Sandbar Sports Grill

Here for the annual FIU Pub Crawl… let the debauchery begin!
But seriously, its your typical American bat ambiance. Small bar lots of stand up tables. Typical bar food mostly fried food or sandwhiches.

Had a great time relaxing at this place. Nice staff. From Chicago area and got to watch my Cubbies !

I’ll never go back to that bar again. The smell was unbearable. Also, the guy that was behind the bar is the slowest and rudest bartender I have ever seen. He was upset when anyone ordered a drink. I would not recommend going there.

Great Beer selection… Great service… Good food. Fun atmosphere and good music. Local spot for a fun night.

Bar Rescue needs to come rescue this bar again. Really bad service. Got my order wrong twice. The people working there all seem to be hanging out instead of being alert and aware of their costumers.

A Coconut Grove mainstay that is not the craziest place (at least not anymore) in the area, nor is it the least-​expensive. The staff is always friendly and attentive. The food isn’t too bad either.

I have been going to Sandbar Sports Grill for many years but it was mostly to have drinks and watch sports. I heard that they recently remodeled and changed some of the menu so I finally decided to try some of their food. I ordered their Cabo Chopped Salad and I was very surprised at how delicious it was. It was one of the best salads I’ve had in a long time. The service was not out of this world but because the salad was so good, I would probably be back to try some of their other items.

This place is horrible. Dirty and the food is terrible. It’s a shame because this used to be a fun place. At least they have a pool table which is a step in the right direction. Although the pool table and the pool sticks are horrible.
They need to get rid of all the tables and chairs inside and put 3 NICE pool tables and a ping pong table!!! Place would get packed. Everyone loves ping pong

I came for happy hour, was told that only drinks 50% discount and nothing else. The information that I received from the website, the appetizers were also 50% discount. Anyway I ordered prosecco, beer and appetizer. When I was about to settle the bill, the prosecco wasn’t 50% off, when I questioned it, she said «oh wine was different» I think they should explain it better to their customers. Or the employee need to be briefed what is going on in the bar/​restaurant.

Oops wrong sandbar. Nevermind.

After 70 minutes after ordering appetizers the waitress, Shelbi P., told us the kitchen lost the ticket. But the bar seemed to be able to keep up with drink orders… and as if by magic, we get our apps 5 minutes later… Seems the kitchen wasn’t as backed up as she claimed.
Management never came to the table, so I’m not even sure Shelbi alerted them to the situation. If she was in the weeds so badly, this is a failure of management to recognize when the restaurant would be busy and staff appropriately.
I realize you have to be set up for success so if the kitchen is dropping the ball, it isn’t the server’s fault. However, let me reiterate: 70 minutes without noticing that our apps had not been dropped off at the table. 70. That’s over twice the length of time a table is normally seated for lunch, total!
She gave us a round of drinks in apology, which was nice, and we tipped 30% on the discounted ticket anyway, but won’t be back.

The food is good but never come here to watch games because the dj sucks. He does not reapect the game, he just continues to play the music.

Its a dive bar with a good beer selection but smells pretty bad in there. Apparently, they had a big crowd for Halloween but it should have been cleaned by the next day. I will give them the benefit of the doubt as its a chill local bar and I can imagine the locals love it. They do have TVs which is a plus if you want to watch sports. We didn’t eat here therefore I can’t rate the food. The bartender was a nice lady.

It’s back again and better then ever. Thank god that bullshit didn’t stick. I have to write more because this is to short for a review, I hope the extra sentence will suffice.

This is the best bar in the Grove. Trivia night, tacos, all excellent. Good happy hour drink specials, but no food specials anymore. Worth a visit! Great spot to chill on a Friday night, or watch football on Sunday!

The happy hour is great (Tara was an amazing waitress!). All drinks were half off (I paid $ 2.00 for a pint of Budweiser) the food was ok for the typical «bar food». The only thing that turned me off was the smell inside the restaurant — we decided to eat on the patio. A BIG PROBLEM: at the end of our meal while waiting for the bill a homeless man came into the patio and was begging for $$ and food.

I’m a huge fan of Bar Rescue (guilty pleasure), so when I found out Sandbar was getting the Jon Taffer treatment I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, all that ended up happening was that this place was stripped of any originality it may have had in times past.
On the show, Sandbar ended up as a Korean BBQ place. In real life, this must’ve lasted about 10 minutes because it’s now Sandbar again, but without the beat up tables and chairs, quirky looking menu, and drink specials. Not only is it more expensive for pretty much the same food and drink (and by that I mean what’s left, because the menu is maybe half the size of what it used to be), it is so generic that it’s depressing. It pretty much looks like an old chain restaurant that someone dug out of a dumpster.
Also, you know what they didn’t remodel here? The bathrooms. They’re about as disgusting as they ever were. This was fine when it was a trashy college bar (that I loved), not now that they’re trying to sell this as something else.
I don’t give it a one star review because there’s nothing inherently bad about this place, but there’s so little good that I just don’t see any reason to ever come here again.

Dog-​friendly which is great! My Zoey was served a water bowl as soon as we arrived. food was great ! Always excellent service when we come here.

I had heard a lot about this place, actually saw it on bar rescue, decided to go and check it out.
Was not impressed, the food was ok but just ok nothing that made me think I should be coming back the day I visited the place it was pretty empty. Maybe it was just a bad day for them.

Last night I saw an episode of Bar Rescue that featured a make over/​rescue of this establishment.
Today since I was near the Grove, I went over to this place to see the «rescue».
What a disappointment. They changed the name back to Sand Bar Grill from Hot Rock Grill. Apparently either the owners of this bar or the producers of Bar Rescue were short changed.
After seeing that episode last nite and how un sanitary that bar was depicted as, I decided it was not worth eating there!
If you really want to know how well a place is taken care of, always check their bathroom. This place has a disgusting bathroom.
I guess Bar Rescue decided not to invest in a bathroom remodel as this place is not worth it!
Don’t go. Run away!

This place was supposedly redecorated and «improved» a few months ago for an upcoming episode of the TV show «Bar Rescue», and according to a few articles that were printed in local media, it was renamed «The Hot Rock» and reopened as a Korean bbq joint.
I’m not certain how long the new name or the new Korean inspired menu lasted, but I can tell you that, after coming here a few times since that show was taped (but has never been aired as of this writing), this place is still pretty much the same Sandbar Grill we’ve all known and loved.
There are some new tables and chairs, they took down a bunch of the crap that was hanging from the ceiling (surfboards and other fishing and nautical stuff), gone as well is the rail that used to be up on the left wall as one entered this place which the ladies were welcome to get up and dance on (I attempted to go up and join some friends once during a pub crawl, and a bouncer came over and nearly ripped me down himself, explaining that the dance rail was for «ladies only»). Instead, that entire wall is now lined with new red leather bench seating. A bunch of the kitchy stuff was taken off the wall and there is now a picket fence looking decorative feature in its place. They also added some LED lighting under the upper shelf bottles behind the bar.
Aside from that, most everything is still the same or has been brought back since the show was filmed… Including the oversized wooden lifeguard chair. Even the speakers with decades of dust on them are still hanging in the same spot, and sadly, the restrooms which really did need attention, never got any love. I guess giving the restroom walls and stall doors a coat of paint and replacing pee stained floor tiles and grout doesn’t make for sexy TV.
The food menu here is decent and though they have the usual deep fried bar foods, many of their offerings are quite good, including their tacos and wraps. Prices are reasonable as well, with things like fish tacos pricing out at $ 3.75, a carne asada beef fajita with chips for $ 10. Large beers and mixed drinks are around $ 4 each, which again is more than reasonable.

I’m a sucker for nostalgia. Sandbar takes me back to my college days when going out 3 – 4 nights a week was a slow week. But oh how you’ve fallen, Sandbar!
This was never a five-​star establishment. Even going in knowing its somewhat of a dive bar, it was never a five-​star dive bar in my eyes. But if I’d written this review a few months back, I’d have given it a strong 3.5 stars.
What changed? For starters, my drinking tolerance — plus, a few months back it underwent a ‘renovation’ — had its name changed for a hot second, then changed back — and then reopened with a ‘new look.‘
It essentially looks the same, except it now sports a crappier décor (Sandbar is SUPPOSED to have tacky beach references like the giant lifeguard stand that’s now gone). The menu stayed the same (except the prices appear a little higher) and the staff is less friendly and less attentive.
The most frustrating part of this so-​called renovation: the bathrooms are still among the most disgusting in Coconut Grove! How can a TV show come in and give it a makeover but leave the broken doors and sticky floors the same? I won’t get over this for awhile.
Since Thursday nights at Sandbar are now a thing of the past, my friends and I had turned to this place for Friday night entertainment: trivia. But in the last few months, a new host has killed the vibe and after the revamp happy hour does not apply to select appetizers ($ 8.99 for a bad quesadilla? I cringe!).
I fear Sandbar is on a slippery slope that could lead to the closure of another staple of my favorite college hangouts!

What hasn’t been said about SandBar? If you’re a Miami Sports Fan you’ve likely ended up here for at least one game (or to drown your sorrows after another heartbreaking Dolphins season.7−9 yeah buddy!)
I was here today after the King Mango Strut to grab a sandwich and refill of the Evil Liquids. I ended up at the bar where despite the huge crowd, my order was prompt from taking the order to bringing my food out. Though it slowed it down a little, I also appreciated when the first bartender said he was getting another employee who was better in making mojitos. The honesty is appreciated and the wait was worth it, since I got a tall glass with a nice pour of rum, sugar and garnishing mint.
The fries that came with my buffalo chicken burger were thick, hot and crispy and a nice helping of extra buffalo sauce for the fries was brought out for me. Speaking of the buffalo chicken sandwich, it was a huge piece of spicy chicken that was larger than the bread. The greens and tomatoes were fresh as well.
Ambiance is very much that cool college bar, with TV’s all over the wall (though, again, with the mighty Dolphins defense, I wasn’t in the mood to watch. Soundtrack is mostly Rock, with some lost 80’s hits thrown in there, like Rush’s ‘Subdivisions’. Oh, and the outside terrace is pet friendly. Definitely one of the better sports bars, sooo maybe for the Heat’s first round in the playoff?

The Sandbar was once a fun bar where I’d go to hangout, drink & party after kickball. Unfortunately, thanks to #BarRescue, that place full of fun memories is gone.
The décor has been replaced with a poor imitation of an upscale bar which is not reflective of the area surrounding it. If that weren’t bad enough they changed the fish taco recipe (among others). I was underwhelmed by the food. I had the tacquitos. They were meh– 3 out of 5 stars. I wasn’t impressed with the renovation or changes to the menu.

So I’m updating my review from 4 years ago, and I’m still going to give it 3 stars.
Sandbar was «Bar Rescued» last week and it re-​opened as «The Hot Rock.» It was supposed to be a Korean BBQ type place, which I didn’t think would work for The Grove, but I was willing to go along with it if it was good. A day after the opening they closed again, only to Re-​open on the following day as «Sandbar» all over again.
Confusing as it all was, I figured if Sandbar got Bar Rescued, there had to have been some sort of cleaning up/​fixing up done to the bar.
Not really the case. It’s almost as if they just hung up some new lights inside and painted everything black and red. But the bathroom (lord knows Sandbar has suffered some crazy bathroom drunken drama shit) still looks exactly the same (shitty and broken) but with one coat of cheap black paint over the stalls that tried to cover the sharpie markings that were all over. The patio also got painted over, but the «Captains Table» to the right of the front still looks worn down with the same wear-​and-​tear furniture. But I blame the show, because they were supposed to fix all that shit up.
At least they kept the same menu which has pretty decent stuff on it. They also kept the happy hour the same, so that’s good too.
I’m just scared to watch the Bar Rescue episode and see some nasty stuff that I would’ve preferred not to have known about.

From Thursday night college debauchery and post-​kickball dancing, to Friday happy hour trivia and Heat watch parties, Sandbar has a special place in my heart.
They have everything a sports bar needs: plenty of drinks (including draft beer served in giant mugs), greasy food and large TVs. During happy hour, drinks are half-​off, as well as some appetizers. My favorite bites from here are the nachos, spinach artichoke dip served in a bread bowl and mozz sticks. It’s nothing fancy but a good pairing with some beer and friends.
The trivia used to be a bit better when the hosts were different a year or so ago… Not to mention, there’s a group (lookin’ at you Grove Boys), that goes every week and always wins the gift cards, although there’s a consolation prize decided by a beer chug-​off. For better of for worse, it’s one of the only trivia games in the area and on a Friday night, often sounds like the best thing to do.
To drink, I usually stick with beer here. The dangerous «Hurricane» drinks you can order on a scale from 1 – 5 depending on how much alcohol you want in it. They’re super sweet and with one sip, you’re securing a hangover the next day. They also have plenty of shots and even some wine (Barefoot).
Now that Duffy’s is in the area, there’s some competition, but the legacy of Sandbar can’t be replicated and for that reason, I find myself here time and time again.

Sandbar is a very casual sports bar in the Grove (can be a little ratched at times). Great atmoshpere for viewing sports games (couple dozens of tvs inside). Seemed to be predominantly college students (UM) and recent alumni.
Bar service was very fast and servers were friendly, despite the hectic restaurant traffic. A lot of draft beers here and interesting hurricane cocktails. The menu items are splendid as well. be sure to try the chicken tenders!
Will be back

Cool casual florida bar. Drinks are strong. Bartender is fast. The outsude is big. Bar tops table have car tires for base. Theres many tv’s.
There is a DJ to liven up you evening. Except, its Saturday night & he was playing break upeak up country music.
Soooo one drink & we out!!!