The Wharfside Seafood & Patio Bar — Restaurant in Point Pleasant Beach

First of all let me preface this by saying that I have been a professional chef for 40 years both nationally/internationally published in cookbooks and magazines so I totally understand the restaurant biz. Ive worked with many start ups both hotels and restaurants. With that being said; I have high expectations for both the kitchen staff and wait staff but at the same time I also cut some slack if a restaurant is very busy and I can see that the staff is overwhelmed. We arrived and were told there would be a 30-35 minute wait for a table for 2 for inside dining. The “hostess” Jayna took our name and my cell phone number to text us when our table was ready. We went to the bar area. We ordered a few glasses of wine and looked over the menu while we waited. Our bar waitress Brittany was great! Very informative and ran back to ask the chef, Glen, about gluten free options on the menu. Britney went above and beyond the call of duty as a bar waitress.I was very impressed! 1 HOUR passed and still no text! My husband went up and asked about our table. The “hostess” -a very unprofessional young lady, Jayna, with an “I could care less attitude about you” negative attitude informed us that she texted us but “it must have been the wrong number”. I said to her “that is unacceptable! I gave you my correct cell phone number and because you entered it into your computer incorrectly we sat there waiting for an hour?( which by the way we were enjoying our drinks and chatting. The hour went by fast. My bad for not checking with the hostess station sooner and my bad for TRUSTING THEM!) They sat us asap and apologized. Gave us 2 drinks for free. The waitress, Lisa, came to the table to take our dinner order. Since it was now 9 PM!…we didnt order appetizers (or dessert). We only ordered entrees.(profit $ loss right there due to Jayna’s inadequacy). Lisa had a slight attitude that dissipated as the dinner progressed. I think she was tired due to a staff shortage and a busy night. The Italian dressing on my salad was so salty it was inedible. My husband who loves salt even cringed after tasting it. The entrees as you can see in he pictures were a mixed review. My husbands dish, the crabmeat stuffed flounder needed some eye appeal. Mashed potatoes scooped out onto the plate with a large ice cream scoop? The flounder was dry and could have used some type of sauce to compliment, not just the tartar sauce that it came with. We were thinking maybe an easy to make lemon beurre blanc? Never the less he said the flavor was there. My seared scallops with fresh corn salsa, arugula, pancetta and a lemon vinaigrette was very tasty. The scallops were seared medium and sweet. The corn was fresh and the dish came together nicely. By 10:15 PM we were done with our dinner and very happy to be on our way home. As we left I bumped into Glen the Chef! I introduced myself as a fellow Chef and Thanked him for taking the extra care with his kitchen staff to ensure that my dinner was gluten free. (I have only been gluten free for the past 10 yrs. Not a choice willingly made by me but by my body. Probably from eating my way around the globe for years my body said “enough”! ) As we were leaving I asked the woman at the hostess station to look up our name and my cell phone number. Just as I thought. Jayna incorrectly entered my cell phone number into the computer system which snowballed into our horrible experience tonight. Maybe the Wharfside Restaurant should train their staff to perform efficiently under pressure regardless of their job responsibilities and not serve up attitude to the patrons who come to dine snd spend money at their restaurant no matter how long they have been in business. No second chances. Do it right the first time or gain a less than positive review by a dissatisfied patron on Google. We all know bad news spreads faster than good news in...

I visited the Patio Bar this past Sunday with my wife and overall we were satisfied with what was offered although both the food and drinks are pricey.

They open at 12pm and we arrived at 1pm. 80% of the parking lot was already taken at that time so keep that in mind. If you arrive later you might need to park on the street. We were able to get a a table near the band stage and the water which was nice. I noticed that after 4pm people were standing near the bar waiting for tables in the outdoor area.

The ambiance is great, especially on a sunny warm day. A little more laid back with a nice view. Since it’s near the water it doesn’t get too warm.

The band (Nine Deez Nite) was great. They are the reason we visited Patio Bar since we had seen them playing at Martell’s a couple weeks ago. They play 90s music. But note that the line up at Patio Bar varies so check their site to see who’s playing.

Food was average and very pricey for what’s offered. We ordered both the mahi mahi and the fried flounder. Mahi mahi was just ok, somewhat tasteless. Fried flounder with fries and coleslaw was better and tastier.

My wife had a couple frozen pina coladas and I had 2 Patio Punches (in the bucket). Pina colada was good but very small for $15 and Patio Punch was ok ($18). Since the weather was warm it got watery really fast so next time I will probably stick with beer or get a frozen drink.

While some of the staff is friendly, some of them look miserable and seem to be unhappy with what they are doing. Our waitress didn’t smile not even a single time. Every time she brought me a drink I politely said thank you but she didn’t even look.

When I went to the bar to ask the bartender to put some ice on my drink she made an angry face, put the ice and handed the glass back to me as if she was doing me a huge favor. I said thank you and she said nothing. She definitely wins the prize for the most miserable employee on that establishment. Hey lady, we spent $140 dollars, I think I deserve some ice and a “you’re welcome”, otherwise get a job feeding lions.

On the other end the hostess and the red hair waitress who took our picture were much more friendly.

So just to summarize this is a nice place with pricey average food and drinks and and some of the staff need to have a better attitude and need some customer service training so that we feel...

I was meeting a friend in Point Pleasant Beach on what had to be the most beautiful Saturday afternoon of summer '23. We wanted to sit outside and enjoy a seafood lunch. After some debate, we decided on the Wharfside. It was a difficult decision because, as a “local,” I didn't want a “tourist” experience. We wanted a great water view, well-mixed bar drinks, decent service, and most importantly, some really good seafood. As expected, it was very busy. When greeted at the host stand, we were told it would be a 15-minute wait for a table. There was space at the bar, and before our first round was finished, I received a text that our table was ready.

Note: There was live music and the expected crowd noises, so turn up the volume on your notifications. If you don't respond in five minutes, you go back on the list. Drinks at the bar are standard shore prices.

Once seated, it's very apparent that the young staff isn't overwhelmed; they are distracted. Our beverage order was taken and promptly delivered. The menu has more than enough to choose from and is designed to get food out of the kitchen quickly and consistently. Our server then took our food order. I explained we were splitting 1 app and 3 entrees and wanted the calamari first. In under 15 minutes, he returned with all four items. No huge problem, something was going to get cold before we ate it anyway. The true service problem is that once our food was on the table, the server was MIA until we had to wave him down for the check. I stopped a very confused busboy for napkins at one point during our meal.

Remember, it's outside seating during the busy season. Plates, cups, and utensils are all plastic. All acceptable at a Patio Bar; personally, I dislike plastic, but it's totally understandable here. The calamari was fried perfectly, with no heavy coating, fresh clean oil, and sided with a house-made, very pleasant aglio-olio. Fried flounder was also enjoyable, served over standard frozen fries and sided with a house tartar sauce. The Mahi Mahi was a juicy, center-cut portion with a tasty mango salsa and house-pickled red onions. We enjoyed the crab cakes that were pan-fried, not deep-fried (points for that), seasoned well, and very moist inside. Both the Mahi and Crab were served over Jasmine Rice and Black Beans. Although perfectly cooked, the rice and beans had...