A Lousy Time At Le Tub
So it turns out that just because a restaurant is on a list of restaurants you “have to visit,” it doesn’t mean you should. We found this out the hard way.
A friend and I saw a list online named 15 Restaurants You Have To Visit In Florida Before You Die. So we looked and saw that Le Tub wasn’t too far so we figured we’d check it out. It’s been seen on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was voted Best Hamburger by GQ Magazine. So who’s to doubt that it would be a great experience?
We were incredibly wrong. From the moment we stepped into the restaurant it was complete chaos. There was no clear path of where to go and waiters and waitresses kept walking past us as we stood around with confused looks on our faces. When we finally asked we were told to seat ourselves. Then we noticed the toilet seats. Ah, got it!
Now, I’m not really a fan of this kind of seating arrangement because you end up having people kind of hovering around you as you eat in the hopes that they can swoop down on your table the second you get up to leave. But either way, after a few minutes we found an empty table (that had never been cleaned off). The decor was quirky and seemed like it could be a really cool experience. There was also a really nice view.
But after minutes of waiting, with staff passing us by with obviously no intention of waiting on us, it became clear to us that we weren’t going to have the great experience that we had hoped for.
Finally, someone came by and told us that although he wasn’t our waiter he would take our drink orders since our waitress was busy. After a bit he dropped them off. Our waitress came by and asked if we’d placed our drink orders and we said yes. Then we waited. And waited. She never came back. She passed us and I made eye contact with her a few times, but she did not come back at all for the rest of the night! Luckily, the guy who’d been kind enough to get our drinks, came back and took our order. We learned his name was Jorge and he was the only good thing about Le Tub.
The “nachos” that we ordered as an appetizer were stale, and I’m pretty sure we got chips from the bottom of the bag because most of it was crumbs. We also waited for over an hour for our burgers, which weren’t even spectacular. Don’t get me wrong, they were big and well flavored. But they were definitely not all they were hyped up to be.
And did I mention that the staff were completely rude and vulgar to each other? That was interesting, to say the least. I’ve never heard staff yelling and cursing at each other the way they did at Le Tub. They were telling each other off constantly, and right in front of us! I wondered where the manager or owner was during all this craziness. Turns out the owner is also the cook! I couldn’t believe it. I think he definitely needs to get out from behind the grill and instead needs to focus on his staff and make sure they provide better customer service.
There is no way I would go back to Le Tub. I honestly can’t believe it was put on a bucket list of places to dine in Florida. It was a complete disappointment.
Have you ever been disappointed by a “must-visit” location?
I wonder how it even got on the list? Sorry to hear about your experience Vicky, how disappointing! Hopefully they’ll read this and buck up their ideas.
Hopefully!
Oh such a pity to hear you didn’t have a good time and didn’t enjoy the food. It is so sad going somewhere with high expectations and getting disappointed then 🙁 Not all must-do´s and see#s live up to the hype but I have never gotten completely disappointed yet 🙂
Glad to hear you haven’t had a bad experience yet!
Just looking at the menu and that sad-looking order of nachos makes me never want to go there. It actually looks like the type of touristy joint that I hate. I mean, those nachos can’t actually pass as nachos, right? How sad.
Right?? Those nachos were a sign of things to come.
It’s funny because we visited this place before and had a totally different experience. My burger was delicious and the service was fantastic. It was awhile ago, though. I wonder if things have completely gone down hill or it was just one bad experience. I look forward to reading comments from others who have visited because I would have recommended this place too.
It seems like going there is hit or miss. But I think restaurants should be more consistent with their service.
So sorry to hear about your miserable experience. Fortunate to say that I have never been disappointed by a “must-visit” location. Hopefully things change n the future:)
Thanks Rosemary!
Such a bummer when a place with such a reputation doesn’t live up to the hype. I was recently in Hollywood this past fall and was kind up upset that I didn’t get a chance to visit Le Tub. Such a great opportunity for a place to do well too with their quirky ambiance and view of the water. I think you’re right, the owner needs to get out from behind the kitchen and get a hold of managing the business. Looks like the nearby Margaritaville Resort is going to create some competition for serving the best burgers.
I agree; there’s a lot of potential! And with so many other restaurants around, including the new Margaritaville, they really should step up their game.
Well, well, well and so another list disappoints. It is not a bad idea to peruse those list and follow some of the recommendations, but I always go with an open mind because you never know what to expect. Sometimes you get a good experience and other times it is just the worst. So, I always say expect the unexpected.
That’s a great philosophy!
Everyones expectations are different for sure. For us its the food, if that doesn’t meet basic standards then we’re out of there!
That’s very true Wendy.
I don’t like visiting places on some of those must-visit lists. It seem like the hype goes to their heads and they start to slack off once they make the list.
That’s very true Jennifer. I don’t think they try as hard anymore.
I was actually wondering, could it be problematic in USA when you write a negative post about something? I know we can be honest or have freedom of speech etc., but I heard some stories that a company sued someone for a very bad review and said that because of that they lost clients/money. Did you hear about it?
No, I hadn’t heard that. That’s interesting though. I wonder how they could be sued, with so many websites around that do reviews like Yelp and Tripadvisor.
Apparently there were many cases, but I guess they cannot get everyone 😉
I was curios your replay, because it’s actually not easy to write a negative review, from one side we want to be honest, but from the other it may cause some implications…
I had a similar experience there a few years ago too! I never went back, thanks for letting us know they still went down the drain.
Hi Melissa! Unfortunately, we did not have a good experience. I hate putting negative things on this blog, but it was just such a bad experience that I felt it was necessary to let other people know how it went. 🙁