Surf Rider

My family and I love this restaurant so much! The seafood here is perfect, the fish and chips would be my biggest recommendation! Ambiance here is beautiful with views over the water. The service here is always kind, friendly, and quick! Overall, I'd recommend this place for anyone exploring the area!

Good food and drinks by the water with friendly service in an air conditioned clean window-filled restaurant -- wonderful!Surf Rider is known for its crab cakes and huge portion of broccoli, which three of our group ordered. The cakes were filled with crab and no unnecessary filler. All three of my friends savored their meals. I ordered one of the day's specials -- a strawberry, blueberry, raspberry romaine lettuce salad topped with tasty little shrimp and an absolutely delicious raspberry dressing. So yummy!The drinks are large at low prices. I enjoyed the classic mojito for $7 or $8, another loved the Rum Runner punch for $10, which was like a smoothie, and the others had glasses of wine for $7 and $8. The decor is water-themed with booths along the large windows and tables in the middle. It's open and spacious. Surf Rider was very busy at lunch, and we arrived early, around 11:15 am and left around 1 pm. We relaxed and enjoyed our meal. The drive to Surf Rider takes you through some pretty neighborhoods. They have a lot of parking.

I'm not quite sure what has changed since this location was rebuilt but I had always liked the food prior to the devastating fire at this location. In fact I go to the Hampton location now since it's closer to the Hampton Yacht Club where I am a member. The food is always delicious at that location too. Went for dinner to the Poqouson location yesterday and was not impressed. Our waitress seemed very distracted perhaps juggling too many tables. At no point during the meal did she ask us for drink refills when we needed them. And a Caesar salad that was ordered never came out. My daughter got the mahi tacos and they were overcooked, my shrimp tacos were good but not great. We also ordered a crab cake meal and when all the food came out she said there'd be a wait as the cake was done but sat too long and they made a new one... this one was very wet and seemed undercooked. I am particular about crab cakes as a Maryland native and I know that so I give grace when critiquing them. However this cake wasn't even close to anything we'd ever order again. I tried their blood orange crush bucket... lots of ice- for 32 oz or any size drink. It didn't taste like blood orange it tasted like a watered down orange. Don't recommend that either. Fries were good- so that was redeeming but for the price we paid we definitely would've preferred to go to Harpoon Larry's or the Hampton Surf Rider location. One thing I do like and expected was great views of the water from all the seats in the establishment- that was nice.

Even on a rainy day everyone loves being by the water. Surf rider has a great ambiance with wonderful views. I can see this place getting busy during a nice day. Emily took care of us and she was warm and welcoming. We ordered the shrimp tacos and the Baja fish tacos. Both were under whelming to say the least. Although cooked perfectly there just wasn't much taste to either one of them. We had a nice margarita and mojito with it that. We did try dessert and we were disappointed. They were clearly from a box and frozen. Although it may not be the first place I go next time I'm not going to write it off as they still have aspects that are very nice.

The food is amazing and the view is great. The service is always great. I love the Poquoson location! The seating leaves a little to be desired

Great family seafood place with reliable quality and comfortable casual decor. Clean and bright.

Don't think that all the hype about their crab cakes is fake; they are the real deal! They strive to provide great service and the other items, such the seafood combo, were great! We are coming back!

Such a great place! Great atmosphere right when you walk in. Mackenzie was an excellent server. She was very attentive and was working really hard! Food came in a very reasonable amount of time. Salads were great. Husband said shrimp chowder was delicious. We had both fried and peeled shrimp. Presentation was great and the food was very fresh. Really good coleslaw. Fries were over cooked and a bit too crunchy but we were so full it didn't matter. Will definitely go back to try different things. Prices are great and the portion size is just right.

Mama always said, you don't judge a crab house by the crabs. Anybody can coat a crab in old bay and steam it. No you judge a crab place by the crab cakes and the she crab soup. In this case all three are good! And the hush puppies - love those. Service was exceptional by the way. When our companions ordered something special and kinda a la carte, the waiter obligingly got the kitchen to oblige. Food was hot and delicious especially if it happened to be fried. The fish tacos in any style ( we tried a couple) were a standout. My wife particularly liked here fried oyster po' boy. The ambiance is comfortably coastal. Not too fancy that you'll need to trouble with dressing up but still nice enough for a date.

TERRIBLE SERVICEOn a Sunday afternoon me and my family arrived at around 4:00 o clock. From the time we started coming in to the foyer the woman who ended up being our server (Nicole) was very rude as she rushed us into the building when a few of us were standing waiting for some of our family that was still coming in. Because we had a somewhat large party we asked were we able to have tables moved together and she told us she was not able to do that ( this was a lie because around 20 minutes into us being there another group of people had there tables pushed together to seat there party) so we were spread out more than what was preferred. When we were seated we noticed the 2 ketchup bottles at the table were almost empty (we ended asking for some more), she asked us what we wanted to drink. When she came back with drinks she slammed one of my family members drinks on the table, my father did not get his drink. It took around an hour for my father to get his water. When his water finally arrived (by another waiter) one of my aunts had already decided to get up and get his water herself from the bar before it came. Our food did not get to the table until around 5:36( the bench at the booth had no cushion, very uncomfortable). Overall it was not a good experience Nicole was very rude, we also overheard another party of people complaining about the service when were walking out to our cars after our meal. We will not be returning to the Poquoson Surf Riders again and we will be sure to let anyone we know who thinks of going here how bad our experience was. Wish we could give a half of star review instead of a 1.