Half Shell Restaurant: User Reviews

If your looking for quality seafood look elsewhere. To summarize, its much like Red Lobster's little cousin that's just never going to be as good no matter how hard it tries (and I avoid The Lob' at all costs generally).

General info: Its a basement, cash only, expect there to be only 2 servers on at once, if you go past 7 it'll probably be busy. Men must remove hats.

So my wife and I go in to get some good seafood, simple enough. We ask for a table and are told one should open up shortly and we can chill at the bar. As we get our drinks I notice that there's actually a table already open but we're not set....ok whatever, no big yank. We're sat shortly there after...cool. Get our menus notice every last item is more expensive than whats listed on there website, which to me says they don't care enough to update their site that much. Its not too much different but still. So I start off with the 6 blue point oysters on the half. I love bluepoints and have never been let down by them before....until now. First one.....CRUNCH. Whoever has shucked them hasn't taken the care to clean them or detach them from the shell. To add injury to insult they have succeeded in making what is generally a very yummy oyster flavorless. How is this possible I wonder, and then it hits me, they have shucked a bunch a head of time and are just plating and serving the preshuckeds.........blasphemy! And it just gets worse. By this time we've finished our drinks from the bar and have the empty glasses setting on the table, there they will stay, empty, for a good 20 min. before they are cleared. We start our orders with one server and place our main with another....which is one of my main pet peeves, 1 table means 1 server. So I ask what type of tuna they serve....Albacore is the answer (mmm cat food) so I go with the perch and my wife goes with the salmon minus the lettuce tomato and onion (which comes on all plates for no good reason, I mean its not like they're a sandwich shop...but I digress). Food comes out pretty quickly. They have neglected the request for no lettuce, tomato and onion on my wife's plate and her salmon is swimming in some sort ( I as a chef wasn't even that sure on what the hell it was beyond water) liquid, which we drain off into the empty glass from her drink that is STILL on the table. I take one bite of my perch...bland as all holy hell. I normally stay way away from tarter but I needed it just to get some flavor, along with both lemons, salt, pepper and the bottle of garlic butter on the table just to make it editable. How hard is it to add a bit of salt, pepper and maybe (God forbid) a bit of herbage to your fry dredge to get some flavor on your fish? The answer: apparently impossible if you work at The Half Shell. The salmon was on the same page. Skin still on, just thrown on the grill, no seasoning..bland as hell. Ordered a glass of wine: took forever to get, even sitting 3 ft from bar. Sucked big time.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

I have been dining at this restaurant for 25 yrs. Of course, the ambiance hasn't changed and neither has the food. The best salad dressing, the best cocktail sauces, the best butter for the crab, the very best fried shrimp and last but not least....the Alaskan King Crab is incredible. No fuse, no muse. Bring cash and patiance on the weekends....you'll have a memorable time.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

Read previous reviews and decided that this would be the place to get some King Crab. Went to Half Shell with my brother on a beautiful Sunday with a hankering for some crab legs after watching a bunch of episodes of Deadliest Catch (had to see why these little guys are so valuable-must be delicious right?). We sat outside and ordered the crab legs and steak which was decently priced at $27. The food arrived relatively quickly as it should have since we were one of only a handful of customers. The crab was very good but you only receive five or so little sections of steak all cut up. The meal came with fries as well but you may as well skip those. Cold, flavorless and soggy is the best way to describe the fries.

Overall, the service was adequate but could have been more attentive. Our waiter took a smoke break less than ten feet away from us and watched another server take away our food scraps. He took another five minutes or so after his smoke to bring over our bill. No terrible inconvenience but definitely not on the ball either.

Pros: Good crab legs and decent but not good steak.

Cons: Average service, below average fries, smallish portions.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

I went there with my girlfriend on Saturday night and it was great. We had the soft shell crab for an app and then had the jumbo crab legs with beef tenderloin and the shrimp with beef tenderloin. The food, service and ambience is a true winner. You can't go wrong by choosing this place for your next meal.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

I never get tired of this place. Decor is average, oysters are unreal and amazing! Best blue point oysters I have had in a while. Always fresh, always huge and absolutely fabulous!

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

I've been going to Half Shell for years and love its super casual ambiance and food. Know what your getting yourself into, they do crab, they do it right, but it is one of those places where they've made their tradition and they're sticking to it (Soup Nazi meets Deadliest Catch). Hands down, a great date place (for those less pretentious), great group dining, and great patio - no problem tying the pooch up, they even have a great big water bowl for your four legged friend.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

Saw this place while walking the dog and was excited to go eat there. OK fish, kinda fresh oysters and clams. Pretty slow, weak service. Could be a much better place than it is. Won't go out of my way to go back.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

Yes, I agree that Halfshell does not have a great ambiance to it, but if you're not high maintenance then you will LOVE IT! The Oysters are great and so are all the different kinds of Crab Legs. Oh, and the fillet justs melts in your mouth. The food is great and so is the price! We go there once every 2 months or so...

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

I tried to go to this place for lunch today after hearing a rave review from a friend, but I was not able to eat there beacuse it is CASH ONLY. The place looks like a dive, which sometime can be the best places. However, I noticed a strong foul smell & the kitchern looked messy. It sounds like the food is great, but I was really unsure if I wanted to eat there (even if I could of) because of the atmosphere. I'm not asking for anything fancy, but something a little brighter & cleaner & unscented please. The person who served us did seat us right away & attempt to serve us, but after we saw the cash only sign, we had to leave.

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review

My husband took me here for our first date, and it must have worked, we were just married in October! We go back as often as we can, to sit at the bar, get a bottle of Chardonay, a Mulligan Stew, a couple of house salads (best dressing in the city), and at least one order of YUMMY king crab legs, oh and don't forget the suckers!

Here's to subterranean dining!

Ambiance:

Food:

Service:

Value:

Report This Review