Samba Seafood

Ok I am finally home and on the computer so I can finish the review I started at the restaurant.
First off I just want everyone to know that before I stepped through the front door I was hoping for the best possible outcome that one could have but as soon as I walked in to the place I got a funny feeling and my gut said that maybe I should just call it a Chic-​fil-​A night and be done with it. Well obviously I didn’t listen to my gut or this review would not be happening.
No dedicated staff at the front of house to receive guests waiting for five or so minutes and had to get the attention of any of the employees who just happened to be walking by.
We get to our seats and look over the menu and another thing immediately told me to get up and get out but I didn’t pay it any mind, there was only one vegetable on the whole menu and it just happened to be broccoli covered in cheese.
Meanwhile, as we are waiting for at least 15 mins for someone to come out and take our drink orders I had to once again get the attention of some random server who went to the back and came out with our server were we finally able to place order for drinks and food. The kids ordered from the small and limited menu and at 8 p.m. as if the place was extremely busy, 2 of the items apparently had run out. My son asked for the chicken nugget basket and my daughter the popcorn shrimp basket since there was no macaroni and cheese. My wife ordered the house salad (which she asked to bring it out with the rest of the dinner) originally she wanted the fish tacos but she wanted flour tortillas instead of corn, so sorry we are a Mexican seafood restaurant but we only deal in corn tortillas lol. Lastly I ordered the shellfish soup since it looked pretty safe also my wife and I ordered a whole red snapper with fried rice (where are the vegetables) to share.
48 minutes in and all we had at our table was a house salad and drinks, you by this time the kids were hungry and agitated, after we ordered we had asked that they bring the kids meals out first so that me and my wife would then be able to sit and eat without any problems. Chicken nuggets were not ready and oh yeah surprise there is another thing missing from the menu, POPCORN SHRIMP. I asked about the shrimp and was told that they had run out but the server said that the cooks were in the back boiling more shrimp so they would have cooked shrimp to make popcorn shrimp I am no genius by any means but the last time I cooked shrimp it wasn’t for 48 minutes.
My soup finally arrives at the table at about 8:10 as well as the grilled red snapper, well if ever I was looking for overcooked shrimp I found them in my soup, as I was taking a nice sized shrimp from the bowl to deshell it the thing just fell apart in my hand. They also had all this extra time in the back to prepare the food why is it that my snapper is still covered in scales? Ok now my daughter is hungry and also getting tired so I decided to give her a bit of my fried rice and red snapper, the fish is semi warm and fried rice extremely cold this just seems to be getting worse by the minute.
I think I am done with this rant; but I guess I was expecting a bit too much when I came into this place to spend my hard earned money to receive awful service from an establishment that charges medium prices for meals that are poorly prepared. How could an owner look their customers in the face after such an awful experience at his place of business and demand that the customer pay full price for the whole awful experience is a bit concerning to me.
Everything was blamed on the chefs or should I say the guys working in the kitchen because I am damn sure there were no chefs working that night. How could you be shorthanded on cooking staff and think that you can provide all the items on the menu in a timely manner, personally from what I witnessed, everyone in that restaurant was to blame, no one was communicating and it showed in the service and the food that we received last night. I would not go back to this place EVER!!!

Let’s start with Mambo seafood? It’s basically the same concept and dishes but I thought Samba tasted better. The location is very new and the place is pretty clean. The service is kind of slow, it took some time even though it wasn’t packed. Overall the flavors were good and I thought the portions were pretty good in considerations of the prices. Most dishes are about $ 10-​$ 12. I tried the fish a la veracruzana (fish with a pepper and onion sauté sauce) and the fish and shrimp fish. Both dishes were cooked nicely, fresh and filling. Overall, I had a good experience, just expect not so fast service.

The quality of the fish was far beyond my expectations. WOW. The servers were really attentive, too. I’m definitely coming back here.

Came here for the first time and pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is new to the area, and everything is new. They have a patio that could be good for spring and fall alfresco dining. Alas not today with high in the 50s.
Inside dining room is spacious and clean. Our server is very nice and attentive. She checked on us multiple times during the meal.
We started with the drinks. The classic daiquiri is strong, while the strawberry one is sweet and smooth. They are kinda pricy at $ 9 a pop, though. I took off a star for that.
For foods, we had the seafood cocktail and seafood soup. Hey, it’s Samba Seafood, so what else? The cocktail has shrimp, octopus and scallop, mixed with the cocktail sauce. It is tangy and sweet. Seafood is fresh. Served with cracker, it is a a good appetizer to get things rolling.
We also had the mariscala soup. Look at that snow crab! It also has shrimp, mussels, crawfish, corn, tomatoes and potatoes, along with toasted French bread rolls. With the current temp outside, this soup is a welcome relief. The broth is flavorful, tangy, yet savory. All the ingredients work well together. This is a meal in one.
Overall, samba is good. We would come back again to try some other items. The They look delicious.
The only drawback for me personally is the distance. I lived quite far away to have multiple visit. Of course that is not their fault. For those they are in the area, check it out. They can be easily accessed via the beltway.

My co-​workers & I decided to give it a try after recommendations. The prices are very reasonable and the portions are huge! All of us could hardly eat half our meals and took the rest home. My crawfish fried rice was delicious, fries and broccoli were cooked perfectly. My friends ordered the fried shrimp plates & said they were also yummy. Everything was fresh & service was great! There aren’t a lot of lunch options in this area unless you want to go to the malls. This is a welcome addition & I plan to be back.

I have been here twice now and we really like it. I love the upbeat atmosphere and décor. Nice patio. The fried shrimp and grilled platter is very good. The waitresses are very sweet and friendly. I hope this place starts getting some better reviews, we’d love to see then succeed :)

Save your money. Came here on a Saturday night and we were surprised by the lack of cars in the parking lot for a Saturday night. I guess I should have read the reviews before giving this place a try. I ordered the fried shrimp and hubby ordered the shrimp diabla, we also ordered the hush puppies and onion rings. Hubby enjoyed his shrimp diabla but my shrimp was very chewy and hard. I sent my meal back and didn’t order anything else. The hush puppies were very good. The waitress brought us out a cheesecake that was still frozen (for me sending my dinner back). Waitress was slow and took a while to take our drink order with as few of people that were there it was a little surprising. It really didn’t get better. I wouldn’t recommend eating here and we won’t be back.

We’ve been here a few times now and the food and service gets better each time. Heir grilled fish and shrimp is tasty and we like their ceviche as an app. Today the patio is perfect with this cooler weather! Not many places around with outdoor seating so we are definitely enjoying it!

Place looks great! Very inviting décor and very clean. The food is great, the fish is fried perfectly, not overcooked, firm and flaky. The house special fried rice has a lot of good flavors, properly seasoned, with enough protein (ham, chicken, shrimp) Kudos on the presentation and plating. The service is lack luster, servers need to be more inviting, more attentive. It’s almost like they are winging it. Prices are a bit high, I’ll take to-​go next time.

Not very good. Fried Fish was pretty gross. French fries were overly salted. Ranch on salad didn’t taste right. Wouldn’t be a place I’d try again!

Not so good. Mexican seafood Chinese style. Over cooked oysters, all you taste is breaking. With a side of shrimp fried rice (go figure) with bad shrimp. The only Latin thing here is the music and the waitresses. Save your stomach And money, don’t go. This place won’t last if they keep this up. Really sad because this area really lacks good eating places

Not much variety on the menu, service a bit slow at an otherwise not very busy lunchtime. Ambiance a nice change and hard to even tell it was a Baytown Seafood immediately prior to this. Shrimp Diabla was nice and spicy, but I felt the whole red snapper was overpriced. Server was attentive without being overbearing. They could use a lunch menu with smaller portions prices accordingly.