Monday, May 30, 2011

My Email to Captain's Tavern: Avoid Server 212. by Geniusofdespair

Captain's Tavern in Pinecrest ignored my email completely so I thought I would share it with the world since we all had a bad time at $50 a pop (I edited it a bit for clarity):

Although we have had no complaints in the 50 times we have been to your restaurant over the years...last night was a heartbreak. a disaster. It was my friend's birthday. We treated 2 friends the bill came to $206.28.

Server No. 212 was the worst waitress we have ever had. We arrived at 6:30 and didn't leave till 9 pm. We don't usually take more than an hour and half to eat.

We never got our salad entree. It finally came after our main course. The waitress had major attitude. The sides didn't arrive till we asked for them. The appetizers came except one soup...it never came till we called the waitress over to ask where it was.

The lobster had black stuff inside which is red-orange roe undercooked. They argued that it was not undercooked (we summered in Maine, we know about lobster). Even the chef argued about it. The chef took it back and put it under the broiler and brought back a tough tail. Friend wouldn't eat it. Finally they brought a NEW lobster with the red-orange roe. We all had to wait for our friend to eat it as the rest of us all had finished our meals.

It just kept getting worse - we relied on the busboys for everything we needed. The waitress said it was not her fault that she was so slow because too many table sat down at one time. Wasn't true. She only had 3 tables of 4 and one table of 2. Only 2 tables sat down at the same time. She argued with us about everything. It was really awful. Anyone have a good Captain's Tavern story?

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hate it when that happens. I've had marginal service too at Captains Tavern. Boo on you, Captains. Hope you read this!

Anonymous said...

Lobster is always served on the tuff side there.

Their version of Scampi is usually a watery mess. Chardonnay is the recommended wine ingredient, but it tastes suspisiously like Natty Ice.

Bitching is ignored in the interest of expediency 'cause there's another 40 fools outside waiting for your table, so it behoves them not to dignify complainers.

Hope you didn't leave a tip.

Anonymous said...

This ranks up there with Tweets people post about pedicure disasters. Sometimes you knock it out of the Park. This time you struck out.

Anonymous said...

I have been to Captain's Tavern many times over the 15 years that I have lived in Miami and have had exceptional food and service. I think it is in poor taste for this blog to post such a poor review of this dining institution because you had one bad experience after 50 good ones. Every one has a bad day.

Will Furry
Coconut Grove

Anonymous said...

A bad pedicure can cost plenty if you get a toe nail fungus.

Geniusofdespair said...

Captain's Tavern was posted because they didn't respond to an email. They could have --- they could have said they were sorry. I waited to hear from them and I said that in the post. They could have offered us a free drink next time we came. Anything. Silence instead.

Anonymous said...

Will you are wrong. When restaurant personell start arguing with guests it is the beginning of the end.

Barbara said...

When a restaurant turns off regulars it is a big thing. The people were there to celebrate a birthday. Now that birthday will always be associated with a bad experience that they had to pay for. A double birthday whammy on what was supposed to be a special day.

Anonymous said...

Why are some writers defending the indefensible? Whether you eat somewhere often or just once, a bad experience can happen, but most restaurants will try to make up for it. It seems that food that is not properly prepared is not something for the restaurant to arge about, but to correct quickly. The poor service, no salads, no sides etc. adds to the unpleasant experience. Why go out for a birthday to have to argue with the manager and staff when all you want is a positive happy meal.

southdadediva said...

I think it was always overrated.

There is one thing I will will not tolerate and that is poor service with attitude.

If I had experienced the routine GoD received, I would not have been quiet then nor now.

Opie said...

You send food back in a restaurant? Are you crazy? I once worked in a restaurant and I would NEVER send food back!

I encourage you to watch this clip from Road Trip about sending food back to the kitchen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4ZXRlcoEW8.

Geniusofdespair said...

I wasn't eating it...

Opie said...

That's good news. Show the Road Trip clip to your companions so that they don't make the same mistake again.

WOOF said...

Where do you winter?
Perhaps we'll run into each other.

Chesterfield Vanderbilt Rockefeller said...

"We summered in Maine." Hey, I can relate to that wealthy, elitist lifestyle!

Anonymous said...

That's a funny video. I may need to watch that movie!

Anonymous said...

Try the Fish House on Miller Dr. Its better than the Captains Tavern at 1/2 the price. Also they have live music and you get a 10% discount if you are an WDNA member

Dean

David said...

I has a similar experience at Captain's Tavern while celebrating Hannukah with a friend and his family.

We haven't been back since. I also think the food there is highly overrated.

Anonymous said...

This former Maine resident says:

They need to clean their place. The carpets are gross and the place smells like sewage. When I see and smell that, I get nervous about what the kitchen looks like.

For those of you who want to "summer in Maine", here's a tip: lots of lobstering families will move out of their houses for the summer and rent them out. So you don't have to move to Kennebushport and stay at the compound.

Maine is full of poor people, folks. Lots of potato farmers too.

Anonymous said...

first, there are no places for good service in Miami, I thought you knew that... and second, I recommend you learn how to cook.

Geniusofdespair said...

I am in the house all day working and blogging. I have got to get out for something...

Anonymous said...

hmmm... a good point.

Anonymous said...

Sorry you had a bad experience.
I eat at Captain's Tavern quite often and have never had a bad meal there.
The Russian oysters are my favorite appetizer and the yellowtail macadamia is always cooked perfectly.
Their wine list is also pretty extensive with out an exorbitant mark-up like you find in some other places.
There has been once or twice when the service was unusually slow, but nothing remotely close to the extent of problems you mentioned.

Just curious, was there a manager on duty? The red-head lady who's often seating people I think is manager or co-owner. Did you try bringing problems to the attention of anyone other than the waitress at the time you were having the problems?

Bill C said...

How disappointing! Usually such a great place!

Anonymous said...

Visited the restaurant last year. As is fairly evident, it skews heavily to an Anglo customer base. The three Hispanics showed up, and we were escorted to the table next to the kitchen. Not convinced it was a coincidence. Have never returned.

Geniusofdespair said...

It is a coincidence, we were sitting next to the kitchen and we are not Hispanics. Maybe you had our server then last anonymous.