Tropics — Restaurant in Springhill Township

TL;DR-won’t go back, not sure what they did to “fix” raw food is sanitary. Tables are cramped.

Full read-was invited by friends to go here a few months ago. Food was awesome. 2 different pizzas, steak salad, some appetizers…all great. Waitress was on it, really did excellent. Only issue was that the tables are packed in so tight and they put so much stuff on them (big napkin dispensers and racks for the condiments) you have no room to move. My buddy dropped half his pizza when the pan got hung up on a chair at the table next to us and he was trying not to dump it on the girl sitting in it. Left that night saying we absolutely had to come back and try other items.

Fast forward to today. Wife and I looking for somewhere different to go for lunch, decided on Tropics. We ordered a pound of boneless mild wings and a mushroom Swiss burger medium well to share. All the food came out at once, instead of appetizer first. No big deal. We ate some wings. The flavor was good, but we had to do our own mixing cause the sauce was only on a little over half of them. No big deal. Grab the burger and cut it in half. My wife keeps eating wings and says she is taking the burger home. Struck me as odd cause she was hungrier than I was, so I grabbed my half to take a bite. Completely raw inside, like barely cooked. I felt it with my finger and it was cold, no juices running out like a rare steak would have. No way it was 165F inside. Not even hot enough to melt the Swiss cheese. I absolutely hate sending food back but it was not edible. Get the waitress, she has to look at it to verify it’s raw, and says she’ll take it back. She comes back a few seconds later and said they put the same burger back on the grill to cook it more since we had not bitten off it. Not 2-3 minutes later a different waiter brings the burger back and the edge is cooked. He asks if it looks ok but didn’t stick around to get my answer. I decided to cut into and guess what, still raw. Looked as though the edge was just pressed into a griddle to make it look cooked. Still not hot enough for the cheese to melt. We asked for our check and some boxes. The waitress asked if there was still an issue with the food and we said no, we just needed to go. Paid our bill, left a tip, and threw the burger and fries in the trash 20 minutes later at another restaurant cause we were still very hungry. So we paid $36 (with tip) for a pound of wings (burger not edible and drank water) and another $20 at the Mexican place near our house to actually eat something.

I have never heard of a restaurant putting food back on a grill once a customer has touched it.

Needless to say, Tropics is no longer on our list of options...

Wanting to start this review by saying we were tropics regulars for over 3 years. Went there weekly, had our rehearsal dinner there for our wedding, the works. Our first very off putting experience was in December. It was me, my husband, his best man, and my best friend. We had dinner in the dining area and then after our dinner we played in the arcade for awhile. My best friend and myself decided to go to bar to get a drink. The bartender asked to see our IDs which we had no problems with as we are both 25+. She then stated we needed TWO forms of IDs since we are “so young” and wouldn’t serve us if we didn’t show two forms (we had drinks with our dinner in the dining room and didn’t even get carded). Luckily I had my passport on me as she stated she wouldn’t be able to take a debit card as a second form of ID. Once that got settled, My best friend asked for a recommendation of alcohol as she doesn’t like shots and the bartender was not helpful or warm whatsoever. Handed her the menu and said she’d come back after she looked at the drinks they had.

When you google their restaurant it says they are open until midnight. However we were there and in the arcade and the manager on duty rather rudely told us that once the game (football) was over they were closing and we had to leave (it was only around 10 at this point).

After that experience, we stopped coming and decided to take a break from there. We came back tonight after a several month break and were disappointed again. We got there around 9 (after I checked their hours again and it says they are open till 12AM) we get there and they say their grill is shut off and we can only get appetizers??? We were literally looking forward to eating chicken but we got appetizers (bar tender did not ask to see my ID no less say that I NEEDED to show her two forms). Their spin dip is the best around and the wings are very very good so it wasn’t a problem to get our dinner via the appetizer menu.

Our server checked on us one time about 10 minutes after the food runner brought our food out. After she refilled our drinks she didn’t come back until she asked if we were ready for our check. Their door does say they are open until CLOSE but they fail to tell you when close is. We wouldn’t have driven the 30 minutes if we knew we couldn’t get real food.

In the parking lot my husband looked at me and said “This place has really lost its magic.” Which is true and makes me sad as we would always tip the price of the bill (waitress Maddie is amazing and we love her), had our rehearsal dinner there, and took all of us friends there.

We used to love tropics and always recommended it but don’t see ourselves coming back...

Atmosphere- 3 stars- While the outside of Tropics definitely leans into the island vibe with the tiki bar, lights, and tropical plants, the interior can feel pretty plain by comparison. It’s more like a standard bar-and-grill setup once you’re inside—functional, but not particularly immersive or stylish. Kind of a letdown if you’re expecting the same energy as the outdoor areas. It wasn’t warm outside so we didn’t get to experience the Island vibe which I’m sure is a lot better.

Service- 4 stars- our waitress (I believe her name was Maddie) and was friendly and helpful with our selections. She recommended the Pork Spring rolls and there were awesome!!

Food- 4 stars- The menu offers a diverse choice of blending Hawaiian-inspired dishes with American favorites. Signature items include the Kalua Pig Nachos, featuring Hawaiian-style pulled pork on crispy tortilla chips, and the Furikake Crusted Ahi, a seared tuna dish with a flavorful crust. Other popular choices are the Mochiko Chicken, marinated in soy, garlic, and ginger, and the Loco Moco, a grilled hamburger patty topped with an over-easy egg and brown gravy.  

The restaurant also offers a variety of burgers, such as the Island Burger with teriyaki-glazed beef and grilled pineapple, and the Hawaiian Pizza topped with Canadian bacon and grilled pineapple. For those seeking lighter options, there are salads, wraps, and seafood dishes like fish tacos.

We started out with the Pork Springs rolls which looked more like Eggs Rolls and they were delicious!! We also tried one of their signature items- the Mochiko Chicken served with white rice and macaroni salad. The chicken was marinated nicely in a ginger soy and garlic sauce then lightly fried. Really enjoyed this dish. The chicken was tender and good quality- no fat. We also got the Hawaiian Chicken Sandwich- grilled with a slice of pineapple and Swiss cheese. Originally it comes with American cheese and I believe onions/tomato but we prefer this type of sandwich with Swiss and no extra toppings other than the pineapple. This was a very good sandwich- again good quality grilled chicken and just enough teriyaki sauce. Would have like to of tried one of the delicious looking deserts but we were stuffed. Would like to go back and experience the outdoor...