i feel generous giving this restaurant a 1 star.
let me preface this review by stating that we are a foodie group of over 6,000 members. we go around the central florida area experiencing fine cuisine restaurants.
i booked a 7 pm reservation in january for a valentine's day dinner party of 15. the restaurant called me at 3:30 pm (2/14) and told me that the restaurant needed to push back the reservation by 30 mins because they were overbooked.
we all arrived at 7:30 pm and were told that only half of our table was ready. we could see that the restaurant was busy so we waited outside until our table was ready.
by 8 pm we were served prosecco champagne outside because our table was still not ready.
we were finally seated at 8:20 pm and had our water glasses filled but it took a while to get our drink orders taken.
by 8:45 pm we had still not ordered food. when our orders were taken, a few members of our party ordered from a full course menu. because our table was long, not all of our party knew about this full course option, so they chose the regular menu.
those who ordered the full course menu received the lobster bisque appetizer cold and one person in the group did not get his bisque because they "were out". he was given an alternative soup.
during this entire time we watched many other patrons come in, eat their entire meal, and leave.
there were many times when our water glasses weren't replenished and we had to ask for refills.
our waiter/waitress were completely inattentive to us sitting there waiting for our entrees to arrive and did not offer us refills on wine, nor did they provide us with updates of when our food would be ready. it did appear that they were understaffed because our waiter/waitress had many other patrons; not just our party.
it was almost 10 pm when the entrees arrived. the quality of the food was good, but serving cold lobster bisque, running out, and the prolonged wait times had already set the tone for the remainder of our meal.
the staff appeared extremely rushed. those who did not order the full course meal were not offered a dessert option.
because of the late hour, many chose to take their entrees home.
we spoke with the manager (adam) about our overall experience. i let him know that we have never had this type of experience at eddie v's or any other restaurants in the area. he stated "but you've never been there on valentine's day". he also said that he could not control the party before us as they stayed 2 hours and that was the reason behind our being seated late.
we were beyond frustrated at this point; how does another party staying late concern us???
i told him that if they were that overbooked they should have never accepted my reservation or made sure they had enough staff to accommodate our party. we were the only large party that night. we were also told that you would have to "ask" for the full course menu. i told him that we are one table. why provide this option to only part of our table?
he kept apologizing and saying that he doesn't know what more he could say. it is noted that after the discussion with the manager, the wait staff then asked if we wanted refills on our wine (after eating our entrees).
we finally paid our tabs and walked out of the restaurant at 11 pm.
this was for an original 7 pm reservation.
with the exception of one person, the rest of us had never eaten here.
i had heard great things about the restaurant and the quality of food was overall good at best but it was not what we expected.
the overall service was absolutely the worst that we've ever experienced.
last month we went to christner's prime steak and lobster with a party of 21. the food, quality of the restaurant, ambiance, and service was top notch and way beyond our expectations. coming to morton's after dining at christner's was extremely disappointing.
it's sad that a restaurant of this caliber can not provide that same quality for large parties on a special day like this.
we will definitely think again before ever coming here in the future.