River Deck Tiki Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in New Smyrna Beach

It’s not our first time in but is definitely our last. We’ve come into River Deck for quite sometime now and honestly it just keeps going downhill. From the food, to the bar drinks to the service. Food is definitely not fresh like they say, bar drinks have little to no flavor or alcohol and this isn’t the first time we thought a server there was intoxicated. Tonight we came in and our server was off to say the least, again seemed almost intoxicated. Couldn’t remember what we were asking for, kept forgetting things and we noticed the other tables in his section definitely felt the same way. Came over to greet our table- no name and the interaction was just off putting. Wasn’t able to hold much of a conversation. We put our kids food in and it came out no problem but then when it was time for myself and husband to order our server couldn’t remember the second item we ordered which was a special on the front hostess board (fresh grouper bites LOL definitely not grouper and definitely not fresh)… Told us the price wrong 3 times (said it was the managers fault he kept telling him the wrong price) and then pretty sure just kept forgetting to ring them in. By the time they were even close to plating to come out of the kitchen we were ready to pay and this is where it became odd and we could tell he was more than likely under the influence… We asked for him to cancel the grouper bites…. We had already asked for the check and at this point my husband has already placed his debit card in the checkbook. As we are asking him (our server) to take off the grouper bites that we did not receive because they are taking too long … like I said to him (our server), we have to head out and head home, the grouper bites come walking out of the kitchen and hit our table.. to which we ask for a box, so we can box the food up… the server walks away with our debit card in the checkbook, gets a box comes back with our debit card in the checkbook and a box and says “have a great night” nothing else. So we think we’re done and we were definitely not tipping anyway so we grab the receipt, our card and start to leave… after my family and I get up and start walking towards the valet the server comes running after us, and accusing us of not paying. Even though he walked away with our card in the check book and came back with a box and said have a good night… no communication whatsoever.. no “hey do you want me to take the grouper bites off still? I haven’t ran your card”…. When we asked to speak to a manager, he blatantly refused to get a manager and said “he’s too busy right now to deal with this so I just took the grouper bites off for you.” .. to which I replied “it’s crazy. This whole interaction has been your fault due to your demeanor, and it seems as if you were a little intoxicated hence why you’re forgetful and that’s why you won’t get your manager.” He just laughed and shrugged his shoulders. I just let my husband step in. Now to just watch our card for the next few days because he refused to give us a copy of the customer copy + itemized receipt. Only came back with customer copy not merchant copy. I worked in this industry too and know you’re suppose to provide 3 receipts to patrons. The fact we only received one and he forced my husband to sign it was insane which he did not have to do.

If you don’t live here, don’t eat here. Outriggers is just down the street and JB’s is a few minutes away!

No idea his name; Dark complexion, dark black hair, I believe he had some sort of skin condition on his hands and legs, dark grey shirt and black+white camo pants. We were in...

If I could give zero stars I would. We arrived last night Saturday 7/26/25 with my very small service dog who is registered trained and certified with the ADA. Instead of being greeted at the hostess stand I was immediately asked if my dog was a service dog, even though he had his very obvious vest on labeled service dog. I responded “yes he is” and then asked “what is my disability” and then stated she “would need to see proof and my dogs credentials that my dog is a service dog”…. I was SHOCKED! First of all, it is absolutely WRONG to ask those questions in the manner she did!EDUCATE YOUR STAFF if you hate animals so much that you interrogate people coming to support your business who may need their service animal just to simply eat and be in public.

Directly from ADA WEBSITE: “In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.”

This was a horrible and embarrassing experience for me and my family. We were discriminated against as well as interrogated in front of a line of people waiting at the entry of your restaurant being asked “what’s my disability?!” Is none of your business and your host should act her wage and do her job and greet people and seat them and roll her silverware, and use common sense and look at my dog was clearly marked as a service animal which is also not a requirement by the ADA and if needed to be confirmed there is a appropriate way to do so. I will NEVER come back here and i will make sure everyone knows not to come here and to tell everyone this business clearly hates animals, hates people with disabilities, and denies them service if they have a service animal.

I have reported you to the ADA, Disability Rights Florida and filed a complaint with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Horrible experience whoever the manager is should be fired immediately and whoever is responsible for training your staff to be so hateful and uneducated should be fired too and if it’s the owners shame on...

With this being our first visit, it’s likely our last. We got there at 8 last night, excited to try the menu out. The host was super nice and sat us right by the water. We thought we scored great seats until a few minutes went by and we were being attacked my bugs. The table behind us were complaining too. With having indoor seating as well, I wish that would’ve been an option rather than closing it down. Our server, Kristina, seemed like she wanted to be anywhere else but serving our table. I ordered a raspberry mojito and my mom got a rum runner. She tried walking away before my boyfriend could place his order and played it off not realizing he wanted a drink too. Drinks come out and I get a raspberry mule instead. I didn’t say anything because maybe she misheard, I just took my losses and drank it, though it didn’t even taste like raspberry either. When we went to place food orders, I could tell she was getting annoyed when we were ordering our Castaway Combo. We wanted to add Cajun and didn’t realize we could pick which meat to have it on. We’d say 2 things and then she would say the wrong ones back. Finally I said “just the crab legs and shrimp” and it was like I offended her because I didn’t want it on the Mahi. Food comes out, we ask for a few things, takes a while to come back. She was trying to clear plates and would get annoyed when we weren’t done. It was just frustrating because it felt like she wanted nothing to do with us. Bill comes out and there’s an extra drink on the check so we asked for it to be removed since none of us had it and there was no apology or anything just “ I guess I’ll go take it off”. I’m sorry but I’ve worked in the service industry for years now and having this kind of experience was horrible. This is what puts a bad taste in people’s mouths...