Paul's Landing — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

Thumbs down!! I am a local resident and love visiting the Vinoy. My friend and I went out to lunch at Paul's Landing on Saturday, and the service was DISAPPOINTING, and the food was way below average. I was disappointed that we came up to the bar, sat down, and barely got acknowledged. They had 3 bartenders working and had one bartender tell us they'd be right with us and then ignored for over 10 more minutes or so. It wasn't high volume, and though it was a little bit busy, when you have three bartenders, you should be able to handle the number of people that were there. There was no sense of urgency. A bartender finally came up a few minutes later and took our order, but this was after overlooking us and helping somebody else who came to the bar after we sat down. We ordered our lunch and excited to have some good food but disappointed. The grouper sandwich was supposed to have cheese on it, but it did not. When I requested to have cheese on it, the bartender brought me a slice of cheese that I had to put on the sandwich myself. It wasn't melted, and the whole sandwich was terrible. It was a big chunk of blackened grouper with a dried out bun. I wanted a grilled grouper sandwich, and my side of fruit was a few days old. I ate less than half the sandwich and paid $30 for it. When it was food that was not good and the service was not up to par, it made for everything to be a disappointment. They never once asked how our meal was. This is the Vinoy. Come on...Do better. We felt like we were overlooked, and the vibe was just less than it should be. Bartenders are supposed to have a fun, attentive attitude and especially at this beautiful hotel, but it just wasn't there. The bar staff should be working somewhere else and not at this beautiful, fun hotel because the vibe that I saw and felt was negative and made the experience a complete letdown. When it came time to pay, the whole food was put on my credit card after asking the bartender in the beginning to make sure that we get separate checks, which he acknowledged and said no problem. Then it WAS a problem because when I asked for our check, he said we didn't give him an additional credit card to separate the checks. That's funny because you never asked for it, and you didn't remember telling us that you would not put it all on one credit card. The atmosphere is amazing, The Vinoy is one of my favorite hotels, but Paul's Landing restaurant really dropped the ball. Super disappointing. And the manager in the suit that kept coming back and forth behind the bar running reports seemed to be taking away from what the bartenders needed to do, and that was service the customers. A $50.00 lunch that basically was not worth it at all. If the service had been good, some of this could have been overlooked, but the experience lacked luster for being one of the best hotels. Because of this, I will not give them my business again. I'll visit The Vinoy and enjoy the outside bar by the lobby because Paul's Landing needs...

Bad food. Bad management. Bad service. Really bad overall. Had nothing but problems from arrival to departure. The chicken literally bled out all over the plate, and the bones were red, and the manager claimed they were “made fresh this morning” (it was 7:30 at night). I asked if they were temperature checked after they were cooked and he said that the smoker was the correct temperature. Not what I asked. His solution was to just bring us more wings which nobody ate for fear they would be raw. Someone else at our table had the same issue but didn’t speak up because the waiter seemed very overwhelmed and confused. The oysters had bits of shell that I had to keep spitting out. No crackers or hot sauce and for some reason 3/4ths of a lemon were served with them. The edamame hummus had no flavor, literally just blended edamame. The Brussels sprouts were just soaked in a bath of soy sauce. I would not pay this much for subpar food. We asked multiple times for the Sun shade to be pulled over since the sun was shining in our eyes. Eventually we just moved the table over ourselves. The food and checks came out a few at a time. So some people were just standing around waiting to leave while other people had no check. Some people’s checks were completely wrong. I was directly under an AC vent that was dripping on me the entire time. The pool is directly below so you have drunken hotel guests coming up with no shirts on just walking around the restaurant. I get that everywhere is short staffed right now but this experience was a little ridiculous....

This is a great place to enjoy sunset and the view of the marina. It has a lot of space and light, and the patio is is pretty big and has a great view. However, the furniture is not very comfortable. Most tables are very low, another ones small tables put together in two; or you have to sit at the high transparent table (which is not very clean by the way). I encountered only two round tables suitable for the company of three, but the chairs were still not very comfortable. I am talking about the outdoor sitting. If you’re a foodie, the food will disappoint you as well. I can cook same food at home and it will taste even better. I ordered tuna poke and... you know, its not enough to put ingredients from the local supermarket together to create a meal. As for me, they do not go well with each other. Also, I would add a nice sauce to that meal because soy sauce is just not enough to create a flavor. Same thing I can say about the cocktails. I ordered a blueberry fizz but it was too basic and didn’t have much flavor. It’s definitely overpriced. I asked for a cocktail that would not be too sweet but the team was not able to offer anything to me that was not in the menu, very limited by the way. Finally, they made a margarita but it was far from margaritas served at Mexican restaurant. So, when it comes to food, they lack imagination. And vibe. Therefore, this place would be great for enjoying the view and having a private conversation in the quiet place but not for having fun or...