Driftwood Room

Oy. Not good. As my party strolled in we noticed that there was no one at the hostess stand to be found which was automatically a bad sign. After we waited for about 5 minutes someone finally came over to seat us although they mentioned that there was no where to sit outside. She clearly had not made an effort to go look but just gave us the option to come back in about 20 minutes or just sit inside and being hungry, we chose to sit inside. We sat down and watched as the party behind us THE SAME SIZE was seated outside. After waiting about 20 minutes without being acknowledged whatsoever we decided to get up and leave. Very disappointing, poor service.

Guest of the hotel and one word: yikes. Can’t even comment on the food because we never got that far. Were there for breakfast…
Stood at the hostess stand for more than a few minutes — with other potential diners and waited for someone to appear. When she finally did — she seemed incredibly overwhelmed. The interior had only two tables and the exterior was fairly crowded.
Said we could come back 10 to 15 if we wanted outside. Agreed to inside and there we sat. No menus, no waiter, and watched the outside tables open up almost immediately once we were seated inside.
After ten minutes of no staff, no menus, no acknowledgement — decided to leave. As we
were walking out by front desk — passed hostess who did not acknowledge us.
Serious staffing issues may be their ultimate downfall.

Amazing brand new restaurant with some truly delicious dishes. Excellent service. Lots of food. The steak is amazing, the passion fruit donut is outstanding !! There’s an inside and outside patio covered with view to the pool. A must go in south beach!

I had Overpriced brunch here, $ 129.00 for 2 people with no alcohol. This chef does not deliver in this restaurant. Food was just okay, brunch buffet sucked, meats were rubbery apps were stale and played out. Plenty of better cheaper options in south beach.

We had an absolutely amazing evening at the Driftwood Room. We were there for the SOBE Food and Wine Festival and were honored to have Iron Chef Alex visit our table (sorry to blind you with our flashes Chef Alex!). The service was amazing and the attention to detail with our slightly picky table was amazing. From the beginning, our vegan friend knew immediately what items on the menu she could have and what she ordered turned out to be so good she ordered it a second time. Others at the table had the cold water Lobster, grilled salmon and filet and were all amazed.
Thank you to the Driftwood Room and Chef Alex for the best meal we had in South Beach.

I was excited to try this restaurant out. I was excited because of where it was located, what I’d heard about it, and because it was recommended as one of the places to dine during #yelpchecksin #sobewff edition.
Disappointed! How sadly, disappointed I, we were. (I took only one picture because of how unimpressed with the food I was.)
We didn’t know it was located in a hotel. So we spent some time walking up and down collins avenue looking for it. The directions said it was 4 minutes away from our hotel so we decided to walk. And when we found it there were no clear signs as to where it was. It’s located inside hotel Nautilus.
We were instructed to keep to our right and walk towards the back of the hotel. Finally, we landed in front of two large doors with waitresses standing at the podium to greet us. It didn’t matter, not even for a Sunday night, that we made reservations as the restaurant was empty. However, the patio held more patrons, I can see why. It’s gorgeous! The ambience, the fact that we were poolside, and close to the ocean made it everything it was. Beautiful I tell ya. The light from the candlelight on each table, and the heat warmers created and lovely, romantic scenery in the night. Maybe, just maybe, I’d give them another try just for that and only order drinks.
The food — was subpar! I realized that I was paying for where I was and not what I was being served.
I had the salmon which came on a plank, sitting on top of an inedible bed of scallions. The salmon tasted like an regular salmon you could get a steak house…(let that one sink in.)
Because the salmon came alone I ordered some fries to go with it. I couldn’t believe the stringy, little, unimpressive fries that was placed on our table. It was an insult. My husband ordered the shrimp that came alone, that didn’t have anything special to it. He ordered a side of potatoes to go with it. Now I will say, those potatoes were good. Not to him but to me but I couldn’t eat that much of it, I had too much starch going on.
For an apettizer, I ordered the mushrooms and he ordered a salad. Out of those dishes I liked the croutons in his salad. :\
Service — less than what I would expected for a place like this. I felt rushed by our waitress, as if she were in a hurry or race to get to other tables. The restaurant wasn’t full. I couldn’t understand why when I was asked a question before I could finish answering her back was halfway turned, as she was headed in the opposite direction. And I thought the manager was going to greet us and ask us how our meal was, as he did with the other tables at the end of their meals, but he never came over. I was insulted with his mismanagement.
We ordered our dessert to go and was hoping it would make up for the night. It was good, just a little too tangy for us. We got the passion fruit donut.
The wine that I ordered was very good. But you wouldn’t believe the amount that was poured in my glass for a $ 22 glass of wine. I had to sip like a baby to make sure it lasted through my meal.
Great, I tried it, been there, done that. I wouldn’t go back and wouldn’t recommend.

Really really slow service. It may be because the automatic 18% gratuity fee or it may me because my waitress did not give a damn.
As a result I would not go back to dine but I may get the donuts to go. They were absolutely delicious.
Everything else was good– worthy of the prices. But I really went for the donuts.

We came here during SOBEWFF. The avocado toast is legit! Seriously amazing. The pepitas make it. We topped off the avo toast with an order of the passion filled donuts were out of this world. There was a side of vanilla bean cream which was like uncooked crème brûlée. Perfection! I highly recommend this avocado toast and donut combo! Best on the beach.

$ 25 unlimited rose and brunch on Sundays? Sounds too good to be true… There were a couple hiccups with my food coming significantly later after everyone else was served — aka service is definitely an issue here which is very annoying. I had the mussels with frites which had a kick and was delicious, plus the unlimited rose is definitely a bonus. The pool area is beautiful though.

It feels so painful to write this review and give this restaurant only 2 star. We had dinner Saturday nigh and this place didn’t impress at all. Although the ambience is nice atmosphere is not quiet inviting to stay, there is something generic about it. The service, from the front to the waiter, was just blah. No personality, no excitement, no bueno. I get the relaxed style but I felt I was at an airport bar where everything is just so inhospitable. The food was not great either. The branzino was nicely done but not enough to save the rest of the items we ordered. The romesco sauce should not be called romesco that was bland tomato paste at best. The best think we had was the passionfruit donuts. A long and tortured journey for the sake of dessert is certainly not worth the time nor the money.
Alex Guarnaschelli isa very talented and respected chef and I love Butter in NY. She should break the association with this place or fix the customer experience from beginning to end or I think this partnership will hurt her brand.

Had the *most* personalized experience here with who I can only assume is the front of house manager. The food was also spectacular, worth every penny, and cooked by the CHEF herself. Thank you thank you thank you for this memorable and delicious experience!

I was not sure at first whether to give Driftwood a 3 or 4 star review because I was not as impressed as I thought I would be by a restaurant owned by Alex Guarnaschelli.
The staff was extremely friendly and personable. I thought it was nice how they called me the day before to confirm my reservation.
There was no bread on table like other restaurants.
We asked for bread and they gave us pita bread which was a bit dry and there was no butter or oil to dip it in.
My husband and I ordered the Lamb kabob which was under the «for the table» section of the menu, but it was one skewer that was only enough for one person. It was good, but a bit chewy.
I ordered the Branzino as my entrée and it was very tasty but it had bones in it. So did my mother’s as she ordered the same thing. I am not sure if the bones are edible and if they were supposed to be in the fish.
My entrée didn’t come with a side. I had to order something separately which is inconvenient because I am already paying a lot for the meal.
The side I ordered was haricots verts with almonds and that was very good and my mother ordered Brussels sprouts which were nice and crispy.
My husband’s meal only came with 4 little pieces of red potato but the chicken was a good sized portion. His chicken had a wonderful flavor, but the skin fell off the whole piece as he first cut into it. He will not order it again because he had stomach problems after as well.
My father’s meal came with fries but they were nothing special.
I expected better from such a well known and respected chef and unfortunately I will not be returning.

There were high expectations for this place, unfortunately they did not come to fruition. While the atmosphere and décor get high ratings the food, which should be the main attraction was terrible. The appetizers were decent, but the fish was dry and steak frites didn’t have much flavor. Drive through fries from Burger King have more flavor than the fries served at this place. It didn’t even occur to me that this place is considered «Mediterranean» until I read it. When I think of Mediterranean, the word flavorful comes to mind and nothing I ate on his evening came close to that. The best part of my meal was my whiskey.

The food here is absolutely AMAZING. We were staying at the Nautilus and decided to stay on the property go grab lunch. SO happy we found this place. The menu here is under the direction of chef Alex Guarnaschelli and OMFG she nailed it.
We started with the Fritto Mixto which was absolutely delicious. The seafood was very lightly breaded and fried perfectly with just a bit of lemon zest for spectacular flavor. The sauce was also unique in that it is not your normal tartar sauce that comes with this type of dish.
For main I had the Nautilus Pasta with Octopus and I nearly died from the ensuing food-​gasm. This dish is absolutely incredible. The octopus is charred perfectly and complements the rich and savory pasta and sauce. Seriously I would come back just for this plate.
My wife had the Florida Prawns and I was absolutely shocked at how big they were. It looked like 2 mini-​lobsters on a plate. These too were juicy and delicious and would highly recommend.
For sides we had the fries, brussel sprouts, and green beans. The fries here are surprisingly awesome, I almost ate the entire portion by myself. The brussels and green beans are also winners.
I would have easily rated this place 5 stars just on the meal alone, but we were convinced to order the house made donuts for desert. Now I am not a desert person but all i can say is SHUT THE F UP these are incredible. They remind me of thai donuts stuffed with a lemon cream and covered with sugar. The accompanying sweet dip just puts them over the top. I freaking ate 2 of the 3 on the plate which explains why I a fat ass after this holiday season.
Overall the food here is delicious. They also have great original cocktails as well. I would highly recommend eating here and also staying at the Nautilus as is it is a stunning property.

Overall:
Big portion sizes
Reasonable prices for caliber of food
Great service and beautiful atmosphere
For appetizer we ordered the Kale salad which was a little sour, the Burrata salad, eggplant dip and the mushroom crostini which was our favorite.
For our entrees we ordered the Ribs which were sweet, tender and moist. Steak frites were cooked perfectly but a slight pepper overdose. Shrimp — grilled to perfection. Seasoned well and the Salmon– perfectly season w roasted scallion underneath. A little undercooked for my taste but still delicious. Side note (Any item from the grill– no need to add the sauces)
Side dishes were Brussel sprouts, Grilled peppers and frites. All delish! And finally for dessert we had Mango sorbet, the flourless cake and the donuts. All yummy!
Would absolutely recommend and come back next time I visit!

Decided to try this newcomer to the South Beach dining scene and it definitely did not disappoint! Located inside the Nautilus Hotel… all the way back behind the pool. We were seated promptly for our 9pm reservation in the outdoor patio which is the place to sit at this restaurant. Don’t get me wrong, the indoor space isn’t bad but the chandeliers and view of the pool in the outdoor seating is the real gem here. Our server, a Moroccan gentlemen (forgot his name), was very kind and gave us great service. Of the appetizers we ordered the mushroom croustini and the eggplant dip were the favorites. For entrees we loved the branzino and the ribs. Portion sizes here are in line with the price point so no surprises or disappointments there. The must order sides are the roasted peppers and the brussel sprouts… thank me later! Finally for desserts… get the donuts… get multiple orders! They’re that good! The only reason for the 4 stars is because we were served a cocktail in a glass that was partially chipped and the piece of glass ended up in my friend’s mouth. Luckily he didn’t swallow it but it was a close call! Things happen but it didn’t seem like the restaurant management cared or were even told, which I would expect at a restaurant of this caliber. Was a great dining experience but needs a «wow» factor to compete and make me want to go back in a very competitive dining scene.

New restaurant (by Alex Guarnaschelli) in a newly renovated hotel which seemed entirely unoccupied on a Monday night (both the hotel and the restaurant). Despite only one other table in the entire restaurant we had a nice dinner and it wasn’t as awkward and some places can be when they’re empty. Lamb kebabs as a starter were good but a bit heavy on the spice to start off the meal. Florida Snapper for dinner was very good although a huge portion and Steak Frites was excellent for a birthday dinner.
The outdoor space is beautiful and the weather in December was nice so it worked well despite the lack of anybody around (even the back bar past the pool was entirely empty all night). Yet despite the slow night the kitchen prepared everything perfectly and it seemed plenty fresh. Not easy being a new restaurant at a new hotel on the weekend after Art Basel but based on what I saw the Driftwood Room is doing things the right way. Should do just fine.

Such a chill bar inside the hotel. It has two halves an interior with a traditional looking bar at a restaurant and then the outside having a pool view.

Beautiful restaurant! I had breakfast and it was really good! I ordered scrambled eggs, it came with home fries and a croissant.
I must say, these were the best home fries I’ve ever had! I usually don’t eat them when I get them for breakfast, but these were so so so good!
Service is nice, staff is very friendly. You can eat inside or out!

I had the pleasure to eat at this great restaurant and was amazed with the quality and presentation of the food.
The restaurant staff was so nice friendly and provide you with the most detailed information about every single dish.
A must try for sure.
Great and beatifull restaurant with inside and outside seating.
Couldn’t have a better time :)