Gecko’s Grill & Pub — Restaurant in Sarasota

I have worked in this industry and I have never seen let alone had such horrible service anywhere. A small group of us girls went out for a friends birthday last Sunday, we walked the chili cook off and then wanted to get some AC and a cold drink from Geckos. We sat in the bar area which we were told was open seating so as soon as a group got up we took their place. The server came by grabbed her check did not acknowledge us at all. We did not take offense as they were clearly busy and thought there would be another server coming. Well she passed us 3 times within 10 minutes and never once asked if we would like anything to drink, menus or let alone clean the 4 glasses off our table. So we stopped her and asked her if she was our server, she acted surprised that nobody had come over to us yet and then smirked and got an attitude and told us that it was probably because we sat at a dirty table. We apologized and said that we were told this was OPEN seating. She still did not clean the table or ask if we would like menus or drinks. So we decided we would put the 4 dirty glasses at the end of the table so she could maybe grab them and do her job. During this a wine glass tipped over and broke. We tried to clean it up and a manager came over to help clean the broken glass and he too was EXTREMELY rude. After cleaning the glass we figured the manager would ask if we would like menus but instead just walked away. Another 5 minutes go by and now we are all getting a little frustrated. So we went up to the manager to see why the service was so horrible and the manager on duty got LOUD and told us that if they were not too busy cleaning up the mess we made from breaking a wine glass we would have gotten service. Not to mention we were waiting for close to 15 minutes before that for service and never got it. We did not break the glass on purpose. Then the manager started to argue with our friend whos birthday it was and yelled at her! The restaurant was full of customers and manager on duty was yelling at our friend. All we wanted was a drink! I personally was completely horrified at the experience and will probably NEVER go back. I wish I was able to get the managers name to post on this review but between the shock of watching the manager yell at my friend and frustration from the rude waitress I just wanted to get out as fast as I could.

I would NOT recommend this restaurant to anyone!! If i could give Zero...

My brother raved about this establishment. So I thought it best to go in with an open and unbiased mind, and sat down early afternoon on Super Bowl Sunday. I ordered Carne Asada tacos with chimichurri sauce and pick de gallo. The service was certainly enjoyable and I didn't mind that I was sat behind a very rambunctious group of older men who clearly had too much to drink. My food was an entirely different experience. Presentation was alright, but when I took my first bite I knew immediately there was something wrong. The steak had an oily, permeating fish taste to it. Clearly a sign of spoiled or contaminated meat, I got the attention of a service member and informed her that I couldn't eat the food for the above reason. She took my food back without a word. A few moments later I was greeted by the manager, who took great delight in telling me that the meat couldn't be spoiled and that the fish flavor must have come from the chimichurri sauce. Now, as a cook of 15 years, I have never once added any ingredients to a chimichurri that would bring a pungent fish flavor nor have I eaten one with it. When I brought this point up, I was immediately disregarded and given the eyes rolled into the back of the head treatment and practically begged to order something else rather than be comped the food. This location near downtown Sarasota is not someplace I will be revisiting or recommending. Consider this...

Update March 2024 I have numerous times reviewed this restaurant favorably but tonight we had a disappointment.. We saw a Reuben sandwich and instead of corn beef, we substituted salmon. The price of this regular reuben sandwich was $14.25 with one side

We were surprised to be charged $22 ! For this with one side which made no sense to us since a full salmon dinner with TWO sides was only 18 This makes no sense to us It would have been the same price or cheaper if we had just accepted the corn beef Reuben and ordered a SIDE of salmon, which is only six dollars. Do you see my point? Bad business

We don’t eat meat But if we ever eat there again, which is unlikely, we would take home the meat for our puppy, since they’re charging us for it anyway

Past review . They have a killer Cajun pasta a wonderful Siesta salad.. my friends like the boom boom shrimp and well I actually can't remember the last disappointing meal.

outside tables with heat lamps in winter.. and they have parking. I do not like the inside frequently even though it's not bad looking because there's always so many TVs with sports... it's what it is a sports bar and sometimes I'm too cold in there and it's too noisy... but other times it's okay. It is...