Riptides Grill

overall:
- very good food in well-appointed surroundings served up by friendly and helpful staff
- the value is suspect
- the breakfast buffet was just a few notches above what you'd expect from a normal Holiday Inn hot breakfast; definitely not enough to justify the high price tag
- the menu prices are inflated to offset the "kids eat free" aspect
- very convenient location if you're at the Holiday Inn on-site

details:
- we interacted with several servers and the head chef during our stay. they were all friendly and helpful.
- when items were low on the breakfast buffet, they were relatively quick to refill.
- the only item on the breakfast buffet that are not on a typical Holiday Inn hot breakfast was the french toast bake. all of the other items -- bacon, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, biscuits and sausage gravy, pastries, cereal, toast, etc. -- are commonly found but the chafing dishes were better than average. they did have a large dish of fresh fruit--grapes, melon cubes, fresh pineapple pieces, sliced strawberry. white and chocolate milk were available. chobani yogurt, too. the oatmeal was a bit on the watery/slimy side for me. they had brown sugar and other additions for the oatmeal.
- no pancakes or waffles for the buffet. they were on the menu option.
- i'd recommend reviewing the breakfast menu and looking at the breakfast buffet before making your choice.
- all that i had on the lunch/dinner menu was good, but overpriced.
- sandwiches from $15-19
- apps from $12-18
- salads, $12-19
- pizza, $14-16
- other entrees, $14-34

- the hotel's website proudly proclaims: "Up to four kids ages 11 and under eat free any time of the day in any Holiday Inn® on-site restaurant." this is very, very misleading. while not the fault of the restaurant team, it is important to know this!
What they really mean is (if you dig far enough into their "terms and conditions")...
a) when ordering for breakfast, lunch & dinner;
b) when ordering in the hotel’s dine-in restaurant;
c) when ordering from the Kids’ Menu (which must consist of at least 1 main course and 1 dessert) and;
d) when accompanied by at least one (1) adult who is registered as a hotel guest at the Participating Hotel and must order at least one main course from the full priced menu.

during a recent stay, we had the following offerings:

- cubano with sauteed vegetable medley:
while not a traditional cubano, it was very good. the bread was toasted perfectly. it was flavorful and delicious. the veggies were well-seasoned and cooked just right. loved the portion size.

- very berry bread pudding:
initially served too cool in the middle. they warmed it up for me. large enough to share. the crusty bits were wonderful. not enough of the bourbon glaze sauce unless asked. the serving was a cube at least 5" x 5" square and about 3.5" deep. very good flavor. if you prefer your bread pudding more saturated or soaked, ask for a cup of the sauce for dipping.

- manchester fish with sauteed veg. medley:
the fish was very good and generous portion size. i got the veggies again and loved them. the breading might be a bit too thick for some. i enjoyed it. for the last filet, i extracted the fish from the breading and enjoyed the contrast.

- cheeseburger with fries and vanilla ice cream with chocolate drizzle (kids menu) - the reviewer loved it!

- pizza with fries (kids menu) - the reviewer loved it!

Breakfast is virtually the same that you would get for free at Holiday Inn Express, except that at Express it is free and here it cost. The quality is the same, and on par with budget brand free breakfast.

For a breakfast the charges I would of expected more premium options.