Rose & Ivy - Steak, Sushi, Cocktails — Restaurant in Sarasota

This past Saturday we walked into Rose & Ivy at 6:59 for our 7PM reservation. OpenTable had confirmed this. A woman, who did not provide her name, started with how Open Table reservations don't have priority, and they had no table for us. I asked why they would not have taken themselves out of the Open Table system, if you don't honor it.  They said, that's not "How they do it." When pressed, She said they had 2 7PM reservations for the same table. (What?) People were seated at our table with menus, but the table next to them was open. We asked, "Why can't you seat us at that table." She said,  "No, we have regulars that called, and they have that table at 8pm" I said, "We used to be regulars, but I promise you I will never be back." They complained a big part of the issue was it rained and they had a big party that they moved inside. (It's August in Sarasota, it rains daily.) Why would you not plan the party inside, and then take walk-ins if it was nice out. They had no answer. We asked the woman to speak to the manager/owner (Who we have met before to compliment food or a server on prior visits.) Instead of him, a young male, short black/blond hair, stepped in like he was in charge, put his hands on his hips, and said in an extremely snarky voice, "Well what do you want me to do??!" I said, "I would like an explanation on how you take a reservation you have no intent on keeping, and then don't call the patron to say, I know you have a reservation, but we made an error and can't keep it." If they had called earlier in the day, or even an hour before it would show they have respect for the customers. We drove from LakeWood Ranch, and paid for parking to have this interaction. He said he could not help us, waved his arms, "And said have a  LOVELY night." Rose & Ivy is an embarrassment to Open Table, a system that I have used for years, and works flawlessly. They admitted they never had any intent to contact us, as "That is not something they do." No matter the quality of food, this interaction is not acceptable. Nothing about this interaction made me believe they won't continue to do this to customers, over and over. The childish front of the house speaks volumes about the restaurant and care of the customer experience. I wanted to share this experience to help save people from having a repeat experience. We have too many outstanding restaurants in LR, to ever go back...

We made reservations (4) here for dinner before attending the opera next door. This place has been numerous restaurants over the years and I think this one will stick!

Parked nearby in the Palm Ave garage. Easy access to the restaurant. Most of the on street parking in the area is limited to 2 hours and we were going to the opera afterward.

We were warmly greeted and we opted to sit inside. The interior had a nice vide/ambiance and a small bar that seated 6-8. Tableware was nice and the mood relaxing inside and not overly loud so easy to converse. Tables were spaced a little close then we like but it did not cause a problem.

The outside seating on the side looked great and we'll try it in the future (this would be a great spot for live music). Small bar out there that seats 4 along with some couches. The street front parking would have been a little to close to traffic for us as the restaurant is looked at a busy intersection (albeit low moving traffic and next to the opera). There's also an upstairs with tables and a sushi prep area.

Our waiter was Jordan. He was attentive and not overbearing. We were never rushed. He did a good job. Service from all the staff was on point.

Good variety and selection on the menu on both food and cocktails. The place is billed as sushi, steaks and cocktails and that was consistent with what was offered. All the portions we got were good and we felt like we were dining and not there just to eat. There's no bread provided for the table which was fine by us. Food came out promptly with good presentation and temperature.

For appetizers the rock shrimp tempura, beef spring roll and guacamole/chips both had a excellent taste. Shrimp had a little kick. Spring was more fried with an excellent tasting filling.

For mains one ordered the salmon and two of us split the sashimi for two. Salmon was perfectly cooked and had a nice compliment of risotto. The sashimi had a nice variety but seemed a little light on the quantity of fish. What we got tasted very good.

Cocktails consisted of Scooter on Duty (Coconut run base), Mochatini (expresso base) and an Old Fashioned. Scooter on duty was basically an Old Fashioned with rum and was very good. The Mochatini was smooth and creamy.

Overall a...

As a foodie, I am considering this review in the category of “fine dining” based on pricing, but i am not sure thats fair because foodie criteria [fresh, flavors, uniqueness and presentation] are lacking for the “fine dining” scale. Pricing is though.

The atmosphere and service were absolutely delightful. If you can find a server any where nearly as good as Veronika? Hire her.

So let’s start with the appetizer - the beef spring rolls.

Uninspired is the kindest word i can use. I could also have said it tastes like every bland beef empanadas i ever had.

The dipping sauce was clearly soy based and reduced to be more syrup like which showed an effort to make the beef spring rolls taste more than the terribly bland nothing that they are. So dip it and taste strong salty soy sauce? Or don’t dip it at all. Dilemma. I went with no dip.

The bone in ribeye was OUTSTANDING and i mean on every scale. Nearly waygu marbling, cooked and seasoned absolutely perfectly and served nicely on a steak board.

Compared to literally any high end steak house - it is right there with them on the top shelf of perfect.

The garlic green beans and fully loaded potato were solid and not distractive to the main dish.

The “School of Rock” sushi roll was a disappointment. The avocado was largely flavorless in the mix which surprised me the most.

None of the flavors popped in the least. I pulled a piece of the salmon out of the roll and tasted it directly and… well, meh on flavor.

For me it was my guess it’s the lower end of atlantic salmon.

And the Espresso Martini? Literally the worst i ever had. Burned coffee beans? dunno??? Bitter and throughly “never again OMG”...