Photo Blog - ARIZONA, "featured restaurant"

The ARIZONA Restaurant as pictured on the Sandals website

Mr. Smith with a view of the real ARIZONA restaurant behind him.

Here is a typical misrepresentation of the facilities located at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios.  The first thing you'll notice is that the Sandals "stock photo" shows tables set up in the sand in front of the boardwalk.  THERE IS NO SUCH RESTAURANT LOCATED ON THE SANDY BEACH.  The gazebo located directly to the left of Mr. Smith's head and up to the one on his right is where the tables are set for the ARIZONA restaurant.  And the boardwalk leading up to the ARIZONA is typically lined with people waiting for a table there.  Typical wait time, as experienced by this couple, was 45-90 minutes... if they were willing to take your name at all.  

Once you've waited 45-90 minutes for a table at an ocean-side restaurant, you would typically expect to receive an amazing meal, served by competent waiters and enjoy a serene view.  This is not the case at the ARIZONA.  Our waiter was glad to admit it was his first night, he had never waited a table before.  And after he took our order from us 3 separate times (because he could not remember it) and brought me a completely liquid pina colada, we got up and went over to the appetizer BUFFET.  Not exactly what you would have expected for appetizers at a restaurant with a 45-90 minute wait but we were hungry so we tried it.  The appetizer buffet included such delicacies as stale corn chips, chili that obviously came from a can (reminiscent of Hormel products), plates of sour cream & guacamole that had been scraped clean without ever having been refilled (again, obvious by the crust around the edges), and a great number of pickled salads that seemed to have nothing at all to do with Tex Mex food.

I was grateful that our waiter managed to bring us the correct food and gladly cut into my tequila lime chicken breast... then pressed harder, because the chicken was so hard and overcooked that it could have seriously hurt someone had I thrown it at the nearest Sandals employee, as I felt I should.  My side dish of a "loaded baked potato" came to me as garlic mashed potato... well, maybe they ran out, at least it was a comparable substitute.  And side dishes of corn on the cob were literally less than 2 inches tall and looked more like garnishes than a part of the meal.  

At this point I didn't dare order another pina colada to replace the milky consistency of the one I already had... it may have taken them another 20 minutes despite the bar being on the boardwalk.  

I believe I may have cried that night after eating at the ARIZONA.  It was either our 2nd night or 3rd night at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios (Riviera) and the first time I realized that I really wanted a home cooked meal, a comfortable bed, and to be able to get my own towels & toilet paper when needed.