Bonifay
 

Question, My wife had the chicken Gordon blue also. Hers wasn't stuffed with ham and cheese like we are used to was yours?? It was just a fried chicken patty with a glob of white sauce on it.

To each his own. I personally thought the decor was significantly better than the food,

We loved the decor which was bright and airy. Prices were reasonable and we would definitely visit them again. The staff was friendly and helpful, and the food was great!!

I'm in total agreement with you. The food was lack luster and the presentation was awful. Everything piled on top of the next. It's so sad that another Country Club effort has gone foul. This could have been a great place if it had a real chef, better waiter staff and a better menu to select from. It reminds me of a fast-food menu with everything prepared in advance and ready to be micro-waved. As far as we are concerned, it's just another eatery that can be crossed off of our places to eat.

The days of cooking back there in the kitchen at restaurants is over, for the most part. They buy the food premade and ready to heat.

The days of KNOWING how to cook may be going too.

Some "food warmers" know how to bring it to the right temperature and add a few nice touches to the sauce, but not too many.

If I sound like an old person, I am.

It makes me sad.

In my younger years I worked in a very successful Italian restaurant in NY. The two owners were in the kitchen and nothing got past to the waiters that wasn't looked at and most of the time tasted first. It's amazing to me on how many meals I've had to re-season at the table! I would think that if I was going to open a restaurant I would of at least had the food right before opening! I can see having some snags with servers, timing, bar, on a " soft" opening but the food should be prepared right on opening. Like I said in a previous post, I want to support the independent restaurants but can almost always get a very good meal in one of the corporate ones

Bonifay is great!
 

Hi all:

Went to Bonifay yesterday at 4:00. We were immediately seated on the patio at our request. The view was gorgeous. There is a nice long bar on the patio which is great. The bar was hopping. The decor is very bright and airy and very very fresh looking. The patio seems much bigger to me than other country clubs and there is a nice area of padded chairs where you can sit and talk and enjoy a drink. Hubby had fish and chips and the batter was very light and came with a great dipping sauce. He loved it. I had the lime chicken salad and it was great. The service was excellent. Plenty of staff on hand and the manager stopped by and asked how everything was. We are really pleased to have another choice of country club to go to. While the menu isn't elaborate, maybe they will expand it after the bugs are worked out. It did give enough choices for us and we will definitely go back. It was such a beautiful day yesterday and going to Bonifay made us remember just why we moved here. The atmosphere is great!

Had lunch at Bonifay today and thought it was terrific. Was seated outside immediately, served arrived promptly and took our drink orders, then food and was impressed with the quality of food as well as service.

That may be true in TV Gracie but if you watch enough Food Network you'll see that there is an abundance of places that do freshly prepared meals from scratch. Check out Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and you'll see what I mean. If I ever see an eatery featured on there that is within 50 miles I make sure I check them out. So far I have not been disappointed.

Being a 'foodie' or a 'chef' is actually quite in right now.

slow service
 

Went to Bonifay last week with another couple.were told that there was an hour hour and a half wait. ( we waited to try the new place ) when seated,the place was only half full.they did not have enough servers for all of the tables. when seated,our drinks came fast,but our order had to wait 15 min. before it was allowed to be put in because of other orders ahead of us. ( not enough help in the kitchen) 3 meals were ok,mine was bad. ( I had chicken parm.that was well done.) brought same to attention of the server and was told that they are still new and working on everything.we would not go back until Ive read alot more better reviews.

Not that it is any excuse but was it at shift turnover (near 5PM)? I've had to wait many times at restaruants even though half full near 5pm.

Not overly impressed
 

Hubby and I had lunch at Bonifay last week close the 12:45 pm. Like previous posters, the wait for seating was long (45 min) as the host advised us that there was a shortage of waitstaff (many empty tables). Once seated, our waiter greeted us fairly promptly and pleasantly, and requested our drink orders. Since it had been a long wait, we asked to place our food request along with our drink order. Burgers took a very long time and were not cooked as ordered (ordered medium well and they were both medium rare). Since we had waited so long, we did eat the burgers and they were tasty but not as we ordered. It seems like the problem was not with the waitstaff, but with the kitchen. We were able to watch meals come out and there was a long delay between orders.

Like others we were disappointed with the menu which we felt was quite limited and not very creative. The furnishings/ambiance was pleasant. We much prefer Cane Garden. We won't go back for a while and sincerely hope the menu is improved and expanded.

Cake
 

I was not going to mention this but thought I would for those who might order the sugar free chocolate cake. It was absolutely terrible. It was dry, had no taste. The food we had was good and so decided on one of the few times to have desert. We ordered the sugar free chocolate cake and it was a real mistake. We told the waiter and hopefully he passed it on.:wave:

How is the ambiance there?

Two visits to Bonifay and no more...
 

Bonifay is very near our home in Sanibel, and we were excited to have a place so close. We tried them during the soft opening and they had trouble with everything, from our order, drinks, and mediocre food. We understand that it was a soft opening, so we cut them a lot of slack.

We went back again yesterday, and will probably never go back. My drink order was messed up three times. I never did get what I ordered. A very simple Grey Goose vodka straight-up. How simple can you get. The last attempt they made tasted like a cheap white wine with a brown tint. No kidding. We also ordered the PEI Mussels, and nearly half of them had cracked shells, or never opened. We definitely avoided those. Others in our group had mixed reviews.

So I would suggest that you try it for yourself, and form your own opinion. Just understand that we, and several fellow guests, were truly disappointed.:sad:

I do not understand why there are complaints. This is a new country club added to the renown Villages. All should be top rate. Food and service should be outstanding.

The Villages should be racking in all residents and outsiders. There is money to be made and satisfied customers.

As soon as I am able , I'll be down....

Went for lunch today after golf. We had twelve in our party and they were unable to seat us together. No one outside due to the weather. Had the fish & chips...tasty but overpriced. Dipping sauce came in baby containers, with only a teaspoon of sauce in each. One had a cheeseburger...never again. Chicken Parm sauce was watery. Unless I'm playing golf, don't think I will go back. Much prefer Cane.

What are the benefits of twelve people sitting at one table?

Bonifay restaurant
 

We have visited TV many times and we usually eat at Nancy Lopez. We love the atmosphere and the food is equally as good. Why doesn't TV make all of their Country Clubs like Nancy Lopez? It seems that TV has enough fast foody places and is in need of some down home good cookin'. My husband and I like to eat fairly healthy, no fried foods, no sauces, very little butter, little to no salt...just grilled, lean meat, veggies and fresh fruit. With everyone in TV not getting any younger I think more healthier places to eat would be welcome. What do you think?

I think, you open it and people will either come or not. If they come you stay open and if they don't you close the doors.

Since moving to TV we are surprise at the lack of "healthy" options available. Fried food seems to be TV main fare.
We tried Bonifay this week and the quality of the food, appearance when served and extremely slow service was disappointing. We have so many country clubs but can count on one hand which are worth visiting.

fabulous
 

we sat out on the porch overlooking the golf course...wonderful view. our server, cheryl, was great. our food was delicious; i usually pack up the leftovers....this time the plate was cleaned! definitely a welcome addition to the dining choices in the villages.

:icon_hungry:

Had lunch today after golf. Menu is OK. We decided on soup as it was quite cold on the golf course. For $4.95 I received a CUP of soup with a package of crackers. The soup was quite good, but $4.95 is a lot for a cup. We also wanted to order a side of french fries, but the waitress told us that the sides were for sandwiches and platters, and that there was no separate pricing to order just fries!

Gee, I sure hope they make some improvements. I am looking forward to spending some quality time there :)

Sounds like if they don't get their act together they are not going to last long. Hope they don't think they can take advantage to seniors.....we are smarter than they think...:spoken:

:agree:

Broken Back at Bonifay
 

So what's with the chairs inside at Bonifay? Your butt is lower than your knees and you lean back so when it is time to eat you have two choices. Drip your food all over your shirt or do a sit up and eat. When done with your meal your lower back is totally screwed up. I then tried booths and outdoor seating and all those were fine. Stay away from the tables inside.

French Dip Review
 

Descriptions says shaved beef but in reality it is thinly sliced. Flavor is good but mouth feel is not. You should not have any resistance when biting into a french dip sandwich and the meat should just fall apart. Half the fun of a good french dip is eating all the small "shaved" pieces of beef that are swimming in the au jus when you are finished eating your sandwich. Bonifay robbed me of my post sandwich fun.

Bad experience
 

We went to Bonifay for dinner last night with another couple and it started out well.

We were told 30 minute wait and it was no longer than that.

Service was good, Erica came brought our drinks and took our orders quickly.

I was heartened by the size of the menu offerings...not too many, not too few. Restaurants with smaller menus usually do a good job on those items.

Then the food came and the worm turned. I had the calameri appitizer as my entree and it was basically unedible. Cooking calamari is an art and there are no artists there. It was all cooked in a lump and what was separate from the lump was like leather.

The other couple had steaks and were unhappy with their meal. Wife had salmon which she thought was so-so.

I called for the manager and he indicated he knew what I was going to say even before he got to the table. He said he knew the dish was a problem as it's a hard dish to prepare.
Duh....get it off the menu.

Won't be going back anytime soon.

The topper was...don't try paying with American Express even though the bill comes in an leather American Express bill/card holder. Sometimes it the little things. :evil6: Maybe they got a deal??????

we also had lunch at Bonifay recently. NOT impressed at all with menu or quality of food. My hubby had a burger. The bread was so hard it was not edible....he reported to management and they replied "sorry". I had an appetizer of coconut shrimp....$9! only five medium shrimp for that price....tasty but not enough for the price. Very loud and noisy. the decor was light and airy...it was ok. liked the bar being at the end of the room....just not impressed overall. will not return anytime soon!

WELL what were you wanting? Sugar free things usually don't taste like anything.