Prime Pearl - Gainesville

With reservations arrived at near empty restaurant, 6:30pm, to be seated at 4 top adjacent to both kitchen entrance and restrooms. Complained and was moved. Food was good with good sized portions. my wife felt strongly that the Redfish was the very best she had ever had.

We were seated right away. Our table had a birthday card on it to wish my husband a happy birthday. We were treated so very well. Our server spent a few moments getting our thoughts for how dinner would flow and got us off to a good start. We were tended to unobtrusively with needed refills of drinks and empty dishes were quietly taken away. We were not interrupted with full mouths nor were we encouraged to rush or leave. It was pretty magical how nice the attention was without interuption. Our two wait staff were watching and kept a nice flow. The food was scrumptious. The popovers always get me and as usual I couldn 't resist and filled up too quickly on these addicting, warm, treats topped in blueberry butter. We tried the corn as a side to share and were once again met with Oh, this is so very good as we almost said in unison. The silky potatoes could serve as a third offering of a hearty soup. We kept putting spoonful after spoonful on our plates. We were too full to eat dessert there but knew we had to take some home where soft pants could help us indulge once more. We will still have round two of that bliss tonight as well. Beautiful attention to the dining experience and excellent food.

Was looking forward to a very special dinner, however, left disappointed. Oyster appetizers were not consistent, some were good others hard and dry. The sea bass was a real disappointment, drowning in a bland white sauce with a sad attempt at platting with cherry tomatoes also covered in the sauce/soup. The sides were also bland the steak was well liked. Crème brûlée appeared to have been made a while back. Service was ok but we stayed after finishing our meal to talk and were ignored.

The overall atmosphere is nice. The quality of the food was a two out of five. You would expect to enjoy your meal atfer paying $200 for dinner. Had the jumbo fried shrimp as an appetizer, which I enjoyed. Had to send my entrée back. Took over 25 minutes to receive my replacement entrée. I give the overall dinner two out of five this place is very overhyped.

Oyster app was good. One of the six was tiny and looked dry roasted. Bruschetta app looked like a culinary student chopped the tomatoes. And it was more vinegar than anything. And the toast points were so crunchy they were hard to eat. Would not get it again. Steaks were delightful. Mine was called the prime and pearl and came with 5 fried oysters that were awesome. Also had reduced Demi sauce and a bearnaise sauce. One was good and the other was cold which is not how bearnaise should be served. Nutella bread pudding was really dense, but yummy. And the $21 carrot cake was a work of art with cheesecake between the layers. Hubby got grilled shrimp with his dinner and they smelled like dirty dishwater. We did not pay for them. And the au gratin potatoes were yummy. This side of al dente for me. But the hubby loved them. Our server was lovely. Knew the menu and made good recommendations. We're a little picky. But it was a $250 meal with one drink, two apps, two entrees, one a la carte side and two desserts. For that price it should all be fantastic. And there were a few misses.