Paddlefish

Reviews

• SS

  Sam

  6 days ago
  1.0
  The Paddlefish: a full restaurant… on a boat… in the heart of Disney Springs. On a slammed Friday night in November, we assumed we’d be waiting two hours everywhere. Shockingly, Paddlefish sat us immediately. A sign from the universe? Spoiler: no. We were taken to the second floor and greeted by a friendly, seemingly well-trained server. We checked out the menu, ordered drinks, and settled in. Then we waited. And waited. Twenty minutes later the drinks arrived. The blackberry whiskey smash? Fantastic. My friends’ “very spicy” (quoted by server) margaritas? Let’s just say they had to dump jalapeños in by hand to get any heat at all. But whatever, vibes were still decent. Bread eventually showed up, barely enough for our group of six, even though the table of two right next to us got the exact same amount. Still fine. We were here for the company. Then came the real plot twist: my friend’s medium-rare steak arrived medium-well and cold. Fries? Cold. Green beans? Also cold. I can confirm because I exercised my right to a “friend tax” bite. It took a while to locate our server, but when we did, she apologized, my friend apologized back (she’s truly a saint), and the kitchen remade the steak. Twenty minutes later, it returned hot and properly cooked… but now my friend had to eat alone while the rest of us were already finished. We were more than ready to pay and head to Gideon’s—this is when things went from chaotic to genuinely baffling. We used the QR code to pay by seat, which sounds convenient. Except the system assigned the entire table’s gratuity to my steak-friend, even though we each had receipts confirming we’d already paid our own portions. ***Strong PSA for anyone eating here: double-check the QR charges. The system is wildly inaccurate and can dump extra fees or auto-gratuities on the wrong person. We flagged the server, who brought over the manager—accompanied by security, for reasons unknown. The manager seemed confused, skeptical, or both. Even after showing proof of individual payments, nothing was resolved. She said she’d remove the auto-gratuity and let my friend tip manually, then turned around and told the server (right in front of us) that she wouldn’t be getting a tip. Incredibly unprofessional. After rounds of miscalculations and confusion, my friend finally just paid whatever the system claimed she owed—even though it was still incorrect. Nothing was comped. Not the cold steak, not the delays, not the billing nightmare. Nothing. We ended the night standing in a long line at Gideon’s that moved faster than anything Paddlefish brought to our table. I’ve never seen such committed, synchronized chaos. Researchers of hospitality disasters, feel free to take notes.
• JZ

  James Zuppa

  6 days ago
  2.0
  Saturday evening, had already experienced Frontera (Mexican), and Istanbul (Turkish, off-site) on previous evenings. Both were 5 stars, would eat there again. We were looking forward to some good FL seafood on Disney Springs property. Disappointing. We were seated promptly, near a window with a view of the water, nice decor, but the noise level was very loud. All hard surfaces, with nothing to soften the echo. A screaming baby, which the parents didn’t have sense enough to put down the fork, pick up the child, and take her outside (not the restaurant’s fault). A bar with very loud clanking of glasses as someone was loading/unloading a dishwasher. Loud incomprehensible overhead music which just added more noise. We could not hear each other speak. The waitress was very nice, did a good job. Bread was ok, but not warm. The Lobster Corn Dog was almost entirely breading, we’ll pass on that next time. My wife’s $48 grouper dish was very dry, apparent from across the table, couldn’t eat much of it. To their credit, they did comp that entree, otherwise I would have given a lower score.
• FC

  Franchise Clayton

  Nov 16, 2025
  5.0
  Rebecca is the best. Not only assisted me perfectly but since I’m noisy I was listening to the table beside me and she was amazing as well. Perception is everything since I’m a Manager and I like to recognize the people who helps me as well bc I’m grateful and appreciate amazing client care. This helps an organization to grow seamlessly in within. She must get promoted. Thank you Rebecca you the best and sweet. If I was living in Orlando I would recruit her to work with me bc isn’t to work for me is w me as a One Team. Thank you. Xmas bonus deserved.
• TW

  T. Woods

  Nov 15, 2025
  1.0
  DO NOT EAT HERE!!! It was disgusting. Prolonged neglect of the space was evident everywhere. There was an accumulation of dust on the air vents, mildew and mold around the windows, broken tiles in the bathroom, etc. We were seated at a wet table with food in and under the chairs. We took a risk in ordering food. My entree came with multiple hairs. The server had no idea how to handle the situation. The manager never came to the table. The receptionist eventually apologized and took it off the bill. An hour or two later, we were terribly sick. We will not return under current management.
• MM

  Mark

  Nov 11, 2025
  4.0
  As Floridians we had just a quick weekend getaway to Orlando for a long weekend, and chose Paddlefish for our last meal. It was a Monday night and we had a fairly large party of 8. We made a reservation online a few hours before, which I def recommend. A slow, cold Monday getting a reservation wasn't hard, but I recommend doing it further in advance for other times. Because we were a larger party we got stuck in I think the worst table in the place - upstairs in a back corner right by the door to the kitchen so we had constant traffic right beside our table. However, walking there we were able to see some really nice areas with great views...if you are lucky enough to be snag one of those seats. Our server started out pretty cold and not helpful, but he turned it around after we tried to engage him in conversation a bit. Between all of us we tried a variety of food. It was mostly very good, but no one was raving over it as we sometimes do.

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