Not nearly as friendly in its new location at the Holiday Inn Express

I work in Marathon and have been to Sparky's former location on Sadowsky Causeway many times including at least four occasions with our service dog, Sky. On those visits, we were treated very well, and the wait staff was quick to bring water for him. We invariably order something off the kid's menu for our dog, and that had never been a problem. Sparky's moved following Hurricane Irma to its new location. We went there and had a very different experience. Their practice is to locate parties with dogs in an uncovered area. Not a big deal, but they would not let us walk through the covered dining room area with our dog. They made us walk around the outside perimeter of the building to get there. They they tried to seat us next to a table with another dog which would not have been relaxing for anyone. We asked to be seated under the covered area. They gave us the worst table in the place next to a place where the wait staff would constantly have to walk within inches of our dog. We ordered drinks and food, and asked the waiter to bring an order of fries for Sky. The waiter left and we were soon after visited by a manager who said he'd been there six years and "it has never been our practice to serve dogs food." This, of course, was contrary to experience, but we tried to discuss it and asked what the rationale was. He had nothing and just speculated about dog fur and dander getting into the food of other customers. Ridiculous nonsense because if that was truly an issue, whether or not the dog consumed anything would make no difference. My wife asked if they'd put the fries on the table and she'd hand feed them to Sky. They refused. We left and won't be back. We went across the street to The Island restaurant, also an outdoor venue with a tiki roof. Entirely different experience. No problem about ordering food for Sky, a lot more variety on the menu, better prices and a better view.

May. 24, 2018