visited Aruba June 26 - July 3 2004

Texas de Brazil -- They told us there was a 40 minute wait so we went to the bar. After an hour we noticed we were the only ones in the bar. When I went out to the hostess she said they called us. How could they not know who we were if we were the only ones in the bar? Should have walked out after that but went ahead. They said they would comp the 4 drinks we had ordered. Later, when we got the bill, they tried to charge us for two of them. Then they argued about taking coupons, but finally agreed to. Nice salad bar, but food not worth the price and not good service. It makes me appreciate El Gaucho, which I was never impressed with, but now I see the value in, especially after a $35 per person price tag here.

Smokey Joes -- Can you believe it happened again??? Told us 15 minute wait so we went to bar. About 35 minutes later noticed that people were walking up and being seated off street. I went to hostess who claimed they called us. Now one thing u need to know is that the hostess station is maybe 20 feet from the bar and the bar only seats 6. How difficult were we to find? The answer is that they were too lazy to find us. We walked out and did not eat there but they got our money for drinks. Got me there guys!

Salt and Pepper -- To the rescue! After the above debacle we gave this place a try. Glad we did. Great service, good food, reasonable prices. They saved our night. Thank you very much! Also, right adjacent there is a cafe type place where we had dessert. Not sure the name but the staff wears bright red and yellow apparel, mostly Dutch staff. The service was great and friendly and strudel excellent.

Buccaneer -- A favorite of ours. Good value, Good atmosphere. Cannot go wrong.

Old Cunucu House -- Had never tried it in 3 previous Aruba trips, but this is a great place to go when you really want that quiet, away from the resorts and people experience. Nice setting in a residential area in Noord. Attentive service. Very good food. Quiet.

Mirandi -- A very Flying Fishbone-esque restaurant. The only difference to me is that these tables are not actually on the beach almost in the water. Other than that, about the same. Great service, very good food, very reasonable value. Nice place to watch sunset. Between town and airport. Nice decor and atmosphere, a bit of buzz from bar, but not loud at all. Just right.

Madam Janette -- Had never tried it but heard the buzz about it. Beautiful setting. Great for couples or a pair of couples. Similar atmosphere to marandi but laid out a bit different and not on the water. Quaint decor. Food was excellent what I ate, which was not much because of sunburn. But the staff was so good in re-filling my water about 20 times from all the water i was drinking for my sunburn. Thanks!

King Ribs -- Tried this place for lunch. Glad we did. Excellent barbeque, especially for the price. 17 bucks will get you a hearty meal for two and they also have salads and combo platters which are bigger and cost more. The ribs are much better than De Palm island if you have had those. Chicken is excellent. The offer a range of sizes of meals for different apetites and that is in their favor.

McDonalds, Wendy's, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, etc. -- Pretty much the same as the states in case you were wondering.

Hopefully no one was!

Thanks for the reviews, it's unfortunate you had those bad experiences, but we learn from everything that happens to us. We're trying MJ's this year, most of what we've heard is excellent - the only complaints usually center around the service, especially when it's busy. We go in Sept, so I imagine we'll have less trouble with crowds. Thanks again!

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Thanks, Mirage. We were thinking of TDB for this trip but your review is making us lean toward Amazonia.

(Maybe we should start a business in Aruba selling those blinking buzzing hockey puck pagers they give you at places like Outback.)

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We went to the Outer Banks this weekend for the holiday, and we went out to dinner one night at a very crowded restaurant. When we put our name on the waiting list for a table, they handed me a shell to hold. I asked why, and they said 'so we can find you' . No blinking or vibrating, just a shell . We waited about an hour, and when I went back and asked for an update they took my shell and sat us. Now there's a system that could use some tinkering!

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SeaGull...they already have them at El Gaucho.

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"These are a few of my favorite things"
...Elisa
defecting to St. Thomas 5/24-5/31/08, Lauderdale by the Sea 2/4-2/11/09; St. Croix Oct. '09!

mirage - thanks for the info. Was going to go to Texas de Brazil, think I will stick with El Gaucho.

kevin -
where at Outer Banks? I vacationed for 15 years at Emerald Isle (with all my in-laws ) until my mother in law had a stroke. Was never given a shell, though. We loved NC for the most part- clean water, fresh seafood, not populated. But they did not like us "yankees" too much.

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Corrine, we stay in Nags Head/Kill Devil Hills area. We don't like the crowds you see at VA Beach, Ocean City MD, and Myrtle, so we stay there where it's much less crowded and the beaches are beautiful - and the fishing's phenomenal!

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Will keep that area in mind! My daughter misses our NC beach trips so much. Now we always go to Chapel Hill where mom-in-law lives.

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We went to TDB in May. Had 6:30 reservation and when we arrived they said the ice man never showed up so they couldn't put out the salad bar. Suggested we wait in the bar along with a large crowd. So we went to the bar and ordered 2 glasses of white sangria. Guess what? The bartender said, "Oh, I was off today and didn't have time to make any white sangria." How can you offer something on your menu and not take the time to make something as simple as sangria. By this time, I was so fed up and wanted to leave but the hostess was hovering over us and saying, relax, you're on vacation. The ice arrived about 15 minutes later and they sat everyone. We like their food but the place is poorly run.

- I'm sorry, Kevin. I'm sure that was annoying. But your post made me laugh out loud.

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Yeah, it made me laugh too - we'll probably go again just to see if the same thing happens again

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