My wife and I were excited to visit Aqua Grill after eating there last time we were in Aruba a few years ago. The experience was quite disappointing.
First, we were saddled with a trainee server who was not being supervised properly by the lead...server. This resulted in a wait of 20 minutes between our appetizer and dinner, and another wait of 20 minutes between our dinner and dessert. We were there for almost 2 1/2 hours for really what should have been a 1 1/2 hour meal. We tried to get our server’s attention several times, but she was almost always at the server’s console across the room staring at the ordering computer.
Second, the physical condition of the restaurant was also disappointing. We were seated next to an exterior window that had been hit with something and was heavily damaged. The windows themselves were filthy, looking like they hadn’t been cleaned in months. There was a glass wall with an automatic opener separating the front part of the restaurant from the back part of the restaurant that was not working and in fact had the guts of the automatic opening device just sitting there exposed. In the parking lot right at the entry there was a big pane of glass (weirdly, not a replacement pane for the one that was broken near our table) sitting on a support with a tarp haphazardly draped over part of it, as well as a long, open crate with some parts sitting in it. The reality is that when you’re charging $18 - $26 USD for an appetizer, $40 - $60 USD for an entree and $11 - $14 for a dessert, details matter. And leaving your restaurant in various states of disrepair is never a good look.
Finally, the food. We ate shrimp, salmon and chicken. It was adequate, nothing special, and the portion sizing was quite small relative to the pricing. At the price point being charged there are many other restaurants in that section of Aruba that are much better value for the money and much better physically maintained.More