Miguel's Restaurant — Restaurant in Siesta Key

First of all, I expect payment from anyone who reads my review of Miguel's French Restaurant, because I am about to give you a treasure of a place that was absolutely a "wonderful" dining experience...and a better word is...."EXCEPTIONAL!"

And the dining experience was exceptional and unique on many levels! From the minute we walked into the restaurant and were greeted by the front of the house manager named Michelle, the MAGIC show began! There are times when one goes into a restaurant and it feels like the customer is treated like a number, - yes, "another table" to set up. BUT there are rare times where one truly feels that ~ "Welcome to our Home" feeling,- Yes-like a special guest which Michelle and the whole restaurant atmosphere beautifully expressed.

Again, that's just where the MAGIC began. When we were seated, our waitress named Deanna, might have the spelling wrong, but she was so accommodating so gentle, shy, yet efficient and attentive... and most importantly, so helpful in giving excellent descriptions of all the dishes and made us feel like a guest at her home, especially since it was our first time there and we are New Yorkers. PLEASE don't hold that against my brother and I, - we are good guys, and we don't have a very heavy Brooklyn accent- but I dunno furr shuurre ?

Now let's get down to the food. Yes, I am an older guy, I spent many of my earlier years in New York City at some of the finest French restaurants, like Lutece, Laurent, and La Caravelle and others. The flavor and atmosphere expressed in Miguel's has captured that classical magic atmosphere, and most importantly the food was also delicious in that tradition! I defy anyone to try their Steak Tartar dish and tell me it is not one of the finest in the world! This was not a chopped sirloin hamburger with a dash of salt and pepper, rather this was excellent beef, ground and prepared phenomenally well! I am always disappointed in restaurants when in order Steak Tartar. Years ago I ordered it at a French restaurant in Paris and it blew me away and what I was served at Miguel's had that same MAGIC!

Their duck was magnificent, delicious, moist where it should be - and crisp, where I love it that way - and hypnotizing with flavors in many tastebud explosions! I am also a nut for excellent onion soup, and I don't just because there was a high-quality grade broiled melted cheese on top, which theirs has, but underneath that delicious dripping melted cheese- the actual broth mixed with the caramelized onions were TOP quality and excellent and so good I almost ate the paper doily underneath the soup bowl! In fact, rather than paying me for my recommendation of this restaurant, if you are hesitating getting the onion soup, instead of sending me payment for my recommendation, please order that onion soup,- it was spectacular!

This Caesar salad made at tableside was also absolutely excellent.

When finishing up and leaving the restaurant, we had a quick chat with one of the owners named Dan who explained that his brother Gabe was the chef and lived for his passion of excellence in food and they run their establishment as a legacy and testament to their Father, who started the restaurant and they both want to continue keeping it in that excellent tradition!

One thing I know for sure, the founder of the restaurant named Miguel Garcia has a lot to be proud of, with his two sons! By the way, so do his two sons, in carrying forth the legacy of that charming and delicious restaurant in his excellent tradition. And the customers, like my brother and I, are the benefactors of...

Vacationing in Siesta Key Thanksgiving week. I found this restaurant in the area that had good reviews so I decided to make a reservation for their Thanksgiving dinner they had posted online. When we were seated by a gentleman in a suit he said a guy's name ( can't recall) would be taking care of us. We waited and waited for someone to come to our table, listening to all the tables with their attentive servers. They were explaining the specials that evening and the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We finally had a server come to our table by the name of Melissa, she was abrupt and disheveled like they pulled her from out of the back. She says to us have you had enough time, do you know what you want. We said kindly said back we have had enough time sitting here listening to everyone else's table and heard other server's explaining the specials. Can you go over those? She said well what do you want to know about. I knew we weren't offto a very good start. I asked what kind of soups they had and about the house salad. She rambled off so quickly and disjointed that we sat there confused and they she ran off again and said think about it. Just bad , bad service. Flash ahead to the meal, me and my husband ordered the turkey Thanksgiving dinner ( as did many other tables around us). The turkey came out raw, at all the tables. In variations of pink, how did the chef not notice this?? So, we flagged Melissa down and pointed it out, she tried to say it was the fat on the turkey and it was fine. We refused to take that answer and sent it back. She came back with completely new dinners for us, the second time around the turkey and all the sides were very good. Melissa kept apologizing at this point and said she was having a bad night. I get it, but I don't want to hear it. We are on vacation trying to have a holiday dinner! Dessert came and went and the guy in the suit walked by looked at us but never said anything. So, I assumed he was a manager. I asked him if he was going to ask how our dinners were, so he did as I caught him off guard. I asked if he knew we had raw turkey, he said he did. One if the turkeys weren't cooked enough and he was sorry but didn't we receive a different plate. I said we did, but I was surprised that he didn't come out and address it to all the tables that received the undercooked turkey. He just walked away. I could not believe that a restaurant that has been in business this long would have such subpar service and ownership. Oh yeah, the guy in the suit was Dan the owner not just a manager. The sad part is if we had better service and not raw turkey I could say that the meal would have been a good meal but because it started out so badly and quite frankly ended so badly with the owner I could never recommend this...

The Good: Service was excellent. Our server was a nice older lady who obviously knew what she was doing. Larger wine glasses, quick refills on everything, not interrupting every three minutes, etc. 33%, well-deserved tip. Thank you! Huge ribeye that was cooked as ordered. -ma took 1/2 home.- good value there. Ice cold wine. No waiting, seated immediately. Hot entrees till the end, fresh, large salad portions and dressing on the side.

The Bad: I understand highest and best use for getting as many diners as possible into a space, but when one neighbor hits their chair against yours, or one needs to take turns or someone drops their....and they bend over, 14" from your face.... This is cramming people together. Just stop. Front foyer/waiting area is too small. Families and couples standing almost shoulder to shoulder, nearly standing behind the patrons sitting at the three-person bar area. I realize it's a holiday and the people waiting were probably early, but if the waiting area and the seating and the bar area only seats three people at a time, Miguel's is CRAMMING patrons into the place. Full stop.

The Ugly: Not so much "ugly" just following the movie theme.... Anyway.... Red snapper was crisp on the edges (under the heat lamp too long?) and it buried something underneath that was tasty but I had no idea what it was...I couldn't remember the menu item. Turkey was cooked too quickly or the oven was set way too high: rubbery and pink tips on all pieces. The following look-alikes were here and they're probably regulars: Issac Asimov, Ruth Gordon, (My Bodyguard, Columbo). The guy across from us, looked like Barney Martin, the guy who played Linda Marolla's dad in Arthur, "You have my permission to marry him.". The lighting fixtures, the black ceiling tile, the black baffled down-lighting, the carpeting, the outdated stone walls, the three-person only bar, and the overall decor is from '72. I swear Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider were going to come around the corner running after The Frog.

If the patrons dressed like it was '72, I would have concluded I was in the Twilight Zone. Seriously, that's all it would have taken to scare me. - patrons' modern clothing style was the only thing that kept me from having a...