Captain's Galley

Today's adventure took me to Captain's Galley on Seaway Drive in Fort Pierce. My husband had free time and so he & I met for lunch - quite a rarity for us! Let's start with reviewing the customer service.
Customer service here was fantastic!! Our server was extremely friendly, polite and attentive without being overly so. We were made to feel like we were regular customers that they have known for years. A definite plus in my book and means I will be going back!
They are open for breakfast and lunch and we came after breakfast time, so lunch it was! The menu offered many sandwiches and fried items, but I was after something a little healthier. I have been eating a lot of salads lately so although they do offer several caesar salad options, I ordered the char-grilled dolphin with Bahamian rice and green beans. My husband got the fried clams basket which came with french fries. We both started our meal with a cup of Bahamian Conch Chowder. The chowder was filled with tomatoes, potatoes, carrots and celery, but neither of us could find any conch. It tasted mainly of the tomatoes and had no "bite" to it. But on to the main meal.
My husband's clams were fried to perfection and the fries were crisp without being over-done. As for mine, it seemed quite bland. The dolphin was cooked nicely, was flakey and yet firm, but had no seasonings on it. The green beans also needed some salt & pepper, but weren't bad. The Bahamian rice, however, was a real disappointment. I had never had any Bahamian rice before, so perhaps I just don't like it at all. It seemed like a bland Spanish rice with black-eyed peas thrown in. The highlight to the meal was a delicious homemade biscut that accompanied both of our meals.
Because of that biscut, and the awesome service, I will be going back to Captain's Galley and this time it will be for breakfast! I have seen several other reviews of this restaurant and they all rave about the breakfast, so if you get a chance, you just may want to give it a try too!

Rinelli's Yellow Tail Restaurant

Rinelli's Yellow Tail Restaurant

is located in downtown Ft. Pierce on the corner of 2nd Street and Orange Ave.

They offer everything from salads, to sandwiches, to seafood and escargot.

See the menu at the link above.

As I have stated before, I do not consider myself a "food critic", as I have not received any sort of formal training, but I do know what food should taste like and what good service means. Today, I went to "Yellow Tail" for the first time and I must say my over all experience was not what I expected. Let's start with the food.

To start with, at lunch, I like to simply order water with lemon as this way my drink doesn't cloud the taste of the food. If I were out to dinner with my husband, I would perhaps order a glass of wine or some sort. Lately, I have had this thing for seafood, especially conch, so my first order was a cup of Bohemian Conch Chowder ( $4 ). It was a hardy cup, filled with more potatoes than conch, but still tasty with just the right amount of spice. It definitely could've used more than the 5 tiny pieces of conch though. For my main dish, I tried the BLT Chicken Salad($9), offered on their daily "blackboard specials". When it came out, it was very appealing with a genorous portion of mixed salad greens, a boiled egg sliced atop along with diced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, real crumbled bacon and, of course, grilled chicken. A slice of garlic bread was served along side of it. The garlic bread wasn't very toasted and was almost flavorless. The salad, however, was quite yummy! I asked for ranch dressing, which they put on the side, thankfully. The ranch was tasty, but didn't stand out. The chicken was grilled very nicely and the added sprinkling of herbs added an extra flair.

In my opinion, service will either make or break my experience just about anywhere, but especially restaurants. Unless the food is just one of a kind, something I can get no where else, I will not generally revisit a place that does not provide at least good customer service. Picky? Maybe. But why am I eating out in the first place? Because I want the opportunity to have someone make the food for me and take care of me, and, of course, for the experience! So customer service is a very important piece of my overall experience.

I don't know if it was because I came in alone, the scrubs I was wearing or if, perhaps, it was simply a bad day for nearly everyone there, but from the moment I walked in, I felt as if they just couldn't wait for me to leave. And I almost did, but do you have any idea how hard it is to find a parking spot downtown at lunch time? I had earned the right to eat there! My waitress barely said anything to me. Snapping questions rather than smiling and making polite conversation or suggestions, in my opinion, she should look into a change of careers. She did promptly bring out my chowder and refilled my water when it was completely empty. When my salad was brought out and placed before me, not one word was offered and my empty soup cup continued to sit on the table. I might expect this sort of thing from a little diner or dive, but not this place with it's black table cloths and white cloth napkins, with food on pretty, white plates.

Not once did my server stop and ask how my meal was, though she walked past me several times. She only returned to my table to place the check before me. Needless to say, I did not leave as generous of a tip as I usually would and will probably not be visiting there again any time soon.