Not too long ago, I was having dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in my local area when some out-of-towners made a remark that thoroughly confused me. For reference, the place is an oceanside seafood joint, and has a very 1950s period aesthetic, complete with nautical themes like a giant fake marlin on the wall, period color and marble tables, and the music playing over the speakers is usually something like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra or similar. I've always loved it for that, and I thought the food was delicious.

That's why it surprised me when I heard these people, who were from a big city up north, loudly complaining about how to place was frozen in a weird time warp, and the food was "1950s bland". They left soon after, and a few days later, I randomly decided to look up reviews online of the place for curiosity's sake. And I found a very similar review from 15 years ago, saying almost verbatim what they had. They spoke about how the place was stuck in a 50's time warp, and, to quote their review directly, "Go somewhere else - unless you're more interested in a view of the mudflats than in good food, or have a palate that is stuck in 1958"

Like I said, I'm thoroughly confused, and I'm hoping someone can answer this for me. Why is a place that is, as they phrased it, stuck in a time warp a bad thing when many locals like myself enjoy it, and why is it bad if the food is prepared and served the way it was six or seven decades ago?