The Wildflower Sanford — Restaurant in Sanford

I came to the Wildflower from out of town with some family. We had a party of 6 and arrived around 6pm on a Thursday night. Maybe 2 or 3 other tables were there.

It was happy hour and the server never made mention of it. Our drinks took a while to be served (15 mins), and we had only ordered 3 house margaritias and two other drinks. None of us were impressed with the drinks, despite the Wildflower's claim of an "unforgettable experience with every sip." The margarita was extremely strong with little flavor, and my gf's gimlet was uninteresting.

There also was confusion about a drink that was on the menu, but was not an option due to a mistake.

I had the patatas bravas, which was a small bowl of burnt potato pieces with a little bit of aoli on the top layer. I wasn't a fan and regretted ordering them. The ropas vieja tostones were great and flavorful - one of the only highlights of the night.

I ordered the burger as a main dish. The second round of drinks took even longer than the first round (20 mins) - even though less people were in the restaurant and only a single person sitting at the bar. The server also never mentioned that happy hour was ending and didn't ask for a last call.

After ordering the burger, a few minutes later the server came back and told me that they did not have burger buns and it would have to be on a hoagie roll instead. She asked if I still wanted to order it. I switched to the ropa vieja main dish instead, while another person at the table kept the burger with the hoagie roll.

It took even longer to get our food than the drinks - maybe 45 minutes. The dishes all arrived to the table at different times. The server didn't clear out hardly any of the appetizer plates, so the table was a cluttered and cramped mess the whole night. My ropa vieja was fine, but didn't impress me frankly. It felt a bit like cafeteria style food, which made me wonder why it took so long. The sweet plantains tasted good at least.

Someone had ordered the chicken sandwich and was surprised for it to be on the hoagie roll, when the server never mentioned this to her and only those who ordered the burger.

My gf ordered the chimichurri steak and was told she could not make a substitution due to how everything is pre-portioned by the kitchen. The menu indicated she would get a side of sweet plantains, which she didn't have on her plate. When she asked the server about this, the server told her she was wrong and the menu did not say that. We had to call her back later and show the server a picture of the menu we had taken in order for her to admit she had made a mistake.

Another small thing: the bathroom automatic soap dispenser did not work and the hand soap provided was clearly watered down so they didn't have to buy a new bottle.

Unsurprisingly, the fastest thing that came to the table all night was the check. Overall, I do feel like this place has a ton of potential. It's in a great location and the aesthetic is cool. They desperately need to train their servers and bartenders, as well as get their kitchen situated so it doesn't take so long...

It's been a while since I visited a horrible restaurant but this one takes the cake. My family and I visited this place The Wildflower in Downtown Sanford for a nice latin meal since we are Puerto Rican and Cuban and my fiancè is American. First of all, there was no one to seat us until 7 minutes after we entered, keep in mind there were only 3 tables seated. Once we were seated and helped my disabled sister into the table, we were presented with the menu. They claim to be a Latin fusion with classic favorites such as croquettes, cachapas, ropa vieja, and chimichurri steak, but the "Latin fusion" is a poor excuse for the worst tasting food I've tried in my many years of going to popular restaurants. Our server, I believe her name was Linda, keep on ignoring us when we were asking for help with the menu, she could not explain any of the menu properly and she made fun of my father for asking for help. From there, the atmosphere went to crap. I ordered a virgin strawberry daiquiri (which was on their Happy Hour menu and we were at the restaurant during the happy hour time) and birria quesadilla. The strawberry daiquiri was not even frozen. A daiquiri not frozen is the first I've ever seen and it tastes like the tartest strawberry I've ever ate. The birria quesadilla was toasted on one side only with raw tortilla on the other side and their "consomme" had a hint of a sweet spice like cinnamon, IN THE BEEF STOCK. What kind of dipping consomme has sweet spice in it?! We had also ordered croquettes for the table since they lacked a bigger appetizer for families. The croquettes came in 3s and they were thick with some white sauce drizzled on top. Those entitled croquettes were absolutely not croquettes. They were fried potato balls filled with some cheese and diced cheap great value honey ham and causes the whole croquette to turn sourly sweet and it was the most disgusting thing I've put in my mouth. It was a disgrace to my Cuban roots to eat such a horrible croquette. My fiancè ordered the pork sliders that looked like it had more purple cabbage than actual pork. My father ordered the ropa vieja, which was drier than Texas heat. My niece and sister ordered cachapas which seemed like the safest bet but they couldn't even finish it, it was not up to anyone's standards. My mother has the only good dish in the dinner which was the chimichurri steak but she also has had way better anywhere else. I felt so bad because it was supposed to be a dinner celebrating us and it turned out to be such a bust. Next time, we will stay at Hollerbach.

This place needs to present good food in order to call it a Latin restaurant but it looks like they spent all of their budget in decorating a cute little place instead of actually making good food. They could simplify the menu in order to focus on fixing the food that's already on their. We will not be going back due to horrible food and service. Don't be fooled by the reviews, a lot of people just come here for the drinks and happy hour and/or don't know what the food is actually supposed to taste like...

I’ve visited The Wildflower twice.

Visit #1 Pros: Nice atmosphere (although lighting is very dim/poor at night). The decor and vibe of the place made a great location for my coworkers and I to meet for drinks and food. The cocktail, It Takes Two to Mango is delicious and the croquettes appetizer too.

Visit #1 Cons: I ordered the Croquettes as an appetizer and the burger with yuca fries as my entree. After a very long wait time, my entree is brought to the table first and then, the croquettes finally arrive. Apparently, they burned the first batch and had to remake them but no one communicated this mishap to me. So now I’m sitting here with appetizer and entree all at once. I start with appetizer and when I get to my burger, it was completely blood red ground meat RAW. Only cooked part was the outer rim of the burger.

I typically do not like to complain or send food back but this was a time I had to because there’s no way I could eat completely raw ground beef. The manager was very responsive to the issues, took it off my bill, gave me the churros dessert and a gift certificate to come back to give them another try.

Visit #2: I visited a little earlier in the evening (perfect lighting from the windows) and ordered the same appetizer and entree. This visit was much better. Food and service was good. The only thing I wish was that the yuca fries could be cut thinner. The super thick cuts left much to be desired in the taste.

Overall, it’s a nice place to relax and feel comfortable. With 2 visits, I’m kind of neutral on food and service because the first visit was an off night for them and the second visit was much better. The price is the price so expect to spend a decent amount especially if you like cocktails. I appreciate the attentiveness of the manager and the way the manager dealt with the issues.

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