Hidden Treasure Rum Bar & Grill

This is the best place to be on a warm/​hot day and watch the water in Rose Bay… lovely setting. Good service. Some of the menu is good some not… Love the fried green tomatoes and the buffalo chicken salad. A mistake on our bill last time was corrected instantly and we received a gift card for more than the error… one of our faves in the area.

I’m a local and live in Ponce Inlet. I’m basing this review on multiple visits not one. I have tried time and again to like Hidden Treasure but honestly this place misses on so many levels. I have tried their entire menu and it got so bad that even the trusted, stand by hamburger in ordered yesterday came out cold, stale and a state that almost put McDonald’s in better standings, this doesn’t say much. Is the atmosphere good, yes, but put any restaurant on the water and you have atmosphere. Look closer and the place is sadly maintained, unclean and just ticking along at mediocre simply because they have a captured audience and prime location. I wish I could give this plase better marks but the truth is they are average and they show little to no desire to be anything better. Save your dough and hit up another restaurant if your in the area, although just about all the so called «local» seafood joints in PI have the same sorry excuse for food.

Location, location, location! View from the deck is spectacular. Fried and steamed seafood for lunch. Delicious! And Ariel, our server, rocked our socks! She was pleasant, professional, knowledgeable about the menu, and a lot of fun! Next time we’re here, we’ll be heading back.

Beautiful views, cool and quirky atmosphere, good food, but awfully slow service. Ordered a few drinks and 2 appetizers. Took 10 minutes to get the drinks and 50 minutes to get our apps. If they can sort out some staffing issues this place can be great.

We stopped here after our visit to Ponce Lighthouse. It was just ok. I ordered fried whitefish sandwich, which was really very good. Delicious Portuguese type roll, very large piece of fish, cooked to perfection, with fresh lettuce, tomato, and onion. The chips were not very good. They are their own BBQ potato chips, but they tasted stale. My husband ordered blackened flounder sandwich. His fish was small and over cooked. He also ordered the chili cheese fries. One of the worst we have ever had. Wilted fries, cold chili, and cheese was not melted. Just some sprinkled shredded cheese out of a bag.
I suppose the view is nice, but not enough to draw me there a second time. We sat out on the deck on a chilly afternoon. They did have the heaters on which was appreciated. The tables are large and chairs very uncomfortable. I imagine it would be a fun place for a large crowd of drinking friends! Cost: Total bill was $ 43 for two, with one drink at $ 7.

Come for the food, but stay for the atmosphere. It’s a funky restaurant off the beaten path and if you’re not paying attention to where you’re going, you’ll drive right by.
The menu is a mis-​mash of seafood, American grill, and bits and pieces from other realms. It’s actually sort of a good mix if you have a lot of differing opinions on food in your party. I’ve had the crab cakes, soft shell crab BLT, ribs, burger… everything was good, nothing stood out as amazing, but they’re consistent at least at putting out pretty good food every time we’ve been.
I’ll tell you the real reason we’ve been here multiple times is the view. The whole place is humorously decorated with funky signs and art, and then the deck area has a great view of the water. It’s nice to enjoy dinner out on the deck (when the weather allows it) and then walk around the boat docking area.

My first time here. I ordered wings (sweet Thai chili). They were the best wings I’ve ever had. My waitress was awesome and friendly. I met the manager and talked with him a while. Great place. He even gave me a card for a free drink next time I go there. I recommend this establishment…

I was pretty disappointed after selecting my restaurant based on Hidden Treasure’s average 4-​star rating.
The atmosphere is pretty standard FL beach restaurant. We sat on the patio, which is kept cool and well ventilated, which is good on a summer afternoon.
We ordered margaritas which was our first mistake. They were bad bad bad. I have never had a margarita so bad. It didn’t appear to have any alcohol and was incredibly watered down.
Service was sloooooow. Drinks were slow to come to our table and our food took double as long as it should have. Once we got our food, we were not visited by a server again (until it was time to pay). We had to flag a server down for condiments and water refills.
The food was just OK. My date ordered the buffalo chicken dip as an appetizer, which did not look appetizing when it came to our table, but was actually tasty. When the catch of the day fish sandwich finally came out, it was a bit lackluster. The sandwich was mostly bread, a small piece of fish, and dressings (lettuce, tomato, and onion) that are about ¼ of the size of the bun. Since I didn’t eat the bread, I ended up paying $ 25 for a small piece of fish and a margarita that wasn’t drinkable. Not much of a hidden treasure to me. :(

It’s definitely hidden!, But well worth the drive! I got the coconut shrimp and it was phenomenal. And I can’t forget to mention the view was
great! My picky family was very pleased with this restaurant.

This place was really nice to have close by to all the tourist things as there really isn’t much else around. They don’t have a lot of parking, but there is adequate seating both indoors and outdoors on a patio and around the outdoor bar. Live music was playing for most of the time we were here, and it was rather good without being intrusive to our meal.
We got the alligator tail appetizer. It was rather lightly breaded and served with two dipping sauces. While expensive for an appetizer, it was as tender as alligator tail gets and rather flavorful.
I had the fried shrimp dinner (12 good sized shrimp) with onion rings and broccoli. It was also served with Texas toast. The shrimp were also only lightly fried. They were very meaty and tasted very fresh. They could have done with a bit more seasoning, but were perfectly done so I would recommend them. The onion rings were also very good.
My husband had the grilled mahi mahi and it was perfectly done. He said the sweet potato tots were one of the best things he’s had in a while.
The outdoor seating was simple but nice in that they had umbrellas over the tables for shade and the layout was worked around the natural trees that were around the building. They were great with our daughter and gave her crayons and a kids meal sheet to color. We didn’t have any of the kids meals though as she prefers to eat adult food and ate everything we had. No milk to drink for kids either.
I would definitely recommend stopping here, especially given the lack of other places in the area.

This place is truly a hidden treasure. If you are in a rush, this place is not for you. Even though it was not very crowded this day, we were warned several times by signs and wait staff that it would take about 30 minutes to receive our food. We ordered some drinks and enjoyed the atmosphere outside. There was a good view of the water and there was an old tree growing in the middle of the patio area. They were about right on the wait time.
My wife, my daughter and I ordered the scallops and they were succulent and properly cooked. They had the translucent flesh and an even sear on both sides. I think these would have met Gordon Ramsay’s approval.
My mother in law ordered a fish sandwich. The filet was quite generous (about an inch thick) and sticking out of the bun. I did not ask for a bite because I did not know how she felt about sharing, but she appeared to enjoy it very much. My father in law order the crab cake, and I did get a taste from him. It was at least 50% crab and well seasoned. I usually avoid crab cakes because in my experience the breading is the star of the show and the crab flavor never really comes through. In this case, I could certainly taste the crab meat.
Overall, this is a great place to hang out and have some really good food. Don’t let the casual décor of a bar foil you, the chef here knows how to prepare the food. Apparently, you can also bring your dog because a few diners in our area sat their dogs in a chair while they ate. As a dog lover, I did not mind, but it may put off other people.