McCormick & Schmicks Seafood Restaurant

Hands-​down the best happy hour in the city. We go every other Thursday for fresh oysters, amazing burgers ($ 2.95, WHAT?), seafood stew, garlic mussels to die for, crusty sourdough bread, and a gorgeous, classy bar with a fair selection of beers on tap. We totally pig out and the bill is always like $ 40. The frequent diner points card lets you rack up the credits and use them over on the expensive side for a special occasion. Seriously, this is an insane deal and a marvelous location.

11÷25÷10
2.5 stars.
Wasn’t able to secure a reservation at either Chandler’s or Ahwatukee’s Mimi’s Café, but I did have two reservations at Rustler’s Rooste and McCormick & Schmick’s. Mom didn’t relish the thought of having to dine outside at RR’s, so M&S it had to be.
Reservation was for two at 8p, and knowing we’d be slightly tardy (we arrived at 8:05p), I’d called before we left and was told that there wouldn’t be any problems keeping the reservation. It took about 10 minutes to be seated, which wasn’t so bad, considering that the hosts seemed disorganized and slightly frantic, and there were about 10 or more people waiting in a scattered formation before us (it was VERY cold outside, and no one wanted to feel the breeze everytime someone opened the doors!). However, it took another 15 mins. before our server greeted us, which also meant we had to wait that long before getting a sip of water!
Food was, on the whole, delicious (w/​a few exceptions), but it was the timing that ruined the experience for us. After being served water, we both ordered the Turkey dinner, each w/​a choice of side (Mom chose the sweet potato crumble, and I the macaroni and cheese), plus a side salad and dessert (cheesecake or upside-​down apple pie– we both chose the pie). Mom also wanted the calamari app. How I wished I’d listened to our server when he recommended the crumble over the mac ‘n cheese after I’d asked him which was better :(The SPC was heaven (!), while the mac needed more cooking time. Even the replacement wasn’t any good. The sliced oven-​roasted turkey dinner was terrific, which included mashed potatoes, stuffing, fresh cranberry sauce, crispy green beans, and sliced carrots. We were served cheesecake, instead of apple pie, and when we nicely pointed out the mistake, we were told that the apple pie would take a little longer as it was still baking, and the cheesecake was taken away. Mom didn’t care for the pie; I, on the other hand, really liked the homemade filling!
Run-​down of the timing of food delivery:
8:25p– Water and server greeting.
8:35p– Salad and app. delivered.
9:25p– Turkey dinner entrees arrived.
10:10p– Cheesecake slices placed on table and taken away shortly after.
10:40p– Upside-​down apple pie slices presented.
10:55p– Credit receipt delivered and signed.
As I mentioned above, food was solid (w/​exception to the mac ‘n cheese and cheesecake mis-​step), but service was extremely lacking.
Even the women’s restroom needed dire attention… Perhaps M&S’ 4^th year of T-​day dinner will be more successful (I think this was the 3^rd year since they first offered it), but I won’t be back to find out. Next Turkey day dining out, I’ll make sure to place my reservation at Mimi’s ahead of time!

First off, dude that was taking care of our table was turtle slow o.k. He did not even bring waters to our table till we were in the middle of eating our entrees! seriously, isn’t water like the first thing to come out? Apparently not here.
Calamari– ive had better
coconut shrimp– prob my fav thing we had.
Ohno– b/​f seemed to enjoy it
tilapia– was okay (b/​f has cooked it better for me @ home)
martinis– very good
Ambiance was nice and romantic though. BUT LOOKS ARE DECEVING MY FRIENDS.
…and everything was garnished really pretty, they use this fruit mango salsa on a lot fo stuff which was pretty tasty, but still nothing made me have an o.m.g that was good moan.
in conclusion, i think i will be alright if i never eat here again.

Great service. Met a friend at the bar. Good pupus. Reasonable price.

I highly recommend this restaurant, especially for their happy hour! Totally worth it and the food is excellent! My favorite are the Seared Blackened Ahi which tasted superb and the Black Mussels. I tried the escargot, bruschetta and catfish bites as well and they were all tasted wonderful! I highly recommend to try this place as I found it’s the best restaurant for happy hours and dinner! Great choice!

The service was pretty awesome.
The food was very meh in my opinion.
I got the restaurant week menu and ordered:
lobster bisque
steak and lobster tail
chocolate tuxedo cake
I enjoyed everything but the steak and lobster.
The stead was worse than anything you’d be served at Applebees. For real. The lobster was tasteless and rubbery.
Will not be returning for food, ever again. Maybe I’d return just to sit at the bar and talk with the friendly bartenders and drink. Maybe.

Went there on a Saturday night, decided to dine at the bar because i was by myselfs. I ordered bowl of Clam Chowder and the Main Lobster. It took them about half an hour to bring out my chowder and during the mean time the Bongo player that was playing in the bar would not stop caughing (i feel bad for him, but they should really have just sent him home, poor judgement call on that one).
I guess over all, it was just a really slow night and no one really wanna be there… maybe next time would be better.

First of all, I love to eat. Second of all, I am not a $ 30,000 millionaire, nor do I pretend to be one. I don’t have a lot of money to splurge or waste, and most of my meals out (for my boyfriend and I) are rarely more than $ 30. Having said that, I was so pleased with the value here! We decided to skip Valentine’s Day, and went for a «flashy» dinner on a Tuesday evening. I had a 20% off coupon, so we felt comfortable going all out. We started with oysters on the half shell, they had a mix platter so you could sample all 6 of the various types of oyster they had in house that day. Delish! Next, we ordered lobster bisque and wedge salads, two of my favorites and they were amazing. Next, came our main courses: surf and turf for me and shrimp scampi for him. Both were amazing. My filet was cooked to perfection — I asked for medium-​rare and, what a concept, they served it medium-​rare! It sounds like an easy «duh», but for some reason chefs in the valley are afraid to serve anything with pink!
Everything was great, though, services was a little slow, but, I assume that has to do with the old-​school vibe of the place, dark booths, lots of gray hair, and an old-​school attention to detail and the thought that dining should be an experience enjoyed throughout the evening, not 50 minute race for the check.
The next time I am in the mood for a «splurge», McCormick & Schmicks will definitely be on the top of my list!

There’s a surprisingly good happy hour here which I wouldn’t have expected from the elaborate menu. Good deals on drinks and eats.
The fish and beef here are fabulous, and the service is always impressive. However, I was by far the youngest person in here on a Saturday night and I’m in my mid-20’s.
The last time we went, which was around the holidays, we were given a free crème brûlée with our meal which was a really nice touch.
They are on twitter so you can follow them for news/​deals.

They almost made me think there was an ocean near by with the large selection of fresh fish.
I have visited this chain in several states and I am always impressed, parking at this one can be a bit annoying unless you just park in the adjacent center walk over.
My visit started off wit their menu, which is printed daily and frequently changes, great for variety but hard for a reviewer to say try this dish. There is a very wide selection of fresh fish prepared to different global styles.
I started the meal with the salmon cakes, salmon spices breadcrumbs and more all cooked in to a little mound, they were moist and crisp, the flavor balance was just right.
For my meal I selected Ahi in a Asian presentation, This was served very rare if cooked at all sashimi style, there was a small coating of sesame seeds, a side of soy and wasabi. The quality of the fish it self was un paralleled. This came with an again style ginger cabbage slaw salad that was great.
I did attend an event here once which had the most amazing fish presentation I had seen, there was a whole salmon cooked, and its body between the head and tail was skinned, thinly sliced cucumbers were used to create edible scales.
I also enjoy the option of semi private tables, great for a date. They are in their on little cube /​room with curtains that can be closed to provide additional privacy.
For seafood in the valley this is my #1 recommendation and if you are ever traveling check to see if there is one at your destination as I found them to be quite consistent.

Came here on Christmas day for lunch before catching a movie at the Esplanade. My parents and I noticed the valets in front, and seized the opportunity, as many places around here were closed for the holiday. The beauty of the menu is the ability to order as much or as little as you want. The salad with caramelized pecans was delicious, as was the crab cake. Service was quick and attentive, and we got in and out in good time, yet did not feel rushed, which is always appreciated. I had a gimlet with my meal and, though it was not made in the classic fashion with as much lime juice cordial as I would have liked, it still hit the spot.

I have lived down the street for awhile and hadn’t been here yet. Went there the other night with a couple of frineds, and it was amazing!
We sat in the bar with the ever so much entertaining bartender Byron, love him! He was very helpful in us trying to figure out what we wanted to get. We started with the calamari, it was very good. It came with three different sauces to dip in, an orange whssabi, a classic cocktail and some kinda of mayo biased sauce that was tasty tasty.
I had clam chowder, mac and cheese and a caesar salad.
They had lobster bisque, the fillet (awesome!!!), and talapia in a Parmesan lemon butter sauce. Everything was great. The steak did come out over cooked at first but they remade is immediately and it turned out to be the best thing we had.
It seemed that they also had a great happy hour, with oysters, and some other appy food and a few drink specials. I would love to go back all time time. They are a little pricey, worth it pricey tho, so that will prevent me from doing so, but as much as I can I will stop in.

This place kicks ultimate butt when it comes to HH pricing! Martinis are about $ 6 which is decent but it’s their version of bar food that is fantastic. I’m talking $ 1.95-$ 4.95 range for high end bar food. I had the Fried Chicken Biscuit sliders with Honey Jalapeño Mayo and it was freakin amazing & filling. I didn’t need another thing to eat and it was only $ 1.95! Im telling you the money you spend on food will free up the money for you to drink, and not have to drink on an empty stomach. and we all know that never ends well.

I usually don’t review chain restaurants since I don’t want everyone to know that I eat at them… but I have to give a shout to this location of McCormick’s! We were in Phoenix for a quick weekend and I had neglected to do any Unilocal research before leaving, so when my bf found M&S from the concierge we decided to give it a go. We had been disappointed with our last experience at the one in Dallas so I was mainly just hoping to have my hunger satiated so I could go to bed.
I was very pleasantly surprised. We were hungry so ordered what felt like tons of food (don’t judge!). The mussels and bruschetta to start were great! The mussels were small, the way I like them, and the sauce/​broth/​bread soak they were in was amazing. I had the halibut stuffed with a bunch of stuff as suggested by our server, bf had the dover sole, both were good, but that dover sole was amazing!!! very light and perfectly cooked. I wish I could cook fish like that.
We finished with some kind of passionfruit mousse dessert that was SO good. I almost took another one to go.
The service was great. I would go back to this M&S location anytime I was in town.

I don’t usually rave about food as I’m eating dinner. Heck, I don’t usually stop to actually taste the food. I usually just scarf it down and go. Tonight was an exception.
Starting with the steamed clams for an appetizer and on to the salad greens with pecans topped by balsamic dressing, the start of this dinner went very well.
Then Chef Sanchez’ main courses came out. My companion had the Maine lobster and I had the halibut. The lobster was done to tender perfection and the halibut was flavorful, moist, and flaky. I found myself taking time to savor the taste of the halibut along with the grilled portabello mushroom cap, deep fried tomato, and asparagus.
Even the presentations were amazing and the service from our waiter, David, was exemplary.
The ambience, the service, the food… all top of the line. I don’t expect any of that from a restaurant chain which made the experience that much better.

I lunched here today with a few business connections, we all had dark pants on (this is important to remember). The wait staff was very good and the gentleman who seemed to be the busboy was even better. Not only did he move quickly to clean up a glass of spilled water he validated my parking — where were the others, I have no idea.
The food was fair — the steak in my wrap was a bit dry and the fries were cold. But, it was good. My belly/​gut approves.
My only suggestion for them is, better linens — lint was all over our pants! Always great when you are off to another meeting.
I have been here a few times… Never REALLY impressed!

This last thursday night was my first night out to McCormick and Schmicks.
The food was simply AMAZING! The menus are updated twice daily, one for lunch and one for dinner. The menu was even dated :) This showed what was fresh and in season.
I ordered the Alaskan Crab Legs that melted in your mouth! It came with a side of clam chowder that was out of this world! And served with potatoes and amazingly fresh vegtables.
After a few rounds of drinks for the 4 of us the total bill was close to $ 200. So for about $ 50 a person you leave with a full stomach, left-​overs for lunch the next day and GREAT taste in your mouth!!!

Love the 2.95 jumbo happy hour Cheese burger!
I also enjoy the Tuna melt very much, this is the only place I will eat a tuna melt. Come to think of it I have never had one before this. Now I am a fan. Butter toasted sourdough surrounds this huge pile of yummy tuna with capers and such, don’t forget the cheese. It is served with huge steak fries yummy.
The lettuce wedge is a great lunch, the serve the wedge with 2 tomato wedges two slices of cucmber, real bacon bits, fried leeks and lots of blue cheese. yeah it’s good. taste it and see.
The clam chowder… hmmm shut the front door it’s fantastic! The lobster bisque is delish too!
Happy our food is yummy drink specials are so so.
Happy Hour Monday — Friday 3:30pm to 6:30pm and Monday — Saturday 9pm to Close. Sometimes they will close at 10pm if it is slow.

I eat here at least once a week due to convenience and time, it’s near my office. The service is uniformly excellent, the menu is basic but changes slightly almost daily and the prices are reasonable most of the time. They often have surprises at lunch on the specials menu and are very accommodating with changes, dietary restrictions and general fussiness that sometimes happens when everyone is on a diet. The GM Robin and Asst. Lise are a pleasure to deal with as well. Yes, it’s a chain, and sometimes feels like it, but the beauty of chains is a dependable level or service and consistent value and food quality, they deliver on all three.

We went back to McCormick’s happy hour last Friday and were pleased to find that the margaritas and super-​discounted food were just as good as we remembered. We had four of the $ 1.95 plates (some of which had changed since the last time we went) and two of their freshly-​squeezed, freshly-​mixed margaritas.
The margaritas were also still absolutely delicious, but we were a little disappointed to find out that they still cost $ 10 even with well tequila (last time we had gotten Patron and therefore expected a higher price tag). I still recommend trying them if you’re a true margarita fan, but just know that you’ll have to shell out a pretty penny (5 times as much as the happy hour price for the bruschetta, in fact).
One other note — if you’re going to go check this place out (and either smoke or don’t mind smoke), go while the weather is still nice but a bit cooler and sit on the patio (the side by the bar is happy hour seating). It was so beautiful outside when we went, the misters were refreshing, and when we looked up, there was a beautiful (and unexpected) view of the mountains across Camelback.