This was our first time in Block Island so we were trying out most of the restaurants. The Surf crossed our radar because of its boho atmosphere and variety of foods.
Pros: I will start off reviewing the food as that was the highlight of our visit there. I had the salmon BLT which was delicious, salmon as cooked perfected and the ciabatta bread was fresh. My partner had the ahi tuna poke bowl which was also fresh, very light on the ahi tuna, but good enough to hold her over for lunch.
Cons: The service was terrible. First day we went here, we were guided to our table by the host who was pleasant, she told us that when we were ready to order, to order with the bar which as fine. When I went to order, the bartenders looked completed unhappy to be there, inattentive, and unappreciative for the tip that I gave for the poor service. I don’t expect a thank you, but anything would’ve been better than the stone cold face and half eye contact I got, felt like they couldn’t be bothered. Another thing, the bussers for both times of our visit, all four of them were standing near the bar talking to each other not being attentive to any of the tables nor offering menus or anything. As a fellow restaurant service employee, I understand when times are slow, however they need to be somewhere other than hanging out in front of the people dining. Now, our second visit was even less pleasant. We arrived at The Surf at 10:30am, their breakfast service ends at 11am. We walked in as there was no host, so we went and sat in the back by the bar. The bussers were congregating by the bar, I had to ask them for menus and I asked them how I can order as there is no bartender. The boy said, oh she should be back soon, so we waited 10 minutes until she arrived. Just for her to inform us that if we want breakfast we are to order from the inside bar. We walked and sat at the bar and asked for menus and were informed that they are no longer serving breakfast at 10:50am. This wouldn’t have been a problem, however that’s the only reason we sat to eat there.
I understand that they may have first time employees and younger staff. But the lack of management to keep their employees on task was very apparent and for the price you pay for their food, I would expect better.
Courtney Broyles
Delicious food and beautiful views!! We had the smoked chicken salad sandwich and the ahi tuna poke bowl, both very good and loved watching the ocean right in front of us.
Jessica Despierre
The view is great. Food was just ok for the price they charge and the food ordering system was to disorganized. Most staff seemed miserable.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Chris Derecola
We were looking forward to dinner here based on the great location and a solid menu. Unfortunately, the execution was lacking. The buns on both of our sandwiches were burnt black. We didn't say anything because the bartender was the primary service person (order from the bar, which doesn't bother us) and he seemed super pissed off during every interaction with customers. We just ate the meat off our sandwich and left.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Jane Getchell
Overall good spot for take out! Super good street corn but the chips were stale. Also got a handheld that was supposed to come with potato salad but didn’t which was a lil disappointing, but the handheld itself was super good. Quality of the food we got minus the chips though was great!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Palmer Feibelman
Painfully inefficient ordering system. Not capable of handling the crowds that this locations attracts. You wait for a table (for us 30 mins, and the phone paging system didn’t work) Then you leave your table to wait in line to order your food. There’s 1 person taking orders for the whole restaurant.
Food quality unable to justify the wait times.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Katherine
Originally, came here after reading the Beach Bar reviews, didn't realize it was the same spot. Tuna poke bowl was plenty of food when considering higher prices for Block Island destination tax. Fish tacos were small, only 2 and nothing exciting. Strong drinks.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Erika Coico Ferrazzano
Had a really good time having lunch here. Their picture of white sangria was delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish Tacos
Thad Paul
The food and view were great, but I didn’t like the self service ordering, plastic utensils (for cutting $33 steak frites!), or plastic drink ware. The two bartenders were taking all food orders and serving drinks and they seemed real average. My steak frites was very good and my wife liked her salmon. If they’re short on staff, instead of waiting in line to place an order, why not use a kiosk or QR code?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Jack-E W
Great food, beautiful view - Even on a rainy day. Great chicken sandwich!!
Worst Mac n cheese. Absolutely zero flavor to it. When returned the bartender made a comment about “what do you expect when you get Mac n cheese”. i expect Mac n cheese not water flavored noodles. The guy also talked badly another table as well. Spoke to a manager and was given a free drink but still doesn’t make up for childish behavior
Christopher Stumpo
The food and service was really good. The only thing that was different was placing the order at bar (which was fine).
My bf & I went here a couple of times during our visit to BI & every time was great! Our favorite meal was the surf burger & fries. We also had the Caesar salad which was delicious & my bf had the lobster roll which he also enjoyed! The view is always the best & the vibes are awesome. The Surf is one of our favorite restaurants on the island.
Always a fantastic experience! The best way to start my day on BI!
david sanchez rosales
The view was amazing. But the food was subpar. We got the Ceviche and Roasted Chicken. The chicken was bland and was a small portion. Only decent thing were the beans that accompanied it. Then the ceviche was mediocre, it just tasted like tomato juice. And the avocado didn't taste or feel like avocado, just a weird paste. Food doesn't have to be conventional, i get it, but the execution isn't it, especially for the price.
This was our first time in Block Island so we were trying out most of the restaurants. The Surf crossed our radar because of its boho atmosphere and variety of foods.
Pros:
I will start off reviewing the food as that was the highlight of our visit there. I had the salmon BLT which was delicious, salmon as cooked perfected and the ciabatta bread was fresh. My partner had the ahi tuna poke bowl which was also fresh, very light on the ahi tuna, but good enough to hold her over for lunch.
Cons:
The service was terrible. First day we went here, we were guided to our table by the host who was pleasant, she told us that when we were ready to order, to order with the bar which as fine. When I went to order, the bartenders looked completed unhappy to be there, inattentive, and unappreciative for the tip that I gave for the poor service. I don’t expect a thank you, but anything would’ve been better than the stone cold face and half eye contact I got, felt like they couldn’t be bothered.
Another thing, the bussers for both times of our visit, all four of them were standing near the bar talking to each other not being attentive to any of the tables nor offering menus or anything. As a fellow restaurant service employee, I understand when times are slow, however they need to be somewhere other than hanging out in front of the people dining.
Now, our second visit was even less pleasant. We arrived at The Surf at 10:30am, their breakfast service ends at 11am. We walked in as there was no host, so we went and sat in the back by the bar. The bussers were congregating by the bar, I had to ask them for menus and I asked them how I can order as there is no bartender. The boy said, oh she should be back soon, so we waited 10 minutes until she arrived. Just for her to inform us that if we want breakfast we are to order from the inside bar. We walked and sat at the bar and asked for menus and were informed that they are no longer serving breakfast at 10:50am. This wouldn’t have been a problem, however that’s the only reason we sat to eat there.
I understand that they may have first time employees and younger staff. But the lack of management to keep their employees on task was very apparent and for the price you pay for their food, I would expect better.
Delicious food and beautiful views!! We had the smoked chicken salad sandwich and the ahi tuna poke bowl, both very good and loved watching the ocean right in front of us.
The view is great. Food was just ok for the price they charge and the food ordering system was to disorganized. Most staff seemed miserable.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
We were looking forward to dinner here based on the great location and a solid menu. Unfortunately, the execution was lacking. The buns on both of our sandwiches were burnt black. We didn't say anything because the bartender was the primary service person (order from the bar, which doesn't bother us) and he seemed super pissed off during every interaction with customers. We just ate the meat off our sandwich and left.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Overall good spot for take out! Super good street corn but the chips were stale. Also got a handheld that was supposed to come with potato salad but didn’t which was a lil disappointing, but the handheld itself was super good. Quality of the food we got minus the chips though was great!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Painfully inefficient ordering system.
Not capable of handling the crowds that this locations attracts.
You wait for a table (for us 30 mins, and the phone paging system didn’t work)
Then you leave your table to wait in line to order your food. There’s 1 person taking orders for the whole restaurant.
Food quality unable to justify the wait times.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Originally, came here after reading the Beach Bar reviews, didn't realize it was the same spot. Tuna poke bowl was plenty of food when considering higher prices for Block Island destination tax. Fish tacos were small, only 2 and nothing exciting. Strong drinks.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Had a really good time having lunch here. Their picture of white sangria was delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish Tacos
The food and view were great, but I didn’t like the self service ordering, plastic utensils (for cutting $33 steak frites!), or plastic drink ware. The two bartenders were taking all food orders and serving drinks and they seemed real average. My steak frites was very good and my wife liked her salmon. If they’re short on staff, instead of waiting in line to place an order, why not use a kiosk or QR code?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Great food, beautiful view - Even on a rainy day. Great chicken sandwich!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Potato Salad, Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Restaurantji Recommends
Worst Mac n cheese. Absolutely zero flavor to it. When returned the bartender made a comment about “what do you expect when you get Mac n cheese”. i expect Mac n cheese not water flavored noodles. The guy also talked badly another table as well. Spoke to a manager and was given a free drink but still doesn’t make up for childish behavior
The food and service was really good. The only thing that was different was placing the order at bar (which was fine).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Potato Salad, Grilled Cheese, Lobster Roll, Onion Rings
My bf & I went here a couple of times during our visit to BI & every time was great! Our favorite meal was the surf burger & fries. We also had the Caesar salad which was delicious & my bf had the lobster roll which he also enjoyed! The view is always the best & the vibes are awesome. The Surf is one of our favorite restaurants on the island.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Potato Salad, Lobster Roll, Surf Burger
Always a fantastic experience! The best way to start my day on BI!
The view was amazing. But the food was subpar. We got the Ceviche and Roasted Chicken. The chicken was bland and was a small portion. Only decent thing were the beans that accompanied it. Then the ceviche was mediocre, it just tasted like tomato juice. And the avocado didn't taste or feel like avocado, just a weird paste. Food doesn't have to be conventional, i get it, but the execution isn't it, especially for the price.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 3
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