This is between 3.5 and 4 -- this was the last dinner we had after a weekend in Wrightsville and we wanted to have a good dinner out, and this was a fine location for that.
Dennis M.
My fiancé and I wanted to get some good food around 8pm last night. I knew it would cost $100+ for us both. But the quality was just not there. She got the flounder on risotto, $32, I got the steak with fries. (Really for $38 couldn't add a vegetable?) We really didn't have many options since they have literally 8! Entrees , paper menus and weird plates. Diner quality representation. We had the tuna app and the rockefella claims. Those were decent. But not worth the money spent. I guess since it was 8pm and they close at 9pm on a Saturday of all days. The cooks were in a rush to get out of there. Cause the effort in the meals weren't there. The flounder was over cooked the risotto was over done. And my steak had so much fat in it, for that price, I was definitely expecting a better cut of meat. The waiter was great. And the service was fast, but as far as food quality to price ratio, I'm forced to give this place a 2/5. $148 for 2 small apps & 2 entrees. We each got a martini as well. But wow we were not impressed what so ever with sound wave. Could've gotten a way better seafood / steak meal for that price at multiple other places. But hey. We like to try different restaurants, unfortunately we will not be returning to this one. Poor quality and over priced just because they are located next to landfall? Not sure how long this new concept will last. Boca bay was way better. And by the way there was only 1 other table in the entire restaurant at 8:15 on a Saturday. If that's not a red flag enough for this place. But seriously they need to make changes fast. The second we get sit down and get handed paper menus like we're at a take out Chinese spot is just not a good start. Awful experience overall and a waste of my money. Oh well we tried. Good luck to the next who try as well. Honestly do no see this place being in business in 2023. Food 2/5 Service 3/5 Price to quality 1/5 And overall experience 1/5 Like previous post said, this is NOT fine dining. Honestly done see how anyone gave this new "revamped" restaurant anything close to 4 stars. They charge for the location. And In that case. I'll just drive 10 mins down the road for better food at a cheaper price.
Will Davis
I have never left a review for a restaurant faster than we have left this one. We are still in the parking lot as this review is being left. Saw this place on our frequent trips to Wrightsville as a nice place to eat. Also admired their renovations and it look supremely edible online. Upon entering the sanitation grade was a 92. This may have been the first indicator as how the meal would progress. We were seated to a cozy corner booth adorned with all that is necessary for a evening dining experience. We started with a Riesling that was the only highlight of the evening. We ordered fish and chips for the baby. The fish was extremely greasy and the fries were not seasoned properly. They were overpowered by a heavy handed white pepper musk. The topsail tervy were ok, they had a fish tank smell, indicating they were not as fresh as they could be. Maybe a day past their prime. We then ordered the oyster devil eggs. They tasted of a standard cafeteria style devil egg, nothing special, severely underwhelming. We then ordered small plates, consisting of fried oysters that tasted of basic flour batter, fried green tomatoes that were to thin to battle the batter, under seasoned and soggy. They were supposed to be topped with pimento cheese, but the pimento was missing the pimento. The seared scallops chewed like a piece of bubble yum. The grit cake was creamy and crispy but void once again of any seasoning. The only redeeming part of the dish was the bacon jam. All in all it went from underwhelming to supremely disappointing. We decided to leave before any of the dishes were complete. Paid the tab to reward the waiter for the service provided and made a reservation for another restaurant across town. We will never be back nor recommend this restaurant to anyone.
Gary Werbil
First off, the server was very good and the restaurant was clean, good atmosphere. The place is not on the sound, no water view.Had fish tacos and sliders, the tacos are served on a board flat with tortillas. Wife wasn't too thrilled about it. I had the sliders, good, but one slider was half raw.Asked about soup, clam chowder, not on the menu. That should be first on the menu for a seafood restaurant.Also the parking lines are mostly worn off, hard to tell were to park at night.
Emma G.
The food is the only redeeming factor of the restaurant. I understand they have a relatively new chef that revamped the menu. I will begin there; the tuna with arancini was amazing. I added some asparagus which was delicious with the Asian sauce provided. The herbed butter provided with bread was a nice touch as well. The positives do unfortunately end there. Their service was abysmal. Unprofessional at best. They were often gathered around the server station complaining about being there, which is not something I enjoy listening to while dining. I guess since the restaurant was basically empty, that's all they could do. They all had their hair down which is a major red flag (and health department no no). The thing that really got me was watching them run drinks. There was a plethora of trays available, but no one used them. That isn't necessarily a problem, but they carried the drinks by the rim of the glass. That is awful! If I wanted their fingers in my mouth I would have asked. Coupe and wine glasses have a stem for a reason. Other glassware has ample room below the rim to hold. For a restaurant that touts itself as fine dining, their staff is severely lacking in professional service. I wouldn't consider t-shirts to be fine dining either, but maybe that is because it's close to the beach. The restaurant is dirty and dull. I would avoid.
Crystal Shea
Our group had the biscuit dish with a side of grilled shrimp, the egg scramble dish, salad and oysters. Oysters were great, the biscuits were soft, the egg dish was beautiful and light, and the shrimp were grilled well. 4 stars because of service. Salad arrived without dressing, and nothing extraordinary but getting the food to the table. There were only a handful of people at the restaurant being served, but we were rushed out with the check and my plate was attempted to be taken away before I was finished.
Susan B.
Came for brunch with my daughter who called for reservations and asked if they did a brunch buffet like Bocca Bay and they stated yes. When we got there and no buffet was present they proceeded to say they stopped doing the buffet because of Covid. We decided to try it anyway. Food was mediocre and the hollandaise sauce had no flavor. The bathroom was filthy. Not a fan.
sheila jones
The waitress was excellent. The waitress brought complementary biscuits with butter to the table before our meal, and they were dried out to the point of being almost crunchy. The entrees were just... ok. The appetizer (peel and eat shrimp) seemed very dried out as if it had been sitting around a long time. The hush puppies with honey were obviously burnt. For the price, the food was simply not good.
Mark S.
Playing catch up on reviews. We visited this location on 8/20/22. We arrived early and set on the patio under an umbrella. The temperature was perfect and it was a great setting. We started with a few drinks and an app of hush puppies. That is where the good experience ended. We were content with our seat until a server came and moved our umbrella to another table, fulling exposing up to the bright sun. There was no communication on if we were using it. Our server went missing for 20 minutes at a time. We ended up trying to get other servers to assist with drink refills and placing our order. The manager finally attempted to assist and we placed our order. After a very long wait, our order finally arrived. Unfortunately one of the orders was incorrect. Shrimp tacos were ordered, fish tacos arrived. After another 10 minutes, what were assumed to be shrimp tacos arrived. They literally had had one shrimp each, cut up (see photo). $14 for this?? At this point we were exhausted with the experience. Hesitant, we paid the bill and departed.
Eli B.
The staff here is really nice and the service is set to a higher standard than most restaurants. These people are really "in the restaurant business".
Visiting and wanting something amazing. Service was hands down worth the visit. Food was delicious and we showed up during a limited brunch time. Will return for sure
Doug Fischer
We went here on a whim because the place we had intended to eat (Cerviche) was closed, and I wasn't disappointed. All the food was excellent. Classier place but we rolled in looking sloppy in bathing suits post-beach and nobody gave us a hard time which was nice. Oysters were delicious but a tad pricey at 3.75/pp. Seemed like they were a little short on serving staff as well but other than that it was a great experience and I would definitely go back.
Donna S.
This restaurant used to be Boca Bay. New name.... It started out ok and went downhill fast. Decor is nice. Outside patio is nice. Our waitress started out pretty good but the level of service dropped off fast. We ordered drinks and a a few small plates. My drink was super sweet and I don't believe it even had any alcohol in it. We had to wait very long periods before a waitress would come check on us. We finally flagged down a different waitress to order more drinks and our meals. We even had to make comments to the manager in order to get any service. I ordered shrimp tacos. I got fish tacos. When the shrimp tacos finally came out, the shrimp had been cut up into pieces. Two of the tacos had only 2-3 pieces of shrimp. The other taco had one very tiny piece. On three tacos there were what equates to only 2 shrimp. The entire dish was a lost cause. To put in perspective- the three pathetic tacos were $14. The 1/2 pound peel and eat shrimp was $12. (Although it was overcooked) We paid way too much for a really crappy dinner. The manager did try to salvage the service but the quality of the food killed what he was trying to save. I left angry and very disappointed.I don't recommend this place until they regroup and try again.
Vincent Pietrogiacomo
Great seafood. Good atmosphere and good music for Sunday brunch
Meredith Davis Johnson
GREAT food, service and atmosphere! We will be back!!
This is between 3.5 and 4 -- this was the last dinner we had after a weekend in Wrightsville and we wanted to have a good dinner out, and this was a fine location for that.
My fiancé and I wanted to get some good food around 8pm last night. I knew it would cost $100+ for us both. But the quality was just not there. She got the flounder on risotto, $32, I got the steak with fries. (Really for $38 couldn't add a vegetable?) We really didn't have many options since they have literally 8! Entrees , paper menus and weird plates. Diner quality representation. We had the tuna app and the rockefella claims. Those were decent. But not worth the money spent. I guess since it was 8pm and they close at 9pm on a Saturday of all days. The cooks were in a rush to get out of there. Cause the effort in the meals weren't there. The flounder was over cooked the risotto was over done. And my steak had so much fat in it, for that price, I was definitely expecting a better cut of meat. The waiter was great. And the service was fast, but as far as food quality to price ratio, I'm forced to give this place a 2/5. $148 for 2 small apps & 2 entrees. We each got a martini as well. But wow we were not impressed what so ever with sound wave. Could've gotten a way better seafood / steak meal for that price at multiple other places. But hey. We like to try different restaurants, unfortunately we will not be returning to this one. Poor quality and over priced just because they are located next to landfall? Not sure how long this new concept will last. Boca bay was way better. And by the way there was only 1 other table in the entire restaurant at 8:15 on a Saturday. If that's not a red flag enough for this place. But seriously they need to make changes fast. The second we get sit down and get handed paper menus like we're at a take out Chinese spot is just not a good start. Awful experience overall and a waste of my money. Oh well we tried. Good luck to the next who try as well. Honestly do no see this place being in business in 2023. Food 2/5 Service 3/5 Price to quality 1/5 And overall experience 1/5 Like previous post said, this is NOT fine dining. Honestly done see how anyone gave this new "revamped" restaurant anything close to 4 stars. They charge for the location. And In that case. I'll just drive 10 mins down the road for better food at a cheaper price.
I have never left a review for a restaurant faster than we have left this one. We are still in the parking lot as this review is being left. Saw this place on our frequent trips to Wrightsville as a nice place to eat. Also admired their renovations and it look supremely edible online. Upon entering the sanitation grade was a 92. This may have been the first indicator as how the meal would progress. We were seated to a cozy corner booth adorned with all that is necessary for a evening dining experience. We started with a Riesling that was the only highlight of the evening. We ordered fish and chips for the baby. The fish was extremely greasy and the fries were not seasoned properly. They were overpowered by a heavy handed white pepper musk. The topsail tervy were ok, they had a fish tank smell, indicating they were not as fresh as they could be. Maybe a day past their prime. We then ordered the oyster devil eggs. They tasted of a standard cafeteria style devil egg, nothing special, severely underwhelming. We then ordered small plates, consisting of fried oysters that tasted of basic flour batter, fried green tomatoes that were to thin to battle the batter, under seasoned and soggy. They were supposed to be topped with pimento cheese, but the pimento was missing the pimento. The seared scallops chewed like a piece of bubble yum. The grit cake was creamy and crispy but void once again of any seasoning. The only redeeming part of the dish was the bacon jam. All in all it went from underwhelming to supremely disappointing. We decided to leave before any of the dishes were complete. Paid the tab to reward the waiter for the service provided and made a reservation for another restaurant across town. We will never be back nor recommend this restaurant to anyone.
First off, the server was very good and the restaurant was clean, good atmosphere. The place is not on the sound, no water view.Had fish tacos and sliders, the tacos are served on a board flat with tortillas. Wife wasn't too thrilled about it. I had the sliders, good, but one slider was half raw.Asked about soup, clam chowder, not on the menu. That should be first on the menu for a seafood restaurant.Also the parking lines are mostly worn off, hard to tell were to park at night.
The food is the only redeeming factor of the restaurant. I understand they have a relatively new chef that revamped the menu. I will begin there; the tuna with arancini was amazing. I added some asparagus which was delicious with the Asian sauce provided. The herbed butter provided with bread was a nice touch as well. The positives do unfortunately end there. Their service was abysmal. Unprofessional at best. They were often gathered around the server station complaining about being there, which is not something I enjoy listening to while dining. I guess since the restaurant was basically empty, that's all they could do. They all had their hair down which is a major red flag (and health department no no). The thing that really got me was watching them run drinks. There was a plethora of trays available, but no one used them. That isn't necessarily a problem, but they carried the drinks by the rim of the glass. That is awful! If I wanted their fingers in my mouth I would have asked. Coupe and wine glasses have a stem for a reason. Other glassware has ample room below the rim to hold. For a restaurant that touts itself as fine dining, their staff is severely lacking in professional service. I wouldn't consider t-shirts to be fine dining either, but maybe that is because it's close to the beach. The restaurant is dirty and dull. I would avoid.
Our group had the biscuit dish with a side of grilled shrimp, the egg scramble dish, salad and oysters. Oysters were great, the biscuits were soft, the egg dish was beautiful and light, and the shrimp were grilled well. 4 stars because of service. Salad arrived without dressing, and nothing extraordinary but getting the food to the table. There were only a handful of people at the restaurant being served, but we were rushed out with the check and my plate was attempted to be taken away before I was finished.
Came for brunch with my daughter who called for reservations and asked if they did a brunch buffet like Bocca Bay and they stated yes. When we got there and no buffet was present they proceeded to say they stopped doing the buffet because of Covid. We decided to try it anyway. Food was mediocre and the hollandaise sauce had no flavor. The bathroom was filthy. Not a fan.
The waitress was excellent. The waitress brought complementary biscuits with butter to the table before our meal, and they were dried out to the point of being almost crunchy. The entrees were just... ok. The appetizer (peel and eat shrimp) seemed very dried out as if it had been sitting around a long time. The hush puppies with honey were obviously burnt. For the price, the food was simply not good.
Playing catch up on reviews. We visited this location on 8/20/22. We arrived early and set on the patio under an umbrella. The temperature was perfect and it was a great setting. We started with a few drinks and an app of hush puppies. That is where the good experience ended. We were content with our seat until a server came and moved our umbrella to another table, fulling exposing up to the bright sun. There was no communication on if we were using it. Our server went missing for 20 minutes at a time. We ended up trying to get other servers to assist with drink refills and placing our order. The manager finally attempted to assist and we placed our order. After a very long wait, our order finally arrived. Unfortunately one of the orders was incorrect. Shrimp tacos were ordered, fish tacos arrived. After another 10 minutes, what were assumed to be shrimp tacos arrived. They literally had had one shrimp each, cut up (see photo). $14 for this?? At this point we were exhausted with the experience. Hesitant, we paid the bill and departed.
The staff here is really nice and the service is set to a higher standard than most restaurants. These people are really "in the restaurant business".
Restaurantji Recommends
Visiting and wanting something amazing. Service was hands down worth the visit. Food was delicious and we showed up during a limited brunch time. Will return for sure
We went here on a whim because the place we had intended to eat (Cerviche) was closed, and I wasn't disappointed. All the food was excellent. Classier place but we rolled in looking sloppy in bathing suits post-beach and nobody gave us a hard time which was nice. Oysters were delicious but a tad pricey at 3.75/pp. Seemed like they were a little short on serving staff as well but other than that it was a great experience and I would definitely go back.
This restaurant used to be Boca Bay. New name.... It started out ok and went downhill fast. Decor is nice. Outside patio is nice. Our waitress started out pretty good but the level of service dropped off fast. We ordered drinks and a a few small plates. My drink was super sweet and I don't believe it even had any alcohol in it. We had to wait very long periods before a waitress would come check on us. We finally flagged down a different waitress to order more drinks and our meals. We even had to make comments to the manager in order to get any service. I ordered shrimp tacos. I got fish tacos. When the shrimp tacos finally came out, the shrimp had been cut up into pieces. Two of the tacos had only 2-3 pieces of shrimp. The other taco had one very tiny piece. On three tacos there were what equates to only 2 shrimp. The entire dish was a lost cause. To put in perspective- the three pathetic tacos were $14. The 1/2 pound peel and eat shrimp was $12. (Although it was overcooked) We paid way too much for a really crappy dinner. The manager did try to salvage the service but the quality of the food killed what he was trying to save. I left angry and very disappointed.I don't recommend this place until they regroup and try again.
Great seafood. Good atmosphere and good music for Sunday brunch
GREAT food, service and atmosphere! We will be back!!