McKenna's Place-Port Orange — Restaurant in Port Orange

ZERO STARS ZERO STARS I requested that the kitchen take special care in preparing the so-called "best lobster roll in Port Orange" because it was my mom's birthday and she had recently injured herself and was in a rehabilitation hospital. The server assured me that it was excellent. (Of course) Long to short: I brought this to my mother and when she opened the container of "lobster" it was nothing other than shredded discards waiting for the trash! My mom who turned 78, was being very sweet and tried to eat it but could not finish it. I tried a taste of this "bottom of the pot, recycled, shredded "lobster" and ate 6 pieces of cartilage that you always find in lobster. However, if you are claiming to have Maine lobster that is the "best in town" you should be getting fresh lobsters. After 2 days of being ignored by the establishment I decided the only way to get a refund (almost $20) on this pathetic attempt of "great lobster" was to go in the day after in person. The woman that served me was there again. She told me the manager (she called him the owner) would be with me in a few minutes. After sitting there for 15 minutes the server went over to the "owner" and then he had to go make a phone call to daddy, the actual owner. After much horrid customer service, treating me very badly, the daddy's boy came over and actually argued with me at length (shameful for any establishment) calling me a liar because no one has ever, EVER made a complaint about the lobster roll before. Daddy told him (horrible example of training your family about good business ethics, daddy) not to refund the waste of money and the HORRIBLE embarrassment having my mom open that container of shredded something (color added). I was told I would get a $10 GIFT CARD FOR MCKENNA'S BUT NOT MY REFUND! WHO WANTS A GIFT CARD TO USE IN SUCH AN ESTABLISHMENT. Obviously they cannot tout any type of chef abilities. Actually, they referred to the (guy came out swearing, and wearing nothing akin to a cook, nevermind a chef) as the kitchen manager. That should have told me right there -- run, RUNNN. However I wanted to surprise mom with lobster. Her favorite. I finally looked the boy that was "in charge" until faced with a very common issue in the food service industry, but was told he had to call daddy for a decision that should have been made quickly, refunded my purchase, NO ARGUMENT WITH ME AT THE BAR then done! The gift card, I took -- to hand over to a friend of mine that will be quite anxious to get over to this place and perhaps pen his opinion in a public forum which is very well read locally. I certainly look forward to it. My sweet mom, too kind to say what we both knew - ate this mess in front of 6 family members and hospital staff, all looking at the mess mckennas sold me - I WAS MORTIFIED, EMBARRASSED AND HURT FOR MY MOM. Great place - when is the G O O B SIGN GOING UP? (going out of bussiness) PERHAPS THE INSPECTORS WILL BE ALONG VERY SOON. What a joke! How difficult is it to provide great customer service? Not at all. Shame on this place -- oh yes, they are NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE MCKENNA'S IN NEW SMYRNA BEACH - I HEAR THEY ARE THE REAL DEAL......

Tonight we decided to try a new restaurant close to home. After spending the day on the boat, we decided that we wanted some seafood. We did a Google search of seafood restaurants near us who were still open as it was already 8 PM and found McKenna's place in Port Orange was open until 10, perfect! What struck us first was how friendly everyone was when we walked in the door. Not just the employees but patrons as well . We had just walked through the door and hadn't been standing for a minute at the desk when a young man carrying his to-go meal stopped and asked if we'd been waiting long. We said no. We just got here and he went and got somebody to make sure that we were seated right away. He was on the way out the door from his shift. You don't seem to find that kind of customer service anymore. The young man that seated us was quite jovial and he made some suggestions from the menu that we know we will try the next time we'll be back. And we already know we'll be back. We met the owner Chris McKenna while we were there. He came and sat with us going over menu items. And you couldn't ask for a better bunch of employees. Now let's get on to the food part of our review.

We started off with Buffalo garlic shrimp for an appetizer, and it didn't disappoint. Comes with 3 celery sticks homemade blue cheese, dressing and ranch. The blue cheese was so good that I asked the waiter if we couldn't please have a few more celery sticks and he brought them right over. I really just couldn't let that blue cheese go to waste. The only suggestion is to give a few more with the appetizer. I should have gotten some to take home. For my main entree I had the Ponce Inlet fish of the day. I chose the haddock for my sandwich blackened and as my side I went with the brussel sprouts which were cooked to perfection with bacon. I'm really picky about my brussel sprouts. They were just awesome. My husband chose the Port Orange seafood combo, he had a choice of two selections. Fried fish and crab cakes with French fries and malt vinegar, his favorite! He said it was the best crab cakes he has had in quite sometime.

We also had a few drafts from the bar. We love Amber ale. A local ale called 'Feeding Frenzy' has won our hearts. If you have not had the pleasure of trying McKenna's place, I highly suggest you give them a try. No need to drive outside of Port Orange for a good meal. We can't wait to try the weekly specials . FYI ... Chris, we belong to Central Florida Foodbusters foodie group, and they will get a rave review there as well. Thanks...

I have been here before and really enjoyed it but after my experience on Wednesday April 29th, I highly doubt I'll go back. My mom got a burger and said it didn't taste good for whatever the reason. The waitress asked if she wanted another burger and she said no that it didn't taste good. She said it tasted like the meat was no good. The waitress asked if she wanted something else so she said yes I'll just take the chef salad like what I had and asked for it to be boxed up because we didn't have time now for her to eat it since we had a show to get to. The waitress left and then the hostess came over questioning my mom about what was going on. So she explained again and they again proceeded to tell my mom that there was nothing wrong with the meat. So we get our check and they took the burger off but made her pay for the salad which I don't believe she should of had to and she did question why. We went ahead and paid the whole bill and my mom even left a tip. After the hostess brings us back my moms change and she's gets her salad, we were getting ready to leave and the owner comes walking out to our table with a raw hamburger patty telling my mom (and he wasn't quiet about it) see my meat is fresh made, cooked daily and it's not green, it's not brown, it doesn't have anything growing on it, and no-one has complained about it. So there is absolutely nothing wrong with my meat. My mom would try to explain and he would keep interrupting her saying the same thing. My question is what did he do with the raw meat he just walked out they the restaurant with? Did he bring it back in the kitchen and cook it? Now mind you everyone around us is looking at us now. We finally leave and get to the show and as we walk in a lady says to me, oh I just seen you at McKenna's. I don't remember seeing her which tells me she only noticed us because of how they handled the situation. I was so pissed and embarrassed by the time I left there because I couldn't believe how they handled the situation especially after we had already paid for all of our food. I have been in customer service for half my life since I started my first job, have gone through and graduated with a degree in culinary management, and have many family members who work in restaurants not to mention every restaurant I have eaten in over the years and have never seen or have been treated that way before. That is definitely not how you treat customers especially if you want them to come back to your restaurant. I can't believe how rude and disrespectful he was. A very...