Cugini Grill

It is more than hit or miss. It is tragic. The Sat night we were there the manager sat at the bar all night drinking — we know because of the poor service and food we asked to talk to him and the server pointed to a guy at the bar and said thats him — good luck. The server in training finally got
my husbands steak cooked properly when our server shrugged his shoulders at us. It is a good location — the menu has something for everyone but no one works at this place and it shows. Whoever the owner is must need a loss. Nothing else can explain why you would operate a place this way. Stay home order a pizza or eat McDonalds — don’t go

Scam artists, in addition to terrible service, with attitude and lack of pace, and below average food.
I ordered a $ 50 bottle of super tuscan wine, and the waitress brings over a bottle of already-​opened blended wine (80% mertlot and 20% of some other unfamiliar varietal). While apologizing that the wine we selected was not available, waitress advised that the «sommelier» had recommended the most similar wine — that was much more expensive, but they would only charge us the original $ 50. I tasted the blend, and it was way too sweet. Merlot tastes nothing like super tuscan, in general. I felt a little guilty, however, sending the wine back after it had already been opened before I had a chance to inspect it. Getting over the guilty position I should never have been put in in the first place, I sent the blend back; abd she brings another merlot that wasn’t as sweet so we kept it in an effort to get our night moving along and maybe get some actual food on our table. Again, we were assured that were getting such a bargain on a much more expensive wine.
The appetizers wer very slow to arrive, there was no dressing on the salad, the portions were miniature, etc. Entrees were just average.
Later in the evening, I observe the wine switcheroo going on at other tables, so I decide to hunt down a wine list on another table. As suspected, both of the substitute wines were only $ 45. The bill comes and we got charged $ 50. Granted it was only $ 5, but we were lied to repeated; and then were given major attitude … I mean major attitude when we questioned it.
Never going back.

Dinner was a disappointment. We have been here before and enjoyed it but not this time. Three out of four of us disliked our meal. The service was fair, one meal was brought over much later than the other three. When we complained we got attitude from the waiter. We will not be going back

Bad food. Bad service. Bad attitudes. Tough, cold steak. Side not what I ordered. The bread came after the entrée. Too many good restaurants to waste your time and money on this garbage scow.

I guess this place is just a miss or hit kind of deal. We definitely got lucky compared to other people stating in their reviews.
Upon arriving we decided to wait on a outdoor table. It took a few minutes so we sat by the bar to have a fruity drink. Our first pick was a mango mojito but bartender stated they did not have mango rum. (bummer) so we went with the passion fruit mojito instead. First time to try passion fruit and I have to say it was pretty good. While sitting at the bar I could not help to notice how empty this place was. Not much business going on compared to other restaurants across the street. This place is definitely missing a «wow» factor.
Anyways, our table was finally ready. The weather outside was perfect for dinner outside. The music was a bit too loud so we had to request it to be turned down a bit. Good music though.
Menu: My friend kept mentioning how great the Fried Artichoke were so we ordered that and Fried Calamari for appetizers. The Fried Artichoke consist of French Sautéed Egg Dipped Artichoke Hearts, Sherry Wine Butter Sauce, and Angel Hair. It was really good and the calamari was tasteful!
For dinner I was not too hungry so we decided to share a dish. We ordered the Blackened Mahi Mahi it consist of Blackened Mahi Mahi„ Green Beans, and Mango Salsa. Two thumbs up for those green beans it was my favorite.
Service from our waiter «G» was great. I have no complaints about him. He was attentive and made sure we had everything we needed. Perhaps he was that attentive since we were the only ones in the restaurant? not sure but he did a great job!

Shame I had to leave 1 star. Worst food and service ever. Quite frankly I’m amazed this restaurant is still in business. The service was about the worst I’ve ever experienced considering its prime location. The server would disappear for 20 mins at a time and appetizers took an hour to arrive. Drinks were expensive and the food was terrible. I ordered a medium cooked hamburger that arrived completely rare. I had heard the steaks were bad but if you can’t cook a simple hamburger you’ve got problems. Stay away at all costs.

Well we went there three times, each time they had an excuse as to why we had to wait so long (45 minutes) for our food when there were barely any customers, than another 20 minutes to bring our check.
the waiter was clueless of the menu, the manager is obnoxious.
no wonder the place is very seldom full, even when other restaurants on the strip have people waiting.
they do make a good martini though.

Had a good mahi mahi sandwich for lunch with nice steak fries. My wife enjoyed the chopped salad with olives and proschutto. Both were very good and the outdoor seating is above average for Delray Beach. Lunch and view for two (no drinks) was only $ 30 with tip.

The service here and the martini’s are definitely on point. However, I was quite disappointed with my steak. I usually worry about dining alone but I wasn’t treated any differently which I appreciated.
However, the steak could use some improvement. I ordered a fillet mignon medium which according to their menu said «Pink Center». I ended up getting something that was along the line of well done to the point that the steak was dry. Totally disappointed.

Just had an early bird dinner here. The caeser salad was very good. I had the pork chops which was large with excellent vegetable and potato
wife had sole stuffed with crab which was excellent. The service was consistent. Music quiet and pleasant. Not too many diners before 7.
My wife liked her meal better but it probably was just what we ordered and not how it was prepared.

A few months ago, after an horrific dining experience at Cugini Grill, I called the owners, Debbie or Joe, to discuss our experience. Although it took five phone calls to talk to one of them, Joe did assure me that our miserable experience (see below) was an isolated incident and would not happen again. He promptly sent me a $ 50 gift certificate and urged me to come back. I promised I would refrain from writing a negative review on Unilocal until I gave them a second chance. The 2^nd experience was also not good. Albeit, not quite as horrific as the 1^st experience.
Here’s what happened TWO MONTHS AGO — Our server, Burt yelled at us. I know it should be unheard of but a server yelled at a customer — me!
It was 5:30pm on a Sunday. We were one of only two couples in the restaurant. When we arrived, we were seated promptly and our drinks were served efficiently. My husband ordered the crab/​corn chowder and I ordered a Caesar salad w/​dressing on the side. We watched as our soup and salad were made and brought to the pass. We sat for about 20 minutes while Burt disappeared. Finally, he emerged and brought our appetizers.
My husband’s soup was room temperature and a skin had formed on top. My Caesar salad arrived w/​dressing tossed in — not on the side, as I had ordered it. Burt assured me that the dressing was light and it would be to my liking. I agreed to «try it.» My husband sent back his soup.
After about 10 more minutes, Burt returned — not with hot soup but with an explanation. He said the soup is supposed to be served room temperature because it’s very spicy. His story was that spicy soups need to be served at room temperature so the heat does not overwhelm. My husband then decided to forgo the soup. I had tried my Caesar salad but it was drenched in dressing. I couldn’t eat it and asked Burt to bring me a new one w/​the dressing on the side. I was taken aback when Burt got angry raising his voice at me. He told me that I was wasting his time and now he had to go back to the kitchen again. He was upset because I didn’t send it back initially (I had tried to). He insisted that the dressing was light and that it was fine.
At this point, my husband jumped in and told Burt to bring us our check for the drinks — we were going to elsewhere. Then Burt redirected his anger from me to my husband and raised his voice again. He kept repeating the same thing, «Why? What did I do? Why? What did I do?» And my husband had to repeat several times, «It’s just not working out. Please bring our check.» But after a repeating himself about three times, my husband just stopped talking while Burt kept insisting on an answer. Finally after getting nothing but silence from us, he brought the check. But instead of handing it to my husband, he jabbed it into my husband’s hand. I was shaking when we finally left the restaurant.
Here’s what happened LAST NIGHT — With gift certificate in hand, we walked into Cugini Grille last night at 9:45pm for dinner. The restaurant was mostly empty. We did find it odd since it was Saturday night. Vic & Angelo’s, the restaurant next door had a 1 hour wait.
Our dinner began uneventfully. Our server, Mitch, was pleasant. Again, my husband ordered the same soup (crab/​corn chowder) and I ordered the Caesar salad with dressing on the side. The chowder was served at an appropriate temperature and my salad was perfect. The salad was excellent but the chowder was nothing special.
As we were waiting for our tapas to arrive, servers began moving tables from the middle of the restaurant. Apparently the restaurant turns into a disco at 10PM. So much for our quiet romantic dinner… no one told us about the disco when we were seated for dinner!
Mitch was very gracious when we asked to be moved to the outside seating where it was quieter (even though there was a steady flow of passersby). While I didn’t mind the fact that it was 90 degrees outside (yes, even at that hour), I don’t like cigarette smoke especially while eating. Once situated, we found we were surrounded by smokers. Good grief!
The next tapas were the spring rolls and beef Carpaccio. The spring rolls were good — not great. The beef Carpaccio was good, although not among the best I’ve eaten.
Oh no! The servers opened the windows of the restaurant. There was no way to get away from the discothèque!
The quesadillas, the last of the tapas, finally arrived as 5 pie shaped pieces. The outside of the quesadillas wasn’t a traditional tortilla but some sort of dough. 2 of the 5 pieces had no filling. The 3 middle sections had chicken/​cheese but tasted so dry. The quesadillas were drizzled w/​a balsamic sauce but no salsa was provided. This was the worst quesadillas I had ever been served. There just wasn’t a point to say anything to Mitch. We just wanted to get the check and leave.
There are some places where the food is good and the ambiance isn’t. There are others that the ambiance is good but the food isn’t. Cugini Grill missed on both counts.
CLOSED

An escape from the corporate cubicle ghetto.
All day training class for work. (eyes roll round– eek, not one of those!).
In Delray, near the beach? (eyes pop open).
Lunch and Dinner breaks. Expense report? (mouth begins to water).
Had an early dinner on a weeknight here with work mates. Looked at the menu outside –saw the word Martini. Oh– waiiiter?
We ordered a bunch of small plates. All very well prepared and a lovely presentation. Very attentive service.
The Tuna Tartare was fantastic — tasty fresh cubes, incredibly fresh and buttery, with a lovely seaweed salad. The seafood chowder was spicy good — and crème fraîche swirls really made the difference. My friends had a crab cocktail that was ok — nice size. I can’t remember the other plates because my tuna and chowder were so satisfying (eyes closed in contentment). Wait. it was Carpaccio — multo buono!
I do remember my friends luv luv luved the bread. It was very fresh — but they were obsessed enough to order 3 bread basket refills? (eyes squint in confusion).
I ended up skipping the martini — they have a nice little selection of those — but nothing out of the ordinary. I chose a Lemon Drop instead — several in fact (eyes roll back in delight). Would be a nice place to come for a little date near the beach. Great little meal.
I love my job.

I’m not a big martini drinker, but I heard great things about Cugini’s martinis so I was excited to try them out. They were excellent! My boyfriend opted for a traditional vodka martini and I tried a couple of the flavored ones. Delicious!
We had the crabcakes for an appetizer and they were wonderful. He got the steakhouse salad for his meal and was very happy with his choice. I got the chicken gorgonzola fettucini and it was just okay. I was expecting something a little more memorable.
We skipped dessert and got more martinis instead. My boyfriend has had some of the desserts here before and said they were pretty tasty. Maybe we’ll get one next time.
Overall, the service was absolutely wonderful. The drinks were good and the food on the whole was delicious. I’m looking forward to going back and trying a different dish!