Catches Waterfront Grille — Restaurant in Port Richey

Update: 11/14 Still waiting to speak with the owner. Talk about disappointment. I have asked Rick multiple times to pass on my contact info and nothing. Again this is part of the problem. I’ll keep trying and won’t be satisfied until I speak with him/her. Stay tuned. 🤞🏻

Update: 9/13 I have spoken to Rick (manager) and I appreciate him agreeing on many of the points I mentioned. For six weeks I have been waiting to speak with the owner. It all starts from the top which is a major part of the problem. I hope they understand the importance of hearing and engaging with customers, especially when they are not satisfied.

7/25 I finally decided to stop by with my Dad and brother in law after he kept mentioning he wanted to go last weekend. The inside I heard had been renovated and was very clean, spacious and tidy. The bar area is super cool and open. I was disappointed with the service and lack of knowledge of the menu. We went outside for at least ten minutes to smoke and with only 4 other tables occupied our table was not cleared from finishing our lunch. Really? That’s a prime time clue to get in and clear the table while we step away. Once we sat back down it took another 5 minutes for someone to come over. When asked basic questions of where you get your oysters and shrimp we were told that she would have to check with the kitchen ughh. Really? You should know this. The pan seared scallops were delicious as was the blue crab and lobster chowder but the caesar salad was a huge fail. My Dad loved his oysters. Yesterday we went back and with my sister as she wanted to try. I wasn’t looking forward to it but my sister kept saying give it another try let’s enjoy the afternoon. When we asked where the oysters were coming from again they had to check. A basic question. Really? Again? We then noticed on the appetizer menu Jumbo Crab cake was mentioned with peppers and onions topped with red pepper aioli. On the back of the menu we noticed Maryland crab cakes and since we once lived in that area we wanted to try for sure. So we asked if they had two types of crab cakes and were told no. So, the menu mentions two types but you really only have one? Have you ever offered the Maryland crab cakes? Let’s order the jumbo ones and see. They were okay. You should remove Maryland crab cakes from the menu if you do not have them. My tiki shrimp tacos were good but the Bird’s Eye vegetable medley was another fail. For the prices, and the decor I would expect fresh steamed vegetables not a bag of frozen ones I could pick up at a grocery store. Ughh. We had to ask for salt and pepper and ketchup? Why? Those should have been brought to table before our food arrived. Think ahead and anticipate your guests needs. Lastly the dress code is extremely underwhelming and it lacks any sort of professionalism. Fitted black jeans with sneakers on at least two waitresses I noticed. Really? Again look at your decor and aesthetic. The staff should look the part. Your guests should be wowed. Don’t take your beautiful inside and location for granted. Call to action. Food, service and knowledge need to improve drastically. Feedback is a gift. Listen to what your guests are telling you and implement change. Maybe one day when I return I’ll be wowed and become...

This addition to my review is being put on top of my edited review last year. Which I should have done for the year prior to that. This was going to be very simply said in 2021. It was good in twenty twenty two n wise mediocre 2 ok , My review for this year 2023 is I went from a 5 star to a 3 star down to one star. The food has dropped 2 2 star And the service down 2 2 star I have to give them a 5 for atmosphere. Because they're on the water. However, this year's Christmas buffet as only guaranteed that we were find another place next year doing a midday seating. Everything was dried out. Accept for the pork on a stick which was meant to look like a lamb shank. The turkey was o k but over salty .ost items were cold including the chocolate milk they called hot coco. The final insult came with a 23% gratuity added. The other things is for the 2nd year you can tell less people are going to this. I originally left my review over 2 years ago for five stars today I edit everything including my review of Christmas 2022. I'm reducing this place from five cars to three only because while everybody can make anybody happy everyday of the week this year they fell extremely short at Christmas due to the fact of either they did not want to serve the amount of food or they just felt the need to train individuals on what should have been a spotless day. What went right was that our server was pretty much on spot we wanted or waited for nothing the beautiful ladies that ran the hot bar did a phenomenal job of covering everything that needed to be done but the prized carving station that everyone was going to for turkey or prime rib was run by one person who evidently had never sliced roast beef in his life and had a coach who could barely pick up a piece of Turkey and give it to you without shredding it into four different pieces when he cut it the best way I can describe it is have you ever seen the one guy digging a hole and all the people supervising you got it even the staff which I'm going to let remain nameless commented how evident it was that everyone noticed that it was not the day to be training someone as the line preceded to get longer and longer and longer so when you go to a buffet and you wait 20 minutes to go 10 ft and get a piece of meat you wonder if they were saving on their cost because you don't train somebody on a day when you're charging $40 a head and trying to get as many people in as you can especially considering it's cold and you can't put people outside like you normally do. My first review said that this was a beautiful place and would become our new home for the holidays and it did for the past three although the 12 of us didn't make it this year I will definitely hope since I drive an hour both directions to get here from St Petersburg that I have many a choice when it comes to looking for a luxury day that I don't have to cook. I still give them three stars because it is a beautiful place this year they just made a bad choice so remember that when you consider next year where you might want to eat for Thanksgiving or Christmas how smooth and efficient do you want your...

My husband, myself, and a friend all ordered the captain's platter, blackened. It was their special. We were pretty excited because we all love seafood. It included shrimp, scallops, fish, a crab cake, and two sides. We ordered the Mexican street corn (a side that is an upcharge) and roasted potatoes. About 10 minutes later, our server said she would bring us some bread, and when it came, it was warm and delicious! A little while later, our meals arrived, but our anticipation was squashed. All the seafood was so, so, so salty. You couldn't taste the item, just salt. The blackened flavor didn't even come out. The potatoes were very overcooked, maybe old(?), and had the same salty "blackened" season coating them. They didn't have the consistency of a normal cooked potato but were dried up and shriveled. The corn was also super well done, hard, and dried out. I think they tried to make it better with a sauce, but it didn't help! Street corn is sometimes cooked on a grill but never dried out. We were SO very disappointed. The crab cake looked commercial, but I didn't try it. We were with a friend and didn't send our food back, which we would have if it was just my husband and I. It was that bad. I also didn't take photos as I usually would have. The platter was their special, so it was priced at $27 plus the upcharge for the corn instead of the $35 it usually is.

It's a beautiful place right on the water. Very open with lots of light, they did have outside seating, but it must not have been an option when we came in because it wasn't offered but as we were leaving I saw people out there. They weren't very busy as we were there for an early dinner. The service was just ok. Long waits between visits. I really don't understand how our server didn't notice or ask about the food because we all had full plates when leaving.

I talked to our friend the next day, and he mentioned he threw out his leftovers because it was so salty! At that moment I wished I had said something. He has been there quite a few times as he takes out of town family there, so he was disappointed and embarrassed it was so bad because it was our first time there. I don't know if we would give it a...