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Sarasota Ale House
Restaurant Review

Review - 1=Excellent - 2=Very Good - 3=Good 4=Fair 5=Poor
Food 2 Wine 4 Value for $ 2
Service 2 Cleanliness 1 Overall 2
Ambiance 2 Kid Friendly 3 # of Reviews 7

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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