Yabba Island Grill

Reviews 4

ED

Ed Schifman

My family was in for Thanksgiving, so the five of us decided to try Yabbas on Fifth Avenue for dinner the weekend after Thanksgiving. We sat down around 6:30, found the service to be less than adequate, but that was not the big surprise to come. While each of us ordered something different, my daughter chose the lobster. She found it to be stringy, hard to cut and tasteless. When we asked that it be sent back, we were told that perhaps we should order something else from the menu. For whatever reason, my daughter said that she was in a lobster mood and she chose to have them go back and remake it. Under normal circumstances at other restaurants, we would have had a manager out to try to resolve the problem, but that didnt happen until much later. What happened next is something that my daughter in law, who has been a waitress at McCormick and Schmicks for years and who knows this business, and like the rest of us sat in total silence when the waiter came out to tell us that the head chef told the waiter that he would not serve us another lobster because it would come out the very same way and to order something else. We were amazed by this comment, but we then had a Manager passing by who we asked about the situation. We made it clear that we were here to order something and that the chef was not in charge of our decision, to which we were told that this head Chef has done this before and there is nothing that any of the managing staff have been able to do about it to change his approach. He apparently has an ownership interest, he most likely assumed that my daughter would not like the second lobster and rather than trying to find some way to resolve the problem, we were left to either look for something else or to just deal with it. We have dealt with it. We have chosen to never go to any of the restaurants that are associated with this group again, which includes Pazzzos Chops Grill and I believe two others. When a Chef has the audacity to tell a customer that they will not be happy with a second item rather than trying to satisfy the customer, then this is not a restaurant that I would ever wish to return to. There is a lifetime value to a customer relationship. My family used to come down her and regularly visit Yabbas, but no more. We think that our choices and not that of the staff is the way it works everywhere else and the lack of customer-centric attitudes from this restaurant dont cause me to ever return again. And finally, if the chef knew he had lobster that was unable to be served in a way that a client would accept it, the restaurant should have advised the staff not to sell it. I am not one that takes the time or energy to write reviews, but this particular situation was so bizarre that it needed to be shared with others. Dont go!

MI

Michael Thornhill

I scheduled a reservation for 10-13 people well in advance and when I arrived the table wasnt ready but instead they offered me two tables with a wall between them and a retractable window so we could talk. We even saw the host take a bribe from someone with no reservation to be seated faster... read on for more :-/. #wow One of my party arrived early, several minutes before the reservation time and the rest of the group arrived a few minutes after. After speaking with the host.manager, I was told it would be sometime before we could be accommodated, pending when a table of ten with dessert menus decided to leave. After walking away to wait for them to make something available (40 minutes later), one of my table guests saw the host/manager address a guest that was waiting behind me who had no reservation. Host told him it would be a 15-25 minute wait before anything became available. One of my guests saw him slip him $ to make something available faster, upon which the host pocketed the money and said it would be 5 minutes. Service was half hearted... took my table of 11, ten minutes to get water after sitting down.... The whole table was disappointed with their dining experience, and I was saddened by the underwhelming professionalism. I even talked with one of the customer relations specialists and he was arguing with me over the phone about my experience. I simple apology wouldve sufficed. There wont be any customer relations from me anytime soon, hope you have a better experience than us, and be sure to get your reservation in writing.

ER

Erik Berger

This place definitely had its high points and low points, however, and this could just have been our experience this night, it was much more poor than good. We were sat 20 minutes after our checked in, confirmed reservation. the table was nice and the server was very friendly and accommodating, however did vanish for 15 minutes after seating us without drink or food orders. Throughout the night, we were never asked if we wanted more drinks which we all did. food quality over all was pretty good. the standard bread is excellent. house Habanero corn bread with the included maple butter is excellent as are the butter biscuits which are very and almost uncannily similar to Red Lobsters variety. the steak quality was the worst I have ever had at a restaurant, bar none. $27 entree and it was worse than a $5 appetizer steak at applebees. Our server notified the chef of the issue when she saw me having to use two hands to jam my fork in to this grissle passed off as strip steak. Nothing was said, comped or even discussed about my steak after this incident. Crab cake was excellent, as was the Thai crab pasta dish and the Rasta Pasta were good as well. decent beer selection on tap, nice ambiance but under-staffed and the food quality and quantity reflects a restaurant at half the price at best. Your mileage may vary, but I would not personally go back at any cost.

CO

Coach McGuirk

My girlfriend and I got to Yabba at 10pm and were told we could have items from the late night menu. Burgers, fish sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches, etc, so we said fine and sat down. My girlfriend who is 35 attempted to order a BlueMoon beer. She gets carded by the server. Carded in a restaurant and shes 35? So he brings a couple of Cokes. They both were absolutely FLAT. No fizz at all. We mention this and he brings another which is just a bad. I order a BlueMoon and it arrives. The orange is sour and so the beer tasted off too. The orange was probably cut at 9am and sat outside all day. We both ordered The Great Fish sandwich; one grilled and one beer battered. The food arrives and both left a LOT to be desired. Both buns were huge, not buttered and somewhat stale tasting. The beer battered fish was plain and barely seasoned. It tasted like it came from a box. The grilled was just as boring, I didnt see any seasonings at all. It was just a limp piece of white fish. This dining disaster cost us nearly $50.00. The flat Coke was $3.50! He did take one off the bill and I struggled to give any tip. It was probably 85 and they had the windows and doors open, so the temp inside was very hot. If we return to Naples, we will NOT be back. Yabba Do? Umm, Yabba DONT!