Coral Reef Cafe & Bar

Horrible. I was looking forward to enjoying this experience, because I stay at the hotel at least once a year and read good reviews on Unilocal.Read this review if you’d like to know how bad it can get.
I was staying in the hotel and ordered a sandwich from the menu (no special instructions) at the bar to take back to my room. I noticed the chef and Gabriel, my waiter, talking about the order so I called Gabriel over, made sure he understood my order, and he reassured me — more on that later.
I got my to go order and gave Gabriel my credit card. He used the same «joke» with me as he had with another customer after taking the card, «OK, I’ll be back tomorrow.» Not funny, but what was worse was there was a second bill for $ 7.00 slipped behind my carry out bill. I called him on it, but he and the manager, Edith, said there was no way to run a receipt that showed a refund… What?
Frustrated, I told them I’d deal with my credit card company. Took my order to my room and… You guessed it — wrong sandwich. I should have checked while I was still there, but I had left in a huff.
I took it back down, asked for a manager and a refund, and got someone other than Edith. She takes my order to the back. Then Edith comes out — I ask for the other manager and she tells me the first person they sent out is not a manager at all (what?) and asks if I want another order (no way) and again says she can not print a refund slip (shocker). Again, I told them I’d call my credit card company. When I did, there were 3 charges from the restaurant pending — you have got to be kidding me…
The worst part, no one EVER apologized for the inconvenience. It was as if my noticing they tried to scam me by slipping a $ 7.00 charge in or by bringing back an order that Gabriel, when I returned it, admitted was not what I had ordered, was something I had done wrong.
Edith was particularly rude and standoffish and I could hear her making comments to the staff about my «complaining» as I left the second time.
I like this hotel, but I’ll never eat here, again.

Coral reef Café located in the holiday inn. I was very resistant when my friend mentioned we should come here. We came for breakfast and the waiter was very nice and our food came out quick considering that we and another couple were here. I ordered and omelette with bacon and cheese and when it came I was amazed at how much bacon they put in it, that sucker was loaded. The toast was great! I would most definitely come here again. BEST BREAKFAST IVE HAD IN AWHILE.

Surprisingly good food and great cocktails at this restaurant inside the Holiday Inn on the boardwalk. The restaurant is in the lobby, not outside by the pool (though there is a bat and food there too). The menu is good with casual fare as well as entrees and specials including crab cakes, salmon, tilapia and several shrimp dishes. There are also sandwiches, burgers and pasta. There is a kids menu and kids eat free (at least for hotel guests but it’s 4 dollars).
The cocktails at happy hour are great. The bartenders are very attentive and they play 80s music as well as current pop.
Breakfast is when they are busiest and they again have many choices and everything seems fresh. They prepare in the open kitchen.
The best part is the service. It’s friendly and efficient. Occasionally not efficient, but the friendly nature of the people makes up for it.
The café is casual. There is a restaurant connected that is a little more formal (and air conditioned) but it’s the same menu. Worth a visit even if not staying at the hotel.

Although we’ve stayed at this hotel several times, this was the first time we’d eaten at The Coral Reef Café & Bar. which is adjoining the Holiday Inn Suites hotel lobby. Not sure why, but we seem to not see it even though it’s off the main hotel entrance lobby area and there are signs pointing to it! It was an unexpected great find! We got a quick lunch of chicken sandwich and BLT, with fries and onion rings which were fresh and tasty. Also got a Yuengling beer and vodka martini as they have a full bar (hooray!) here. The service was quick and everything seemed very efficient. You are sitting poolside, that is, the hotel’s indoor pool is right there beside the café area (no one in it when we were there) yet there is no smell of chlorine. The overall feeling is of being in a cool aquarium due to the murals of large fish, the high ceilings and blue painted walls. They also have a larger room next to the café and bar area as apparently they also serve dinners too. It’s wheelchair accessible, including the restrooms which are out in the hotel lobby part of the building. Very likely we’ll go here again when we next stay at either this hotel or another and when we want to sit down in a cool spot for lunch or breakfast (might try a dinner next time).

Great food right in the hotel lobby. I had the steak and eggs for breakfast and I loved it. The lump crab soup for lunch large chunks of crab and it’s seasoned just right. I have nothing bad to say about this place.

Stayed in the hotel, came in for breakfast, 10 of us, very accomodating, needed to move some tables around. Took a little long for the food to come out but it was good food. The pool is right next to the dining area, is a little loud. Servers were very polite and timely.

Absolutely love this place! It’s not fancy but the atmosphere is friendly, the food delicious and the staff make you feel like family.

I was here for bike week with some friends. While my boyfriends sister and I were waiting on the boys to arrive into town, we decided to wander down the boardwalk and find a place to eat. We got here and just decided to go with it even though we were a little skeptical since there was only 1 Unilocal review. It ended up being one of those random hidden gems. Somewhere in the description it said poolside so we thought it was near the 2 pools of the hotel it was located in but it ended up being inside next to the indoor pool.
The décor was very well done, and it didn’t smell too much like chlorine, another bonus. We were the only people in there that sat down to eat, everyone else was at the bar. Our waiter was a very funny, personable woman who immediately made us feel welcomed and comfortable. We were debating what drinks to get and she suggested a blue motorcycle, which was their specialty drink in honor of bike week. Blue motorcycles are basically a long island with blue curacao. I’ve had them before and like them well enough even though they are highly sweet and sometimes a little too much to take, but we decided to try them. They were delicious! It was a perfect balance of alcohol and sour mix and not too sweet. The bartender even came over and asked us how our drinks were while we were waiting for our food, which I thought was really good of her.
The menu was limited but in a good way. I hate places that have a short menu of things you aren’t really interested in, this menu had a little bit of everything and I found I was having a hard time making a decision because I wanted to try it all! Both of us ended up getting the She-​Crab Soup as an appetizer. My parents have a beach house in VA Beach and there is a place there that has the worlds best she-​crab soup so I have been very spoiled and slightly snobbish about anyone else’s. This place came extremely close to beating it! The only reason why I won’t say it is better is solely because of loyalty. I had a cheese steak sandwich that I really liked for my main course. I can’t remember what my friend got but I remember her ranting and raving about it. We both had caesar salads that were very good, light on the dressing but still full of flavor. We were both so happy we had the manager come over so we could tell him how impressed we were. We already have plans to come back here next year for bike week. Highly recommend!

Was staying next door at the Q-​Inn and decided to eat at a different place every night. Ryan S. was our waiter and he was by far the best waiter in over 10 restaurants. The atmosphere was awesome and the food was above average. This was only the second review I spent the time to write.

This place is inside the Holliday Inn (ocean front suites) at 16^th st. Food and drinks were great, bartenders were attentive and didn’t skimp on the alcohol. They stop serving food at 10pm, which isn’t ideal — but they had no problem with guests ordering food from a local pizza shop and eating /​drinking at the bar! Overall, great place to eat, especially in the off season when a lot of places aren’t open!