Lobster Haven — Restaurant in Oldsmar

This is a Google five-star restaurant I have to give four stars. So let me get out of the way why I dropped it a star and then tell you how much I liked this place.

I have to accuse Lobster Haven of (probably unintentionally) hiding their prices. This happened twice on our visit. There is a "specials" sign out front that mentioned monstah poutine but did not provide a price. Yes, I could have asked specifically about price when I "asked" about it, but I never would have thought what was described to me as an appetizer would be $33.26. Not posting prices for food items creates an air of exclusivity, but this is not an upscale restaurant and does not deserve this privilege. Secondly, and more important, when it was time to pay, we were told there would be a 4% surcharge using a credit card. There was no mention of this on the walls inside the restaurant or on the menu. The only place this is mentioned is on a tiny sign on the front door (see photo). For a party of two, this is easily an extra $5. I don't mind paying it. In fact, I understand why the restaurant does this. The issue is that I was unaware of it until the end of the meal. At the very least, this info should be posted on the menu and inside the restaurant and mentioned at the beginning of the service. Better yet, why not increase prices on the menu and offer patrons a 4% discount if they pay in cash. That way, no one feels scammed. All the restaurant is doing is irritating new business who feel they are being charged a hidden cost. I was also told I was not the first customer to make a similar statement when I was a bit surprised to pay the extra 4%. Now that I know, it will be a non-issue going forward. This is friendly advice for the owner of a great establishment.

That out of the way, I loved Lobster Haven. It is a little place that you would not expect driving past to be so good. You walk inside to what is best described as a bit rustic and enjoyable nautical atmosphere. Jazz / New Orleans - style music plays in the background. Staff was wonderfully friendly and helpful. There is a decent amount of seating as well as a bar one can sit at. Now let's talk about the food. The food here could put Lobster Haven in my top 5 seafood spots in all of Tampa Bay. The monstah poutine was incredible. I could come back and have this again and again. It was a bit pricey, but the cost is understandable considering the ingredients. Honestly, the average menu item price here was reasonable, especially considering the ingredients used. Expect to pay $20-$35 for anything from a sandwich to an entree (lobster might be more market pending). My fresh grouper sandwich was delicious as was the Jazzy Shrimp. You are given ample portions here. I definitely want to come back and bring more people with me. I am told there are busy times and down times, so it might be best to call and see if a spot is available. An excellent seafood and dining experience that...

Don’t waste your money with their gift cards. Due to personal health concerns we cannot go in to a restaurant currently. We were given a $100 gift card. They’re system won’t allow you to use it over the internet, they won’t take an order over the phone. Instead, in order to use our non-refundable gift card we have to show up and order form the parking lot and then sit in our car with our one year old baby which could take up to 45 minutes for them to prepare. I’ve been a customer for years, we just tried reasoning with the manager to no avail. They’ve lost my business and I’ll tell this story every chance I get.

To the response below: The person responding wasn’t present and my experience was copy and pasted on all of my reviews. Go ahead and check Facebook, Yelp and and any others. So I am not sure what this person is talking about, but it is a clear attempt to discredit me. It is also an obvious indication of how this business regards dissatisfied customers. This person states that have cameras present in their lobby? What does that have to do anything? Are you stating that you have a voice recording of the events? Go ahead and listen to them. Also if that’s the case, you should probably be aware that Florida is an “All parties consent” state when it comes to audio recording. If you are not going to allow people to use gift cards through all normal transactionary channels provided by your business this should be made explicitly aware in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety and cause customers undue inconvenience. But it’s a moot point because I won’t be back, not that you care.

Second edit: Lobster Haven has now changed their response. This is entirely absurd. This could have easily been avoided had they either made it clear gift cards cannot be used on the their website which boldly advertises curbside pick-up or on over the phone. People with a gift card must come in. I waited in line for three people ahead of me to be served. They have claimed to have cameras, I suggest they review their own footage which they implied has audio recording as well. Regardless, no one was sent away, no one was threatened, the staff did not offer a refund, I asked for it. The man who claimed to be the owner then could not figure out how to use the gift card machine and asked me to return in two days. I asked him if he was kidding me? He then found a young lady that worked there that could operate the machine, at which point I was refunded and left. I am clearly not alone in having issues with this restaurant which is apparent if one reviews the many low rated...

Was so excited to find this place because of the Maine lobster and the whole belly clams. We're from New England and we KNOW good seafood and have missed it living in FL. This place should be ASHAMED of what they are serving. The calamari was clearly fresh meat but it was RUINED when they tried to fry it. It was greasy and wet and basically slimy. They mix it with this mound of also gross, wet pile of fried red onions they call "onion straws". They're gross. The whole belly clams were ATROCIOUS. Slimy with grease, not crispy at all, super salty and also hidden within a mound of these unnecessary onion straws. $30! Sent back without hesitation. The fried shrimp were ok, but consensus was we've had grocery store fried shrimp that was better. They only had 1 1/2 lb lobsters available so we HAD to upcharge our meal if we wanted a whole lobster. That size lobster was $50!!!! It was like RUBBER. Extraordinarily overcooked and the flavor was lost. The steamed mussels with garlic and butter were tasty and great texture but also very salty and when ordered with marinara they give you a cup on the side and don't heat them with the sauce in the mussels. Very disconnected. Don't even get me started on the RIDICULOUS chicken tenders. The fingers on my hands are bigger than the sad chicken fingers they served. Our server was good, apologetic, which should never happen but I can definitely see why they had NO reservations on the books when we called and made ours and why it was NOT busy at all at noon on a Saturday. Very disappointing and won't be back. I certainly hope whoever was cooking on Saturday 4/19 isn't the owner and they find someone who knows what they're doing. This place has the perfect opportunity to be GREAT but instead they are ruining perfectly good seafood. ...