Blackbirds' Grille — Restaurant in Town of Islip

Hi Wayne (mr owner). Here is the review you encouraged me to write as you implied that my review doesn’t matter and you don’t care about your customers. Well actually you may not remember our interaction as you seemed under the influence. Truthfully, I really wanted to like this place. It seemed cute and had a nice atmosphere when we first walked in and the staff seemed nice. The wait for food was unacceptable. Took around an hour to get our dinner and not all of the food came out at the same time. Had to wait 10 additional minutes for my moms meal to come out. Portions were also very small in certain dishes and my shrimp was overcooked. The waitress was nice but seemed extremely busy and didn’t offer refills or check in often. Sadly, my infant was getting fussy since we had been there almost 2 hours in total so we had to box all food and take it to go. We also did not ask for or even receive an adjustment to the bill. Nothing was offered as an apology for the experience. When checking the reviews after the fact I see my same complaints have been mentioned in other reviews in the past and yet here I am complaining about the same things that clearly have not been fixed. I was told they were short staffed and not prepared for how busy it was as though it was a one time thing. Interesting it seems that’s been the case for a long time. From a business standpoint I simply cannot understand why you wouldn’t want to get the ticket times to be faster. You have limited tables and the longer the guest stays the less times you can turn over the table. It says alot to have no wait at 7 pm on a Saturday. The icing on the cake and the reason for my rating was your attitude WAYNE when we brought our complaints to you. The way you handled things was embarrassing. The first time you came to the table regarding our complaint, I stated that I could tell you knew already about the ticket times yet you ignored it instead of trying to check in with your customers and apologize. Oddly, you walked away saying literally nothing in response. It took me threatening this review for the waitress to tell you to come back and actually apologize. Except you didn’t. You made a fake apology and then encouraged this review implying my complaints meant nothing since you have a five star restaurant. You also touched my husband multiple times on his shoulder to the point that he had to ask you to stop touching him. As an owner you should also be dressed in more appropriate attire. At first I thought you were just another patron. First and last time eating at your establishment and I’m sure from the way you acted that...

I went for my first time with a bunch of friends for St. Patty"s Day. We had Guiness and ordered appetizers. Some friends had the crabcake, which was great, I ordered the baked clams.. they were very bready, dry and salty but I ate 3 of them out of 5. Another friend arrived late and ordered the clams and because she had to wait, I gave her two of mine. She did not like them as well and so she asked the waitress to cancel her order (about 5 min after ordering) the waitress was clearly upset and said that she would now have to pay for my friends clams because they already began cooking them. I asked the server if my friend received the clams and returned them would she (the server) still have to pay for her order... the server replied "no". This sounded absurd to me so I went to speak with the owner privately. He confirmed that the server had to pay for the clams and that if the plate ordered had been delivered and returned the server would not have to pay. The server is a young lady working hard ( around my daughter's age)... so I offered to pay for the canceled clams... the owner apologized for my not being happy with my clams and said the clams are the biggest hit people order all the time he refused to believe they were not okay. Anyway..i paid for the order and tipped the ..now happy... young server. The owner came over to our table later on and offered something for us all... which was a nice gesture but ...too late. We declined in a friendly way. Turns out he went to school with one of my friends at the table. I liked the service, the food wasn't bad... the company was great ... but I personally don't feel good about his policy that leaves a young girl working hard for her money.. responsible for a dish that was canceled soon after ordering and was not served. So...I support the help but not the owner. After all he let me pay the bill. There are many other friendlier restaurants that I could feel better about spending my hard earned dime. ...

First impression was a very busy bar, making for a loud restaurant experience. We could hardly hear ourselves speak. Granted, it was a Friday night. We were immediately presented with water and a bread basket. The bread was buttery & seasoned, crisp outside, soft inside, yummy. We ordered BBQ ribs for an appetizer. A good wait to arrive. Portion was fairly small, especially considering how tender, meaty and delicious they were. My husband ordered the filet mignon steak sandwich and I ordered the Seafood Combo Platter. Our server, while friendly, seemed very busy, not giving enough attention to her tables. No attention to refills for our soda. As the service was painfully slow, our drinks went quickly, and we relied on water. My husband loved his sandwich, perfectly cooked, steak was tender. His only suggestion would be toasted or garlic bread. My dinner was a mix of good and decent. Filet of sole, not stuffed, was good, scallops (2) were just cooked, and the clams (2) tasted more of the peppers, although nicely filled with chopped clams. The shrimp (2) were good, as were the rice and veggies. Didn't care for the stuffed mushrooms (2) at all. Bussing was quick and efficient. After the meal, someone (the owner?) came to our table, and we had a pleasant conversation, it was a nice touch to interact with customers. We had a good meal and experience. We will be back. A few other items on the menu absolutely peeked...