Island Grill Seafood & Steakhouse — Restaurant in Ocean City

Given that we're in the middle of a pandemic, I try give places the benefit of the doubt, but I can't let this one go. We used the Island Grill online ordering system and placed an order - two salads and swordfish. We never got an order confirmation, but I did get an alert that my credit card was charged. We figured it was just a glitch and no big deal, so we walked over to pick up our food.

First, I told the older gentleman working that although I placed the order as curbside, we would pick it up in person. His exact response was, "Makes no difference to me." Umm, okay. Then, I asked when our order would be ready and he said, "Unless you got a text, we're working on it." Okay. I tried to tell him that we never got a confirmation, only that our card was charged and he seemed uninterested.

We waited ...

And waited ...

And asked again ... "we're working on it."

We're now approaching the 90 minute mark.

Finally, I asked a different employee. He went to check on it and another employee came out and informed us that the order did not go through because they were out of one of the menu items and the charge on the card was just a hold. Now, let me add, I've worked in restaurants and I've NEVER heard anything as backwards as that. Ever.

She went on and explained how they've had problems with their ordering system, how they weren't thinking they would be busy (it's Labor Day Weekend, mind you), and on and on. She completely avoided the issue: we asked several times when our order would be ready, and we were told they were working on it. That's clearly a lie. They never checked. Had they checked, they would have seen it wasn't processed and we could have placed a new order. Own up to your mistakes.

If after 6 months of a pandemic, you can't get ahold of your online ordering system, it tells me two things: you probably went with the cheapest one available and you clearly don't care about customer service. As with anything, you get what you paid for. Given the economical impact, you'd think restaurants would try to accommodate every single potential guest to make up for lost revenue.

Anyway, we finally got our food - now three salads at this point. Mediocre at best and clearly thrown together to get us out of there. Were they worth $60? Absolutely not.

So in short, if you like playing russian roulette with online ordering, subpar customer service, and standing around for 90 minutes, this place is for you. There are many other restaurants with online ordering that...

This used to be one of favorite anticipated stops when we visited OC as a family. Our most recent experience here will unfortunately be our last... I couldn't believe how rude the hostess at the entrance was. We had called early about our large group and were told no reservations but that they would accomodate if we came in at a specific time. Sounds like a reservation to me. When we got there at that time the blonde hostess rudely told us that they do NOT accept reservations and that if we wanted to eat we can wait an hour and a half. Instead of apologizing for the miscommunication or handling the situation with any grace, she snapped at us and said we just have spoke to someone that didnt know what they were talking about and that we could wait like everyone else and get away from the host stand so she can take other customer names. We did wait because we were all looking forward to it and didn't want her attitude to affect our choice to eat here. An hour and a half later we checked back in and we're greeted by the owner who was even more rude! The majority of the menu items we attempted to order were out of stock. We waited an hour and a half again for our food which came our cold and without much flavor. Multiple items were missed which we ended up just having taken off of the ticket instead of having to wait again. The server was very you g and inexperienced. He WAS friendly, but he lacked basic knowledge of safety and sanitation. He never prebussed us once, and instead of checking in with us, he sat at a table behind us eating food and rolling silverware in between bites. Disgusting! Three of the servers just stood at the corner of the patio checking their phones as we sat with dirty plates and empty cups. This place must have been hit hard by the borders closing because half their help used to be foreign and actually had great customer service and work ethic. We won't be returning to...

This place is the absolute opposite of the way people, and life are moving. We were told to take our sleeping child (who wouldn’t sleep so we left hotel for a walk looking for a nice place to eat and he finally fell to sleep) out of his stroller then when I asked why we couldn’t bring stroller in I was told by the manager (Jim) it was New Jersey Law. I questioned Jim Yoa (the manager) to see the law as I’m from PA not NJ then he said it was the insurance company. When I questioned to understand what the issue was he said “what do you want to do”, I asked to understand the issue, whether it was fire code issue or what and he raised his hands and removed the menus. We left and he made my entire family feel like fools - I will be contacting an attorney as he (Jim) threatened me with a law and insurance implications. We even asked if he would seat us outside, he said no but!, there were 8 open tables outside. We paid for the milk and left.

Just an awful experience.

Would they let a wheelchair in the restaurant? A walker? Why not a baby?

I edited this as I wrote the last message as walking and found gaps.

Jim Yao is the father (or father in-law), so he said of the owner.

Just to reply to the absolute lie that the owner responded to my concerns with. I asked the manager (who told me to remember his name Yoa) if he has heard of ADA and if the restaurant was compliant to ADA and if so why couldn’t a stroller come in the restaurant? The owner obviously didn’t answer all the concerns below. If strollers aren’t allowed on the dining area, why couldn’t we sit outside? All of responses to your customers concerns are excuses you have no solutions. Speaking to an attorney as I put in my original post is to understand NJ law which I was originally told why I couldn’t...