Ridgway Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Naples

We returned to Ridgway after a nice time a few years ago - the rest of the family didn't remember things as fondly as I did, so this was a sense check. I wanted to love it. Booked well in advance for some our precious days in Naples.

On the plus side, we were seated outside and our waiter was extremely hard working, friendly, and attentive.

Our party of 5 was seated on the patio at a table that could comfortably fit 2-3 people tops. The water glasses and bread dishes alone took up most of the space. 5 people was just silly. But it was a beautiful night so let's enjoy.

Appetizers. "Lump" crabmeat and avocado. We are fortunate to live in legit blue crab country, and there wasn't a single lump of crabmeat anywhere near the dish. That was a red flag to revisit an egg allergy that we mentioned upon seating re: the bread. The dish arrived looking like it had a mayo binder, and the answer was that it "probably did to get the crab to stick together." Any real (cold) lump crab cocktail needs no binder, so a 2x whammy. The fried shrimp were fine, but pricey at $18 for 3. Mussels were OK, but nothing special and also pricey - the red sauce was a bit heavy, focaccia was good.

Mains. Our waiter did everything he could to get everything timed correctly. Yet, when the main courses arrived, our tiny table was still a cluttered mess from the appetizers. Not his fault at all because he was juggling several tables. Eventually, someone helped clean up as our food stood nearby waiting. A few filets ordered medium rare, which arrived just a touch shy of well done. Dry, leather, meh - gray from the edges to the near center, as if almost cooked from frozen. Simple fish grilled was good.

Deserts. Some confusion at our table about whether the Profiteroles were served with lemon ice cream, or if there was a similar "vanilla" ice cream that may have included eggs as a standalone. Either way, there was an allergy concern we needed to address. Key lime tart was great, though.

Overall, this place has a beautiful location. And a ton of future potential (additive to its apparent history). It just has an awkward "comfort food" vibe in a town/climate I wouldn't necessarily want "comfort food" - that's personal preference. Maybe the older clientele just can't resist. Heck, I love Chicken Pot Pie, but I wouldn't order it in Florida. Pink shrimp with fried green tomato and biscuit gravy, schnitzel, coq au vin, etc. And the service items and allergy concerns need to be much more crisp.

Lastly, some reviewers think it's cute and fun, but having dogs literally sitting in chairs at a table, walking thru the outdoor part of the restaurant is strange to those of us who aren't...

I am writing a review of an experience had at Ridgway Bar & Grill in downtown Naples, Florida. I urge everyone to experience this restaurant because not only is the food and drink good, but the General Manager, DeeDee and all the employees are people of integrity and honesty. I will try to be brief here so stay with me. My wife and I just moved to Naples about 2 months ago and invited my wife’s parents and my wife’s sister and husband down for a week’s visit. We went to Ridgway Bar & Grill for a pre-dinner drink. We were warmly greeted by a great guy named Tony. He took our order but said would have to leave in about 40 minutes due to a planned reception in our seating area. We said that works fine and “Thank you”. We loved our drinks, had a great time and left to go to dinner. Two minutes after leaving Ridgway’s I realized I left a bag with a just purchased shirt at our table. When I returned, the bag was their but the shirt was gone! I was frantic and tried to ask people seated near us if they saw anything but got nothing. The employees in the area were now setting up for the reception didn’t see anything either. I am now very embarrassed to say that I wrongly blamed the employees for the theft. DeeDee, the GM, took my card and said she would check the cameras and get back to me when she could. This wonderful lady was kind, courteous and professional when I was not. Later on I got a text and call that the shirt had been returned after we had left by a women who said she found it. Really!! DeeDee said the security footage showed this women stuffing the shirt in her purse a couple minutes after we had all left. Case solved and I have the shirt back!! I jumped to a wrong conclusion and am so sorry I offended so many people. I got the opportunity to meet and apologize to DeeDee in person and am so grateful for her actions. If any employee’s read this review, please know I am so sorry and apologize to you as well. I hope to see you all again as my wife and I will return to Ridgway’s...

We took 20 folks to the restaurant, atmosphere was nice (except there were some extremely loud ladies sitting near us and it was very distracting. We were hoping management would ask them to use their indoor voices.) but restaurant was well thought out and pretty. We are all from a beach community so are very familiar with seafood and quality seafood. Several of us ordered "lump back fin" crab cakes for $33.00 with no side dishes??? Hoping they would be delicious because of the location here near the water. It was an insult when they arrived. There was not one piece of lump back fin crab in the two small cakes put before us. It was all claw, a little regular back fin and lots and lots of breading. They appeared previously frozen and tasted like something you would expect to get at Red Lobster or Captain Dee's "seafood" restaurant. It was extremely disappointing, a bit insulting and at least one in our party refused to eat them entirely. The manager didn't come over to check, the waitress didn't offer to bring the patron something different and she didn't even seem to care that the customer was unhappy. Very bad service from a restaurant. Not any offer to make the customer satisfied in any additional way, the waitress just took the uneaten food away and left. The other folks at the table offered to share their food but the waitress never said another word. I know a restaurant can't hit a home run every single time. But if you are going to advertise Lump Back fin crab cakes then serve lump back fin crab cakes, not preprocessed, can type crab, and certainly if a customer is unhappy with something at least apologize, offer to make it right, send over a free desert or coffee drink, but don't ignore the client. Very poor customer service. Our party spent close to 1200 or more and a little act of kindness on their part would have been in good taste. I will not recommend or ever return to this restaurant. Bad food you can forgive, bad service and lack of...