The Tiki Bar And Grill — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

Good and Bad!

Positives first....Service was good. Food was very good. 2 of us ordered the burger sliders special and felt they were a little well done for our preference, but neither asked for them to be cooked medium and meat was still tasty. The mahi sandwich special was good and the pork chimichanga was enough for 2 people! Between the table we had 6 of the $4 Saturday Sangria specials. They were decent size and very good. Last, the homemade key lime pie with homemade whipped topping was awesome!

Negative.... just one but it is a HUGE one to us! 3 of us ordered off of the specials board (see pic below). Nowhere on the menu or the specials board does it say the prices listed are based on cash payment!! When we asked for checks, our server brought a tablet and verified what each ordered (2 tickets, 1 table). I noticed the special I ordered was $15.75 instead of $15 and wife's was $16.80 rather than $16.00. When I inquired, server said it must include taxes on each item. The answer seemed acceptable at the time so I said OK. AT THAT TIME I gave her the card to pay. She then swiped it on tablet and put both in front of me. The screen I was looking at was the amount of tip and signature. I asked for a receipt and server said she would print one in the back. Process repeated for other people at the table.

I then went to the restroom and passed the server coming with my receipt. Upon looking at it I saw that on top the higher priced charges were listed AND TAXES ALSO SHOWED BELOW! I asked to speak to the manager and the owner came to discuss with me. Her answer was that using a credit/debit card to pay triggers the higher costs. If I had paid cash, the cost is as written on the board.

I pointed out the special board that showed $15 and $16 and no reference to higher costs and nothing is said on the printed menu.

Her answer to that is somewhere in small print on the tablet it shows a total for card use and another for cash payment, which I told her I don't think I ever saw. It certainly wasn't pointed out to us.

I also pointed out that we aren't given the tablet to "make a choice" until AFTER the card was swiped by the server, so how could I choose?

I feel this is completely underhanded. Whats funny is that the Sangrias all appeared as $4.00 and not higher for card use while all other charges had a premium on them, even my Coke. Just print the higher costs on the menu! It may have made a difference of what we ordered or even if we stayed to eat there. Maybe that is what the owners are afraid of??

One last issue with this--- after getting home and calculating the difference in costs, I figured it is a 5% premium to pay with a card. That is ridiculous. Merchant fees are around 25 - 40 cents a swipe and 2.5% - 3.5% of the total bill charged. In other words, they not only deceptively recover the merchant fees they pay, they also make a profit on it!!!!

What started off as a great time turned into a bad experience. We will not go back and certainly will not recommend to any of our...

This was only our 2nd time there. Unfortunately, I will not be returning or bringing any family whom come to visit from out of town. First our server was not attentive, we waited 30 mins for our food. My husband and his father got their food before me and my mother Inlaw did. We sat there as they finished their plates before getting our food which was cold by the way. Its almost like the server just forgot we were waiting on our meals. He didnt seem right, something was definitely off with him. My mother inlaw ordered shrimp tacos with queso when she got her tacos it was 3 pieces of shrimp and some cabbage no queso, when she finally saw the server and flagged him down she asked for it and it took another 10 mins to get it by now her food was ice cold. To top it all off, we never got a bill, our server walked up to our table and told us what we owed which I think is very odd, I've never been out to eat and didn't get a paper bill at the end. When we questioned the server he studdered and couldn't tell us why our bill was $41.00 when the meal was $12 & $14 plus 2 normal drinks. He also charged for the queso when it was supposed to come on the tacos....like what???? It's very weird that customers don't get a printed bill showing what they are being charged, something is definitely off here. The food was terrible, mine was also freezing cold....

Server was not attentive. Took forever to be waited on after we were seated. After a long wait we were finally able to order. Waiting time to get our food was almost 40 minutes and all we ordered was 1/2 lb of peel and eat shrimp and a sandwich with fries. I asked the server to cut the sandwich and bring on 2 plates with fries divided on the plates as we only wanted a snack. When the food arrived, it was all on one plate. The fries were way overcooked, dark brown and crunchy as well as cold. I had asked for mayo, and extra cocktail sauce for the shrimp. Neither was brought. Overall a terrible experience. We will never spend our money on the...