Friday's 1890 Seafood

We go regularly to Fridays, we have Never been disappointed, Tonight 3 of us ordered fried shrimp, baked potato, broccoli, green beans, fried okra. of course there were their delicious hush puppies. One of us ordered flounder & shrimp, macro ie salad & fries. Each meal was cooked to perfection, it remained pipping hot until I arrived home. please don't pay attention to negative reviews, I have gone to this restaurant for years, Never disappointed! Thank you Andrew.I do not live in California. I live in New Bern NC

We were a good size group showing up, so I know that it can be difficult. Given our group size, you would think that they would have tried to help our waiter out a little but you can tell she got a little overwhelmed, but she did the best she could. As far as the food goes, the hush puppies were really good, and umm everything else was just okay. The place will a little dark and seemed dated. This would not be my first choice if I am driving through town again.

It was Mother's Day and we were looking for a seafood restaurant that wouldn't "break the bank". We thought we had found it, but upon entering, the place was sooo dark, dreary and had such a heavy greasy smell to the air, that we left.! Granted there were plenty of people eating there, it just didn't fit our plans.

We went Friday evening, around 530pm. We were greeted with a sign that asked for patience as they are short-staffed. We were immediately seated, given menus, and told our waitress would be right with us. We sat for quite some time (maybe 10 minutes or more) waiting for anyone to acknowledge us. We still had our menus, so it was obvious to the several waitresses who passed us that we had not yet been helped. Finally, Candice came over. She apologized and said our waitress had a problem but that she (Candice) would take care of us. She certainly made up for our wait time!! She took our order, brought the food out very quickly, and made sure our sweet tea stayed filled! She was so nice, very accommodating, and so kind! We were thankful to have her as our waitress. Great job, Candice!!

It's April Fools day 2023 so you'll know when I wrote this. I have read all the mostly negative reviews and find no fault in their opinions. I've been there four times before and consider it mediocre at best. Of course the 1950s decor is a knockout as is the weathered from entrance door that could be from a left over hurricane. The godawful wooden paneling makes you feel like you're in a ships hold rather than a restaurant. Ok so much for the good part. I had a oyster cocktail that was from already shucked oysters that come from a food service business but thankfully they were very good and very large at that so I almost made a meal from that order. My three Maryland crab cakes were over cooked but edible. My partner had fried flounder cooked in deep fried fat with a mystery coating resembling bread crumbs. Of course they were shrunken and tough but they gave her three pieces anyway. Baked potatoes and okra and baked beans came with our meal. All standard with the okra being deep fat fried also. There was plenty left over so we brought home the parts we didn't eat but they lost flavor overnight. The service was excellent. The food came out fast and the price with two glasses of wine was $50. I'll probably wait another year before going back. Maybe somebody will buy the place and turn it around in the meantime. Have very low expectations when darkening their rotting front door.

We ordered off of Door Dash and picked up. My husband had the fish n chips with a side of potato salad. He enjoyed everything but the potato salad. He said it lacked flavor. I got the crab dip. The menu said it came with pita chips. It came with garlic toast. It was good, and I was happy with it, but honestly, I wish it had the pita chips. It would have been better.

4th and last visit. Previous three were two sit down and one take out. Dirt on painted over dirt. Poor food. Poor service. That was a few years ago, and an acquaintance reassured us that it has vastly improved and we simply had to try one more time.So we ordered take out. To order take out you go around to the side, through a dirty glass door into a small dirty room. It's like a back corner of a kitchen. There's a counter and part of a wall behind. It's not hard to see into the kitchen and you hear everything. It was 4 pm on a Friday. Hardly the dinner rush. The smell was of fried food was everywhere. I stank of it after sitting there twenty minutes waiting for my food. The kitchen was dirty. I saw staff without gloves, without hairnets handling food, yelling at each other such choice tidbits as "I think she left it on the floor". The microwaves, two, were busy.I had oysters and hubby had fried fish. They tasted exactly the same. The fries were limp. The coleslaw was warm. We were afraid to try it, given the mayonnaise base and quite warm temperature. The hush puppies were very good, as were the tarter and cocktail sauces. There are some simply fabulous seafood offerings in New Bern. Seek them out.

I've been 2x. Will not return. Service was excellent but good service doesn't mean good food. Everything tastes like it has been fried in the same oil. Same with boiled/broiled. Nothing tastes correct. Took hours to get the taste out of my mouth. Gave it to my dog who turned her nose up at it!The large party room is extremely small and hot. The building is run down. The lighting is poor. There are better places in New Bern to spend your money and actually taste your food.

Be brave. Enter. The building and parking lot make you want to drive by, but trust me, it is worth stopping and going inside for some really good seafood. Upon being seated, we were immediately met with a basket of fresh hushpuppies and butter. My husband had the ultimate platter for $19.99. It had deviled crab, sea scallops, shrimp, grey trout and oysters. Huge portions. Coating was very light as in Calabash style. I had the pick two regular for $13.99 with flounder and shrimp. Again, large portion, light coating, delicious. The sides we chose were also worth getting again. Baked potato, okra and baked beans (multiple options, choose two). Service is very attentive. We were glad we braved the obstacles of appearance and entered for a delicious feast and excellent service.

Quite possibly the worst meal I've ever had. We came in for lunch. Waited an hour for food. Our waitress was very nice and we felt bad for her. I got a seafood sampler. Trout tasted bad. Fried clams looked like they took the burnt pieces out of their fryer and put on my plate. The fried shrimp were ok...deviled crab was more like crab stuffing.