Chart House

Over priced, poor service and bad food. Don’t waste your time or money. We went here 5 years ago and it was so good we ate there twice on our vacation. This time was a big disappointment.

This place is pricey. We were seated on time. Steaks and salads were good. Salad bar no longer included with entrees. Service was slow. Waterfront view was beautiful.

While vacationing on Lido Key, I visited the Chart House twice and had two outstanding experiences.
Location: Situated at the beginning of Longboat Key. There is outside dining as well as a very nice dining room. Beautiful sunsets too!
Menu– A variety of seafood items as well as several non-​seafood entrees. In addition, there is a salad bar that has many options. We chose to get the salad bar to start. For my meal, both times I ordered the Blackened Salmon with a combination of crab and lobster topping. It was excellent and was very pleased with how the salmon was cooked. My date, ordered the filet both times and he said his was outstanding. For dessert, we got the lava cake. This cake has to be ordered 30 minutes in advance of dessert. It was a good plan by us! It was so yummy!
Service: Both times service was excellent.
If in the area, I highly recommend this restaurant.

Not what I expected food was okay. The view was nice and service was good but the food was cold. I would not go back. Would go to the Fin and Claw at the Circle.

We have dined here twice
Both times the food was good
The service was commendable
The first time was before 6pm and the prices were comparable
The second time we went at 7:15
Same food but double the price, not worth it
I just don’t think dinner for 4 with two drinks each is worth $ 260

First time here. Came highly recommend and specifically for the early bird special menu. It didn’t disappoint and the inclusion of the salad bar made it a decent value. The cod, salmon and shrimp scampi were all very good and more than adequate portions. The view is great and nice up scale atmosphere. That said I can’t imagine paying the full menu prices which were mostly $ 30+. I just wouldn’t see it as a good value at that price. Lava cake was outstanding.

Awesome place love the food here
Very friendly staff
Classy place I come, often when I come visit my family

We went here on a recommendation to try the chocolate lava cake and we were not disappointed. The chocolate lava cake has to be one of the best desserts in the area for chocolate lovers. The service was excellent, the atmosphere is very nice and open, and we did not have to wait too long (10 – 15 mins) for the delicious dessert to come out freshly made. We will definitely be back for a full dinner next time.

I visited this place for dinner back in October with my sister and niece and niece’s bridal party. The food was fresh and delicious and it was a gorgeous view. They also had a huge salad bar I was impressed with. The cocktails were delicious and they had a great wine selection. I liked the modern ambiance, this town tends to lack that vibe.

the last 2 times (in January) my visits have been incredible. Efficient service (even though it was packed), oncee sitting inside and once outside. Both times the servers were women. I was greeted in a timely manner, and beverages and food were delivered in what i say is an appropriate time frame.
I was visiting last night, found a table outside, apparently a private party just left. Server was busy, but there were several outside… seemed like good team effort, as well as manager in dapper bow tie bussing, and working the dining room. Server was fantastic, repeated order, was available. Our bottle of wine was delivered promptly. And after that everything came to a hault. The spinach salad took 30 minutes, and drink was close to 15 minutes.

Love the Happy Hour! Get there early and you eat so much, that’s your dinner! Beat the Snow Bird Rush and the drinks and snacks are wonderful!

Our food experience started out good and quickly became fairly disappointing. I think this restaurant must have been better one upon a time. The cheese board was good, the bar drinks were average, the entrée was disappointing and the desserts were also average. I really was in the mood for a fantastic fine dining experience based on the prices and the Chart House fell very short. My biggest disappointment was the entrée which was bland a poorly presented. The purple potatoes were cold and presented like a smear across the plate. A purple food item smeared across the plate is less than appealing to start with and not very tasty served cold. The fish was tastless and my husband has had better steaks at Ruby Tuesday. The service was good but slow due restaurant being busy.

Had had a bad service, bad food experience a number of years ago on Christmas Day and had avoided the place. However, took a chance and made reservations for Christmas lunch and glad we did.
Front desk staff both pleasant and efficient, seated at appointed reservation time. Server, Stephanie, was over and above. Friendly and helpful with menu suggestions. Whole family was please with the meal from seafood to steak. Well prepared and nice presentation. Had not been to a salad bar in while but glad I did. Deserts both lava cake and mud pie were finished off.
Will give them another chance to impress.

Had a 7pm reservation and we were not seated until 7:45pm. What is the point of making a reservation?!
Ordered the Thanksgiving special with pumpkin pie and they ran out of pumpkin pie so they gave us 2 little slithers of pecan pie. Ugh!

I’m glad I didn’t heed the recent negative reviews of Chart House and opted to go here for my and my husband’s night out during a family vacation. I’ve been coming to this location for over 20 years and was disappointed to read it may be going downhill.
Yes, the interior is dated and needs some work. So what? It’s clean and well-​kept, which to me, matters more than wallpaper and sconces. And the view is simply unbeatable.
Our food and service was exceptional from walking in the door to driving away. My husband ordered the Beef Carpaccio appetizer (no raw meat for this pregnant lady), and even though the server was upfront about it not being a bestseller, he enjoyed it. I ordered New England Clam Chowder which was again, exceptional when compared to the others I’d had at various restaurants during our trip.
The Snapper Hemingway was out of this world and exceeded any expectations I had. I honestly do not even remember what my husband got — perhaps the flounder — which was tasty, but didn’t come close to the snapper!
If you have/​had a subpar meal, consider simply asking the servers what other people order AND enjoy! We did that for every step of the meal and it paid off.
P. S. I didn’t order it this trip, but I’m assuming the Hot Chocolate Lava Cake is still deliciously worthy. Order it!!!

Disappointed with this upscale and expensive restaurant. The waterfront setting is beautiful but the interior is a little dated. We had dinner on a Saturday night with another couple and none of us were impressed. Salad bar was just ok. I had baked stuffed shrimp that was not good at all. My husband had the Mahi and said good but not worth the price. Our friends had filet and snapper that was again just ok. Green beans were over cooked and drenched in butter and mashed potatoes very dry. The lava cake was the best part of the dinner.
I don’t mind paying high prices for a dinner but I should walk out saying «that was really worth it». Unfortunately The Chart House did not accomplish that. With all the amazing restaurants in the Sarasota area, we won’t be returning to The Chart House.

We have eaten here several times and have always been satisfied with our experience. Wait staff is very friendly even if at times we were slightly underdressed coming from the beach. The food and atmosphere are very good. And the salad bar is one of my family’s favorites.
There’s a very nice well-​stocked bar. Outdoor seating is also available, but in the summertime the air conditioning is preferred.
Molten lava cake for dessert a must.

We were staying at the Long Boat Key Resort down the street and my concierge made us the reservations. We arrived to our reserved VIP table, which we just loved and made us feel so special. Drinks, appetizers, dinner, and dessert were all amazing! We had the shrimp appetizer and I had the King Salmon with the shrimp avocado corn salsa topper and it was delicious! Afterwards, we all shared the lava cake for dessert — another fabulous pick! We went towards the end of August (low season) and we had a table with a wonderful view and the restaurant was not very crowded, which was nice.

It had been a long time since visiting the Chart House. They switched their concept in Ft Myers some time ago to Joes Crabshack. :(
We went with friends celebrating her 8 year anniversary with our company. They did a solid job, like many restaurants in the past few years they have curbed their approach a bit to attract the masses. Service not quite as sharp and attention to detail not emphasized such as refills, prebus, and fresh spices available when meal arrives. I only mention these things because of the price point which dictates excellence in service.
Pre meal salad bar was very good, we noticed a lady needing help there too and staff seemed oblivious. All foods fresh and tasty. The meals themselves were enjoyed by all. Salmon, tuna, filet, and short ribs. Enjoyed an excellent bottle of Stag Cabernet. Plenty of selection. Overall great experience, especially company we were with. Get rid of Joes, revamp and open back as Chart House, you would do much better cause Joes is awlful.

This is a bit critical, but it is how I feel.
I will start by saying the ambiance was very nice!
Next, about our meal choices:
Calamari «and friends» appetizer – 2 sauces: watery sweet chilli kinda of sauce which needed to be gooey-​er & marinara sauce which needed more spice (it was like they poured it out of a store bought spaghetti sauce jar). The calamari was overcooked. Also, the «and friends» were battered & fried vegetables along with some sweet potato chips which were also dry. I would like to suggest that The Chart House look to Mattison’s Calamari dish for something to aspire towards.
Blackened Grouper – the blackened grouper was absolutely overcooked and dry. For a split second I even thought it might be chicken! The Chart House is supposed to be a SEAFOOD upscale restaurant! The quality of the seafood should take precedence above all else! Next, I opted for a side of sweet potato that came with a rum butter – the presentation was a squished up small potato, though the potato good. I also had a side of asparagus bc they were out of the ginger coconut rice, and the asparagus was very bland! They should have added spices our drizzled with a delicious sauce…
Chicken Romano – chicken was dry with no flavor. Mashed potatoes were decent – like the kind you can get from the refrigerator section in the grocery store. They need some pizazz! It’s a frickin’ upscale restaurant! The asparagus was cold.
Hands down, the salad bar was the best part of our meal. It was very clean and fresh and yummy. Not exotic… similar to Ruby Tuesday.
The service was fair. Our server reluctantly asked questions about the salad bar, after 1^st advising us to go and address our own questions to the chef by the salad bar. Even Ruby Tuesday addresses all guests’ questions – including questions about the salad bar! She refilled our beverages and checked on us, which was good. I think their wait staff could be more genuinely warm and graciously attentive… as if it were their own well-​like family members.
Lastly, I am thankful that they credited is for the blackened grouper. But more than retroactively pleasing your guests by making up for issues, I would prefer that The Chart House would proactively improve their food by how it is cooked and even design food choices with wow-​factor (making them stand apart from what I can buy on my own from the grocery store), and somehow address the culture at the restaurant where the norm for their wait-​staff is to be genuinely warm, helpful and attentive.
The ambiance is stellar, but that can only carry you so far.