Barton G

We made our reservations and arrived on time. We ordered the NY steak and Mac and cheese it was out of this world and the presentation outrageously cute and the dessert was a brownie with ice cream inside a treasure chest awesome.

This was probably one of the worst experiences I have ever had in a restaurant! It was 5 of us, for my friend’s birthday. We are locals to Miami and have seen and heard about the plating and artistic talents of the chef. We figured we were in for an experience! Let me start by saying that our waiter, Rolando (which resigned tonight) was great, courteous and genuinely helpful.
The visit started very well: We started off with 2 martinis (a little pricy but we were in Miami beach so it was expected): budaliccious and dirty vodka. Made very well. As appetizers — the kobe beef sliders were a great pick! Very tasty, juicy meat and nicely toasted bun. Beautifully presented.
My sister and I decided to shared the special of the day (way too much for one person) — 38oz rib eye with 2 Maine lobster tails, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts and cherry tomatoes.
The plating was beautiful, lobster tails and Brussels sprouts were cooked well; however, the rib eye was over cooked. I had asked for medium-​rare, and received a well-​done steak. I don’t usually complain, but I felt it would not be a problem… Immediately, I kindly and respectfully asked the waiter to check with the chef because the meat was over-​cooked. The chef must have wanted proof, so the waiter had to collect all the pieces of meat to bring to the kitchen; a little tacky but not an problem. It’s not like we were eating the steak either way.
Things started to get interesting when the waiter returned with a flashlight to show me the slight pink area in one of the slices of the meat — which honestly was barely visible on the one center slice — that one slice: Medium-​well, at most.
After several back and forth from the kitchen, the general manager comes to our table and plainly tells us that: although he did not see the steak, his chef said the steak was cooked to perfection, as ordered, and did not understand why he needed to give me another steak. Considering this plate was over $ 220, I explained AGAIN why I was not happy with the steak. I felt as if the manager was calling me a liar, using large vocabulary to try to control the situation. I continued to speak respectfully, yet was very assertive. I told the manager that I was completely flabbergasted by the situation. I could not understand how in this 5-​star restaurant in Miami beach, he could be arguing with me about an obviously over-​cooked steak. Seriously, even McDonald’s makes you another burger if there is a problem. The general manager actually started to blame the waiter in front of us. Saying the waiter did not explain to us how a medium-​rare steak was supposed to look like and therefore it was the waiter’s fault not his. By this point, I was very annoyed — you do not need to have a pHD in steaks to tell the difference between well done and medium-​rare. And the fact that the general manager did not see the steak come out (or back into the kitchen), yet still had the face to come to the table and tell me I was wrong, was ridiculous. Especially when my original steak was obviously already in the trash.
No doubt this general manager tries to skip out and prey on tourists that just don’t have the energy to deal with the situation.
I felt insulted, on-​edge and very uncomfortable. It was just plain tacky.
Not the way I expected the general manager of this highly-​sought out restaurant to make me (or anyone) feel. After all this — and 45mins later — the manager gave us another rib eye, which we took home considering we were all emotionally and mentally pooped out. We didn’t even have dessert for the birthday girl.
After all the rave of this restaurant — I have to rate it 1 star — for the appetizer and the waiter. However, I will not ever return nor will I recommend this restaurant to anyone, especially those visiting Miami. No need for this experience!
*** A few hours later —
I could not believe this! I got home and decided to see how the steak was cooked the second time. After everything I figured the «pretentious» General Manager and/​or «absent» Quality Control Manager would make sure that the steak was medium-​rare (if not rare).
I do not know why I was thinking positively — the steak was again medium-​well!
I can’t help but to chuckle and give up guys! You shouldn’t have to go through this mission for a nice (and $$$) steak dinner with friends. There are plenty of other places in Miami beach that will not argue over a steak… And have great food and management.

The place is really about the show. Food can be good but varies a lot. Service is professional but trained to cross-​sell and upswell the whole time. And can be pricey — for example the special cocktails the waiter tried to get us excited about were $ 27 each. Not a bad place to check out but would not do more than once.