Boston Fish Shack

Looks like it closed…

we wanted to go on friday night – but the place was closed. no lights, no note… tell me this isn’t so before we’ve even had a chance to try!

It’s cold. Its snowy. The temp went from 54 to 34 in 20 minutes. I’m hungry and need comfort food in a comfy spot. I take a chance and am rewarded: a full bowl of hot chowder, a crispy wedge salad, and a Schlitz. If I had ordered the jalapeño cornbread it would have been perfect.

We live right down the street from this restaurant and decided to stop by to try it out. We ordered to-​go but we received excellent, super-​attentive service from the host/​bartender/​owner (?), who brought out tastes of two soups for us to try, refilled our water several times, and chatted with us while we waited. Our meals were incredible — I had the mac and cheese with basil and chicken mango sausage and my husband had the fettuccine with chicken, sausage, corn, etc. The décor is lovely, which is the first thing you notice when walking into the place, and it feels worlds away from the strip-​mall feel adjacent to the restaurant. We will definitely be going back.

Fantastic.
This is the best fish (non-​sushi) that I’ve had since moving away from the east coast.
The restaurant itself is located in a kind of no-​mans-​land between up and coming yuppie areas, and dirty Federal Boulevard runoff. I knew we had hit on something good when we walked inside however. The place is clean, and well decorated, but most importantly of all for a Fish Shack, it did not smell like fish.
Started off with the Stuffed Quahog. As soon as I took a bite, I knew that this was going to be the dish to beat for the whole meal. Outstanding flavor and texture. Although, when I reached the center of the Quahog, it was still cold. Uh-​oh. We let the waiter know the deal, and he quickly took it back, and brought back a brand new piping hot replacement only a few minutes later. Despite the cold bite, the effort the staff put into correcting the problem as well as graciously comping the appetizer more than made up for any inconvenience. The way they dealt with that little hiccup prevented me from taking any stars from this review.
While waiting for the main course, they brought out the jalapeño corn bread that you probably read about below. This was every bit as good as anyone had previously reviewed. A little dollop of honey butter on top made this an instant favorite. The jalapeño gave a good flavor, and just a tiny heat. Perfect. Wish I could make it like that at home. With the corn bread came a mixed green salad, with just a tiny tiny bit of dressing tossed onto it. Not enough to overpower, but enough to taste. Great salad for a fish meal. The greens were all very fresh and crisp.
For the main course, I had the Daily special Mahi-​Mahi. I will definitely be having this again. and probably again and again. Cooked perfectly, tasted brilliant. Came with a corn purée (i think that’s what it was). Anyway, it was amazing. The spices, corn, fish, and bits of soft, thick bacon made this one unforgettable.
Out bill came out to about $ 75, and that was with two people eating like kings and enjoying several glasses of wine.
The Summary:
Best fish place I’ve found in Denver, and definitely a place I’ll be visiting again and again. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Also, Try the stuffed Quahog. that was my personal favorite of the visit.

I was surprised to see such a high rating for this restaurant. I ate here recently with my parents. We were starving already and really excited to try this place. We were seated immediately. The salad and jalapeño cornbread were great. So far so good. The entrees took over an hour to come. When my mother’s plate of 12 oysters on the half shell arrived they were
A. Lukewarm
B. Tiny
C. Over expensive
D. All of the above
If you chose D you are correct. $ 22 for 12 tiny oysters the size of a quarter? The shells were deceptively huge. And they should have been ice cold. My fish and chips were unremarkable and my dad’s surf and turf was just fine. We would have been ok with all of that had it not been for the fact that the server and the manager both failed to inform us why our food was taking so long. We finally had to flag someone down and ask. When the manager came to the table she said the cook had dropped our food and she made him start over. Why didn’t they tell us sooner instead of letting us wonder? If it were my restaurant I would have explained and offered the customers some bread or something. They gave my mother 4 more (tiny) oysters to compensate but I think when a restaurant makes an error like that the meal should be comped. I have worked tons of restaurants and I know that good ones will try very hard to please their customers. I was already pissed off when I noticed that the toilet in the ladies’ bathroom was mildewed as though it had not been scrubbed for several weeks and that the server dropped our bill while our table was still covered with plates of half eaten food. We paid $ 80 for a miserable experience and we didn’t have any appetizers or drinks. Just water. At those prices the food and service should be much, much better.
Will I go back to Boston Fish shack EVER?
A. No
B. No
C. No
D. All of the above.

Apparently Michelle Gelman had such a desire for the seafood of her youth that she shut down Gelman’s and re-​built it as the Boston Fish Shack. I was a fan of Gelman’s, but it felt like it had lost something recently, so I’m glad that the Fish Shack has brought new life to the location.
The completely redecorated interior is bright and open even as it was fairly dark outside. They’ve even got a small beach/​sandbox (no water) tucked into the corner. And they’re open until they close, which I’d guess is around nine depending on the customers.
All the main dishes come with a simple salad and instead of the usual hunk of bread you get a small skillet of jalapeño corn bread. The skillet is right out of the oven and HOT, while the cornbread is nicely sweet with just a bit of zip from the jalapeño, with a big dollop of butter melting away in the center.
I had one of the daily specials — halibut grilled and served over pearl onions, amazingly fresh snap peas with a mushroom based sauce. It was just amazing. Too often places put halibut in some overpowering sauce, or even worse, batter and fry it. The Fish Shack seems to be about letting the fresh fish stand on its own.
If you want to get some really fresh fish and cook it yourself, head a few blocks over to seafood landing. If you want some very pleasant people in the neighborhood to cook it for you, go here.

Seems to be a buzz around this new place. We went on a Friday. Customers were making a point to tell the staff and owners how pleased they were with having a quality seafood place with an East-​Coast flavor close by. The menu has dishes from fancy to humble.
Friendly and gracious service and a wide-​ranging menu. I was tempted by the fish and chips but got the cioppino. It was the best I’ve had– delicious sauce, spicy enough, full of good firm fish, delicious shellfish, two huge prawns, sweet and succulent scallops. It came with hearty, toasted crusty baguettes to mop up that rich, sunny sauce.
That pan of jalapeño cornbread they bring everybody is right up my alley.
This seems to be one of those relatively rare restaurants that understand: you salt food lightly so that the customer can decide if he wants to add more. Well-​prepared food doesn’t need to be all tarted-​up with a ton of salt.
My girlfriend had the scallops, which we were told might be the best dish in the place. She loved ‘em. Her boy had the (beef) burger, which I finished when he couldn’t – delicious. We left full and happy. BFS is worth a trip!

I have been lamenting being the only person in my circle that didn’t get to go to Cape Cad, Nantucket or Provincetown this year. As I saw each of them go and post pictures of their clambakes, lobster rolls and giant lobsters, I was a bit jealous. That is until I walked exactly 100 yards up 38^th Ave from my house and entered my own private Nantucket– The Boston Fish Shack. The food here is about as authentic beach seafood you can get in Colorado.
The place is family run and has a fresh, beach-​y feel w/​o being kitchy. You’re not going to find fishing nets and plastic crabs in this place. Instead, you will find a well-​lit, pottery barn-​meets-​The Black Dog on Martha’s Vineyard.
The food is really, really good. They bring you homemade jalapeño cornbread in a skillet that is too hot to touch. It was amazingly good.
Next we had a pound of mussels that were served w/​four hunks of crusty bread to lap up the amazing white wine butter and tarragon sauce. They have two other sauces for their mussels and I am already making plans to go back and try them.
Things to note… great fish and chips. Excellent wedge salad. They serve Schlitz in a can.
Check this place out. It’s really good and locally owned. The proprieters are good people and I want their business to do well because it is serving great food at good prices.