Coastal Kitchen — Restaurant in Saint Simons

Edit: This feedback is here because of the way their staff treated us FIRST. Just don't bring large parties here bc clearly they can't handle it. This started because the staff refused to split a check when we asked in the beginning, again communication LOST amongst their staff. Maybe also train your staff with a Training in Alcohol Prevention course. might be beneficial. I didn't expect a positive response from the owner, if you see other reviews they refuse to improve...

The bar was packed with only one bartender who couldn’t even make an old fashion the right way and put way too much ice in all the drinks. Overall the upper management isn’t great. So angry and rude to customers, I’m assuming due to poor training and lack of caring. They’re just there to make a paycheck. They aren’t great at fixing issues and trying to keep customers. Seems like they all “think” they know wants best and how to serve. But there is so much opportunity to do better. Better training for micros, bartending, timing, and even how to strategically manage a restaurant wouldn’t hurt, you have people running a so called upscale restaurant that have barely any experience . That’s soooo far off from our expectations and this isn’t mcDonalds. So it was really unfortunate to have people speak to us like we were in a quick service joint. Hopefully the business pulls itself out of this dark hole. But honestly I will never go back there again or suggest any of my guests to even try it out. It’s an overall terrible experience. Food, drinks and service staff are all mediocre. Needs a lot of work to get back to what is use to be. I couldn’t even get the owners name and apparently the girl who is his daughter told me it’s none of my business. I was trying to offer feedback and it only made their staff more upset. Again poor training, poor mindset, leaves no room for growth or better opportunities for the restaurant. Wont return. Don’t waste your money on it. Seems like they’re holding on by a mere thread and have lost hope in providing proper hospitality and service.

Service issues: -hostess brought food to wrong seat numbers each time, claimed we moved seats, but 10 out of 13 people were in the same spot. -so the server either didn't know the correct seat numbers or just didn't use them at all. -Server never pre-bussed the table or empty glassware, we had to take whatever we didn't need anymore to the bar to make room for more dishes coming out -the short blonde managers stood near bar on their phones during the service with no regard to when we brought empty items up to the bar. Was more concerned with someone she knew in our party rather than providing gracious and hospitable service. She seemed very overwhelmed by the whole operation maybe because she wasn’t focused properly on the right things at the right time. -Majority of food items were rang in incorrectly. -server didn't know what pelligrino was and couldn't answer specific questions about menu items when certain guests asked or wanted to change something. -bar drinks made inconsistently, pours not the same even for neat beverages and glasses of wine. -beers were served warm or not cold enough -smell of bleach throughout the dinner, almost made food inedible -no masks for employees, lack of hand washing from one table to the next. Would see servers clear one table and go straight to the bar and run a drink to another table. -lots of touching of face, hair, etc. by staff, but never saw them once wash their hands.

-management didn’t step in until the very end, would have been nice to have open lines of communication from server to guest and from manager to guest before the managers decided to make decisions at the end of the meal and become very ugly towards guests. This was also in front of multiple guests that were still sitting at other tables. Bad look for the restaurant to argue with your customers And not even try to work things out in a civil manner. The staff took things too personal. Need to remember it’s about the guest experience. Or need to staff more people or better...

Where do I even begin with this place?!

First time I visited was in July - we docked our boat in the marina and came by for a drink at the bar. We were greeted by a hostess that was quick to address us to the bar - as we requested. Had a quick drink, left. It was a very small vacation so I did not pay enough attention to the details of the place as I normally would. The one individual that stood out was the hostess.

A few months went by - we came back to the boat, same marina. We went back to the restaurant and I immediately recognized the hostess - Nattie ( I hope I spelled her name correctly). Her side kick at the time was Quiana. We asked to take a seat at the bar - they were quick to accommodate my family and I.

Once we took a seat at the bar - we were greeted by Brant — such a great bartender! I spotted an awesome gin ( Uncle Val’s Botanical ) that I don’t normally see at bars, Brant was very excited that i ordered that VS something generic , he also was excited to share some of his gin knowledge with me. ( I am opening a gin bar - so to have a great conversation about gin was very meaningful to me).

Before we left the bar - we decided to make reservations for dinner for the following evening….Nattie took care of that.

The next day, my family and I arrived to for dinner. Nattie remember me and had our table set up for us. To my surprise Quiana - who was the hostess the evening prior- was our waitress…she was wonderful! I asked her how she was the hostess and a waitress- she explained to me that they take shift turns. Such a great move on the owners behalf! She did a great job doing both.

My father - who’s English isn’t wonderful at all - had lots of questions, she ( Quiana ) was able to understand all of his questions and answered them accordingly. I was super impressed.

I requested a cocktail that I knew only Brant could make me - sure enough- it was perfect, and on my way out he saw me and asked how my cocktail was. Soooo impressed! Nice to be remembered - I didn’t even sit at the bar. He just knew it was for me. Well done.

Our dinner was beyond incredible! The kitchen did a great job and the menu was idiot proof ( usually an idiot proof menu means the food is generic and frozen - not in this case at all). Standing ovation for the chef and the kitchen crew!!! Bravo!

With all of this being said - I must compliment Nattie the most. She is a freaking rock star! My background is bars / high end night clubs and restaurants - I know how difficult it is to find good employees that actually care for their job. Whenever I visit a new restaurant - instead of enjoying myself -I watch the staff - it’s a learning tool for me. During dinner service I watched her run around…What I could see about her is - This girl CARES - very much. She walked around / set up tables / cleaned tables / communicated with the servers/ showed initiative as any GM / owner would, and I am sure she isn’t either one. To have someone on your team like that is a blessing. She’s a true maître d'

All together- the staff is great. Food is wonderful. Great job guys - for real!

I look forward to coming back for the...

We were so disappointed with our last experience eating at Coastal Kitchen. We’ve enjoyed many good meals there and we often recommend the restaurant to our friends and renters when visiting the area, but after last night, we no longer can recommend Coastal Kitchen. We made a reservation for 8:30 on a Saturday night. There were reservation available as late as 9:00. We are a couple who likes to eat dinner on the later side and likes to take our time and enjoy a nice meal. Most of the restaurant crowd thinned out by 9:30. We were halfway through our entrees and bottle of wine at 9:40 pm when suddenly they cut the music off, the staff started sweeping and mopping around us and they opened the curtains to the kitchen area. It was pretty clear what the message was... “hurry the f’up and finish your meal so we can get the f’out of here”. That completely ruined a $200 meal for us and is unforgivable in our book. If you know your crowd is not a late dinner crowd and your staff is so eager to get out of there, why do you even offer later reservations? On top of this, their food quality has gone downhill since our last visit. The bibb and endive salad was so soaked in dressing that the greens were soggy, the rice in the paella was undercooked and the swordfish entree was bland. The one thing that wasn’t a problem was our server. We’ve had this same server in the past and she is polite and attentive. No complaints there, but the whole experience left a bad taste in our mouths...literally and figuratively. We will not be back.

PS: Before posting this, I looked through the owner’s responses to bad google reviews and it’s pretty apparent what the problem is here. This guy comes off like a total douche who thinks every bad review is someone with a bone to pick with him personally, a competitor, a disgruntled former employee or a negative person who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. His responses are childish and defensive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know... you’ve been open for 10 years and the old money crowd has kept you afloat. But if you want to make it another 10 years, you better start listening to legit bad reviews because your game is slipping bro. Plus your restaurant being less than half full at 8:30 on a Saturday night of a holiday weekend is not a good sign for you. So please save your pithy responses and insults for the next bad review. I’ll save my money and go back to Georgia Sea...