SOMA Creekside

My brother and I live in New England and wanted to do something special for our parents who live in Bradenton for their 40^th wedding anniversary, so we researched the restaurants in the area and settled on Soma for the location and diverse and interesting menu. The owner and head chef cheerfully took the reservation, and said they would have the best seats and would not be disappointed. We were so excited. He even called back 15 minutes before their reservation to double check that it was all set up and ask that maybe something special could be sent to them — put it on the bill — we just want them to be cared for and have a wonderful night. That was the first red flag, when the kid he talked to that time barely responded and practically hung up on him.
They did not have a good table, they sat next to a loud table of 8. But they were happy to be celebrating, and held hands while reminiscing about the past 40 years.
The server wasn’t familiar with basic ingredients on the menu or the wine list. The food was inedible. Every single dish had to be sent back — and these are not people who do that for kicks. They were out for a very special night, something they rarely do. The last thing they were looking to do was to be angry and disappointed.
The staff could not have been more rude or dismissive of them. Rather than take any responsibility for the quality of the product, or do anything to try to cover for it, they invited my parents to leave if they didn’t like it, which they did.
Upon hearing how poor the service was and how bad their meal was, my brother called and asked to speak to a manager. The kid who answered the phone was incredibly curt and rude, and said there was no manager available and that even if he was available, he would say the same thing he says, which is that all of the food was perfect, and they didn’t do anything wrong. David, the owner and head chef eventually got on the phone and was apologetic (mostly for what turns out to be his son’s behavior), and open to hearing my brother’s complaints. He offered to make it up to us, to refund the bill, whatever it would take. He also said wished he had known that the food sent back was theirs — (he was the one to take the reservation and hear in the first place how important it was to us that this was a special night for them) — which shows in itself the gross lack of communication between front of the house and back of the house. David seemed to be the only one who remotely cared that their experience was so bad, which is a shame, because there is no way he can manage the kitchen and the front of the house — clearly, trying to do so is not working for either side.
I fully understand that Unilocal is a double-​edged sword. I bother to write this review because I am in the service industry (my brother also spent many years in fine dining — can’t blame us for having expectations) and cannot imagine this scenario taking place in any establishment. If the guest doesn’t like the food, or the way it is prepared, it is to be removed from the bill, and/​or something is to be done to make up for it. If they are celebrating something special, the server knows, the kitchen knows, and the management knows. Guests are treated with respect. At Soma, apparently the answer is actually to flip major attitude, be defensive and rude (even though they are under educated about the menu and wine list) and just tell the guest to leave, and then immediately run the credit card we gave them and give themselves a 20% tip. This place is an embarrassment to the industry, and to Bradenton, regardless of how much everyone seems to rave about David’s culinary excellence.
So, so disappointed.

So disappointing. We had 6 others join us for dinner, a disaster. Most ordered steaks, they were so tough and had no taste plus most were not surved at the temperature ordered. We eat out all the time this was the worst restaurant we have been to here and won’t return.

Well the best thing was the chicken tortilla soup which was more like stew the beef was tough. Very few were prepared as ordered.
The crab cake was mostly filler
Salad was lettuce.
Pretzel bread was lightly blackened
We took most of of the meat home for the neighbors dogs.
Ugh. We won’t be back
Can’t wait till they screw up the bills

The grouper was outstanding, mine grilled, his fried. What a gem of a restaurant right under our noses.

Last spring we went to SOMA Creekside for dinner. We were waited on by a very nice and professional woman named Ashley and she led us through a number of good choices on the menu. We knew there would be no time for a return before heading north for the summer but vowed to come back in the fall.
This turned out to be the complete opposite of our last experience at this place. The service was worse than any we have had in ages and the food was only passable in most instances and in two dishes — inedible (the jerk chicken which our friend ordered and left on her plate and the crispy calamari salad which I had and was so overwhelmed by the wasabi in the wasabi vinaigrette dressing that I only made it half way through before giving up on it.)
To say the waiter was inept was an understatement — we ordered a round of appetizers — of which he got two wrong completely and therefore they weren’t served together — and meanwhile one of our party had a main while the late appetizers of others were finally served… a total mess! so when we ordered our mains we were extremely specific about what dishes we wanted and despite literally READING the entire description line of the menu item TWICE to the guy — he brought the wrong dish again…
So we had «two rounds of mains as well» and certainly not intentionally… actually it was three because the one had been brought as an appetizer by mistake — so that diner was really done before two other diners had their meals delivered and the fourth diner (with the mistaken order –which he had repeated twice slowly and read the WHOLE main with the set up to the waiter each time) didn’t get his main meal until the rest of us were «finished» —
It was a complete and total fiasco, so when the server asked if we wanted dessert we said «no, thank you» and asked for the checks. Then to add insult to injury as they say — he couldn’t make change for a twenty dollar bill one couple gave cash in payment for the meal… all they asked for was ten in change from a stack of twenties– — - seriously???
To make sure I give the whole story — the guy did bring us some half stamped «rewards cards» for something called ¹⁰⁄₁₀ at lunch as a peace offering — but we would have really preferred better service and we all agreed they would be recycled the minute we got home… this was the worst performance by a service team member I can remember in years
We discussed whether they had found this guy on the street and asked him to sub for someone at the last minute… maybe he was on drugs– he didn’t even seem to know the food terms from the menu… and confused a request for the pork appetizer (which was quite specific) with the pork main even though we only ordered one round of food at a time… then he confused a fish with risotto side with a completely different prep and set up… ABYSMAL…
Our first time this year — and our last time ever… The kitchen seemed over taxed with only TWO tables of patrons and the waiter was either stupid, on drugs, or wasn’t even really a waiter… One mistake in an order — hey it can happen– but four major errors in spite of the diners reiterating their orders is really inexcusable. Ridiculously bad experience… forewarned is forearmed…

Nice atmosphere, good food, great service by Ashley. I really enjoyed the diverse lunch menu. Can’t wait to come back for dinner! Would have went five star if all the menu items were available, but I guess that will give me something to look forward to.

Terrific variety of menu items and definitely always interesting. The parking garage is very nice, as is the charming dining room. Chef Dave’s presentation is always fantastic and his food is delicious. Prices are fair too.

David is the best chef in Bradenton. it’s hard to beat his play on food.
Me and the wife have followed David threw the years because he can cook… He has never given me a bad meal.
Soma creek side has a great environment that I appreciate and anything on the menu you can’t go wrong eating here. enjoy

Went here for my Birthday on a Saturday evening and was not overly impressed at all. We were three of only eight patrons when we arrived and there was only one other table that was seated during our visit. The server was a little green but that can always be overlooked with the overall experience.
Cocktails that were listed on the «specialty menu» we’re not available and were completely forgotten by he server (that was green). The drinks when they finally arrived were watered down and didn’t come with stir sticks forcing my wife to use her knife since there were non available.
Appetizers were fine but poorly prepared. My daughters spring rolls fell apart the instant they were touched. We figured there was something special about the tater tots but they were tater tots and I would have preferred the ones Dunkin Donuts serves by far.
Entrees were mediocre at best and my wife had the best dish of all of us with a minuscule FL lobster tale. My steak was cooked frozen and was sub par and another potato-​tot-​like starch and dried out onion strings were all bulk store bought and assembled.
You’d think with a small crowd in the place and knowing it was a small owner operated establishment they would make an appearance. It was almost like dining on the Titanic heading towards the iceberg.

Without any question the best shrimp & grits I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot.
I won’t try to describe the other dishes, except to say that the general vibe seems to be unexpected combinations working out surprisingly well. Including the ginger lobster curry bisque.
The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is not the food — it’s that my wife ordered a salad that was described as having a certain comibination of ingredients, and turned out to have a different combination, with no inquiry or notice. The new ingredients included things she does not like and she would not have ordered the salad had she known they were included, The waitress offered to bring something else, but by then everyone had their food so it would have screwed up the entire meal. So my wife ate around the stuff she didn’t like — but that salad should not have been brought out at all (even though it was really tasty if you liked the ingredients.)

Wow. The best Blue Crab cakes i have had to date, super moist, cooked to perfection, these are a must have.
Some how the chef figured out a way to raise tater tots to amazing heights, who thought a tater tot could be served in such an elegant 5 star way.
The Falafel salad was amazing, just a fusion of perfect taste.
Joann went with the Grilled Southwest Chicken flat bread and again just perfect.
We are coming back for dinner.
This is a chef.

Excellent food. They were really great with our toddler as well. Service was impeccable. Nice atmosphere. Tater tots, bread appetizer were sensational. All of our mains were great too-​best shrimp and grits ever! The buffalo chicken is interesting & delicious as well. Definitely give this a try if you love good food!

Been to this restaurant several times over past year. Last night was a different experience … No hostess we kinda figured out where the table was we were a party of 7 we waited 10 min before anyone came to the table. When the waitress appeared we told her we had our own wine she said ok then disappeared to get us water. Didn’t see her again for another 10 min. In the meantime we opened our own wine so it could breathe. So we are sitting with no glasses #sitting #waiting finally she appears at the end of the table and passes 4 glasses of water up the table ?? What ever happened to having a tray with all 7 glasses and walking around the table. Oh yes!!! she disappears again. We still have no glasses for the wine. Ok she’s back with the rest of the water .
Then back to the bar to finally get some glasses. I’m not going to continue with details. Just know the rest of the service was just like the beginning. On a positive note the food as always was terrific sooo good they have got the food together 100% 5 STARS. Everything else # staff training, #wait service# lack of a hostess or a mgr #ambience 2 STARS at best
The waitress was delightful. she has never been trained how to look after a table and she probably had way to many tables felt bad for her # however not our issue we didn’t get a reduced bill because the restaurant has issue’s just saying !!!

If you want to take someone to a nice restaurant in Bradenton with a relaxed, calm, romantic atmosphere, excellent food, exceptional service, definitely check out Soma.
The truffle Tots for an appetizer were delicious. The chef had a dish of Okra sent to our table, on the house after we said we were vegetarian. Dave’s Ice cream Sandwich Macadamia nut cookie for desert was awesome. We will definitely be going back.

Awesome! The swordfish was meaty and fine and cooked to perfection. Peanut Calamari was creamy and spicy and had the perfect bite. Chef Shiplett is a culinary wonder