demiveeman
Heisman
Posts: 9,245
Joined: Nov 2007
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I Root For: UAB
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RE: Graeme McDowell's Orlando restaurant
Quote:The bartenders were in attentive AND UNDERSTAFFED , they spin their wheels running around trying to work the register and change TV channels, while dozens wait at bar to be served. the Three female bartenders last night didnt even have the professionalism to acknowledge our presence and at least say "i'll be right with you". They wouldn't make eye contact with anyone. totally ignored us, it was infuriating. They had no organization or system in place and served whoever caught their attention first rather than who ever has been waitng longest. The hostesses gather at the stand and do nothing. Cross training would be a good idea. My second time there. The first time service was better but food was terrible. Ray's pâté should be taken off the menu....it was nasty and frozen on inside, had to send back. Don't go to this place if you are in a hurry or really hungry. If it is doing well at all right now, it's because Lake Nona has limited places to go.
Quote:I understand this place is new but when a restaurant is new, it should be the best. The food sucks, the drinks suck, and the service needs serious help. I ordered the lobster Mac and cheese- I struggled to find any lobster in there. It wasn't good. The drinks are watered down. They need to hire more servers so that their servers could be more attentive. The food seems "overpriced" because it isn't worth what you pay for it. You're even better off at a place like Orlando Ale House!
Quote:I haven't been able to try the food yet. Not sure I will at this point. My party of 7 had a terribly confusing first visit with the host stand. They might have a booth now to accommodate us...no, wait, they'd need to put tables together...oh, that'll be at least an hour. Oh, hmm, the empty tables...they're for smaller parties and we can't put them together yet. SO AWKWARD. Then the party of 6/7 in front of us were told they could have a booth...but only for the next hour and a half...then they'd have to leave. And BEST OF ALL...when I posted my comments to Facebook, I got a nasty reply back. One of those "You've never worked in a restaurant" ones. No, lady, I haven't. But I sure as heck have eaten in a bunch of them!!! And then...they deleted my post. Along with others about bad food and service. So they like to censor what we customers say. NOT COOL NONA BLUE. You guys will learn from your mistakes. Hopefully a food editor will pay you a visit soon, unannounced. Then the truth can be told that you guys need some Customer Service 101 training. Needless to say, we left before we could be seated and went over to the local spot Nona Tap Room where we had a great experience, lovely staff and great food. BOO TO YOU, NONA BLUE! SHAME SHAME.
Quote:This place is so frustrating! There is so much potential there but sadly, just too many problems to warrant a return visit any time in the near future. From the front of house to the back, we have experienced a handful of issues. Problems being seated, bartenders not knowing how to pour a Black and Tan, the inconsistency with the food and a manager that seems to be new to the restaurant industry and poorly trained. I think the only reason we kept going back is because we were just rooting for this place to succeed. With some serious fine tuning, they could have one of the top spots in southeast Orlando.... But they better hurry. My time and money, as well as numerous others I've talked to, will be spent elsewhere.
Quote:The first time we visited Nona Blue, we didn't have a great experience. This was about a month ago, so to their credit, they were new and probably still working out some kinks. Never got a table (though there were dozens visible) because we were quoted a wait "over an hour" at 5 pm.
Decided to try it again this past weekend. Again, dozens of tables visible inside, but we were told they only had seating available outside. We didn't mind because it was a beautiful afternoon. Ironically, we noticed that almost everyone seated outside had children - including us. Kind of makes me wonder if they DID have tables available inside... just none for patrons with kids?
Anyway, we ordered beers (mixed drinks were way overpriced) and an app. The firecracker shrimp were good. I thought it would be like the Nona Blue version of bang bang shrimp, but they were different. A hint of Asian flavor, but not too spicy. For my entree, I ordered the fish tacos. The verdict? Just okay. They were bland for my liking. The fish was dry and had little flavor, and I thought that the chipotle mayo topping would have some spice to it, but it didn't. They were just sort of, well, blah.
The service was good. Our server was very nice and attentive - a much better vibe than you get from the hostess stand, which is way overstaffed and filled with arrogance. I'm not sure if they are told to act snotty or if they simply are snotty. Either way, they don't give a very great first impression of Nona Blue.
Unfortunately, the good service was just about the only thing that made up for it. I'm glad that we went, if anything to say that we've been there and done that. But I don't think we'll be back. The food isn't worth the money, and the atmosphere is too uppity. It's a shame. We were looking forward to having more options out here in Lake Nona!
(This post was last modified: 06-17-2013 11:10 AM by demiveeman.)
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