My wife and I are long time customers of R.J. Gators in Stuart, FL. After the hurricanes they shut down the one at the corner of Indian Street and US1 and built their own freestanding one a couple of miles south. This is also about 2 miles from our house and very convenient...we like their outdoor patio seating.
When the new restaurant was opened, it definitely was a step up from the old one..and traffic showed customer appreciation of the new facility. For a while it was a joy to go there.....then strange things started happening and rumors started to flow. First was that as the Top shelf liquor was consumed it wasn't replaced. Then there were a flurry of traffic building 'stunts'. Poker nite, trivia nite, DJ Night, Customer loyalty card. Heard ( and let me emphasize that is was a rumor and hearsay) that they had an arrangement to build a new gators in Tradition and were essentially skimming the take from Stuart to pay for setting it up. Then that fell thru over financial negotiations with gators taking a very substantial loss.(end of rumor).
Food quality seems to have been deteriorating. I had a steak in there a month ago or so that was comparable to when my wife, who was a vegetarian, bought me several from one of these guys that run around neighborhoods with a cooler in the back of their truck selling "excess inventory" that had been left on their truck!!! You know the kind I mean...very fatty, poor cut and pumped full of tenderizers .
Lately there has been the manager merry go round where it seems that managers only last a few weeks. And rumors once again (from the wait staff) that he operation is leaking money from inventory shrinkage.
Last Thursday night my wife was at a meeting in Miami so I headed out to have dinner there. Was surprised to find that the triva contest had been shut down but it seemed to be drawing fewer customers of late ...and all the regular bartenders fired... Sat with a friend that I used to play trivia with. When she went to leave, she tried to pay with a $15.00 gift certificate that we had won playing trivia. First the new bartender doesn't know how to deal with it....had to take it to a manager I hadn't seen before....then refused it because the amount was written on the back of one of their free entrée certificates(which state that another entrée has to be ordered). I had just had dinner so I gave her the $15 and used it on my meal. When I went to pay my tab with this gift certificate and my customer loyalty card...the bartender had to chase the manager down again ( he was too busy pouring free cuervo shooters for a bunch of bikers and didn't want to be bothered.) He snatched up the gift certificate and my gator's card, rang them through and left with my gators card. When I asked for it back he claimed that it had already been returned. I then asked for a copy of my receipt...first he said he didn't have to give me one. Then he wadded up and threw the copy that they waiter leaves on your table (this one does not show it being paid.) When I again pressed for my card....he told the bartender to cut me off and told me to finish my beer and leave. Didn't bother to finish it.... So in effect he stole about $27.00 (my credit balance) on my loyalty card....thought about calling the cops just on principle..they would have laughed it off....however if he did it again it would be on record....All in all a very nasty experience. And I definitely wont be back. If you enjoy relaxing dining I invite you to make the same choice.
and here is a pic of the Thief that claimed he was the manager