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For details on the Sarasota Ale House,
click here.
Anonymous party of 2 ordered surf and turf, nachos, ribs and
rated the food poor because, "food wasn't bad and service was
good but..." and writes on September 11, 2006, "The Alehouse was
one of my favorite places to go for drinks and a light meal. We
would usually get just a few starters and share them. On this
day I went with my cousin, her friend, and one of my buddies. We
ordered our drinks and dinner right away and everything was
timely. Well, about halfway through the meal I heard a crash
from across the dining room. Through a swinging door to the
kitchen, I saw that a server had knocked over a very large tray
of ribs. They were all over the floor so what do they do? One
server stood in front of the door to make sure no one went
through or maybe just to block the view. Then, when they had
them all back on the tray, they seemed to pretend nothing had
happened. Every now and then you would see a cook pick up a nice
slap of ribs, with tongs, and proceed to cook them. I work in a
restaurant and that's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen.
So we said something to a manager, he left for a minute because
I guess he didn't even know it happened, and when he returned he
assured us they were throwing them away and it would never
happen again. Whether they did or not I don't know and don't
care but I do know I will never go back. Other than that,
service was great."
Anonymous ordered Skewers, salad, appetizers, etc. and rated the
food excellent because, "Perfectly cooked, served hot,
delicious" and writes on 1/25/2004: "This is a very upbeat
restaurant, a nice place to go with co-workers and unwind. I
love the variety of choices on the menu. The steak was perfectly
cooked and delicious, the spinach salad with hot bacon dressing
is a favorite, as are the appetizers (especially the mushrooms).
I also tried the skewered chicken over rice pilaf, which was a
nice change and very tasty. 19 out of 20 servers are excellent,
on occasion you might get a bad apple... but if that happens the
manager will happily reseat you, and other servers are always
willing to take up any slack if the place is busy. My best
experience there was SuperBowl a couple of years ago - a
FANTASTIC time!! Well worth the price, and then some!!"
Anonymous writes on 6/27/2003 that he rates the food excellent
because: "everything was cooked correctly, tasted great, and we
didn't have to wait long for our dinner." And tells us, "My
family and I visited the Sarasota Alehouse this past weekend and
were pleasantly surprised. We were immediately seated in the
smoking section and the hostess told us about the Friday night
dinner specials. We were then greeted by Farrel, who seems to
love her job! She told us all about the drink specials and
offered us the buffalo appetizer. We had never been to the
Alehouse before, so Farrel took the time to explain some menu
items that we had questions about and even made some suggestions
on what to eat. We ordered the buffalo appetizer to start with
and then the lobster dinner, some burgers, and the steak
special. Farrel stopped by to make sure everything was okay and
refilled our drinks. We didn't have any room for dessert, but
after hearing about them we took home the brownie sundae and
cookie sundae. Everything was cooked perfectly and came out
quickly. The Sarasota Alehouse has great food, excellent
service, and a fun and casual environment. My family and I will
be sure to come back!!"
Anonymous writes on 1/20/2003: we love the food!! we go there
about 1once a week. Our favorites are the spicy chicken pasta,
zingers, porter house steak, the beers are a good deal, the clam
chowder and the ice house pints are $1.25.THE BEST DESERT IN
TOWN IS THE CAPTAIN JACKS! oh my goodness its great!! for a
great deal! the bathrooms may need some help. THE GAMES ARE
FUN!! The wait staff are always happy! Our children love the
games! great place!"
Anonymous writes on 1/4/2003: "I was a little surprised at some
of the reviews listed in your site. We eat at this restaurant at
least a couple of times a month and have never had service as
bad as listed here. By the way we don't know anyone one there
and do not receive preferred service. We have always had at
least acceptable service but I can imagine that on any given
night someone may have received bad service, I just think that
is the exception, not the rule. Keep in mind this is an ale
house/sports bar type of place and because their prices are very
reasonable and the food very good they can get quite busy. Even
still we have never waited a long time for a table or for
service. We eat out at least twice a week and travel a lot and I
can assure anyone who may care to visit this place they will
have a good time."
Dawn writes on 10/22/2002: "Hans, our wonderful waiter,
explained everything to us in detail. Our special orders ... no
sauce on this, no bread, broccoli instead of fries, etc. didn't
bother him and the kitchen got it all perfect.
The wings, zingers, and burgers were excellent. The other couple
in my party were extremely pleased with their British burger and
some seafood dish.
The manager ... Rachel? .... stopped to make sure everything was
okay. It appeared she checked with most tables and the one time
we were looking for some extra sauce for our zingers another
waiter noticed us and got it right away.
I would highly recommend this for people looking for a casual
evening for a good price. The staff is very professional and
courteous!"
10/2002: Having seen many of the reviews of
the Ale House the new management of the Sarasota Ale House sent
the editor of this site gift certificates and invited a review.
My experience was pleasant, the service was attentive. When
arriving for lunch, we were promptly greeted by a friendly
hostess who immediately sat us in non-smoking as requested. The
waiter was there quickly with menus and to take our drink
orders. The several items we ordered from the lunch menu were
all served quickly and as ordered. My burger was prepared as
requested, medium well and was not overcooked as is often the
case at other restaurants. The new manager, Gary Beasley, former
owner of Beasley's at Southgate Plaza has made improvements to
the staff. I look forward to another visit for a second try. The
staff had no way to know who I was or that I was there to review
the restaurant. An anonymous
visitor from Venice writes on 6/26/2002: "Upon my visit to the
Ale House the other week, will probably be my last. I go to your
restaurant very often for drinks and sometimes food. I was very
offended by our server, Jody. She was very rude, unpleasant, and
told us we were very rude people. We went in there around
10:00p.m. We were stunned that she had said that to us. We spend
a lot of money at your business and to be talked down like that
was very rude, unprofessional and out of order. We were trying
to find a manager but no one was to be found. I will never go
into your establishment ever again. That is a horrible way to
run a business if you don't know how your servers are talking to
your customers. That is not the first time we've had a situation
here, but I guarantee it will be the last." C.C. Writes
on 5/2000: "The experience at the Ale House today was the
last one we will have there. We highly recommend that even if it
is the only restaurant in town that is open, go home and get a
peanut butter sandwich or just wait until morning or drive to
Venice or something. Do not eat at the Ale House. We had such a
serving of attitude from our waiter, that we were full in the
first five minutes. We are certainly tired of servers that think
that they can act as they wish, disrespect customers, and still
get paid a tip of 20%. The food was nothing to speak of so I
will not. The service is horrible to say the least. From the
moment that you enter the restaurant, you immediately feel as
though you have ruined the hostess's day because you showed up.
She has to stop her personal conversation to wait on you. Then
there is the waiter who has zero manners, does not say hello,
does not say his name, does not tell you if there are any
specials, does not speak clearly at all and only mumbles. The
waiter is another one that moans about having to work as he
listens to the string of swearing coming from another male
worker behind the bar that was audible enough to hear 30 feet or
so away. Arrogance was not on the menu but we sure were served a
massive dose of it. Please people do not go to this restaurant.
We will never return and we will tell one and all about our
experience along with my putting it in my International Magazine
for the Restaurant Review column."
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