Prime at Paradise point — Restaurant in Saint Thomas

“The lady at that table sent her food back because the cook wasn’t wearing a mask.” - Tom (waiter)

The honesty was appreciated but he was more upset with his customer’s request for personal safety during a pandemic than the cook’s disregard for the law in St. Thomas requiring that all employees wear mask at all times.

Prime is one step above Outback but one step below Ruth’s Chris. It is probably the best, if not only, steakhouse on the island and has the best view bar none. I requested the best view they have to offer and they did not let us down. The restaurant was empty when we arrived and I took the time to check the view from each table. The spectacular view was the restaurant’s saving grace.

We had reviewed the menu before arriving and all four of us knew exactly what we wanted. Tom was nice but a bit pushy and tried to aggressively change our minds into ordering a tomahawk and 4 pound lobster for the table in lieu of what we wanted.

We ordered pre-appetizer drinks and their old fashioned was exactly what I expected which is good because it is hard to mess up a simple traditional drink. I agreed with the up-sell to the “toast ‘n jam” instead of the “torched old fashioned”; however, he returned five minutes later to let us know they had no hickory chips to smoke for the drink.

The lobster taco appetizers were amazing. Looking at the tacos I expected a soggy tortilla but was pleasantly surprised when they were quite crunchy. There was just enough pickled onion to notice, but not enough to be overbearing. When removing our appetizer plates the host (not Tom) asked if I’d like another drink. I stated, “if our mains will be out within five minutes then I’ll change to a cabernet; if more than five minutes I’ll have one more old fashioned.” He insisted on the old fashioned and our mains were delivered exactly one minute later.

I ordered the filet duo. I wasn’t asked how I wanted them cooked and Tom was surprised when I called him back to ensure my filets were “medium rare, leaning towards rare.” One fillet was over cooked (hard medium) while the other filet was cooked exactly medium rare but was excessively over salted. The brussel sprouts and garlic mashed potatoes were exceptional.

A friend ordered an a-la carte steak with rosemary butter and the steak came out cooked perfectly but was just as over salted as mine. The butter was liquid yet very cold. It was cold enough that butter should be completely solid at that temperature and we have nothing positive to say about it especially since it was an additional $4.00.

The three filets were nothing more than your standard filets, but rather slightly cool and very salty. Most steakhouses have a hot sear but not Prime.

My wife had the crab-stuffed half lobster and absolutely raved about it. The only downside to her plate was when Tom tried to remove it with 1/6 of the lobster remaining. He proceeded to put his hand over my food and state that he’d been “forked before” for doing the same thing (pretending to show a fork scar to me). I stopped eating the moment his hand went between the piece of steak on my fork and my mouth.

Four of the six desserts were not available.

Tom stated, “We’re aren’t supposed to bring the menu because we’ll have a new one in a couple of weeks but I wanted to show you the drinks we have.” The s’mores lacked graham crackers. The marshmallows had been charred but left to cool to the point they were no longer soft. The mousse was good, not great, and the graham cracker was completely missing.

After dinner, but before bringing the check, our waiter offered to take us out to the balcony between two tables for a night picture of our group with the harbor lights behind us. Again, the saving grace was the view - we’ll...

Not a huge fan. Wouldn’t go back. Quite disappointed for a couple of reasons. We expected steak house dining, but when we arrived for our reservation the server sat there chit chatting at the bar, no biggie- a gentleman came up and seated us, I thought the manager but from what I saw from there on out maybe I’m wrong. We asked to be seated outside , which was ok. Gorgeous views but surrounded by huge rebar sticking out of the grounds. Servers are in t-shirts. We are on the island so these things I could easily look over . Once we were seated the next table that sat was who I thought was the Manager & a woman having dinner. He smoked a vape the entire time. Our server told us that we could only Have bottled water, which is strange because 9/10 other restaurants said tap water was 100% safe and yet our cocktails came with ice in them? Weird. Isn’t that the same water? When it came to our food I ordered out tomahawk medium rare. He told me that I needed to order it medium since it’s such a big steak that ordering medium means it will be medium on the outside and medium rare on the inside. I told him I absolutely didn’t want any steak that would be cooked more than medium because I won’t enjoy a medium+ steak.

I work in a prime steakhouse and I know what I like. We also serve tomahawks and I serve them every single night. The outside edges will be medium and the inside will be medium rare. If ordered medium the inside will be medium and outside will be medium well. He assured me I was wrong and that we probably have different ways of preparing our steaks. So we listened. HUGE mistake. We also listened about the Brussel sprouts which he was 100% correct about, delicious.

Our steak came out and he sliced it table Side (nice touch) and right away I could Tell it was so over cooked. But wanted to give it a chance. He served us and walked away and he steak was sooooo over done I couldn’t eat any of it. It was welllllll done on the outside and medium well on the inside. Our server got tied up at a party (we could see him thru the glass). And after sitting there waiting to say something we decided we won’t be in the mood to wait for a new steak.we boxed up our steak and fed it to the dogs at the bottom of the hill we saw when coming in. 175$ steak completely wasted. We spent 200$ on our food and left hungry and...

Prime is out of touch with the fine dining experience. So much of this restaurant is in need of a refresh. Location is great for the view but nothing desirable as you walk across the dark unlit deserted patio down the steps and land at the entry doors. Small reception area and not very tidy on first glance. Small Wine cellar to the left, however nothing about the wine presentation makes you want to spend vacation cash on it. The bar, which should be a nice landing spot as you wait or if you chose to dine at the bar - gives local bar vibes at best and definitely lacks organization for a bar at a fine dining establishment and not inviting to make you think exceptional drinks await behind this bar. The wait staff look grungy, wearing black prime tshirts and black work pants, loose hair which should be slick and tidy- serves as the uniform and again nothing says they are ready to give me a fine dining experience. It felt like a bar and grill experience masking as a steakhouse. At one point during dinner, the chef ran through the restaurant to each table asking how we enjoyed our meal but it was the worst show of hospitality. Why? The Chef’s attire was unkempt and dare I say a dishelved look at best with nearly black soiled bar towels hung inside the wasteband, a soiled chefs jacket with bleach stains and dirty crocs. And then there was the women’s restroom tucked inside of the server stand with the cash registers and oh when you exit the restroom ….surprise! there you can see the kitchen with all it’s nasty kitchen splendor. Amazing such good food comes out of that kitchen area. It was quite unsightly and ended my desires to ever return to Prime. Back to the restrooms - Not much to say except - it needs a stateside renovation - not a tape and stick job that feels like it was done in a post hurricane rush. The food IS good - let’s not gloss over that but the price point demands better decor, server uniforms that scream “this will be the best meal you’ve had in a long time”, a bathroom that feels like it’s meant to welcome patrons of a certain age and income. Prime has so much potential and it should seize the opportunity to do better! Disappointed this local restaurant has very few native locals...