So here goes… I was told by one of the managers at Catamaran’s ( One that was at the top according to him) to go ahead and write a bad review online to join the 12 people online compared to the thousands of people who eat there and liked it. I dined at Catamaran’s with friends on 7/26/2010 the only reason being was because the last time that we ate there which was October 2009 everything was fine (service & food ). Well this time not so much, I just got off the phone with one of the managers there, he called himself the executive manager, that is after calling yesterday and speaking with the kitchen manager and him stating that I would receive a call back from the restaurant manager when he got in at 12 pm, well 12 pm came and went and I decided to call again at 4pm and I was told that the restaurant manager was in an interview and I would be given a call once the interview was over. So after not hearing anything back I called today. I explained to the “executive” manager that I had already called and discussed everything with the kitchen manager and he informed me that he would be relaying the information to the restaurant manager, the manger stated that he had just gotten back from out of town today and he knew nothing, so I explained to him the whole situation over again (one of my pet peeves)
We arrived at Catamaran’s at 7:30 pm Monday and when we got there we were told that the air conditioner downstairs was broken and that we could sit upstairs in the air conditioner, we get upstairs and the air that they had mentioned were a few ceiling fans that they had going, oh joy! We get greeted by our server after about close to 10 minutes, she takes our drink orders, they had no milk for the kid drinks. Out of milk? Start looking at the menu and pricing is totally different from what I had looked up online earlier in the day. We place our orders. My husband wanted the Pan seared rockfish which the server came back 20 minutes or so later to inform him that they only had the almond crusted rockfish, so he ended up choosing the shrimp alfredo instead. About 35 minutes go by and the kids meals that were ordered in the very beginning when the drink orders were placed finally came out, which was only and cheeseburger and chicken fingers, the chicken fingers came out burnt to a crisp which at the end of the meal we gave them back to the waitress and she took it off the bill once we told her that we did not want them, the cheeseburger was not any better it was about the size of a hockey puck on a big hamburger bun, there was more bread then burger. The kids meals for $8.99 is ridiculous by the way. Closer to a hour later our food comes out (2 dinners of 4) our friends were halfway done with their food when we finally got ours which was about 10 minutes after theirs. I ordered the Chicken Alfredo and the way that the wording was on the menu, I had asked the server in the beginning if the potatoes and veggies would come with it, because it stated all Entrees served with potatoes and veggies, she stated sure that she would add it on. She comes out saying that the plate was very hot with the potatoes and veggies on it and sits it down on the table, I go to taste the potatoes, they were not even hot, they were flavorless and had no seasoning, the veggies had a little seasoning but they just had a very weird taste so I did not eat them and they weren’t hot either. The veggie combo was squash, zucchini, and onions, their were more onions than anything. It was so bad that my 1 year old wanted nothing to do with the potatoes or veggies. The serving size was very tiny. My chicken alfredo was so-so, my husbands shrimp alfredo was very runny and the sauce was more soupy than saucey, the sauce was a reddish color. So after being there for close to 2 hours we were so ready to go. The server came back and we asked for boxes which we ended up not even getting so we interrupted the bartenders from their drinking at the bar to get 2 boxes from them. The checks came and the server ran off, she came back and we hand her the check cards for one amount, the final receipts come back to us with gratuity added and a higher amount!! I would assume if gratuity was going to be added then it would be shown on the receipt before you pay your bill not after so that you know off hand what you are paying, the menu said gratuity added for 6 or more, but only 5 people ate, one meal was sent back. But I figured I would speak with a manager and get it all resolved and a credit, but according to the one that I spoke with today they do not issue credits to credit cards, not money back. I then said alright since I never plan to come back there to eat food because of the horrible experience would I be able to get a giftcard for a few drinks there, and he informed he would not substitute food for drinks. It would have to be food for food, he said that I could come in and get 2 meals on the house, then again I informed him that I did not want food, and he said I am trying to resolve the issue, either you can take nothing and still not get a credit or take my offer of 2 free meals and my name would be added to his black book with the names of the people who have had bad experiences there. At the end he said that he would put my name on a gift certificate and I could come in and pick it up but it would state on there food only, no drinks, appetizers, etc. I informed him that I wanted to speak with someone in charge there to see if they would offer me my credit that I wanted, he then goes to inform me that the owner of the restaurant is in Miami and if I could get a hold of him then go ahead. I thought about it while on the phone why waste my time going back there to take the chances of another bad experience and them knowing that I was the one that had the bad experience and complained and maybe doing something to my food in the kitchen!YUCK! So I’d rather just stick with me losing out on the money, me knowing to never eat there again, and hopefully warning other people before they set foot in there to eat. The overall experience was not good: the wait for the food, most of the food, and the service. The server had absolutely no personality and I guess she figured at the end since it’s a “big party” that she would get a tip either way by adding the gratuity on the bills at the end. The manager was very nasty on the phone, not professional at all, he said if I didn’t want to settle for the free food, “I can join the other people B####ing about the food online”, and they know that they need improvement that is why they bought the chef in from Hell’s Kitchen, hmmm which the kitchen manager whom I talked to on Tuesday told me that they had people filling in as cooks that night and that he was the kitchen manager on Monday night and he should have checked the food before it went out. I was thinking to myself there is no way that the Hell’s kitchen chef could have cooked that food if he is supposedly so good. He also informed me that Mondays are busy, so that is when I said ok our table and 2 other tables upstairs is BUSY?? 1 of the tables who already had their food. Maybe you will have a better experience than me there but I have learned that I would never eat there again, and maybe I will try and get a hold of the manager in Miami to see if I can get a different answer.
