Chez Vincent — Restaurant in Winter Park

I can't give 2.5 stats and I'm not rounding up to 3, as it's not deserved. Reading the higher reviews tells me that people haven't had quality food or service, or this is just a place they like to visit. We had a large party of 19, so I'm aware things take time and my issues are not due to our party size. It started normal, they took our drink orders and we waited. The servers do not have serving trays so the individuals trying to help had to carry glasses a few at a time making many trips to the bar... Which of course this took plenty of excessive time. With a serving tray you easily deliver 8 drinks at once, not 2-3. The server got drinks mixed up constantly. After sitting with our drinks for 15 mins, then the bread was served. Why did the 5 small bread rolls take so long? As we waited for someone to come take our order, I noticed the place was not that busy at all. So, I'm not sure why, but it took over 45 mins to start taking our orders. I got the crab cake, which is NOT Maryland style, please remove that. I grew up in Maryland. I had two lumps of crab in the entire cake. Wife got ahi tuna... I've never seen quarter sized ahi tuna, thanks, now I have. The server seemed to disappear for another 45 mins. We were wondering if he was coming back. Numerous drinks needed, plates needed removed, we wanted to place our order for the main entree. Server finally comes, takes orders, he's writing it down. Great. I got a grouper dish. FYI, what I ate tonight was not grouper and I really want to report this business for advertising fish and selling something else. Grouper is solid white when cooked, not a slight white with a pink hue and hard sponge. Plus it didn't even taste like grouper. I've caught and cooked grouper since I was a teen. This was not it. More like halibut. No side dishes are mentioned but you are served, the smallest size rice I've ever seen, small scoop, 3 , 1.5 inch green beans, and two small slices of carrot. Really?? For 36 dollars? My wife got a filet that was not cooked correctly, but after seeing our friends dish return "nuked" when she complained the salmon wasn't fully cooked, we decided to deal with the filet. Also, when they nuked our friends salmon, all it did was ruin the sides. Which she had to request more. My wife's filet lacked any real taste which is probably why they serve it in a sauce. Again, she had the same sides. I'm watching as the wrong plates are consistently delivered to the wrong people. What's the point of writing it down if you don't state who? Sad. We all finish eating, I'm looking at plates stacked around us, a random server stops by at times and takes a plate. Again, no server trays so they can't take much. I watch as servers pass, dont pick up plates. Our main server finally comes out with deserts stacked. Others in our party pointed out how bad that looks and hopes things from under the plates don't drop into the food under. As we know plates are put on counters in the back. They distribute the wrong desserts, forget silverware multiple times. There is plenty more but this was the highlights. This place tries to be more than they are. There is no uniform dress code, but want customers to dress a certain way. While your servers and the guy playing the keyboard are wearing jeans. Everyone in our party tipped well, OH, because we had no choice. 20+ % was auto added. I'm sorry, that's horrible. Best of luck, but there is a real management issue here. When there are so many things this bad, that's management,...

My wife and I visited with two other couples. Overall, our experience was ok, but we had expected more. The evening started off well. We were greeted and seated quickly at our reservation time. We ordered off of the Magical Dining Menu (with a an extra soup). We had the escargot and a goat cheese salad for an app. Both were very good and we had no real complaints at this point. We also tried the French onion soup as well, which was great. Very rich with a buttery finish to it. The main course was not as impressive. My wife had the pork tenderloing, which was quite dry, but the sauce was good. I had the filet (medium), which was not overly flavorful. Again, the sauce was not bad (does have a strong peppercorn flavor, which was fine). The accompanying vegatables, which were a few green beans and 2-3 slices of carrots, left a little to be wanted. Additionally, the potatoes seemed to need a little more butter, salt, or both. It also seemed that mine had been sitting out of a bit before reaching out table as they had started to form somewhat of a crust.

At this point, we had begun to notice a lot of people gathering at the bar, which was directly behind our table. We thought they were waiting for their group, but seemed to just be gathering behind us and getting louder. Additionally, we noticed we had not seen our waitress in while. We had our desserts, which were choclate cake and creme brulee. The chocolate cake was good (at least there were no complaints from my wife), however, the creme brulee had good flavor, but the consistenct was off. It was not creamy and smooth, but was leaning more into a custardy jello. We also had to go ask for additional silverware as our had been taken with our dishes from the main course. It was not that big of a deal, but again, not what we expected from a place with this reputation.

Overall, we had an ok experience. Some of the others we went with had the same or worse experience while one very much enjoyed her meal. While reviewing the full menu, there were other options my wife and I were interested to come back and try, but after the visit we had, we are not planning on making a...

I will try my best to convey my level of disappointment. I have visited a number of fine-dining establishments. I specifically go to french restaurants for the escargot. Since I am unable to give a half star, Chez Vincent will get a 1 star rating from me. Please note the following:

The service was AWFUL. I don't know why their service was so bad as this was my first and last time visiting this establishment. It was so bad, the couple next to us got up and walked out because they were sitting and waiting for so long with only water. (Valentine's Day).

There was absolutely no apology for the poor service from ANYONE or an explanation for their lack of attention to their customers.

I made the reservations for dinner 3 days prior. At no point was I told they would not be offering a full menu. The server did not even bother to explain their menu after we were seated. I have gotten much better service at a Denny's or IHop restaurant for a fraction of the cost.

I must stress the poor service because that is the most important aspect of fine-dining to me. Even if the food was 3 out of 5 stars, I would still return for a friendly and attentive staff.

I have attached an edited picture of my bill. There were no prices anywhere for this meal. I don't care about the cost when it comes to fine-dining so that was irrelevant to me. Note the $185.33 bill for 2 glasses of cheap chardonnay and a 4 course meal. Again, the server did not explain any of this at any point during our visit.

The Good: The sea bass was amazing! When I say amazing, I mean it was one of the most incredible dishes I have ever experienced in my entire life. The portions for each course were perfect. 5 out of 5 stars!

Conclusion: This has been the worst dining experience in my life. Even if the bill were $50.00 total for the entire meal, I would not return. I wish I had gone to Carrabbas instead.

To the owner(s) of Chez Vincent: If you are going to charge $185 for a meal for two, do NOT take on more customers than your wait staff can handle. You will lose word-of-mouth and...