Clayton's Siesta Grille — Restaurant in Siesta Key

I will preface, most of this is due to lack of communication, but I would not recommend coming here per the experience we had. I will note, we did the Bring Your Own Fish (BYOF) option, so maybe if we had a "normal" dinner things would have been different.

Now we had family catch some fish from a charter, and last year we went to Spearfish Grille (which I would recommend for both BYOF & casual dinning) but unfortunately they were booked. Starting calling, and found Clayton's, and the hostess said they could accommodate our large party (26 folks / 10 that were kids) and split it between 2 high tops. Awesome, done booked for 6:00 the next day, only thing we had to do was bring the processed fish to them by 4:00. Also noted not all the kids would be eating fish and would be ordering off the kids menu.

Fast forward to the next day, went fishing, caught about a 1/2 grocery bag worth of processed fish. Had it there by 2:15… but on arrival the manager said could we move you up to 5:30 instead of 6:00. Noting that the hostess didn't know that she shouldn't take large parties after 6:00 or after. Totally fine, your accommodating our large party, but I should have known by her tone, that something would go awry.

Fast forward to dinner. And I'll say this, everything was good, no complaints there, & the service was good. My wife decides to be nice & pick up the check, I didn't look till later but holy smokes was I shocked. And I'll take the blame here, I didn't know what they would exactly charge us per head (I knew there was a $4 upcharge for their macadamian nut option). But again, I did this last year at spearfish grille directly across the street, and it was about 12-15 bucks a head. They charged us between 27-31 bucks a head, including the kids that didn't eat it, who ordered off the kids menu.

I will note we had a 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8 y/o out of our ten kids there. Now idk about you, but do you know a ton kids that would eat macadamia nut encrusted grouper, blacked snapper, at 1 and 2 years old. I don't. We ordered multiple things off the menu for the kids, other sides, etc.

Back to the bill, everything (sans the $250 bar tab) with gratuity included was $1050. So in an hour, with fish that we brought, we spent $1300. If you want to do the math... that's $50 a head. Now I do lots of events for my company, at restaurants all over place... was this dinner a $50 a head dinner? I think you know my answer.

Now I was going back to one of the managers to say look... as I called and said before, we had 10 kids & only 2-3 of them would be partaking. So I don't think it's fair to double charge them. In fairness, I was looking for like $200 off my bill. Then all these excuses came to fruition...

She said we normally don't do BYOF for more than 10 people. Was never told that. The fish we brought "by law" should not have been cooked per it's size. Again, was never told that, and right across the street spearfish had no problems with our catch. And our hostess should have never accepted a party of your size. But, they did, and it wasn't an issue until we questioned price.

So apparently there's nothing they could do... and I was calm. Then the other manager came over (also her husband) told her to stop talking to my brother & I, and help set up a wine tasting. And said we were done talking.

We weren't done talking, as my brother chimed in, and wanted "something" done. He mentioned all the normal service industry tropes, which I get it all, I worked in service too. But there was no way... in 1 hour, they would have turned both high tops over twice. At 5:30 it was not busy... by the time we left, sure. But he was making it sound like they took a loss. We spent $1300 in an hour, and provided the fish!

In the end he gave us a $100 gift card (but we don't live here) but charging all our littles is not right. And on top of that, the price is high for BYOF to begin with! They said they are planning on stopping that service altogether, they should. Go to Spearfish instead or Big Water if you are looking for a fair and delicious...

One of the best dining experiences I've had - period! Starting with decor and ambiance, laid back yet refined whimsical artsy fun yet classy. Food, traditional yet inspired and inventive, mixed with other influences, local ingredients, and seasonal flavors with a great eye for execution. Service - from the moment you walk in the door and are greeted by the host, then you're seated and immediately have water filled, to your server (we had Kelly), one of the best server experiences I've ever had. Please appreciate I've grown up in the restaurant industry, specifically fine dining, went to culinary school, and worked in restaurants of all types, so I believe I have a modicum of personal and professional experience to base my opinion from. The staff as a whole were extremely friendly and approachable. Our server in particular, Kelly, was next level. Such a natural ease to her demeanor definite familiarity with the menu, the ingredients and preparation for each item, as well as, willing to give honest feedback as to what her favorites were and why. Did I mention personable - there were four in our party two teens and two adults with a very wide range of pallets. Kelly was able to read the table, all appropriate questions then make suggestions, interact and even elicit effusive compliments about her personality from our teenagers. All of the meals came out as she described if not even better. Kelly was extremely attentive without being hovering - the delivery of drinks, refill, bread soup, entrees and dessert could not have been performed more professionally yet personally. Additionally, my wife and I observed the rest of the staff during the experience in all diners seem to receive equal service from the other servers and expeditors and floor staff. All that being said with our limited time in the area, instead of going out to try and find another upscale / fine dining experience I would much rather go back there for food for ambiance, and most especially service - above going to other establishments. They have rightfully earned the respect and appreciation of my wife, my kids and myself and we love to support local establishments doing great things with...

We had an amazing experience for dinner after our wedding on 4/14/24. We had a total of 24 in our party and zero complaints about taste or presentation. Some of the steaks may have been mismatched in regards to done-ness and the respective guest, but overall the food was excellent and the accompaniments were just as great! I am a big fan of the filet, and so were our guests! My only area of improvement I’m suggesting is that of communication between the person who makes the reservations and the floor staff. We were told to choose 3 entrees and had the options of soups and salads, with one pizza. We had told our party this ahead of time and then we were informed on arrival that we could have the entire menu as an option. Truly it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was a little confusing to re-relay this information at the start of our dining experience. My other suggestion for improvement is to note your peak seasons and be mindful of that during the reservation process as I had reserved in November for 7pm and was asked two weeks prior to the reservation date to change our arrival time. It does cause unnecessary stress and changing of plans for the bride, when in fact we did not need to come in earlier as the lady who reconfirmed our reservation a few days prior to the date stated it was okay to come in at 7pm. Otherwise, it was a great time!! They cut our cake for us and that was amazing and they did a great job at it! We will always come back when we vacation for our anniversaries! Thank...