McCormick & Schmick’s

Food was ok. If you go for restaurant week and want steak… They will only cook it medium well no other way. There was a bug on the wall and one of the drinks tasted like an orange cough drop. Manager was really nice and so was the waiter. They gave us 50% off our bill for the bug and we didn’t really even make a big deal about any of it — we just wanted the little guy out of our area

If I could give this establishment ½ of a star I would do so. It was poor on every level. I brought a client here for dinner last week and both of us left underwhelmed by the quality of food and service. We both ordered the crab cakes. They were a mushy conglomeration of some type of faux crabmeat, mixed with an abundance of filler with little or no taste. We requested that they be baked rather than fried and what we go was burnt. With all the restaurants in Center City Philadelphia, I place this one on my «Will Not Return» list.

This is my favorite place for happy hour in AC for my family. The staff treats us like family every visit. I would recommend them to anyone visiting Harrahs AC. The food is great and the prices are ridiculously low. Highly recommended!

Calamari was very good. Liked the fried vegies in with it. Dinner was decent. Lobster mac-​n-​cheese was good. Asparagus was cooked perfectly. Ordered the $ 45 dollar bone in ribeye. Asked for medium rare. Was served almost well done. Didn’t really want to send it back as we were in a hurry. Totally should have. The other two in our party enjoyed their steaks. Decent experience, overall. Just my portion drew the short straw.

Went here on a Monday for restaurant week. The restaurant was not busy but it took quite a while for our service to acknowledge our table. We started off with the calamari, which was delicious and had a zesty taste. Next we all order different options on the restaurant menu and all of the portions were a little smaller than expected and the food was ok not over the top delicious. It reminded me of a typical chain restaurant. I think there are plenty of more appetizing restaurants in the city that are better tasting, better portions for a more affordable cost.

It’s hard to believe that such a beautiful place can be such a bad restaurant experience. It starts with the staff who seem to be forced to sell memberships into a restaurant club. Seriously, they push this way more than they talk about the food. Then the food arrived and I could understand why they weren’t bragging about it. There was more salt than clams in the Clam Chowder. The scallop entrée was okay, not great, with four scallops sitting on something hard that was supposed to be a hash brown, I think. Their crab cakes are mushy, like mashed potatoes and again, salted to pieces. The next time you’re in Philly, walk the extra blocks to South 18^th, which has a lot of great restaurants for the same price as this awful place.

It was Christmas night and very busy. Even giving slack for that it was the worst service I can remember anywhere. After waiting over 1 ½ hours after ordering our food was bad. Chicken was dried out and tasted like it had been under a light. We didn’t see our waiter for 45 minutes and didn’t see him with many other tables either. Just bad. Will never go back.

Someone got wild with the hot pepper, it was in everything from the chowder to the tarter sauce & mussels, not good unless you are trying to hide bad fish.
The main course was Wild King Salmon, came burned on the bottom and hard as a rock, they brought a second that was raw and mushy, decided not to eat. The manager comes over and says he will take it off the bill, how freaking nice of him, try to serve uneatable food and makes it would like he is doing me a favor. Have been eating at M&S since they started in Portland, first meal I have ever sent back and left hungry, not a good night and wrecked the celebration.
The wait staff was great, the kitchen was the worst, managements response was lame, would not recommend as they do not seem to care about the customers.

30 minute wait past our reservation time. Table wasn’t outfitted properly when we were finally seated right next to the kitchen. Salmon served raw and inedible. Very disappointing.

This is probably the best happy hour you’ll find anywhere from a chain restaurant. Runs from 4 to 6:30 and their happy hour burger is sooooo good, SO GOOD, comes with fries and costs 5 bucks. We got a ton of stuff so I’ll break down for you what to order on happy hour menu from best to less than best (however, it’s all pretty good). Ready? Ok let’s do this:
1 Burger (MIGHT be the best in the city, fries are standard)
2 Mussels (buttery, fresh, delicious)
3 Steak carpaccio (high end steak that would be a $ 25 plate for $ 9)
4 Wings (really substantial, just spicy enough, not over-​sauced)
5 Blackened chicken quesadilla (tons of vegetables, grilled in a bunch of butter)
6 Calamari (crunchy and fresh)
7 Fish tacos (the slaw on them makes them worthwhile)
8 Oysters (good, but not salty enough)
9 Bruschetta (fresh)
10 Shrimp cocktail (standard)
11 Seafood stuffed mushrooms (just wasn’t into them. bland)

Our waiter had to come to our table twice after we placed our order: first, to tell us they were out of the tuna & then (after several in our party had to reorder), to tell us they were out of the mahi mahi. As a major, multi-​million dollar chain SEAFOOD restaurant in the heart of center city Philadelphia, how you can run out of two major fishes on a Saturday night I will never understand… & therefore will never be back.
We were extremely disappointed, especially since many of us have had more than enjoyable experiences at M&S in other major cities. This is unacceptable from the management, for the patrons and servers alike. While the series of events was not our server’s fault, he was forced to take the majority of our table’s frustration.
The manager on staff did work with us & compensated us for some of our troubles, so I added another star for his acknowledgement of the problem.

I’m Very Pleased My Husband Chose To Celebrate Our Wedding Anniversary Here… The Presentation Of Our Drinks Was Gorgeous, The Food Was Delicious, Ryan Our Server Was Very Accommodating and The Manager Nigel Stopped By To Check On Us & Introduce Himself & Not To Mention The Atmosphere At McCormick & Schmick’s Was Awesome!~

We came with a party of 16 for a work dinner. We eat out as a group often and never seem to have an issue with service. Actually the service is usually better with our large group. Tonight was not the case.
The waitstaff seems to lack basic training. And the communication between the bar and the floor is poor. Literally took us 30 minutes to get a drink from the bar.
We ordered a bunch of appetizers and they all come out cold.
— bacon wrapped shrimp –COLD
— Mussels — peanut sized — COLD
— Calamari — rubbery –COLD
— Flat Bread Pizza– COLD– but really good.
I ordered the lobster bisk and it didn’t taste fresh like it had been made today. It tasted like it came from a box and it had been diluted with water, and oil had been added for consistency. It wasn’t very good at all.
We arrived here at 6:45 and didn’t receive out entrée until 8:15 no lie. We were about to leave and the server said they were plating our meals. We should have left because the entrees were awful. Everything was so sloppy looking and the steaks were all burnt and over cooked as well as the fish. Seems like they rushed everything. I took one bite of my stuffed flounder and couldn’t continue it was disgusting.
There are too many great steakhouses in the area. Try Mortons. I would have rather went to Cheesecake Factory instead. Terrible experience.

I hadn’t gone here in several years and went to lunch here when my bf had a hankering for shrimp. Upon walking in I noticed immediately that the restaurant appeared to be out dated. The carpet seemed old and in need of being changed.
The staff was both friendly & attentive. The service was quick & the food was good. The parmesan crusted flounder was great. The fish was tender and flavorful.
This restaurant needs a face lift. I love the location but think this restaurant needs an upgrade.

I was able to try this place for the first time for Philly restaurant week. I ordered ordered the parmesan-​crusted flounder with the crab soup and NY style cheesecake. The entrée was fantastic. I loved the crust on the filet and the rice it came with was very good. The soup itself was nothing special. It did have real crab in it but it was not lump crab. Not sure if it came from a can or was boiled fresh from the creature. The cheesecake was the same as any other cheesecake slice out there. I would come here again. It is very convenient as it is right off the subway, directly across from city hall. The décor was fancy with the wood walls and lots of wine. I was not a fan of the lighting as it was a bit dark. The table I was sitting at (in a booth) was a not level and would tilt when you leaned on it. Otherwise, the place is a pricey seafood joint that I would like to visit again.

Had dinner for Restaurant week with brother and our girlfriends. Excellent.
(Sam) Coco was the man! Great job as our waiter. No one better. Great suggestions. Had the salmon with balsamic glaze and couscous… delicious. Flourless chocolate was awesome, but get the apple pie dessert instead it was unreal! Flounder with crab meat was delicious as well.
Definitely will be back!

So I been wanting to come here for quite some times and since my bf wanted seafood we decided to give this place a try. Walked in and got seated right away. There were a lot of people for a Wednesday night .
The menu here is very limited. So we’ve ordered the calamari and margherita flatbread for appetizers. The calamari was good but the flatbread i didn’t like so much cause the bread tasted soggy. I’ve tried it at other place before and its so delicious. I ordered the steak and lobster mixed grill. My steak were juicy and delicious but I wished it was cooked a lil more because I did asked for medium well. It was more like medium rare. My lobster was delicious. The potatoes that came with my dish was undercooked so it didn’t taste right. As for my bf he only ordered a side of lobster tail. Overall food was great just some certain stuff that needs to be fixed .
Food service like other viewer said was true. I did have to wait some times for our food to come out. I was almost full by appetizers before our food even came out. So with that being said I didn’t have any room to try dessert .
Waitress was okay. Could of been a little more attentive.

The food at McCormick & Schmick’s is always good, the speed of service not so much. I’ve given the slow service the benefit of the doubt in the past because I’ve had the misfortune of dining there during peak hours (like graduation weekend for area colleges). This time there was no excuse.
This time I ate there on a night the weather was awful. It was snowing and yucky out, and with a 6pm reservation the place was fairly empty. I figured that meant we’d have quick service because there weren’t a lot tables. I was wrong.
Our server was very nice, but the food took a long time to come out, even though we didn’t order apps. We sat down a little before 6 and we weren’t out the door until after 7:30. We didn’t order dessert — just coffee. That seems like a pretty long time when the restaurant is empty.
As for food, I had the Parmesan Crusted Flounder (Lemon Caper Butter, Butternut Squash Orzo, Green Beans) which was very good. I had a Millionaire Coffee (Baileys Irish Cream, Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur, Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur and coffee) after dinner, which was the perfect amount of sweet and caffeine. That also took a while to come out from the bar even though the place wasn’t packed.
Overall, the food is good — just don’t try to have a quick meal or on a time schedule for something after your meal.

We have long been fans of McCormick & Schmick’s restaurants. Unfortunately, they closed the one near my parents’ house, so we thought it might be a fun adventure to go into Center City and visit the one downtown. I love this location because it’s right on the corner in the shadow of City Hall.
I have to say that the first impression here was not so great. I called ahead to make a reservation just in case. The gentleman who helped me talked to me while some kind of awful very unprofessional music was playing in the background. Then he put me on hold forever. Then he came back and the music was gone, so I don’t know if he moved to a different phone. And then he seemed to have a lot of trouble actually taking my reservation. It should not have been that hard.
At any rate, we show up for said reservation and from there things did improve. Our waitress was very good. I ordered the clam chowder for the first time ever and was delighted to find that it is partly based on a very generous helping of bacon that makes it warm and decadent and a pretty darn good cup of soup. For lunch I had the crispy fish tacos, which were pretty good except for the incredible amount of raw onion. Since the whole taco is covered in sauce, it’s tough to pick out pieces of excess onion. But other than that, the dish was decent. Others got shrimp scampi, which got good reviews, and a burger (a non-​seafood lover in our group).
Others have said it, but it’s not a cheap meal. Still it was OK for a treat. There is valet parking during dinner hours but not lunch. Parking in any of the nearly downtown parking decks will run you $ 10-​$ 16 or so on a normal day. Just something to know if you are planning to park.

McCormick & Schmick’s happy hour has won national awards, and I’ve enjoyed it greatly at a few of their other locations. Based on this, I decided to check out the Philly location for the first time yesterday.
I wasn’t off to a good start. Half the bar was rented out for a private party, and happy hour is only valid at the bar area. I was so close to leaving, wasn’t sure where to go next and was waiting for my friends to arrive. The hostess apologized and even offered up some suggestions of other happy hour spots with food. Very sweet of her!
I heard a group at a happy hour high top table ask for a check so started to eye up the area. To my luck, another high top table group got up beforehand! I didn’t want to lose this opportunity so planted myself in a seat before the table could be cleared. Due to the crowd, it took a few minutes for someone to come over to clear it and ask for my order.
Before my friends even arrived, I ordered a glass of the happy hour Cabernet and the edamame appetizer. My friends made it shortly after, but one friend was on a break and had a limited time to dine. Our order was taken promptly and his time limitations mentioned immediately. The drink service was quick enough, however we had to wait for a bit for the food. My friend had to get half of his order boxed up so he could get back to work.
I personally enjoyed my cheeseburger and thought it was a nice hunk of beef for $ 4.99 (with fries). My friends weren’t quite as enamored by their chicken sliders or the fish tacos. The edamame was prepared with sea salt and was standard. I’ve had really well flavored/​seasoned edamame before but this wasn’t it.
The other locations were never too crowded during my previous happy hour visits. I think the service lacked a bit yesterday due to the crowd. I’d be willing to try it again in hopes that half the bar area isn’t blocked off for a private event. The price was still right in my mind for what I got.