Upset with Dead Freddies

[OCLover]

Took my son out to dinner last week and decided to hit Dead Freddies. Had been there before for lunch, but never dinner. Both of us were craving cream of crab soup. On the menu, it says Cream of Crab Soup $5.99. ADD CRAB MEAT $3.99! I said to the waitress, "Wait a minute. Are you telling me if I order just the Cream of Crab, there is no crab in it?" She said there was, but not enough. Sooooo we order the extra crab. It was delicious. Now onto the entree. After every entree that had crab in or on it, you guessed it. Add crab meat $5.99! I ordered the salmon topped with crab, but refused to pay extra for crab that should already be on the fish. I said to the waitress, "This is the ridiculous, you must get a lot of complaints". She said, "Everyday". My son ordered a chicken sandwich. He asked the waitress if she had any hot sauce and a small container was brought to the table. When I got the bill they had charged $.099 for the hot sauce! Are you kidding me? My fish was delicious. Unfortunately, that was the only thing on my plate. No vegetable, no bread and butter, no salad. Just the small piece of fish. All this for $75.00. I am a local, but will never go back.

[DeanM]

OCLover, first let me say I'm sorry to hear you had such a frustrating experience at Dead Freddies. I too have given this place more than one shone shot, and doubt that I'll return. This place might be a good choice for parents who are looking to turn the play area into their children's babysitter while they enjoty dinner and some drinks, but that is pretty much where the appeal ends. Seafood may in fact be on the menu, but it's surely NOT their specialty - what makes this even worse, is that it's not cheap. If (and that's kinda a big "if" w/me) I ever return I think I'm going to stick w/ wings & "bar food" only.

You actually went further with it than I would've - Crab soup, in which the crab is extra??? That's the equivalent of ordering a cheeseburger , and them charging you for the CHEESE! + $10 for soup??? For that price I hope it came in 1/2 quart sized bowl with crab mounded up above the rim! But I doubt it....

[dctech]

Wow, I wonder how long they can keep up with the extra charge for the crab for crab soup and the stuffed flounder. I also wonder how much money they will lose by having customers like you not return because of the crab-hostage approach. Somehow I don't think the money that they get from the customers that order the upcharged crab for the crab dishes will make up for the lost business. You gotta really love that play area to put up with those bait and switch tactics.

[russ0498]

One and out for me. Small portions and overpriced. Quality was fair to a little above average. Value was a big zero.

[hiball]

I probably won't go back either, It.s becoming more and more like the lazy lizard, IMO.....

[Catbelly]

We were in town last week and went for lunch. My husband ordered a burger and when the waiter asked if he wanted to tomato and lettuce he said no, but onion instead. You guessed it = he was charged extra for the onion slice. Won't go back.

[terp84alum]

These stories are amazing. I know we won't go there again.

[JackB]

Sounds like Dead Freddies is going the Paul Revere route. Get tourists in one time and stick it to them hoping there are enough to keep the flow going over the years. Not a good thing to do for the reputation of OC.

[Luv2BeInOC]

This is an atrocious business practice for a restaurant! They are saying that their meals are lacking in main ingredients, thus lacking quality. I’ve been there 1 time and ordered a meal with the extra crab, which was still not enough. I was totally disappointed!

Dean, I’ll take your example a step further. It’s like offering a cheeseburger for $12.99 and saying the roll, cheese, lettuce, and tomato are included, but if you actually want a 100 percent beef patty on it you must pay $5.99 more!

[rgoodman35]

Dito to all post above