Alyssa Padilla

Review of Rusty Pelican

The experience was absolutely terrible. I planned ...

The experience was absolutely terrible. I planned a proposal at Hobie beach just across from the restaurant, and I thought the rusty pelican would be a delicious dinner with a beautiful view- we got neither. The reservation was made a month in advance with details about the special celebration. Upon arriving, the hostess was very rude and couldn t care less about the engagement. She let us know that outside seating would be an hour wait, which I understood, so I let her know we would be ok with sitting inside as long as we were seated next to a window because this was a special celebration. Needless to say we waited about a half an hour and we were not seated next to a window. Actually, to add insult to injury, we were seated next to a very large, loud family that clearly came from the beach prior and had a bit too much to drink. They were up from their seats and causing a ruckus the whole time and no one told them a thing. Oh and our server couldn t care less about the engagement. Additionally, they were out of both of their specialty drinks for two.

Now the food... appetizers weren t terrible, but nothing special. The meat in the empanadas was dry and the lobster roll was just okay. We got the rusty pelican board for two. Nothing came out very hot. We ordered the steak medium rare and it came out well done, so that had to be sent back and it still wasn t right. The snapper and the lobster were also overcooked. Probably the driest fish I ve ever had. Honestly, you can count on a better prepared steak and fish from Flanigan s. This was embarrassing. The only star item was the cold risotto. I am so disappointed with the whole experience.

As a local, I really should ve known better. There are so many restaurants that are infinitely better for the same price.