While in Cocoa Beach, FL we met up with our dear friends Jenn and Phil at Fishlips Waterfront Bar & Grill in Port Canaveral to catch up and have dinner. We started off with cocktails at the bar before moving to a table for dinner. My Tropical Punch, also available in a souvenir cup, was yummy.
Once at our table, overlooking the water, we ordered the Calamari. It was good, but nothing special. Phil and Jenn shared an entree, which the kitchen was kind enough to split up for them. Chris ordered a ribeye with blue cheese butter, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli and topped with crispy fried onions. He added grilled shrimp to create a surf & turf. The onions had too much breading, but the steak was beautifully cooked to a perfect mid-rare.
I ordered the Sesame Seared Tuna, seared rare tuna crusted in black and white sesame seeds, with rice, a seaweed salad, and a soy sriracha sauce. Of course, there was also wasabi and ginger on the plate. The tuna was delicious. I was pleasantly surprised that the sauce was as well. I am not normally a fan of sriracha.
The only disappointment of the meal was when the server asked Chris if he needed a box. Not normally a bad question, but he was obviously nowhere near finished eating. He felt so uncomfortable that he was taking too much time to eat that he ended up taking the box. Otherwise, we had a very enjoyable meal. The food was good, the view was great and the company was spectacular.
Cost for one cocktail, two beers and two entrees $58.32.
The service at Fishlips has been terrible lately, not to mention the quality of the food, so much so that we decided to say something to the Manager tonight on the way out, stating to him nicely that, ” we have been disappointed with the service lately” and he responded by screaming at th top of his lungs ” The service sucks, why do you come here!!” First off, nobody EVER said the service sucks, we nicely stated “we have not been happy with the service lately”
A little history…….
3 and 4 weeks ago, several people at our table had to return their meals and get something else because their food had come out cold and not fully cooked, followed by my first poor experience at a restaurant, so memorable that I feel the need to write a review…..
2 weeks ago the waitress Melissa gave my meal to another couple who proceeded to split it up with their hands from one plate onto two different plates as they were apparently splitting the meal, she had brought them an extra plate that they had apparently asked for because of their plan to share their meal. Well after giving them what turned out to be my meal and delivering several other meals to other people, she realized that she had given them my meal, so I said, “no big deal, you can just bring me another meal, we will be here for a while”. Melissa responded as she handed me the other couples two plates, “you can just eat these” and took the other meal that was really theirs and gave it to them. I repeated, “I would prefer a fresh meal that several other people haven’t already handled and split up and started eating” She proceeded to be argumentative, so I told her, “that is fine, just take it away, I am not hungry anymore, take it off my bill and we are fine” At this point she did stack the plates and take them away. Approx. 20 minutes later, she brought be back the same 2 plates that she had scraped the smashed fries off of from the other couple and had put fresh fries on and said “oh you probably only wanted one plate huh, well you get extra fries this way” I looked at the plates and the same smashed sandwich halves that the other couple had gone through was split on the plates and I said, “this is the same sandwich that was handled that you took away?” She responded, “no, we would not do that” At this point, other people at the table said, “it is definitely the same sandwich, look at the thumb print on that one and the finger marks on that half…” I said, “just please, take it away, I am good”. She left it and sent over the girl floor assistant manager and she asked “is there a problem?”, I said, “no, just take this away I am not paying for it and I am fine”. She stated at this point, “why, these are fresh fries, I put them on the plates myself”, I said, I see that, first off, I sent it back because as you saw the fries and sandwich had been mashed by another couple that had already handled and started eating the meal when they split it up onto the separate plates which I obviously do not need two plates, and then she brought back the same handled sandwich and then lied saying “we would not do that” when we all stated it was the same sandwich at this point, the asst manager said, “oh yeah, that is the same sandwich” and I told her, listen, I am just disappointed because Melissa argued relentlessly for several minutes telling me I should eat the food other people had handled and started eating then when she brought it back lied and said it was a different sandwich, at least you are telling me the truth and I appreciate your honesty”. The asst. manager said, “oh there must have been a mis-communication” I told her, “yes and it started with the waitress making a scene telling me to just eat the food she gave to someone else and refused to just take it back and get me a fresh meal that I ordered?? Please take it away and put it behind us please and thank you!”
We are year round residents and eat with friends and family in the port at least once a week and after the managers screaming like an indignant child tonight after we told him ” we have not been very happy with the service lately”, instead of him asking what happened, we want our customers to be happy, he instantly started screaming at the top of his lungs in the middle of the floor like the unintelligent person he is “Oh the service sucks!!, why do you come here?”, well, be careful what you wish for, we as a group of 12 will not be back and all of us will no longer be bringing our friends or families here ever again neither!! We will all be sharing our experience via websites like this one as well as verbally to all of our neighbors as well.
Good luck, the waitress and manager have shown how much they care about the customers.
I advise everybody to stay away from Fishlips in the port and spend your money at a quality restaurant like Grills, Rustys or Seafood Atlantic that consistently serve good meals and care about their customers and value them.
Thank you!!