Monk's Steamer Bar Inc — Restaurant in Siesta Key

By far the most downright hostile staff I've ever encountered at a restaurant/bar. Twice now I've left promising myself to never come back. I'm not really sure what is wrong with the staff at this place, but unless you enjoy being verbally abused my advice is to take your money somewhere else (the place isn't even particularly cheap for a "dive" bar). There are plenty of places to get oysters and shrimp in the area with better food, cleaner facilities, and of course a nicer staff.

My experiences: Last year a staff member accused me of lying about not receiving an order of oysters monkafeller. Our bill for 4 of us was well over $200, so I'm not sure what he thought we stood to gain from lying about one order of oysters. We also showed him that none of the oyster shells had cheese in them (the monkafeller oysters come with cheese on top). He got so aggressive about it that other staff members were coming over to talk him down. In the end we weren't charged (several staff members verified that none of our oysters shells had cheese residue in them, so clearly we hadn't gotten them), but we also didn't receive any sort of apology for the way their staff member acted. I thought the lack of apology was a bit weird, but realize now this probably isn't all that uncommon of an event with their staff.

Fast-forward too yesterday. I called the bar to ask if their patio area was pet-friendly. The guy who answered said it was. When I arrived the waiter on the patio rushed out to tell me animals weren't allowed there. I tried to explain to him that we had called and the guy who I had spoken to said they were. Instead of apologizing for the confusion the guy literally called me a liar and told...

Called Monks after the beach because we saw they had a good review but they said they don’t take togo orders over the phone so we stop by. We placed our order that was close to $300 and told the waiter we had to go drop off our big group with a baby and other little ones at the house and we would be back. We paid with a credit card for our order and was going to tip them cash after picking our order up. Got home got the group dropped off baby taken care of and we rushed back to the restaurant to pick up our food. Waiter, who was a tall and stocky guy, handed us everything and I asked him if our butter and sauce was in there so he went back to go get the other items and handed me the last box and said to me “just so you know we work for tips, if you come in next time with a big order like this we will not take your order”. I was very surprised that he said that to me because it was an honest mistake that I forgot to take cash but even if I didn’t forget to take cash you don’t hand someone their last items and immediately say that to a customer! Besides we don’t have to tip you if we don’t want and who wants to tip you with that ugly attitude? We got home with the food and after tasting it we had to reseason our crab and crawfish. Their crawfish was very dry and freezer burnt. We called and left a message for the manager to call us back the same day and honestly I think the waiter that helped us was the one that answered because we never received a call back. Called back the following day and immediately spoke to a manager named Pineapple and told him about our service and told him we are from out of town. He said next time we go back ask for Pineapple and he would...

This place has been a favorite of mine for quite some time. The cats who operate this place have been there since the beginning, work hard, keep their heads in the game and don't have much time for bs when the weeds are high. Several of the bad reviews on here focus on "rude" staff which just simply isn't the case unless you deserve it for being an asshat. I know, I have been kicked out on more than one occasion. That aside the real reason to go to Monks has almost nothing to do with hardcore staffers and everything to do with the MOST DELICIOUS SEAFOOD IN FLORIDA!!!! The Peal and Eat Shrimp are amazing, so much so in fact, that I drank the remaining fluid, a mellowly spiced combo of butter, Old Bay and garlic. Their signature dish, Oysters Monkafeller is hard to top and one of those treats that you will order seconds or even thirds. I am a foodie and love high quality cuisine regardless of cost. I have dined at several Michelin Star rated restaurants throughout the US so don't take this review lightly. Their food is excellent, their service is spot on, the drinks are strong and their doors are almost always open. To the one star rating for FL wildlife in the bar, their doors are open you ID-10T and its FL c'mon get your head out of your butt... In a nutshell, Monks should be packed out the doors for their food alone, the other stuff is also great, but I cannot say enough about...