Lunasea Key West Cafe — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

I love this place! Too bad our last visit was so terrible. I previously reviewed and what a night/day difference. Before going I checked their website for any info on restrictions, etc. and it's the same as it has been for years.

Wife and I went for brunch on Sunday, at noon. I love breakfast, she prefers lunch so we went later and sat at the bar. One other person and the bar tender. We ordered drinks, I got the carafe and bottle of champagne for mimosas, wife wanted the bloody mary bar but of course covid has removed that (website update required), but got the bartender special. First issue, the BM was rimmed with salt not the old Bay as described on the menu, lemon ring and 2 olives. Strike #1.

The menu was shorter than usual [expected] but there were absolutely no lunch items! We asked if there was a regular menu and were told not yet (dinner?), so Strike #2. More on my thoughts later. So the wife decided not to eat, and ordered a second BM with Old Bay this time. bartender said they didn't have Old Bay but had a sweet chili powder that she could use, so she opted for that. *look at the drink menu and note all the references to Old Bay. If you're out, swing by Wal-Mart and grab a few cans so you can make the drinks as described.

I ordered the crab con queso benedict and it seemed most appealing to me. Arrived after a longer time than expected since the place wasn't jamming and how long does it take to toast a muffin and cook over easy eggs? When it arrived there was a small pile of potatoes and a massive amount of queso [yum] covering the ham (no pic, sorry). I wanted to check for the egg cook and lifted the ham to find an untoasted english muffin. Not a lightly toasted muffin, but untoasted. The manager must have seen me inspecting so he asked if everything was alright. I showed him the muffin and he seemed perturbed and agreed that it wasn't the quality he expected. Took it away and offered me something else, so I opted for the breakfast fajitas. Strike #3.

The fajitas arrived, bigger pile of potatoes that were warm and tasty. The tortillas were warm as were the eggs. The onions and peppers were't cooked enough, barely/aldente [everyone has different preferences on veggie cook- I like them soft and caramelized) and the sausage was flavorful. There was a cold plate of sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce(?) and salsa. Of note, the salsa was frozen, not cold but literally icey. Strike #4. We got a checkin from the manager again and when he asked how it was I asked if he wanted some truth/feedback, and he said yes. So I pointed out the cook on the veggies and the frozen salsa. The salsa was a problem it appeared.

We finished eating and drinking and got the tab. 4% was automatically added to the tab. We said we would pay in cash so the bartender adjusted the bill. Be careful and check or bring cash so you don't support their choice of credit card providers.

So, given the menu listed, how hard would it have been to have a few non-breakfast items available. a cheese burger should be a staple for any restaurant; there were fajitas, why not grill some chicken and swap out the eggs/sausage (fish tacos were on the dinner special sign - maybe some fish tacos too), the breakfast burrito and BLT could of had variations for lunch options and even a limited kitchen should be able to pull that off. I mean it is advertised as brunch not breakfast. I get all the challenges of staffing now, it is everywhere, but this just seemed like a lack of motivation/caring/creativity.

Lunasea was a pretty solid place that we frequented, sadly the sun has set for us on their...

This has to be a first in my life along with my family of 6. We decided to eat at the Lunasea during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. It started out ok. The waiter was nice, the drinks and food were ordered up with no problem. After that, it was all down hill from there. My shot of Monte Alban tequila had a small bug floating in it...The waiter took it back and the owner came back with another shot glass full of watered down liquor. The owner didn't even acknowledge that there was a bug; she just asked was I ok. Then she walked away. I just looked at my family and was like wow ok. I drank the shot an noticed that there was no kick, hence watered down liquor. I went over and asked the bartender to see the bottle that it was poured from. The bottle was about empty with a light colored liquid, not the deep gold color. The bartender then replaced the bottle of tequila with a new bottle but didn't offer a replacement for me. Horrible customer service!!!!!!!!!!! I asked to see a manager. The so called owner came out with a major attitude and said that I was ridiculous for saying that about her establishment and walked away. My wife and I were beside ourselves with the nastiness of the owner. We stopped and told the waiter that we refuse to eat but would pay for the drinks that we had. This chick called the VA Beach Police Department on me and my family like we were criminals! What criminal pays for what he drinks? 2 bike cops and two marked units show up and get position on me to try and take me down. We talking 6 officers. See I'm a cop, I know the drill/tactic. I had already sent my kids back to the hotel so they didn't have to witness the ways of the biased Department. I've lived close to the area all my life. I know how they roll! Here I am at a standoff: Don't pay and go to jail or pay and take cold food for my wife and kids. I decided I had to pay of course. So I asked the owner to redo my food. She came out with the old food jumbled up on a server tray along with to go trays!!!!!!!!!!! It took everything in me to walk away! Get this, the officers have me surrounded totally. They just knew they had a MARK! Not today, not me! Bottom line paid the bill and my family was still hungry! If you are in Virginia Beach, don't bother to eat here if you are not a local and not of the right persuasion! Yes I said it! It's sad this stuff still goes on in 2013! I am a 24 year Army Veteran and have 16 years of law enforcement and that...

Love this place! But do have a few things I hope they change.

First off this is hands down my favorite bar/club to go to both during the busy season and not so busy time of the year. They have a bar literally anywhere you plan to go into/outside the club, there's 2 bars downstairs inside the club and 1 bar where the DJ and dance floor is at and each 1 bar on both levels of the outside deck! So no matter where you go you have a bar and drinks at an arms reach.

The music is always good and the Energy is always hype! They have corn hole outside in a large sandpit which is always fun and convenient (if you can find a open cornhole board) and they have a 2 story outside deck with plenty of seating. The drinks are priced the same as anywhere else but the service is fast.

The only negative things I could ever say about this place is that the security is a little to uptight and rude and pushy at times it's almost like they are just waiting for reason to confront somebody for something.

Another thing is the $5 cover charge for guys to get in, to me it's a bad business move, I get you wanna make money and all but to charge me $5 (cash only by the way) is a little ridiculous and very unconvenient seeings how most people don't like to carry cash on them these days, at least if you HAVE to charge me to come spend money at your business at least accept cards instead of people loseing their place in line to go find a ATM and then get charged the ATM service fee. But honestly it's best to just do away with the cover charge completely because im literally coming here to spend money, I shouldn't have to spend money just to come in and spend more money.

One more thing is the dress code...the fact that you guys even have a dress code is kind of ridiculous to me seeings how people are literally in there in board shorts and tank tops (as they should be because it's the beach!!) a surfer style club/bar like this shouldn't even have the right to be able to inforce a dress code at all! But apparently joggers are a serious no go here, makes no sense to me to be turned down and for you to lose money/business because of joggers Lol.

Other then those few things that rub me the wrong way, I love this place and I love what you guys are doing! The theme,the style and atmosphere is awesome. Food is pretty good as well. Definitely the first place I recommend for out of towners or anybody that's looking for...