Waterfront Grill

[Gaspar]

Location(s) Being Reviewed: Waterfront Grill Jenks
Date/Time of Visit: 4/9/11
Quality of Food (1-5): 3
Menu/Food Options (1-5): 4
Quality of Service (1-5): 2
Atmosphere (1-5): 4
Overall Rating (1-5): 3
Price ($-$$$$$): $$$$
What makes this restaurant unique:  The crowd.  Hundreds of people lined up for bad drinks and fair food.

Tell us about your experience:

We arrived on Saturday night at 6pm to a full parking lot, and had to park at the hotel next door.  The waiting list was 45 mins to a hour which was fine because we were waiting on another couple.

We had one of the signature drinks, a watermelon martini, and it was awful, bitter, grainy, and devoid of alcohol.  So we went with beer after that.  During our wait in the bar we attempted conversation several times but the noise level was simply too much to compete with.  The bar was packed with pretty people looking to hook up with other pretty people.  Every conversation was yelled because of the noise level and this made the people watching very enjoyable.  85% of the conversations revolved around this or that reality show.

Our friends arrived just in time to transition to a table in the restaurant.   Our waiter came by and suggested some cocktails announcing loudly that he wouldn't know how good they are because he doesn't drink. He then went on to tell us about the appetizers by saying "stay away from the sushi, it's not our best item" even though the menu touts it as a specialty of the house.

We ordered:
1 specialty pizza - not impressive at all.
1 grilled mahi mahi- excellent, but very modest portion for $22
1 Newport Salad - Very good.  More nuts and toppings than salad.
1 Shrimp and Scallop stack - Meh


Probably won't return.  It was a hassle and it doesn't look like they really know what they want to be.

[Cats Cats Cats]

My wife went and got a $14 salad.  I don't think she was too impressed either.  I think one of the issues with this reseraunt is that you have to know where it is and how to get to it.  Not many are going to just be driving around and stumble into it.  It is the same people who did Los Cabos right?  (I seriously don't understand why people like that place so much)  They will probably be able to float this for a while no matter how bad it does at first.

[Townsend]

My advice, and it's just advice, never order a cocktail that's not some shade of caramel or clear.  (beer, wine, and breakfast time excluded).

[Gaspar]

My advice, and it's just advice, never order a cocktail that's not some shade of caramel or clear.  (beer, wine, and breakfast time excluded).

I usually agree.  My favorite cocktail is anything with vodka, hold the anything. 

I figured the signature martini would at least meet my requirements for alcohol content, and if it failed my wife would enjoy it, however it satisfied neither. 

The crowd was exactly like Los Cabos.  The band on the patio was good and there was significantly more ocean river breeze than the other side of the bridge. I am willing to bet that they were almost at capacity plus half.  No one even balked at the 45min to 1 hour wait.

If they fix the quality issues and cycle through the bad servers, they will do well.  Still doesn't make it my kind of place!

[dbacks fan]

I think when I'm there this summer, I'll stick to Eddy's, Jamil's or the Silver Flame for my steak.

[Conan71]

1 grilled mahi mahi- excellent, but very modest portion for $22

That's how you service $5mm in debt on a restaurant.

[Gaspar]

Waterfront Second Visit

On Friday night we visited the Waterfront grill again, at the urging of some friends.  This was a completely different experience.  It was packed, but we were seated almost immediately. 

Our waitress was very quick and knowledgeable about the menu.  Appetizers were the crab avocado mango stack, and one of the signature sushi rolls.  They were both excellent and enough to feed more than two people.  Fresh with excellent sauces (mint oil for the crab stack, and some kind of wasabi tamari on the sushi).  The sushi was substantial.  I could make a meal of one roll, and I'm a big eater!

I had the Hong Kong style Seabass in a Miso Glaze, and my wife had a seasonal vegetable platter.   While waiting for our meal the owner and his wife (making the rounds) stopped by our table and chatted with us.  We told them of our previous experience and they apologized and explained that they had replaced some of the wait staff and were continuing to "dial things in."

Our entires arrived and were out of this world!  My Seabass was perfect and the sauce was delicious.  To my surprise my wife's veggie platter was beautiful and included grilled artichoke, roasted asparagus, spaghetti squash in a ragu. and several other vegetables prepared in a variety of ways.  She ordered a bit of cheese toast to go with it that was baked with Irish cheddar and paprika (I believe).  It was all wonderful.

When we left we were notified that part of our meal had been comped by the owners to make up for our previous experience, and the owner met us at the door to apologize again.

Complete 180 degree experience.  We WILL be back!

[Conan71]

I've been hearing positive feedback from others as well.  Glad to hear they are fixing the bugs.  I usually won't say anything publicly about a bad experience in the first month unless it's obvious the owner or management has their head so far up their donkey they can't possibly survive.

[DolfanBob]

Glad to hear Jimmy was on site to nurture his new baby.
It is a big step away from his Mexican restaurants.
He was high profile for the first few months at the Los Cabos here in B.A.
I have heard the Los Cabos in Dallas is doing very well also.

[Gaspar]

Glad to hear Jimmy was on site to nurture his new baby.
It is a big step away from his Mexican restaurants.
He was high profile for the first few months at the Los Cabos here in B.A.
I have heard the Los Cabos in Dallas is doing very well also.

He was, and he was a really nice guy! 
The meal I had was on par with everything I like about Los Cabos, and the service was excellent.  I am tempted to take some clients this week.