Benny Vito's Original Margaritaville - Sandusky, OH — Restaurant in Sandusky

We come to Ohio every year for the last 7 years to go to Kalahari. We like to try restaurants that we wouldn't be able to try at home so we decided to try Margaritaville. We called before we went and mentioned that we had a party of 20 and they said it was fine, but we can't make reservations and that our party most likely wouldn't all be able to sit together. My friend arrived before I did and tried to put our names on the list but they said they can't accommodate us. Now, I don't usually like to play the race card, but I'm unsure if it was because when we got there, they saw it was 20 black people that all of a sudden they couldn't accommodate us or not. However, we were able to sit upstairs outside in the patio area. The younger children sat at a table, the older children sat at a table, and the adults sat at a table. The adults ordered for the children and were on one bill with each set of parents. Food started coming out to us, not by our server, but other people who were assisting her. They had no clue where the food was going so we had to try to help figure it out. One assistant said that the entire tray was for one table and that was table 29. We asked what table was 29, and she said the kids table. So we started giving each of the children their food. Time went by more food came out. After a long time, our waitress came to check on us to make sure everyone was doing okay. So that led me to believe she thought everyone got their food. My husband and I didn't receive our food. We let her know, she went to tell the manager downstairs and the manager said "well, I sent it all up" so she was looking for another manager which we later found out was the owner (horrible attitude). After about 30 minutes of waiting, we decided it was no point of getting the food. All of our friends and children ate and everyone was ready to go. The owner came to talk to us, and he said "well they put your food on the kids table". Ummm, okay, well it wasn't given to us nor was it told to us that our food was put on the kids table. Which nothing of what we ordered was on the kids table. He insisted we got our food while every single person with us had trash in front of them and in front of us was as clean as a whistle. I pointed that out to him. The manager then said "well the kids told the servers the food goes here" I'm unsure of when adults start listening to children and why they would go to the children first instead of the adults. I politely advised him that we didn't get our food, our children didn't get our food and that they should go to the parents first. So he starts raising his voice, not necessarily yelling but raised his voice and cut me off and said "Well next time, I'm going to bring the food out myself and place it with the adults and it WILL (yes he stressed this) be paid for." The tone was extremely rude and his entire body language. I asked him how was he upset with me by the fact that his servers made a mistake and didn't bring our food. He repeated his stance, "next time it WILL be paid for." When he walked away, he went to the bar area. I happened to look up and he just viciously starred at me with such an evil look until he realized I was looking directly at him. He then rolled his eyes with his red face and proceeded to talk about us as we could see him pointing and then others at the bar turned and looked at us. The manager then started shouting profanities such as F..k and S..t. It wasn't in our face, but we could still make out what he was saying. As I pointed to my husband to show him how the manager was looking at me, the manager walked away. We left starving. Had to drive all around Ohio to try to find food to end up at nasty Applebess while everyone else went back to their hotels. At least our children ate.

The adults all said the food was nasty so we didn't miss out on anything. My friend who ordered fish had a black spider 🕷 in her food. The fish looked like it was frozen from the bag. Two other friends had ribs and they said they were disgusting. They didn't eat them....

Wish I could give -5 stars.

One of the WORST experiences I have EVER had.

Let me give you a play by play... •Drinks didn’t get to the table for maybe 20mins •Didn’t get to place our order until minute 37 every table around us WHO CAME AFTER US had their orders taken, refills on drinks etc. •FINALLY we get our food (which half was either never tabled or completely wrong) at AN HOUR •One burger was missing almost ALL of the condiments ordered on it and instead of just bringing out the condiments and letting the burger and fries stay at the table- THEY TOOK THE ENTIRE ORDER AND CARRIED IT AROUND THE RESTAURANT FOR 20mins- Then preceded to bring THE SAME BURGER and another basket with a SINGLE slice of cheese....😳 •Hair in the Mac N Cheese and it was COLD after it FINALLY came to the table at 1 hour and 25mins •The waitress also got nasty with me because when addressing the table she says “what all is missing”. I said the Mac n cheese- that we had told her about 20 mins prior. I was then told she’s “only talking about burgers and not the other missing food.” •No utensils were given until we had to go ask for them- which we got 10 mins later. •Ketchup took 30mins. Then the “manager” came with a fist full of ketchup packets and threw them into the middle of our table.

On the subject of the SO CALLED “MANAGER” if you would even call him that- watched as our waitress struggled and never once came to offer help. Once we stressed that the dinner A total was disaster- we never saw him at our table again. He took a GIANT NASTY Trash Can and rolled it right next to us(which I guess is how they “bus” the tables. Can I say health code violation? Then to make things THAT MUCH BETTER when they fling the lid of the trash open WE GOT SMACKED WITH SOME NASTY TRASH LIQUID.

We also just happens to witness one of the “Bussers” whip the lid to the trash can open and HIT a woman walking to the bathroom from the table. Did the guy apologize... YOU GUESSED IT! Nope!!!

The food in general was NOT WORTH what we paid.

ON THE TOPIC OF PAYMENT... •Getting our checks was a hassle in and of itself. Not only did it take 30mins to get our checks, but when we received said checks they were MESSED UP. #SHOCKER •We had 8 people(needed 7 checks) we received 5 checks. She had combined orders that never went together! At this point we had been there WELL over 2 hours. And we just needed to get the heck out of there! The waitress came back only to say a “check was missing” GUESS WHAT- IT WAS RIGHT THERE

NOT TO MENTION THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE WAS TOTALLY UNSTABLE AND IT WAS CONSTANTLY SWAYING.

In conclusion- this was BY FAR one of the WORST restaurant experiences I have ever had. Even the members of our party -who have served before- said it was so terrible.

WORST RESTAURANT EVER. DO NOT SPEND...

I hit up this restaurant about once per year because friends want to go there. I really have never been a fan of the inside portion of this restaurant. In fairness, I have never been on the tiki bar side where I suspect others who give positive reviews may have gone. So, what I am about to say is only a reflection on the inside bar and restaurant.

What I will share is that this restaurant has always had an identity crisis. It just doesn't know what it wants to be. Years ago, they focused on Mexican and then moved away from that. They were into BBQ and maybe a touch of creole for a spell. On this latest visit, they now have returned to a limited menu that has returned to a Mexican theme although nothing about the restaurant would make you suspect that this is what would get upon entering. In fact, the name alone implies something other than Mexican fare.

Our service was nice. I really did feel like the servers wanted to provide a positive experience (although stacking chairs on tables at 7pm while the restaurant still had plenty of patrons was a bit odd). I got the feeling from them and the manager that something just isn't right here. Everything about our table's experience reflected this, too.

As for the food, most of the table said it was the worst food they ever had at any restaurant. I wish I had taken a picture of the guacamole that was on my dish. I think it was made in the morning (or yesterday) and was never sealed. It was highly oxidized. I didn't dare taste it. There also was what everyone at the table thought looked like mold on some of the peppers in my dish. So, I avoided most of that. The chicken in the fajitas were cooked properly but lacked seasoning. I could go on, but you get the idea. I also tried a few wings. They were alright...nothing special bit not bad either.

The rest of our table had chimichangas that were fried too long and had cold, undercooked rice, and seemingly old beans (mine were fresher). One member of our group got a burger cooked medium. He described it as being dry and tasteless. My wife's burrito was alright (I tasted it) but the sides were horrible as I mentioned above.

I really wish that this restaurant would find a way to be better. The location along the creek and waterfall seems great but it has a long way to go and will need a lot of great reviews before we...