tybee island social club

last time at tybee i had the fish tacos and was amazed. the service was blah, but who cares! this time around i had my husband with. we both enjoyed the fish tacos and great service. this is a must stop while at tybee!

yum!. we just stopped in for late light lunch and each had 1 taco. not your typical tacos as they are serve in pita bread. we had the orange pork (oh my goodness-so good!!!) and the short rib (really good but not as good as pork) and the sweet potato fries (seasoned with chipotle pepper and very yummy). really quaint atmosphere and friendly, laid back staff. i would definitely go here again!

absolutely the best place on the island! the staff is friendly and prompt, happy to sit down and chat or leave you alone as you wish. the lobster roll and havacado are must orders. so happy i stopped in!

my boyfriend and i found tybee island social club on urbanspoon when we were looking for a place to grab a bite while exploring the island. the decor drew me in right away--casual, cozy and inviting, and the little stage made me want to stick around to see what the night scene was like. the blood orange sangria was the best sangria i've ever had. the service was perfect--everyone we interacted with exhibited what we've come to recognize as the southern hospitality you always hear about (we are from baltimore). finally, the food--the fish tacos and zissou tacos and crab stew rivaled if not surpassed our other dining experiences in savannah.
don't miss tybee island social club. i wish we had something comparable in baltimore or even in ocean city, md.

good food, substandard service. we were disappointed with our dining experience at tybee island social club, and i cannot in good faith recommend this restaurant. if you are interested in dining at the tybee island social club, take the time to read reviews before deciding to dine there.

we arrived at the restaurant just before 8:00 pm on tuesday may 28, 2013. our group consisted of six adults, three hungry children, and two babies. our group had over 67 years of restaurant/ food service experience, and we were looking forward to a great meal.

our drinks were ordered and arrived promptly. at that time, we ordered both appetizers and meals. for our appetizers, we requested hummus and chips and salsa. we began to suspect we would have problems when the appetizers took 25 minutes to arrive. we enjoyed both appetizers, but had to reorder chips and pita to keep the hungry kids calm.

our table did not order anything difficult to prepare, just tacos and hamburgers. however, the delay in getting it to us was unacceptably long. we had one false start when a different table’s food was delivered to our table. our food, at least most of it, finally arrived around 9:15 pm. however, one member of our party did not receive their meal until 9:45 pm. it went straight into a “to go” box, and we paid the bill. we were leaving for the parking lot at 10:00 pm.

as people who have made careers of serving food, we can understand having problems and service failures. things do not always go smoothly. the difference between a “great” restaurant and a mediocre to poor one is how a staff recovers when there are problems.

this staff at the tybee island social club failed to communicate. our server did not keep us apprised of the delay in service or the reason things were slow. we were not sure if she was hiding from us or spending more time at her other tables. in either case, she was absent. even with one meal being served after everyone else was finished, the management of the restaurant did not stop by to apologize for the service. they did not offer a drink, dessert, or discount for the bad service. in fact, we were charged the full amount plus an already included 15% gratuity. this full amount included being charged two dollars for the extra chips and pita bread to keep the kids satisfied as they waited 1:15 for their meals. it also included the price of the meal that ended up in the “to go” box as we were leaving.

in the interest of full disclosure, i did stop to ask the bartender what had happened this evening. he stated that someone had quit today, three large groups were being served at the same time, and the kitchen is slow. however, we counted less than 20 people in the restaurant when we arrived.

in fairness, we enjoyed the hamburgers. the tacos were excellent. we especially enjoyed the pork and the tuna taco. the two salsas with the chips were tasty. however, i could not in good conscience recommend the tybee island social club due to the pattern on slow service, the staff’s inability to timely acknowledge that there is a problem, and the staff’s inability to compensate or correct the problem in the restaurant at the time of service. if you take the time to read more reviews, you will see a pattern of complaints being addressed online after the fact instead of in the restaurant at the time of the service failure.

fantastic food and atmosphere! truffle burger, superman taco, and crab & shrimp nachos were delicious. unique menu with great flavor. the waitress was also very nice.

great food, service killed the experience. we stopped in this past saturday to catch a quick bite and cocktail before hitting the beach. usually the place is a good little stop for us locals. there was no crowd, there was maybe three other tables in the place. unfortunatlly this time the server seemed to be having a hangover or some form of mental inebriation issue ( if she was sick then she shouldnt have been there, but it didn't seem like any illness) because we had to explain our order of the pork and chicken tender tacos w string fries twice. we also ordered a tecate and a margarita and two waters. once we got thru the ordering process ( whew ) we waited for our food. our server tried to give our food to someone at the bar not remembering it was ours (minus the fries which showed up later after we had to remind server we also ordered fries) . brought it over and we then proceeded to remind her we did not get our drinks yet ( its been 20 minutes) server/bartender (not sure which one she was) made the drinks and left them on the bar while a new server took over and brought us our fries. after we finished our lunch, the original server was asked by the manager (i assume) whoses drinks these on the bar were. she couldn't remember ( we said nothing since at this point we were done eating and waiting for our check so we could leave and grab a cocktail elsewhere. i would say the food is great, but being a former bartender/ server, i had to break my rule of always tipping at least 15%. had i known the other server would have recieved the whole tip, we would have been more generous.

this was so disappointing. this appears to be the nicest restaurant on tybee however the service and people skills are horrible. after waiting a good half hour for our drinks once they were finally taken, we placed our dinner order and planned on starting off with an appetizer. after 45 minutes and several times inquiring about the eta from our server, who was also the manager of the place. nice girl however should not be in the position. she gave us several reasons for the delay..."we are short staffed, they have not even started making it yet, they have many orders before yours". the four of us said "wow!" myself being in the hospitality industry, was appalled. you think i want to hear about your troubles. we asked to speak with the owner and she was even worse. she seemed to be a bit unhinged and said to us "welcome to tybee isaland" insinuating that it is a busy time and this is the standard level of service provided here on tybee. she also threw her hands up to us and said "i am doing the best i can". she was very unprofessional and completely turned us off. i actually was scared of her reaction. never in my life have i had an owner of an establishment act like this. she did not care about our situation. if i were you i would stay away and go to savannah for dinner if you are looking for a nice dinner

food and atmosphere is good but service is horrible. we waited an hour to get our drink order which was wrong because our waitress didn't write anything down. our waitress was annoyingly pushy with appetizers and drinks. i had to look for our waitress to pay for our check and i found her laughing and gabbing with the other staff. our waitress was careless. if you have time to wait a looong time to get your drinks and food then this restaurant will be fine.

food was good but a bit heavy on cheese. service was good. they were very accommodating of my 3 year old too! will be back for another visit.

this is the trendiest place by far on the island and has a great vibe and well crafted drinks. there is a new menu which unfortunately did not wow me in any manner. when i 1st wwnt here i had a great time however there is a breakdown on quality of what is being put out by this kitchen. salmon was overcooked and at the price not a good thing. now this place is for a drinkvand the monchego crispy cheese which is still tasty and simply. and as mentioned the cocktails are excellent. the margherita is solid but again pricey for what it is.

love this local hangout. beach vibe with live music on the weekends. people can be seen with t-shirts and shorts over bathing suits as well as cute summer outfits. casual, but quaint. the waitstaff is very knowledgeable about the many gluten free options; friendly and attentive. ask for jessie and he will definitely take care of you.

sorry there is no photo of the guacamole... we devoured it before realizing we completely forgot to take a pic! it was outstanding with the corn chips and side of green tomato salsa.

you must try the steak taco! it was so great we ordered a second helping! the okra and red onion were pan fried perfectly before being added to the corn tortillas where the steak bites were waiting on top of a mild yet yummy sauce with feta cheese. top it off with homemade potato chips thick cut and you're all set for a fabulous lunch. a must try place.

i absolutely love this little restaurant! it's right off bulter ave and there is a small parking lot out front. the decor is so cute and the music lightly playing in the back ground gives off a laid back, beachy vibe! the menu is somewhat small but everything i've had here is really good. the social burger is good and stacked with bacon. both the sweet patatas and the spanish patatas are delish. i really enjoyed the superman and i haven't had the fish tacos myself but they look really good. the only downfall is that the tacos only come with one so if you're really hungry, tacos could get expensive but it's a plus if you want to try multiple types. and all of the sides are ala carte but the food is pretty unique and worth checking out! i have yet to go when they have a live band but i'm definitely going to go one of these days!

met some real nice people while i was visiting the social club !. i had a wonderful time and will be back!

merry ciristmas and a happy new year ! karin the german lady

mixed review but overall positive. had a fantastic seven day holiday on tybee island. sunday afternoon, i went by myself to social club to have a quick lunch, and was pleased to see a very good live blue grass music band. i ordered the farmer's platter which consisted of humus, cheese, carrots, cucumber and warm pita. delicious! and a refreshing departure from the regular deep fried, wrap and burger fare that is available on the island. the bill came to approximately ten dollars (including club soda.) i had a great time and was excited about bringing my husband back for dinner. the evening ambiance is as inviting and comfortable as the afternoon, with low lighting in a fresh cottage atmosphere. we ordered the blue crab stew, which was beyond excellent, a steak taco salad and blackened fish taco. the service was spotty, our waitress was very sweet, but didn't seem to know what was offered on the drinks and food menus, and was slow to bring us our drinks. i heard about "tybee time" while we were down there, and appreciate that this is a laid-back island lifestyle, but bringing drinks promptly is a necessity anywhere - i don't care what time it is. the very small taco salad had no tacos in it, instead the tacos were piled on my plate beside a very small fish taco, which was nice enough, but two bites and it was gone. when i asked the waitress if the fried tacos shouldn't have been in the salad, she basically shrugged. the bill, including four bottles of beer, was about $37. a bit pricey for a rather small amount of food. i really want this place to succeed and become a fixture in tybee island, which needs a restaurant that serves simple, healthy meals at a reasonable price. people are here on holiday, already spending a fair amount of money on accommodation, and we can't afford the fine dining prices that the social club is verging on, especially if the portions are tapas sized. also, the wait staff needs more fine tuning - know the menu, and make sure the customer gets what they order, improve communication with the kitchen and bar. there are some bugs to be worked out, but this place is a diamond in the rough and is worth the effort. but by all means, keep that crab stew on the menu!