Pavilion Grille

Hi,

I am an ex-New Yorker who got transplanted to the rural south. Of course, I miss many things, but a good steakhouse is on the top of my list.

Imagine my delight, when I was visiting relatives in Boca Raton and they took me to the Pavilion Grille.

It didn’t look exactly like a New York steak house (no manly, dark woods), but it definitely had the right chops! The creamed spinach alone reminded me of home. The steaks were fabulous and the wine list pretty extensive. Did Peter Lugers suddenly move to Boca?

The décor of the Pavilion Grille was extremely romantic. The music had me ready to do my thing on the dance floor. Too bad all of this was wasted as I was with grandma and grandpa.

I, of course saved room for dessert cause this was a special occasion. Great idea.

So, if you’re a native or a visitor, I’d definitely check the place out when you suddenly feel carnivorous. The Grille does have a few super club events like ballroom dancing and jazz concerts, so make it a party.

The Pavillion Grille was worth the search. It’s located inside a really snazzy office building. Grandma wants my office to arrange a transfer, so we can do lunch there once a week.

Well, you know how grandparents are. Not such a bad idea though. You’d be crazy not to.

Dined there recently, I had the fish and my companion had a pasta dish-we both loved our entree!!. This place is so unique – you sit in a big open area with trees strung with white lights – indoors, but you feel like you are in a park. The service was very good and we stayed for the band, Cachet, who we learned is there twice a month. would recommend Pavilion for those times when you want dining AND entertainment in one place

I have been here several times – they have various live entertainers on any given night (except Saturdays and Sundays when there are weddings and events there). Love their soups and salads – service is always good – you can choose to sit out by the bar or dance floor OR in the more private, quieter dining room. If you’ve never been, I suggest checking it out. Good place to take a lunch group also.

My family (4 adults plus a child) made reservations. Do yourself a favor and avoid this so-called restaurant, especially during holidays. They advertised a Rosh Hashanah dinner for $19.95, which included soup or salad, an entree (Salmon, Chicken or Brisket of Beef), dessert and coffee or tea. Great deal, right? Not so fast!

It took 15 minutes to get waited on, which should have been our first clue of things to come. Let’s cut to the chase. The soup (Matzo Ball) had no resemblance to any that I had…ever. Much too salty, and an indistinguishable base. The Matzo Ball tasted like cardboard. Ugh.

My wife ordered an extra salad ($3 more), but it never came. When the Entrees came (30 minutes later), they were all cold. We had our waiter take it back and 15 minutes later it arrived…again. Luke warm, but we decided not to press our luck.

Every time we asked for something (like bread, horseradish sauce, etc.), I had to chase down our waiter, and each time, he kept walking away from us, ignoring my calls to him to come back to the table. As the evening progressed, he seemed to get more difficult to find and indeed, to communicate with. His attitude was exemplified by this statement to, “what’s wrong now”? He was very rude and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that this was his first (and hopefully, last) job as a waiter.

We ordered dessert (apple cobbler) and 15-20 minutes later, I used my cell phone to call the restaurant. I told the person who answered that we were at table 9, and were wondering what ever happened to our dessert? Get the picture? When I asked my waiter what happened to the dessert, he told me that we weren’t the only ones in the restaurant that they were taking care of groups in various rooms. I remarked that it appeared that the restaurant wasn’t competent to take care of customers, to which he uttered that he disagreed with me, and simply walked away. I called him back (had to shout), and he said, “what’s the problem”? Was he kidding?

We never did get our dessert, we were charged for the salad that was never delivered, and were simply ignored by a woman walking around, peering at the tables, and who might have been a manager or assistant manager.

My son-in-law finally found a manager and got him to take one meal off the check, as well as the salad we never received. In addition, he removed the obligatory 20% service charge (since the so-called service we received was nothing short of dreadful).

I should mention that two people at the next table (a woman and her mother) were also disgusted with the food and the service, and on the way out, remarked that they would never come back to the Pavilion Grille. Another couple at a table close to ours were not too happy about their chicken entrée, which they complained was undercooked. Get the picture?

Never, never again. The Pavilion Grille is on top of our “Restaurants to Avoid” list.