McGrath’s Fish House

Food poisoning!
My parents and I went there for a meal the night before we were to leave on vacation. That morning, my mother went to the ER with severe food poisoning. That meal cost us hundreds of dollars in medical bills and trip changes. I called the business and was told a manager would call me back. Of course, they didn’t even have the human decency to call me back. More worried about being sued than being good community members. Eat at your own risk. Contacted county health about the matter. This placed should be closed down.

Now I remember why I quit going to McGrath’s. Came in for lunch. One of my forks was dirty, a normal occurrence at restaurants and not a big deal, so I politely asked for another. Waitress said she would get me one and then disappeared. She even walked by the table again without bringing me one. My food was just sitting there waiting to be eaten. We politely reminded her again and she brought one. The place was not very busy at the time. She also never refilled my water. I ran out and she never checked in on us again after bringing the food.
On to the food… I had the crab cakes, which were overcooked (nearly burned) and mostly filler with little crab in them. More like crab flavored hushpuppies. My wife’s rockfish was very bland with little seasoning. I just feel like the food at McGrath’s is pretty consistently bland and not well flavored. They could benefit from some overhauls on their menu.
There are better options for tastier seafood, even in land locked Boise. We won’t be going back.

Sometimes you have to trust Unilocal over past experiences. McGrath’s used to be a great place with a big assortment of seafood. Their oyster bar had sand and sea shells in it, not traditional ice and shellfish. Just get rid of it, not appealing.
I ordered an Absolute Martini, Grilled Sturgeon, garden salad (no dressing).
After about 15 minutes, I find out that they do not have Absolute, anything else will do.
Another 15 minutes and they bring me some unknown Vodka, no olives!
Fish was good, but what happened to my salad?
Then, i get my bill and they charged me for the Absolute, which they don’t have.
Note: If you really like Seafood, their menu is very limited: Salmon, Halibut, Cod.
Poor selection.

Service is lacking.
The host sat me right away. The server took a long time to come around. I ordered ice tea, and she disappeared for the rest of the meal. After a long wait, another server brought my ice tea and took my order.
After yet another long wait my food arrived. Ordered grilled shrimp skewers and a 6oz steak. The steak was cooked to medium as requested, but was dry and lacked seasoning. The shrimp were tasty. Sides of steamed vegetables and rice pilaf were good. The house salad was swimming in dressing.
Even though the place was mostly empty at dinner, service was very slow. After I finished, I sat for a good 10 plus minutes waiting for my check. It took another 10 minutes for the server to come back with my change. There was a manager walking around, but he was hands off for the most part.
The place could use a good cleaning.

First time here and won’t be back. The food wasn’t very good. I ordered the apricot stuffed salmon and was excited about it because it sounded delicious. When it arrived at the table I could immediately see the salmon was far over done. It was very dry and slightly crusted when it should have had no crust at all. For a fish house, they need to learn how to handle fish. The potatoes it was served on were lacking salt and pepper. Like, none at all was used while cooking them. I couldn’t tell if it was the fish or the potatoes but every other bite I took had charcoal/​burned wood in it. Not pleasant to bite and hear a loud crunch that shouldn’t have been there and then taste coal. The rice pilaf was just rice with salt and oregano. The steamed vegetables had no seasoning at all and were cold. I ate them first so there was no reason they should have been cold. The Cole slaw was actually quite good although slightly too sweet but not unbearably so. Probably the only thing I actually enjoyed. My fiancé had ordered a savory scallop and artichoke pasta that was more sweet than savory. It’s obvious they use canned artichoke hearts. The scallops were a little over done but not bad. Overall not a good experience.

We took a recent BSU grad here for a celebratory lunch at her request. I’m not a big fan of seafood, so McGrath’s has never been a favorite of mine.
Our waiter (I so wish I remembered his name) was very nice, and even through a few jokes at us, but was not the greatest. I had to ask for ice water three times!, and our grad’s request had to ask for it twice. From the other tables around us (who had a different waiter), it looked as though we were supposed to start with a bread basket, which we did not.
Alas, we started with the appetizer sampler tray. I was not impressed. The onion rings and mozzarella sticks had the same breading, which was way too sweet and essentially flavorless. Both items were sub-​par due to that. The sesame chicken strips, however, were quite tasty, and a nice addition. I didn’t try the shrimp and crab wontons.
For an entrée, I had the John Q. Publick Cheeseburger, which was better. The burger had good flavor, and the caramelized onions were delicious! (Albeit also very sweet.) The fries were bland, though.
Everyone else seemed pleased with their food, although it’s not somewhere we’ll be running to dine at again.

Very fast and friendly service. The portions are good sized and delicious. Crab cakes are to die for!

We had very good service and very good food. We all had the shrimp special and substituted fries for clam chowder. Everything was very very good and wonderful waitress and the greeter was polite and friendly! This was my first time coming back after many years and I would come back again.

I ordered the snow crab legs. They were overcooked & dry. Needless to say, I was disappointed. My son ordered the kids’ cheese pizza. It was kid sized, but more of an adult taste… way too much sauce. As my son said, «there’s sauce inside and on top of the cheese.» He didn’t eat it. If everything had been good, the price would have been awesome.
The service was very friendly, but it took forever to get the check. In fact, he took my credit card without showing me the check & never did produce an itemized bill. I believe I was correctly billed and completely take credit for giving him my card without seeing the bill. My bad.
My son wasn’t told he had ice cream with the kids’ meal until after we had paid. Just delayed getting out of the restaurant that much longer.
Nice atmosphere.

Where do I start? Ok, the two best things are the décor & the clam chowder. Down hill from there. In approaching the building I was surprised to see how empty the parking lot was. Saturday night at 7:30 & not very many cars. We were told this was one of Boise’s better seafood establishments. Sorry but we’re tourists. Should of checked Unilocal.When asked for a beer list the server read off, rather fast about seven beers. When trying to impress beer drinkers don’t lead with Coors Light! Our son asked to see the list that the server was reading from. For some reason he didn’t appreciate that & the service from then on was cool & efficient. My salmon was dry & bland, even the baked potato was bland & I had it with sour cream, chives & cheese. How do you serve a bland baked potato in Idaho? Any how this is turning into a short story. Suffice to say can’t put this on my list of even ok restaurants. Next time CHECK Unilocal!

Ate dinner here while staying at the Hampton Inn nearby. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised as chain seafood places don’t usually live up to the hype they create for themselves. The menu selection should provide an option for everyone, and the prices are fantastic! There was no «wow» factor to our dinner selections but they were competently prepared and the service was spot on. There WAS a wow factor to the chocolate ganache cake I had after dinner… YUMMY!

And I am sick. If you want a seafood place worse than red lobster with worse service. You found it. Won’t recommend it and won’t go back. Stay away from this aging menu and aging restaurant. Horrible. Matter fact if you want seafood go get microwaveable Gordon’s it will be better.

Overpriced food for commercialized quality. Fish does not seem fresh. Preparation appears amateur. I would eat at red lobster before I ate here. Service was mediocre.

I got the Apricot Halibut and it and it was amazing. The staff was a wonderfull as you could ask for!!!

Food was pretty good and reasonably priced. Service was not that great. He did got several orders wrong besides writing it down. Now that could also be the kitchens fault (having been a server) but still his responsibility to double check. He also left several empty drink glasses on the table. I had the prawn platter and it was pretty good. As was the app sampler. Especially the crab dip. Wife’s salmon was done all the way through though. I usually prefer mine more of a Med Rare. So heads up on that.

I’m visiting Boise for a few days, wanted to try something new. Ordered the hazelnut sole, clam chowder and key lime pie .
Food is great, price good… Deliciousness !

Really gone downhill. Fish isn’t fresh, service mediocre. A pity, could be so much more. I just wont spend my money there.

We went again last week and had more good good and service. Although McGraths is pretty dated, it sentimental to us :) I had the halibut parm, Bur had the ribs (ironically she doesn’t eat seafood) and we split an app combo basket. Everyone is always friendly, the food is consistent and we will be back :)

I came on a Friday evening around 8pm based upon hotel recommendation. Traveling all day and was HUNGRY but needed veg options. Walked across the street and was greeted warmly. Sat and looked at menu within minutes my waiter greeted me (even though he was dealing with water spill and new dish at another table) he came over, apologized for wait and asked to get me a drink. The next thing I know a delicious martini was in front of me. I ordered the house made mozzarella sticks, great. Sauce very good. I ordered a modified shrimp Louis salad very good. It was quiet maybe because its late? Also prices, well I travel a lot and this was reasonable. Pricey? Nope. Seafood. I come from Florida. I was pleased.

Sesame chicken appetizers — mmmm yum! Service has improved immensely.
We had come here a couple of previous times where the service was atrocious. One time the hostess sat us at a table and 30 minutes later we had never been acknowledge by any wait staff, even though several walked by our table many times during that time period. The manager ended up serving us, I think because our server was too embarrassed to wait on and yes, we were quite grumpy by that point and justifiably so.
To be fair, we periodically check back and I must say our recent experience was much improved. We had a cheery and attentive server and food was good. Especially the clam chowder.