Spotos Fish & Oyster — Restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens

My Wife and I purchased $1000 gift card last year with the intent to help small businesses with Covid. We did this with allot of businesses to help them and gave most away as gifts. But, due to the large amount we felt it was impossible to give away as a reasonable gift. They took her license at time of purchase and there is no name on gift card but they may still have access to this fact. We started to visit the place in May 2021 and had immediate issue trying to use the gift card and the Director (Jude) start screaming at the bartender that it was her fault for not notifying us of the issue. She quit on the spot (so did the other male bartender I believe trying to stand up for her) and says he does this all the time. I felt it was only necessary to write a critical review of the Director. We visited last week and did not have any issue but they asked for my drivers license (I gave my concealed license instead) to match it to the gift card so they can keep track of it. They stated they sold 40k worth of gift cards last year and had issue with gift card processing company and have to zero the balance before they can start selling gift cards again with new company. I am speculating if they asked for my driver license to confirm and match it against my negative review. We ordered dinner on 10/11 with my daughter and just after we were dropped our food two managers come over and said the owner (Ralph Benfante also owns Bimini Twist) did not welcome us there anymore because of my review. We had a little dialogue and we got up before finishing our meals and drinks. They asked for the check to paid and I said I would like to finish our meals and they refused. I called non-emergency PBG police and asked for an officer to come out to settle our check because I felt the manager would call police and said we walked out on the check. I waited for the police to arrive and to discuss options which are only civil and said since we started our meals we were required to pay it so I did. Then, management had me trespassed from the establishment for 18 months which is totally fine. I have attached my review for verification. I intend on waiting for the police report to be filed and obtain copy of the body cam footage from officer if possible and file lawsuit. This is 💯 objective facts of what occurred. These managers in photos handled the situation the best way they could. All the other staff and managers are very nice and never had an issue. There is no other explanation for this other than my review or them not wanting to honor the remaining balance of...

Amazing! Wonderful! Outstanding 5 star ⭐️ experience! If you have any hesitation, don’t… Just do it! This had to be one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life. From the very beginning we were greeted warmly and seated in a beautiful atmosphere and extremely beautiful and clean restaurant. We were pleasantly greeted by our server Kristen, who was consistently amazingly attentive as well as kind and extremely informative. She gave great suggestions throughout the meal and her energy was absolutely contagious. She made me feel like she wanted us to be there and is one of the best servers I have ever had. Let’s get to the drinks. Espresso martini was amazing. The old fashion was awesome. Finally the dirty martinis were absolute perfection. Oh, and don’t let me forget the custom cocktails that the bartender made were also phenomenal. The food was absolutely outstanding! A true culinary masterpiece!!! We started with the steamed clams and they were fresh, high-quality, and flavored to perfection. We then had the conch chowder, which was lightly spicy and chocked full of conch and tasty. In between Courses the chef/owner brought out several different tasty bites for us to sample free off the chef’s menu and they were awesome. He brought out a deviled egg and a truffle ravioli dish that I have never experienced so make sure you look at my picture so that you can see them. Both were outstanding. We then proceeded to the entrée of the grouper topped with blue crab and it was just absolutely outstanding. Did I mention that there is an extensive menu with every type of seafood that you would like to try and they even pack your leftovers up in a gorgeous custom reusable tote. There is literally not one single thing I can say that’s not positive about this place. While we were there, the manager came by twice and the shelf/owner came by three times. I felt like I was a superstar and I hope that you guys will experience this place immediately. Oh and to top it off as a sweet surprise, they sent out a complementary dessert, which was a homemade bread pudding with a caramel and pecan ice cream to finish and it was literally divine. They even bring out the hot towels to wash your hands in between each course. Did I mention they also have an amazing sushi menu as well?! This is definitely a five star experience all the way on every level from ambience to service to Food And drinks. Absolutely love it and will return again! I hear they have an award winning...

Disappointing. Had dinner with the family here for New Years, and was very disappointed with my last dinner in 2019. First, any review of this place would not be complete without first mentioning that the restaurant is too small for the amount of tables they stuff inside. Walk ways are narrow and when it’s busy as it was tonight you have to fight to move around like it was a south beach nightclub. It’s not that there is too many people, just not enough space.

The main course took nearly an hour to arrive at the table. I ordered the lobster fettuccine and the presentation was appealing and there was plenty of lobster. However, the chef must have thought that chopping the lobster meat was going too far as my plate had 4 huge chunks of lobster inside, so I had to spend the time to cut the lobster and mix it into the pasta. Ok, fine. When I finally got around to tasting the dish, it was painfully obvious that the pasta was undercooked. Not “al dente” but honestly undercooked. This combined with the huge lobster chunks shows that the dish was prepared by a total rookie on his first day, or a chef who has stopped caring about what is sent out of the kitchen that night.

My parents enjoyed their food, and had no issues until dessert. My mom ordered a dessert, and 20 minutes later it was nowhere to be found. So we asked for the check. The check came, and while we were waiting to ask for the cake which never arrived to get taken off the bill, the cake finally arrived nearly 30 minutes after ordering. She was so fed up with how long we had been made to wait for everything, she wound up eating the dessert because she was not willing to wait for the waitress to come, wait for her to fix the bill, and then wait for her to run the credit card and come back.

I had heard many good things and read many good reviews, so I was expecting a much better experience than what Spotos was willing or able to provide. I do not think I will be returning to this restaurant. There are plenty of restaurants which offer a great dining experience and where the chefs actually care...