The Shrimp Shack

Decent food but the location is not a good one. Parking is a nightmare when it is busy. The staff behind the counter can be a little gruff and make you feel like you’re taking too long to order. The girl behind the counter literally snatched the order list my brother was reading from because I guess he was reading it too slow. The prices are a bit high, the milkshakes are expensive for sure and they always manage to forget ranch and tartar sauce. If you’re passing through it’s worth it though.

Excellent food for a very nice price. I can’t wait for summer to come around so I can lounge in the beer garden and then walk down to the public beach on Gibralter Road. Just two blocks away! Order ahead and just pick up on the way to deception pass state park! Just 5 minutes down the road! Also very convenient to lake Campbell and mount Erie just across the street!

Okay, this place is legit. My friends and I were exploring the area and came across The Shrimp Shack on Unilocal.Yeah, it’s kind of worth the hype except unfortunately we weren’t able to taste their fresh steamed shrimp due to the fact that it was out of season. But nonetheless, the oyster shooters and the prawns&chips were delicious. My friends all have said that they would drive all the way back just for them. Locally owned, the waitress who also seemed to the be owner was extremely nice and quick to explain everything once we told her it was our first time. Will have to come back during it’s peak season.

Good eats right there where the fishing is in the spring. Far and away the premium choice when fishing trout around here in the spring– you have Hart, Erie, Pass, Cranberry, and I’m sure I’m missing some other lakes full of trout within a ten-​twenty minute drive– so if you’re trout fishing in the spring, this is a must stop. The plates seem pricey but you are gettin what you pay for– huge plates of quality food. Beer garden and an outside dining area, as well.
Top selling point for me– only place I know of –period– around here that offers gator. I love gator and this shack has an excellent gator burger.
If gator isn’t your thing, they have plenty of options– shrimp, fish, beef burgers– all the stuff a place like this should have.
The only drawback might be the smell for some. Only saying that because I know some people might be offended by a seafood place smelling like a seafood place. Still easily gets five stars.

I was pleasantly surprised with what looks like this typical roadside greasy joint. We needed some food on a recent trip home from Port Townsend and I had seen this place on Unilocal and said we had to stop… it perfectly hit the spot. I got the oyster burger and it was delish– hot, ginormous and every bite was filled with drippy cheese, tartar with onions, yummmm. Husband got the popcorn shrimp which was such a large portion we took half home for dinner. Both orders came with fries. Good beers on tap. Not healthy by any means but a perfect pit stop or place to soak up a hangover.

Crab cake burger and popcorn shrimp.
Crab cake burger 4 stars !! Good enough to me. I am not a big fan of burger .
Popcorn shrimp 3 stars. The actual shrimp is tiny. I am serious, they are mostly batter :(.
Clam chowder is a hit .
Service is fast and friendly

Stars awarded to shrimp and shrimp alone, because I did not try any other items on the menu. But shrimp won me over enough that regardless of what else this place offers, it gets 5 stars.
A bit confusing at first as there are two windows. First for burgers of random sorts (noticeably the gator burger though I didn’t try, sparked an interest); second the shrimp in a bag. Go for the shrimp in the bag. Locally grown shrimp of random sizes boiled in salt water. Simplicity is key, people. This place let’s the shrimp speak for itself. And if you’re a shrimp lover like me, no sauce is required.
We had a pound of the larger ones and a pound of smaller varieties. The smaller variety sometimes had shrimp that were particularly sharp, so I’d suggest the larger pile. Two pounds looked very little but went a long way. Coupled with watermelon and brown ale, and you’re set.
One of my favorite Saturday afternoons.

A great outdoor vibe and a nice place to stop after Deception Pass. Unfortunately when you order you are on a knife’s edge between excellent local seafood and mediocre stuff that probably came from the freezer and tastes only of the lamp. In the excellent category, get the crab cake burger (deliciously crabby), the peel-​and-​eat shrimp out of the takeaway window, or the smoked salmon cream cheese dip which is really amazing — fishy, smoky, spicy and just a hint of sweetness. In the mediocre category goes … everything else we tried. You can do well, but tread carefully.

After hiking at Deception Pass last Saturday morning, my girlfriend and I decided to go to The Shrimp Shack to get some good seafood. After seeing all of the positive Unilocal reviews, we had pretty high expectations for this place. However, we found the whole experience to be disappointing.
There was only three groups of people ahead of us in the line (and that was only three parties) and yet, it took us nearly fifteen minutes before we got to the front of the line to place our order. I’m not sure why the line was moving at molasses-​like speed as the food is brought out to patrons later, but it took forever for us to reach the front of the line.
Once it was finally our turn to order, we tried to get a 16 oz bowl of clam chowder. However, the employee at the register told us they were out of chowder and that it would take 45 minutes for a new batch. As a seafood place, you have no excuse for running out of chowder at noon. To make things even worse, we noticed that the people after us were able to order an 8 oz. cup of chowder. At best, this means that there was only enough chowder for 8 oz., and the employee neglected to tell us that (we would have gladly just gotten the 8 oz cup). At worst, the employee lied to us. Neither scenario reflects favorably on The Shrimp Shack.
After placing our order, we spent another 20 minutes waiting for food. To me, this is baffling. It doesn’t take long to fry food, and there weren’t that many people at the restaurant.
When we got our food (40 minutes after arriving), it wasn’t that great. The batter on the cod was way too thick and greasy. The fish was fresh and flavorful, so they don’t need to hide the taste with tons of batter. What a shame. The fries were overly greasy as well.
The oyster burger was decent although not phenomenal. The oysters had a nice light batter and worked well with the American cheese, lettuce, and creamy sauce. The burger would have definitely benefited from some added spice though.
We were not impressed with our service or food. If we hike Deception Pass area again, we will drive down to somewhere in Oak Harbor or Coupeville instead.

My wife and I saw the name, and instantly had to stop!
Pretty busy place and rightfully so. I asked what seafood burger was there most popular they said oyster burger.
It was GOOD, but I thought you couldn’t really taste the oysters with how much batter was around them, also they put american cheese on it which I thought distracted from the oysters. The fries are battered and DELICIOUS, I would definitely go back but try a different burger.
It is not super fast, will take 10 to 30 minutes easy depending on how busy.
Bathrooms are portal potties on the side.

My parents used to stop here for bags of shrimp before heading out to the park for family picnics, and Deception Pass. I think I’ve been coming for over 20 years. There used to be way less people, and the shack had none of the frills that it has now. If you came too late, there were no shrimps for you.
Now there is always a crowd, and prices have almost doubled for a pound of cooked shrimp. We still come because the shrimp is still fresh, delicious, and sweet. I also like the addition of benches, under the large tent for us to enjoy our food. If you feel like having shrimp they also have a large fried/​burgers menu, but we only come for the shrimp. It’s always about the shrimp.