Teak — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

We visited Teak for the very first time last Sunday for our monthly "Date Night". To put it simply, we are now in love, LOVE with this place!

Atmosphere: The decor and atmosphere rivals that of many restaurants we've visited that come with much higher price tag. The decor and overall feel of the place is earthy and inviting.

View: Seated at the outermost edge of the new St. Petersburg Pier, your view once seated can be either overlooking Alfred Whitted Airfield, Downtown St. Petersburg or the adjacent condos to the north with a partial view of Upper Tampa Bay. There are even a couple of outdoor tables (for those brave enough to take on the relentless and ever present winds coming off of Tampa Bay). But bottom line, there is no bad view here! (Insider tip: All tables have a view, but if you want a table right next to the floor to ceiling windows that wrap the dining room, just ask the hostess if you can wait until one opens up. You might have to wait 15-30 minutes, but it will be ohhhh sooooo worth it!!)

The Service: From the second we stepped off the elevator, we were greeted by two of the kindest hostesses I can recall ever meeting. We saw this repeated with each guest, from couples to large parties. The only issue seems to be that save for a few chairs placed along the wall (which seem to have been more an afterthought), not much thought appears to have gone into a waiting area. Once seated however, our server was prompt, courteous and friendly. We enjoyed our friendly chat with her and she was super helpful when it came to making recommendations based on our individual tastes.

Food: The food selection, presentation and taste surpassed many of the aforementioned pricier restaurants! The service was prompt, attentive and above courteous. The Fish Spread appetizer was incredible! My wife had the Beef Short Ribs which were by far the most tender and best I'd ever tasted. I had the Seafood Paella which was bold, flavorful and more than I could eat in one sitting. I had the rest the next day for lunch, and believe it or not, it tasted EVEN BETTER the second day! Our dessert, Pecan Pie Bread Pudding was just . . . Oh my!! 😁

Teak has an impressive, albeit not extensive section of mixed drinks and cocktails according to ones tastes. They also offer soft drinks, flavored teas and lemonades.

Value: Expect appetizers and desserts to be in the teens while the typical entree will run between the high $20's to the upper $30 range. Our total dinner came in at $112 (including gratuity). That said, EVERYTHING was well worth the cost!

A Word About Gratuities: Teak has adopted the now trending practice of adding a surcharge to your final check. This goes to your server and the other employees who make your experience possible (Host/Hostesses, Bussers, Kitchen Staff, etc.) While many other restaurants are also adopting this practice post-Covid, TEAK GOT IT RIGHT!! When you are seated, you will find on your table an attractive little card that clearly and simply explains right up front that a 20% surcharge will be added to your final bill. The card also explains that because they automatically apply this surcharge, you are not "expected" to leave an extra gratuity, but if you choose to do so (we did), 100% of the extra gratuity will go directly to your server.

Personally, I am a fan of the European model which is gratuity-free because all of their hospitality employees earn a living wage. This is why you can typically expect to pay more for your meal at restaurants throughout Europe. So, although I'm still undecided on exactly how I feel about this new surcharge practice here in the U.S., I must applaud Teak for getting it right and being completely transparent on their application of it, making it clear and easy to understand.

Fin: We can't wait to bring other Date Night friends here as it is now high on our list of favorite Date Night destinations. Teak is a fantastic jewel in the crown of the St. Petersburg Pier experience. One that we hope will be around for a very, very, very long...

I had a birthday dinner here and it definitely was one I’ll never forget… not in a good way. Our server (Jeff) we had was not good at all. Not only did he not acknowledge one of our dietary restrictions , but he was not very attentive when it came to taking the orders and bringing us our checks. Reservation was at 7:15 and we didn’t leave until almost 10:30 pm. The flow of the service was not good at all and it was not necessary for us to be there for 3 hours. We did have a cake that we brought in, which they offered to store for us upon arrival, but when we got the check there was a 25 dollar dessert fee. I addressed it with the server and he was very rude to me the moment I asked to speak to the manager… listen I don’t ever display “Karen” behavior, but kindness can only go so far when it’s not reciprocated. I spoke to the manager (Kristy or Kristen can’t remember her name), who was very rude, and she explained to me that I should have looked on the website where the dessert fee is for outside food ( which it is not on the website, we looked after we left) , and that a dessert fee “is a thing” and that she would only waive the fee this time but next time she wouldn’t ( as if! Never coming back here ). She then tried to blame it on a power outage they had that we were not informed of it on arrival and she blamed it on her hostess! Definitely not professional considering the hostess was very sweet and did not deserve that. If we knew ahead of time that there was a 25 dollar “dessert fee” then we would have no issue or would have not even brought a cake. Anyways, I don’t usually leave bad reviews, but this experience really was not the best, so maybe consider training your employees better, especially on larger groups, and maybe treat people with kindness as someone who’s in charge 🤷🏼‍♀️. I will say the only good thing was that the food was delicious and the views were beautiful 🤣 This issue was resolved , so I’m not looking for anything in return, I just wanted to let other customers know what had happened in case they have a special dinner...

Food was delicious but portions were small and not worth the price. Menu descriptions were inaccurate. The sweet potato waffle fries weren’t even waffle fries at all. Not a big deal at the end of the day but nonetheless.

Our server was very pleasant but forgot several items multiple times and had to be found and approached in order to get forgotten items.

Mind you that Teak also automatically charges a 20% service / gratuity fee right out of the gate with the option to leave additional gratuity if you choose to do so. (Which I did because I did really like our server even though he had forgotten several items)

I’m not sure that this policy motivates employees to give top notch service when gratuity is already guaranteed. We did not receive top notch service.

The atmosphere is very nice and offers beautiful views of the water and the St Pete skyline. However the bathroom was disgusting (I won’t go into detail) during a time of which there were only 4 people in the whole restaurant including myself. Lots of employees with down time just standing around. How one of them didn’t notice its condition and tend to it I really don’t know.

I reached out to an email address that was presented in another review, which was directed to, I believe the marketing manager of the restaurant with my issues, concerns and experience.

She told me that she was forwarding my information and that upper management would be in touch with a resolution soon.

That never happened.

Teak says that if you dine with them (where again you have to pay a 20% gratuity and service fee automatically) that if something isn’t right or you don’t receive good service management will “make it right”. Very unspecific. Yet management hasn’t even bothered to get in touch with me. Which is why I am now after a week plus posting this review.

Teak was a one and done for me. Over priced for the portions in my opinion. The views are outstanding and are a draw for sure, however if food and value is what you’re looking for I would probably spend my...