state in your offensive feedback, because wherever I've gone, I've paid for what I consume. I'm just sharing an honest review of how harsh I was treated for something I was not responsible of.

And yes, Bodega's staff is amazing. As for me, you're quite...