Reef Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Philadelphia

My first attempt to dine at Reef (7/20) was foiled due to unexpected construction delays (I showed up at the restaurant to find the doors locked and the lights off). I spoke with the manager later, learned about the reason behind the closure, and decided to try Reef at a later date.

Flash forward to my visit on 9/21, and I'm happy I decided to return to Reef. TL;DR - if you like Jamaican food and are on South Street, check out Reef!

The decor is beautiful, and themed appropriately (tile mosaics on the columns, underwater murals on the walls, blue overhead lighting, island music on the playlist). The bar is well-stocked, and the menu abounds with island-inspired drinks. The bartender crafted an excellent mojito - properly muddled, light rum, just enough syrup.

As for our meals, we got the seafood boat appetizer, Salmon Montego Bay, and jerk short ribs.

Good - the appetizer. $15 for 2 scallops, 4 bite-sized shrimp, and 2 bite-sized crapcakes is a bit steep, but thankfully it was half-price within happy hour. Otherwise, it would not (in my opinion) be worth it. That said, it was well-prepared. Actual crab meat in the cakes (not just breading like many places), tender scallops and delicious jerk BBQ sauce on the shrimp.

Better - the short ribs. Decent portion size, served with a good helping of rice/beans and broccoli, and prepared with that flavorful jerk BBQ. Minor critique - it was slightly dry (inside and out - extra jerk sauce would be welcomed) but truly, I'm picking nits.

Best - the Montego Bay Salmon. It was everything salmon should be - tender, juicy, with an excellent crispiness and that spicy citrus jerk sauce. I would go back just to get this salmon (and excluding sushi, I'm not usually a salmon guy, so that's saying something).

The wait staff was polite and attentive, and the manager was a gracious host. Overall, a great...

If i could give this place a negative star i would. Went for the first time on Monday 07/30/2018. Where to begin the all you can eat crabs stop at 9 but the person at the door tell u they all night. The phone number says they close at 12 but in actuality they close at 11. They are understaffed. My waiter was a black guy and my date was a white man. I hate to think that was relevant but it seemed like it. The waiter wasn’t writing our food down. Took us 25 minutes for a drink and when i went to the bar to place my own order. The bar said they were making it and they weren’t they were standing there talking. The bill was $90 and for a satisfactory meal that wouldn’t of been an issue. But again the service here was horrible. The waiter wouldn’t look at me he act like he heard nothing i said. My date had to keep saying hey she asked u for this and so on. But when i went to the restroom the waiter was more than friendly was i was talking to one of his coworkers. But back at the table i got the same eye roll i did before. This was my first time here and i will never return. The waiter would stop takin our order to tend to other tables. I work in customer service i have restaurant experience. I am a former manager and a serv safe holder and the experience here was absolutely the worse I’ve ever experienced in any restaurant. I wouldn’t take my dog there. There was a group of people just yelling the table next to me asked the manager to ask them to quiet down the manager replied”i could ask them but there’s no guarantee they’re gonna listen”. Then she walked off as she came never even tried to keep the noise down. Extremely disappointed heard...

Let me start with the Food was good. They were training a new waitress which was irritating because I have a infant & it was taking longer to order because I had questions that she didn't know the answer to & had to keep running to ask. People with infants know how precious sleep time is. It's basically let's get this show on the road before she wakes up, move itttt !!!! Took a long time for the food to come in my opinion it's not like its cooked to order, as oxtails are an all day process. We ordered the spicy Jamaican shrimp as an appetizer, which was great. We ordered oxtails cabbage rice & peas on one plate & beef short ribs broccoli & mash potatoes on the other to split. The oxtail were great. Tender & seasoned well. Cabbage was so so. Rice & peas were good. The ribs were a little tough for my liking. Mash was good broccoli was tasty seasoned with garlic butter.

Now to me the food portion didn't coincide with the prices. Expensive & small portions. Usually you get bigger portions at a Caribbean restaurant. Part of the culture. $20- 23$ a plate isn't worth it. Good but not THAT good.

We ordered two alcoholic drinks a piece. Significant watered down. I had two mojitos. Tasted good but little to no alcohol. Person I was with order a frozen drink. Tasted like No alcohol in it. & the other drink which was great had a little more alcohol. They need to do better on drinks.

Bartender was loud & having a conversation with the waitress about out of work topics. They were just standing around talking.

All in all I would return just for something to do but..... I've had &...