Mike's Crab House North — Restaurant in Riviera Beach

Surprisingly never made it here so decided to come by with a group of 6 on the last weekend before they close for the season. Nice sunny Saturday afternoon and find this place tucked back near a marina with TONS of parking. Man, this place is much bigger than I imagined - almost like a convention hall that could probably seat 400 guests between inside and outside (nice water views). Separate covered outdoor bar with great water views. Definitely more a generic commercial restaurant vibe than a nautically decorated local seafood place. We entered and were told we could sit outside but are not allowed to use any umbrellas because a surprise gust of wind might show up at some point (there was barely a breeze at the moment). Honestly, if a calm day like this doesn't permit umbrellas, I am not sure why they have them at all. Eventually, we noticed tables were being allowed to partially deploy their umbrella so we did too. The menu is very seafood focused as expected and has the frustrating "market price" on many features. I don't mind if they need to have a marker board or print daily prices for those items as I appreciate there is fluctuation, but it is just hard to order when many things aren't priced. Also errors happen - I asked about the Seafood Combination Platter and was told it was $30. Get home and look at my receipt and was charged $38. No substitutions allowed on anything - period (printed all over the menu). You have to ask for vinegar and/or Old Bay for your crabs (they don't bring automatically), and after paying for crabs (not cheap), they charge you $0.50 for a little cup of butter. The $45 All-You-Can-Eat (AYCE) crabs was a decent deal if you are OK eating smalls/mediums....but if anyone buys that AYCE, no one else on the table can order a dozen large/ jumbo crabs. $6/ $7 draft beers (no menu is available listing beers available or the prices), crushes are $9, soda is $4. Be aware of how the AYCE and 6+ party gratuities (18%) are pre-included as a somewhat vague AUCE charge in the middle, but they leave the "Tip" box open at the bottom (I almost paid double tip until I noticed). Our server (Ashley) was excellent - friendly, hard-working, always stopping by to bring us things or clear our crab bucket - top notch. Most importantly - the food was absolutely PERFECT and DELICIOUS with nice serving sizes, and the location has nice a nice Bay feel with the boats and water........but some of the inflexibility and pricing and such do leave a little sour taste. That said, if you know and come to terms with how they operate, you will have great food...

This was my first time. I went early to reserve a table. So found parking close to the restaurant. I went to the hostess and let her know it was my first time and inquired about reserving a table for five, I was informed with a caustic tone and eye roll that seating could only occur with two or more people and told to wait in the front or come back later. No one mentioned there was a bar I could have walked into. When one of my party arrived we were put on a list to reserve a table and welcomed to the bar. Service in the bar was prompt and great. Once we got the text that our table was available I went to the hostess to check in and was told I had to check in with the hostess outside. It took me a minute to find them, get to them and I was ignored. Luckily the person I was with is tall and male and was able to get their attention. Once we got to our table out side it was absolutely beautiful. The view is amazing. However the music was jarringly loud; we were away from the stage. I wish we could have been able to converse more. Overall the band was pretty good. They had a great variety of songs and interacted with the patrons. Once the rest of our party arrived our server came over within about 20 mins and took our orders. We didn't realized at first she forgot one of our party. 30 mins later we flagged her down. About an hour and ten minutes after we ordered, our food minus the late order arrived. Hers arrived about 20 mins later. I'm guessing my plate must have been done well ahead of everyone else's as my Salmon and fries were quite dry, the Salmon was well seasoned. My coleslaw never arrived. When one is paying $28 for a meal, I don't feel it is unreasonable to expect it to be complete and good. Perhaps it was just a busy night and people were just struggling. I've worked in hospitality and customer service for over 20 years and we are only human. I will likely go back if invited but this is not where I would go if I wanted great food or to have a...

So, had a hankering for crabs so we went to Mikes North in Pasadena.

Hubby doesnt eat crabs so he asked what "market price" was on the Broiled Seafood Combo was. We were told $21.00 by our server, so that is what he got with a salad and fries while I got the AYCE crabs.

The server was beyond unattentive. We waited 30 minutes before any food came to the table, then 25 minutes after being seated, Hubby's entre came before his salad - still no crabs. He was 1/2 way thru his salad before seing a live salad bug. Needless to say, waiter was called and salad was sent back. 10 minutes later, he returned with another salad and my crabs.

Waiter was almost invisible. We did get 1 drink refill and 1 refill of crabs. Asked for the check and noticed the price on the seafood combo was $38 not $21 as we were told. When we asked, the reply was "hmm, they must have just raised the price - last week it was $21". We asked to speak to a manager - who took forever to come to the table. Her response was "oh no, just the crabcake alone is $21. He is new and today is his 1st day. It has never been that price, sorry. I'll have to talk to him". And walks away to find him.

In addition to paying $17 more for a meal than expected, you automatically pay 18% gratuity for the AYCE no matter how bad the service is.

Dont get me wrong, Im not asking for anything free, but if you quote me a price, I expect to be charged that price. Nothing was done to resolve the problem. I understand he was new and mistakes happen, but this was unacceptable. Very poor response and attitude on the...