Reviews for Oasis

01/29/2011 - David
I was a customer of The Oasis Restaurant on 41st Street, Miami Beach, for four years or longer, and I always liked going there. It's within walking distance of where I live, the service was good, and there was a vegetarian dish which I liked: curried tofu and vegetable stir-fry. Also, they had an interesting selection of beers.

Then the restaurant changed hands. The new owner presumably thinks he personally knows how to cook better than the cooks who used to work there, because he's now in the kitchen. I ordered the same curry stir-try that I'd been ordering for four years, but didn't taste of anything. Obviously the new owner had completely forgotten to add the spices. I sent the dish back, and he prepared another for me, but it wasn't what I'd been used to over the past four years.

I sent the second offering back. The new owner came to my table and offered to prepare it a third time, although in fact he never did, even though I was patiently waiting for him to do so. When I spoke to him again, he told me, aggressively, to stop “screaming” in his restaurant. I wasn't screaming, but I was annoyed. He'd messed up my evening. My wife had eaten, but I hadn't.

In the end I went home to cook something for myself, having wasted about two hours, going to the restaurant, hanging around there without eating, and returning home, although I didn't have much appetite. Obviously I'd had a very disagreeable experience instead of the pleasant meal I was used to at The Oasis.

The beer was the same, but the new owner had increased the prices.

Although I'd already told his waitstaff that, regrettably, I wouldn't be returning to The Oasis, the new owner told me, again with very aggressive body language, his face close to mine, not to come back. Does he think I'm a masochist?

The Oasis used to be a successful restaurant, but the new owner will run it into the ground, because he doesn't know the number-one rule of the restaurant business: you're only as good as your last meal.

In addition, he doesn't understand that if something ain't broke, you don't fix it, and with his attitude he shouldn't be in an occupation which involves dealing with the public.

If you live in Miami Beach, or are visiting, don't even thing about trying The Oasis. With the new owner it can only go even further downhill.

I'd give The Oasis a ZERO rating if this site allowed it.