Citrus Grillhouse — Restaurant in Vero Beach

Neighbors wifes birthday and she picks the Citrus seems they were there for the first time several weeks ago with family and enjoyed it. There were 3 couples in out party. Started out you can't reserve outside tables only to find out when we arrived that there was one outside location that could be reserved and our neighbor was never told this option so we sat inside. Decor is pleasant and the view out the window was spectacular. The service was of a level to be expected and satisfactory although the up charges weren't fully explained. The food for all parties was a disappointment. The reason may be that we all opted for fish instead of meat or Italian which seems to be one of the features on their menu. The fish without exception was poorly prepared and over done. My wife ordered the snapper which we shared, (up charge $6.00) we opted for something other than the noodles which came with the dish preferring the asparagus,(up charge $4.00/4 spears) that was one of the substitute items offered. We also had the mushrooms and the ciabatta bread appetizers while our friends opting for the fried zuchini. The fried zuchini was thin slivers of zuchini lightly breaded and sauteed with cherry peppers and served with what I believe was an avocado sauce. The zuchini needless to say was not what was expected and it was soggy, every disappointing. The mushrooms where supposed to a sauteed assortment. The were sliced perfectly even as if on a machine and unrecognizable as any specific variety as if they were straight out of the can. The ciabatta bread at $1 a slice was fresh warm and doughy, we enjoyed it. The main course was snapper, which looked to have been cooked over high heat on one side and served over aspargus in a sea of oil with something that looked like dried herbs. Well done on top moist on the bottom, barely edible,(something like you might get at Denny's for much less). Our friends asked for a beet salad and were told they didn't have it but did have a beet appetizer which they accepted. 5 bite size pieces of beet for $17.00 with no garnish just beet bites. Ouch! After speaking with our friends they experienced the same cooking technique much to their disppointment. Needless to say we will not be going there again even if the location is exceptional. Found out afterwards that the other couple had been there several years prior and never went back due to the experience they had with the food. It's a shame as I said it's a beautiful location and decent service but still not worth the money. We spent $100 for one poorly prepard meal, a salad and one appetizer, no drinks or deserts including tip. My wife just reminded me they have a shrimp cocktail appetizer price $7.00 per shrimp, again ouch! I looked at some of the pictures of the dishes others had there and wish we had had the same cook as they looked good not at all what we...

Went there for dinner tonight. They recently reopened and a food critic did a review in the 32963 paper and said it was good. However our experience was not very good.

First off this extremely expensive restaurant serves everything a la carte. They charge $32 for a seared scallops entree and $7 for a vegetable . There is no bread or rolls served. There are no tablecloths or flowers on the table. There is no salad included in your entree. Ice water is served in plastic cups. The scallops (ONLY 3 of them) were dry , not juicy or moist and TASTELESS. They were rather small for sea scallops , definitely not diver scallops. I come from New Bedford Mass Where we had a scallop festival every summer. It’s a fishing seaport and scallops are plentiful . In fact most sea scallops come from there. I can honestly tell you these are not worth $32. I substituted broccolini in garlic and olive oil for risotto mixed with corn and bacon. The broccoline was so tough I couldn’t cut it with a regular knife. I asked for a steak knife. Even with a steak knife, I could not cut the broccoli. On top of it, it was not told to me that it was very spicy it has a lot of red pepper in it according to the waitress after she had brought it to me. I complained and she brought us haricots vert. They too could not be cut with a steak knife and they were “tasteless “. She comped us for our vegetables.

My husbands steak 🥩 was excellent so I want to compliment the chef on that!!!

We had no appetizers, alcoholic beverages or dessert yet our bill was $125. We paid $94 as she comped us for the vegetables. She credited me $32 for my scallop entree but still charged me $24- $8 per scallop.

We each had a specialty Salad. I had a lump crabmeat “salad ” $15!! It was a 1/2-3/4 cup of crabmeat . A scoop (@1/2 cup ) put on an empty plate, no mixed greens etc. it had a squirt of avocado purée around the edges of plate as a decoration. The crabmeat wasn’t lump crabmeat as advertised. It was flaky crabmeat.

My husband had the tomato and mozzarella cheese salad . It was okay” - 3 tomato slices and 4-5 mozzarella slices. With pesto sauce.

Our bill was originally $125 - with NO dessert, NO appetizers , NO alcoholic beverages!!! They did comp us $30 for the awful vegetables. Service was excellent but they need a new chef!! AND a new variety of food...

A very disappointing dinner

We were looking forward to our first visit to Citrus. The restaurant is located in Vero Beach on the North Hutchinson Island portion of A1A. We could hear the waves as we approached the entrance. The dining room is pleasant and reasonably well appointed. There is a busy kitchen that you can see from pretty much everywhere in the restaurant. Lots of cooks, waiters and other people busy attending to patrons. Once we had taken stock of our surroundings, we started perusing the menu. The menu itself is not very surprising, except maybe for the prices. There is a little bit of variety but nothing truly original. The wine list is ordinary though on the expensive side. We started by sharing an appetizer special made of mushrooms with a brandy sauce and goat cheese. The portion was meager. My wife then had a the Citrus Risotto which was just plain rice with a couple of slices of fruits; very underwhelming. I had the ahi tuna, served seared. The fish was properly cooked, the dish reasonably tasty but the portion also meager, especially considering the $44 price. We followed with a key lime pie that was so small that we thought it was a joke. It was not. The check was no joke either; you can have a mediocre dinner at Citrus for $80 per person, and this with just a couple of glasses of the most basic wine on the menu (this includes gratuity). To say it is not good value is an understatement. But then we were not looking for value; this was my wife’s birthday as I had mentioned at the time of the reservation and as the hostess confirmed after seating us. That was the only reference to the birthday all night long! So we paid $160 for a rather ordinary meal we did not enjoy. One thing we did notice is that several tables had ordered large portions of French fries as appetizers! So maybe, this is the secret for this place: order French fries! We will not be back to try.

I almost forgot: they charge...