UYE – Vinnie’s Lobster Bar

First off I apologize for the delay in writing this. Thank you Mike and Patty for putting this together. I had seen Mike’s frequent check-​in here so I was excited when he told me that he was putting this event together.
Lili and I were a little late as usual. As soon as we walked in we realized that we Unilocalers had essentially taken the whole restaurant over! Next came everyone singing Happy Birthday to me. Thank you for that guys. It meant a lot to me.
Liliane ordered the seafood lasagna and I went for the chicken marsala.
I was impressed with how the employees were able to keep up with the entire group through our time there.
The food came out quickly and it looked delicious. The seafood lasagna was huge and the chicken marsala was a generous portion. Lili enjoyed her meal and I enjoyed mine.
Mike made sure that we all got to meet Fran and Vinny. They are such a sweet couple. Thank you for the hospitality guys.
It was great seeing everyone again. That’s what I love the most about these events. Hats off to Mike and Patty. You guys nailed it!

When Michael and Patty announced their UYE to kick off the New Year I was immediately on board! Plus it didn’t hurt that Vinnie’s Lobster Bar is pretty close to my house and somewhere I’d been wanting to check out after seeing Michael’s awesome pictures and review!
First off, thanks to Patty and Michael for putting this together! Really a good time with good food, good wine, and even better friends! And secondly, a big shout out to Island and Vanessa for showing up (fearlessly) to their very first Unilocal event to meet everyone! Hope you guys had a good time! And thirdly, let’s not forget that I finally met Rob G. at a real event! He assures me that he’s not self employed: P
I purposely sat next to Nancy M. because we had discussed our New Years eating strategies and I wanted someone to keep me strong (of course after all the wine this went out the window, but I tried, and Nancy really did stay strong!). Greshka and I opted to split a bottle of the Malbec (~$ 27 so wine by the bottle is quite reasonable here) and later ordered a few more glasses of Pinot Noir BTG. Yep, I pretty much blame Greshka for me getting home at 11pm from a 3pm UYE: P
Ok, enough about alcohol and attempts at diets, lets talk about food! I had studied the menu beforehand and come up with some strategies, but in the end the specials changed some things for me. I started with the Tripe Appetizer which was delicious! Most of my tripe experiences have been either Mexican or Asian cuisines, so trying it in an Italian red sauce was heaven! I even asked for more bread to soak up all that sauce goodness. Speaking of the bread, it came with some eggplant and herbed oil, both of which were amazing! As an entrée I held firm and didn’t order pasta, but instead the Gorgonzola Salad, which was a decent size. If you’re not a Gorgonzola lover, definitely ask for the cheese on the side because there is a lot of it!
I think all of us skipped dessert? No, that’s a lie, I did see Beth order something to finish up her Stone Crab meal (yes, this place is seafood heaven!), but I finished the meal off with more wine lol.
As the night got busier we ended up moving to the outside patio tables to enjoy the cooler Florida weather! (And then headed to the After Party spot which I’ll discuss in another review lol).
Seriously, great way to kick off the year with a great turn out of all the best people! Thanks again!

This review is for the UYE event, which I have to say was one of the best Events I have been too. Michael C really puts on a great event! The BPB crowd is awesome and everyone really had a great time. Here is the review I posted about the restaurant itself:
Very nice place and great food! I was here for a UYE with a lot of the BPB crowd. We got there just as they opened, and pretty much took over the restaurant. Its a small restaurant, I believe the max occupancy is 46, but it has a lot of tables, and a decent sized patio area with additional tables. It also has a large bar spanning the entire restaurant, with very nice bartenders. Regarding the food, they have a rather diverse menu, and plenty of specials. The owner/​chef (Vinnie) was onsite and his right-​hand woman as well. They took very good care of us, and the food was fantastic. I had the lobster bisque and the blackened salmon. Both were very tasty and decent sized portions. Out of 30 of us, I didn’t hear anyone complain about their food, and everything I saw made me want to come back for more.
I will definitely be back.

Had been here several times before and always enjoyed it. When Michael and Patty set up this UYE I had to go. We arrived early and the tables were all set up.
Fran Vinnies wife, owner is always so on top of everything. She’s super sweet and our favorite server Verna started taking our drink orders. She is beyond great. Everyone started to arrive and our adventure began.
It’s always great to see so many friends at UYE’s, gives all of us a chance to catch up and always have many laughs. I met Island and Vanessa who are both so lovely. Gina and the other Michael C. And finally Rob in real life and we even were able to have some chats. Great bunch for sure!
Ok so we started with Calamari and Eggplant appetizers. Both were good but I enjoyed the eggplant so much I ordered the entrée for dinner. It came with a side of penne and both were awesome!
The food arrived in a timely manner. I think for the amount of people the entire staff did an incredible job. It’s never easy taking care of us as we tend to get up, walk around and typically get loud. Lol
The late afternoon was a great time for what seemed to be all of us as we all were able to relax and take our time.
We all had a fabulous time!!! This was a great UYE. Thanks Michael and Patty for setting it up.
Oh and let me correct Michael we had three bottles of Anarone. I believe after the first he lost count. Hahahaha
Thank you to Verna and the rest of the incredible staff for doing such a great job, See you soon!

Oh Vinnie! Can we do this again?
When I talked to Michael about planning a brunch to kick off the new year, he immediately suggested this place for a late lunch instead. I figured what the hell and let him have at it. He said he wasn’t going to do it without me being the co-​sponsor. How sweet! All the thanks goes to him because I honestly had no idea about the lobster bar until he said something about to me a few weeks ago and he deserves all the credit.
So up goes the listing and it filled up quickly. Even though there was more than the limit, the restaurant accommodated the entire group that was in attendance today with a big smile on their faces. We mingled around for a bit before we decided to take our spots at a long table that was reserved for all of us. There were a couple high tops and a separate table for us when the long table got filled up.
There was bread for us to enjoy while we were deciding on our meal. Most of us got wine and there were a few beers as well that got in on the fun. The white zinfandel was nicely sweet. I went for the meat lasagna special and it came with a house salad. I didn’t get a potato with the lasagna b