I have been wanting to try Garcia’s for years. After all it is on Michelle Bernstein’s top ten list and she gave it rave reviews. I did a little homework before going and read other people’s reviews and I have to say they were mixed. I have to side with the thumbs down side.

The restaurant is located at 498 NW North River Drive. Even with Map Quest and GPS it is not the easiest to find.

They bill themselves as having the highest quality of fresh fish.

The restaurant is pretty dumpy. If you can score an outside table overlooking the river it may be a little more pleasant. When we finally got our table and ordered , we waited one hour for our food to arrive. The Mojito’s weren’t bad, but wines by the glass were very limited. They serve you this white fish dip in a  disposable condiment plastic container with some saltines. It was not very appealing. The shrimp cocktails were just ordinary, the grilled conch was tough and salty, and they forgot our guests order of ceviche. When it finally came it was so spongy and bland tasting that it was left uneaten.

The main courses were a tad better. The grilled shrimp were nice, the Black Sea Bass with Cilantro wasn’t bad but you couldn’t taste any cilantro, and the Mahi Mahi in a creamy yellow pepper sauce was okay. To make up for waiting an hour for our meal they sent over a skinny piece of Key Lime pie that was not very good. It just tasted like a tart can of condensed milk.

What I don’t understand is the place was packed. They don’t take reservations so you have to wait to get a seat in this very casual, dirty restaurant. It looked like they hadn’t cleaned the floors in days. The filthy restrooms were an embarrassment.

I will use my late fathers line , ” I have been here 2 times, my first  time and my last time”

Not recommend

Happy dining,

Shanea

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