Bait & Hook

Bait and hook is the shit. The food is awesome. And the waiters are killer. They substituted bloody Mary’s for sangrias.

We really did not enjoy this place. They advertise great happy hour specials but then it only applies to a couple of drinks. Service was not good and they over charged us. This bar is not worth your time.

We have been wanting to stop by for the longest time, and it was the occasion to do so as we walk by during happy hour on a Tuesday evening!
We ordered the ½ price margarita and ½ wine. Margarita was good. I had the end of the bottle of wine so I had cork pieces floaters all around. I didn’t mind, it happens, not very keen on details from the servers though.
Ordered 6 oysters because that is the minimum you are required to ordered for happy hour. What if I only wanted 2?! Anyway. The oysters that didn’t have pieces of shells in them were delicious. I seriously had pieces of shells in 3 oysters out of my 6. No biggie, just saying. Lack of oyster proficiency in the kitchen or lack of attention to details, again…
We ordered tacos as well because for taco Tuesday, each taco is $ 1, but again, minimum order is 3 tacos… Ok. Tried the fish tacos and the chicken tacos. I enjoyed the chicken tacos, the flavors were good and the chicken quite abundant. I didn’t like the fish taco at all, it basically consists of deep fried fish fries that taste straight out of a school cafeteria, gross, really not good.
I can’t speak for the actual menu, but this experience doesn’t make me want to return.

Came for happy hour. Got a glass of wine and a fish taco. Disappointed with the small amount of wine they provided. Other places offer more than this. The fish taco was very good though. Not sure if I would come back as for the amount of wine provided the price should have been less.

Bestie and I had passed Bait & Hook one Saturday afternoon and couldn’t resist the temptation of a $ 1.00 oysters. We really should have resisted, because the oysters were disgusting! I eat plenty of oysters on a weekly basis from many different places, and I have never had oysters as disgusting as theirs. They were all clumpy and disgusting with big black globby organs coming out of each oyster meat. Maybe they’re keeping their oysters in warm/​unsafe conditions? In any case, I was completely grossed out and will never be back.

Had a coupon from
, and had passed by this place multiple times so I decided to try it. Came here after the weekday happy hour rush with a friend for dinner, the hosts were very nice and allowed me to be seated when my friend hadn’t shown up.
I got the salmon, it was cooked well where it’s still buttery in the middle and crispy skin. The side of spinach that it came with was a little gritty and not washed well unfortunately, also the asparagus wasn’t trimmed well, the bottoms were pretty woody.
My friend got the lobster roll… Ratios of bees to meat were so off… not enough meat for the amount of bread.
Overall wasn’t very impressed with the food, just your average local restaurant, worth it if you have a coupon or gift certificate.

Really like Bait & Hook, especially now that’s nice enough to sit outside. The menu offers tasty options — the fries are a wonderful snack! Drinks here are pretty reasonable, even outside happy hour.
Staff is nice and relatively attentive — if you’re in the area I’d say give it a shot, especially if you want to sit outside!

What attracted us to this place is the «by the water» feel despite being in the middle of the city. The atmosphere is the bay meets cool night club with excellent food.
The menu surprised me as it uses seafood as a vehicle to execute southern favorites, Asian influences, and new England classic. Not only were shrimp and grits and option, but grits are a regular side as well. My girlfriend is not a grits eater, but I hoped to changed that with bait and hook.
We started with the Kung pao calamari, it wasn’t my favorite thing. Great idea, from the sauce to the roasted peanuts, but it didn’t do it for me.
She went with the cod fish with a side of spinach and fries. Sadly the cod fell short on seasoning, but the fries were crisp, and the spinach was better than expected– I wish I had that, next time.
I chose the ginger salmon: the look alone, I knew as well as my date that I chose the better plate, but you almost never go wrong with salmon. The ginger and the brandy really came out in this, and it was cooked to perfection. My woman, a non grits eater, couldn’t stay out of my plate. These were made so good, I almost regretted not having the shrimp.
The staff was pleasant and asked us to come again soon, we definitely will!

I really like this place and have been a few times. Felt comfortable going alone too as its a welcoming environment. You had me on $ 1 blue points and happy hour wine. Ohhh wait… and Mussels Monday’s and Taco Tuesday’s. Great set up with outdoor seating or open windows if you’re in the bar area. Everyone’s been very nice to me each time and as someone with a food allergy, the chef was awesome and happy to modify a few things. The last time I was there they were slammed so service was a bit slower and the Bartendar forgot a drink for a Friend, but it was packed and happens. Love love love this place for casual bite and great specials and will be on the regular rotation. Enjoy! PS Nitol the Bartendar was great and very friendly if you happen to end up with him

I think it’s awesome that they have happy hour every day! In my opinion, it is hard to find happy hour on the weekends. Came here yesterday (Saturday), we had $ 1 oysters, $ 3 tacos, and $ 5 drafts/​$ 5 mixed drinks I’ve been here a couple of times, and the service has always been great! Maybe I’m just excited about the $ 1 oysters! My friend was skeptical and thought that these $ 1 oysters were too good to be true. They were everything and more, haha
If you’re not into oysters, definitely get the fish tacos… mango salsa, chipotle mayo… yum! Outside of happy hour, $ 12 for 4 tacos, same awesome deal!

Haiku:
Went here for some drinks
and a light meal with some friends.
Would come back again.
Located downtown,
the drinks came out pretty fast.
but food took a while.
The tacos were great!
and the oysters were fresh, too.
All around good time.

I appreciate that we were promptly seated even though we came during a Friday night. The service was friendly and attentive. The staff was quite generous with their draft beer samples. There were only a couple craft beer options. The happy hour specials are great with $ 5 drafts, $ 6 select wines, $ 3 tacos, $ 1 oysters (6 oyster minimum).
We started with a seafood sampler including shrimp, oysters, and a lobster tail. It’s a decent option to split between two people.
For my main course, I had the apple, shallot, and brandy glaze over salmon with French fries and sautéed spinach. The glaze was sweet and savory. The portion size was balanced which left me feel satisfied but not stuffed.

Came here 2^nd time in April and had a much different experience… OMG the service was not good and came back with a group of friends… so embarrassed… not sure what was going on.
Where was the manager that night? They were there the first time… guess they had the night off… staff was sooo uncoordinated!
The server kept forgetting someone’s drink, then finally told that they don’t have the drink… seriously? then took a long time with a cup of hot tea. When we asked server to take our order and put in drink order, he had to run off again to grab a pen and paper.
We asked if the seabass special had any bones — he said no. 5 people ordered seabass and 4 dishes had b/​w 3 – 10 bones each. Have had much better seabass elsewhere… really embarrassed given the last time was much better. The rest of the food was better.

Came Bait & Hook on a Saturday night because the restaurant I was intending on going to had an hour wait and was too hungry to wait. Long story short, I should have waited the hour for the other place.
Food here is mediocre at best, mostly bland and/​or over-​salted. Service was very slow and inattentive. Unbeknownst to me, the owner is of Top Chef fame. If my name was being marketed by this place I would have it removed immediately or make some serious changes to the menu and atmosphere.

I’m a huge oyster fan so I knew I had to try $ 1 oyster Thursday’s. I live just an avenue down, so it’s very convenient for me if it turned out well.
Can’t say that it did. I was seated at the bar where I was asked what I wanted to drink. I asked about two different types of beers which they had no knowledge on. I’m kind of a beer nerd, so this wasn’t a good start. I ordered a dozen of their oysters which were good just not great. But at a $ 1, I wouldn’t say that was my biggest flaw.
The service. Sooooo bad. There weren’t that many people in the whole restaurant, and instead of asking how they were or if I wanted refills on my drinks, my waitress was busy taking shots with a couple behind me. I don’t know what was worse, listening to their awful conversation, or not getting a fresh cold beer.
I live in NYC. There are a ton of $ 1 oyster joints. I’ll probably continue my search for a better place too.

I admit that I originally went into Bait and Hook because I needed to use their bathroom. I felt guilty just peeing and dashing so I ended up sitting down for a quick lunch. I wasn’t super excited about the place, as it had the distinctive sports bar odor and a bunch of loud people having boozy brunches (though there was no wait for a table). The most entertaining thing during my meal was the couple on a date behind me, especially when the guy accidentally spilled his entire drink on his date who was wearing all white. Needless to say, the date did not end well.
As for my own experience, it wasn’t as bad as getting a glass of liquid poured on me, but it wasn’t great. I had the Baja fish tacos as I’ve found that it’s not too hard to get those right. Unfortunately the tacos came out mushy. Everything was mushy: the tortillas, the fish itself, and all of the toppings. The mango salsa and chipotle mayo just added to the mush. I left most of it on the plate and ducked out of there pretty quickly. The service was nice enough, but it just wasn’t worth the sticky bar feel, the overcooked food, and the fairly high prices.

Ok so we stopped here because our redstart ant had a long wait and guess what it was ok cause this place was great. Let’s start off with The fish Tacos they were so amazing and the drinks were nice and strong just how we like them. Most of my group ordered the shrimp and grits and it was amazing. I ordered the lobsters rolls and and all I can say is that they need more sauce. But they gave us free desserts which was cool Cheesecake was great. All in all we loved it and will return especially for those amazing fish tacos

Ultimately surprised, food was really good, especially the fish taco’s. Service was great, thanks Lucy (our server). The drinks were perfect as well!

Came here on a spontaneous whim after deciding against the sticky buns across the street and had an excellent meal. Had the Kung Poa calamari and shared the short rib and shrimp tacos — AMAZING! We really enjoyed the ambiance (Sports fans: there are tvs everywhere!), food and drinks. Tip: Don’t bite into the chili pepper!

Quick tip: Go on their oyster special day

Good place to have a beer and some food at a bar. The bartender was very friendly and gave good service. The mussels were tasty and served hot with bread in a nice broth. The dollar oysters were good as well at a good temperature and fresh. Beers were served in pint glasses unlike some other bars that give happy hour draughts in 10 oz or so glasses. I definitely recommend this place for their happy hour, I’d go back to to try it for dinner as I was pleased with the food I got at the bar. I also thought the service was excellent, I had a pleasant conversation with the bartender from Bangladesh.

Everything here was epic! Mussels, shrimp and grits, the bread, the wine. Delish! On Wednesday nights there is even a special on bottles of wine! Can’t wait to go back.

Favorite local place… Shrimp tacos are awesome. Best lobster roll for the money and bartenders and owners are awesome!

Pleasantly surprised by this place! Was concerned reading reviews from fellow Unilocalers, but I must say that my experience was pretty decent!
Came on a Monday night and unfortunately just missed their happy hour special for dollar oysters. Undeterred though, our group of 6 ordered 40 oysters. The oysters were delicious and HUGE. Fresh and served with plenty of lemon and ice to keep cold, which was important when we were dealing with 40 of them!
Our group also got a few orders of the fish tacos as well as the short rib tacos. The short rib tacos were delicious, meat was really tender and flavorful. These were a huge hit with the group. I will say that the fish tacos were a little lackluster and one-​dimensional. We didn’t eat all of these. We started with the asian calamari, which was SO GOOD.
Service was a little slow, but then again, I would expect that at a place like this– kind of a sports bar meets seafood. Prices seemed reasonable, and I’d be back for happy hour type things.

I’ve walked by this place hundreds of times and it’s never crowded and all I have to say is people don’t know what they’re missing!
Kung pao calamari is delicious! We went on Taco Tuesday, $ 1 tacos with a 3 taco minimum, and I had the fish tacos. They were really delicious. Light and fresh with mango and cabbage. My husband had the fish and chips which were delicious. Lightly battered cod and salt & vinegar chips. Really great. Every night they have a special so we’ll be checking it out on different days.

Came here on Sunday and the football fans were there to represent! Not really, my scene, but not bad!
Food: As the name suggests, it’s a seafood restaurant. We ordered the calamari, which was delicious. It had a sweet and tangy peanut type sauce that I loved. I also had the baja fish tacos, which were pretty basic in my opinion. Even with the mango salsa it was pretty flavorless. My friends felt the same about the shrimp tacos, though they loved the short rib tacos.
Not a place I’d rush back to, but I see why people appreciate it. Great place to watch the game!

I been here a couple of times. Most recently, I came here with Beth. We ordered the Dave’s Lobster Mac ($ 18) which is really delicious. I usually get the lobster roll ($ 22) with roasted garlic aioli. Occasionally, I will mix it up and order it with drawn butter. Beth ordered the Wagyu Burger ($ 15) and she loved it (but she loves anything meat and cheese related). The burgers are decently sized and Beth was full half way through. The tacos (fish, shrimp, and chicken) were okay, nothing to get overly excited over. The cheesecake and gelato were average, as well. The cocktails were strong and delicious (depending who makes them). The owner, although, one time made our drinks himself and it was bit kooky tasting and strong. The food was decent but the service was hit and miss.

I came here with a friend on a Tuesday night. It wasn’t a terrible experience, but would definitely not come back. The service was so slow and it wasn’t even busy. The food was mediocre; we ordered the jumbo shrimp, mac ‘n cheese, and fried calamari to share. My drinks were okay, but my friend had to send back one of their cocktails (forgot the name!) because it was disgusting. Not worth the money.

My friend and i came for happy hour after work at around 630pm. We were able to snag a table outside.
The server came over and awkwardly asked what we wanted… We ordered a couple beers and they were delivered in a flash.
We also started with the calamari and coconut shrimp, both of which were super underwhelming. The calamari was overcooked and there wasn’t enough sauce to cover all of the squid. The shrimp was lukewarm and the coconut sauce was cloyingly sweet.
We ordered another couple beers and they arrived quickly.
I then had an order of short rib tacos and fish tacos ($ 3 for 3 tacos, minimum of 2 orders). The short rib tacos were delicious, the fish tacos lacked flavor and complexity. My friend had the salmon and loved her meal, which was served with grits and asparagus.
Overall the food was OK, but the service (with the exception of our extremely quickly delivered beers) was not good. The server was really awkward and disappeared for very long periods of time.
I wouldn’t recommend this place besides for happy hour beers and tacos.

I’m writing a review on the short rib special oh it was so bad. It taste like dog food no flavor an when it was presented to me it looked like hospital food I was so excited to get my food when I got it, I wanted to run out of that place so badly. But I was with my friends an I gave them the dish. Never again no flavor nasty. I think it cost $ 25 for that.

Came here on a Thursday night and luckily it was dollar oysters! We sat down at 6:57PM, which was 3 minutes before the oyster deal ended (7PM). It was meant to be. The waitress was super nice: she thought it was past 7 but was still willing to honor the deal. I would recommend coming here for the oysters, beer, and service.
We ordered 10 oysters and they were great. They were chilled, fresh, and overall very enjoyable. I would come here in the future to just eat oysters and drink beer. Their house draft is very light and refreshing. However, the food wasn’t great. We ordered the New England Clam Chowder and Lobster Mac and Cheese. The chowder was very watery: I’m used to clam chowder being much creamier. The flavor was good, but consistency was off. The lobster mac was great at first because of the bread crumbs on top, but it was meh once we ate the top layer. Also, I found the food to be pricy for the portion size.
I would recommend the oysters! Not sure if the other food will be any better.

I went for Lunch with a friend during the week. To start we ordered the kung pao calamari which was delicious.
For our entrée I had the baja fish tacos. You get four mini taco which is plenty (for me at least)
My friend ordered the lobster mac. It was tasty but not enough lobster. It looked like they took meat from one lobster claw and chopped it up small. We also ordered some mojitos which were delicious.
Overall my experience was good. I would definitely go back.

I enjoyed dinner here earlier this week. Because the weather was lovely, we ate outside. Points to restaurants with outdoor dining! Service was polite and food came out in a timely manner.
I got the Fried Coconut Prawn start. They were very good. Nice & crispy and quite large. The plate came with 4 but because of their size it really was a lot.
For my entrée I got the Lobster Roll (aioli version). I have to say the amount of meat per roll was skimpy. It did come with 2 rolls, but I’d say use one roll, jam the meat in there, and it might seem more proportional. The meat was fine but really overpowered by bread and the 2 rolls wasn’t fooling anyone.
Fries were very good.
I’d suggest a small leafy green salad. Nothing substantial, but fill up the plate a little more.

Very mediocre.
Came here to celebrate a friend’s birthday on a Saturday. Basically, the server took forever with everything. We ended up ordered the scallop risotto special, grilled salmon, crab cakes, and halibut. The grilled salmon was on the dry side. The sherry shallot sauce was delicious though, albeit quite sweet. The sides (sauteed spinach with garlic and Parmesan grits) were on-​point. The crab cakes were tiny for $ 13. I didn’t get to try the halibut, though the portion looked large. The scallop risotto was pretty plain. There were only three pieces of scallop in the dish.
Perhaps the Happy Hour specials are better? Regardless, the service here is pretty terrible. No one paid attention to our table, and we had to flag down the server multiple times. Our dinner ended up being over 1.5+ hours, most of which was spent trying to get the attention of the server. The food is nothing special, and definitely on the expensive side. I would avoid this place.

*** Great selection of seafood, Delicious, Moderately priced ***
The hostess was very friendly and helpful. The lobster mac and cheese was so filling that I had to take it to-​go. You do get a great amount of lobster, but it is a bit on the expensive side for the overall portion size. Great place for friends or a date night.

Bait & Hook has definitely passed their prime.
It was a hot-​spot in 2013, I’d say. And now it’s become a local watering hole, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, for many university students that study and live in the neighborhood.
I’d say their Happy Hour oysters is the only thing that is keeping them alive and well, especially in such prime real estate in the East Village close to Momofuku and other bars.
The ambiance is very much casual, perfect for outings with close friends.
As for the service… I find it a little pushy.
The restaurant was empty, pretty much, when two of the three waiters came up to us to ask if we were ready to order. And when we finally ordered, they tried to persuade us that it wasn’t enough food. We bargained and asked them to extend the $ 1 Oyster Happy Hour. And they agreed to extend the Happy Hour only if we order 24 oysters.
SOLD!
But, nevertheless, I found their behavior a little odd.
I cannot say that the food was memorable.
We went family-​style and shared the raw Oysters, Lobster Mac & Cheese, Seared Scallops with Risotto, and Fish & Chips.
The food is not bad, but not good enough for me to recommend it to friends and family. The risotto is a little on the salty side. The scallops were spongy and perhaps a minute or two overcooked. And the chips were fried, in what I presume, a dirty batch of oil because they were a little discolored.
There’s something about the ambiance too, that takes away from the dining experience.