Vince Carter's Restaurant

Vince Carter's
2150 LPGA Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32117
(386)274-0015

I have written about Vince Carter's a couple of times now, but had never eaten there. Today, I finally got my chance. I met my friend Katie for lunch and we had a great time. Previously, I had visited the sports grill and my wife and daughter had eaten as well as my friend Kelly. Everybody enjoyed their food and the service was great. I was looking forward to finally eating there myself.

Since I live not far from the restaurant in the LPGA, I know how busy this restaurant is right now. I told Katie we should meet at about 11:45 to avoid the rush and it worked. We got there and were immediately seated in the dining area. Our server was friendly and attentive and brought out drinks in due time. Katie ordered the soup of the day, which was a vegetable noodle soup along with the wedge salad. I ordered the French dip with French fries. I really should have gotten the macaroni and cheese as my side or the sweet potato fries, but I played it safe.

Katie asks for her soup first and she gets it, but the entrees come out probably five minutes after she got her soup. Our waitress brought the soup, then brought bread and soon after brought the entrees with the explanation that the kitchen was a little fast today. They need to work that out a little better. Katie shouldn't have felt rushed and it was a good thing that she ordered a salad wedge which is not a hot dish, so it didn't matter much. She did order it without onions and got onions, so she had to send it back. My sandwich was fine, so there were no problems there.

Katie got her salad back as she was finishing her soup, which is when it should have been served in the first place. It actually looked amazing and I am not a big salad guy, but it was a hearty wedge of lettuce with abundant dressing, bacon bits and tomatos. It really looked good. By the way, she said the soup was incredible. My French dip was served on a toasted ciabata roll with cheese and au jous sauce for dipping. The sandwich was nice and hot and the steak flavorful. The bun was really amazing as it had been grilled and tasted great. We had a wonderful lunch.

I just read a bunch of reviews for Vince Carter's on Urban Spoon and hope some of the people that didn't have a great experience will try it again. First, if you are a finicky type of person when it comes to visiting restaurants, don't go when they first open. Even the best restaurants have challenges early on. Give them time to work out the kinks. Secondly, don't complain about wait times in the first week of a new restaurant opening, especially if you are talking about Daytona Beach, where there are very few fine dining experiences available. Finally, I have read too many reviews complaining about the prices of everything being over $30. That is just not true. Steaks are in the $30 range, but there is plenty of great dishes that are available in the $9.00-$20.00 range. At the end of the day, there are some people that should never eat out and get all of their meals at home as they can never be pleased. If you are one of these folks, just stay home.

We had a great experience with good food. For my visit today to Vince Carter's, I have to give them four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry