Sea Island Shrimp House

This place is easy to find. Very busy during dinner time. If you never been here before like me, you have to order your food driest up front and then they give you a buzzer and then they seat you, and when your buzzer goes off or call your number then you grab your own food. There is service for clean up but that’s it. The manager does come around to make sure everyone is happy which I like. I’d come here again.

I didn’t mind my food taking 20 minutes because it was obviously lunch hour when I went but what really bothered me was my food. I got shrimp linguine and the noodles, garlic bread AND shrimp all tasted of freezer burn and after a bite I had to get up and go throw up. I am never eating here again and what was sad is I was excited to finally try this place in general.

Less than mediocre food. Long wait. It has really gone downhill through the years. I won’t be going here anymore. Tiny frozen shrimp. Crowded. Noisy.

If you order to go prepare to wait 20 min. This is unacceptable! I watched 10 orders placed after mine get served first! BS!

Great atmosphere. If you are ordering to go expect to wait more than the time they said over the phone. If you dine in, the wait ranges from 15 – 30 minutes on the weekends. The good is great. They are famous for their shrimp and you will not be disappointed. The Fish family platter with cole slaw and fries can feed a family of six. The salmon salad is delicious. The restaurant atmosphere is on the cold side especially for kids.

After having moved away from San Antonio back in 2004, I have never been able to find fried shrimp as good as those here at Sea Island. So I was lucky to have a chance to have lunch here today –12 years later– while on a short business trip. It was as good as I remember. The fish filet was crisp and not greasy, and the hush puppies were crisp on the outside, soft on inside. The lunch crowd — which filled up quickly — was a mix of business folks, retired couples, and shoppers from the adjacent North Star mall stopping here for lunch. Don’t forget to tip your bus person!

I’ve been eating here since I was a kid (& I’m old now!). We would drive in from Laredo (no 410 back then) & head straight to Sea Island (the only location back then). I always ordered either the Shrimp Salad or the Number 14… still do! Their ceviche is delicious as is their green bean salad. Don’t be sucked in by the BIG names… my CA son LOVED the food. The oysters were fresh and plump. Their shrimp is from our coast… no frozen, farmed shrimp at Sea Island. Their fish is FRESH… shipped in daily. You can trust them… if something is not up-​to-​par, they pull it off the menu. They don’t have wait-​staff but they will help you get your food to the table if you need assistance. Nice people! They have security too.

Been eating at this restaurant for many many years, tonight was not a good night to dine at Sea Island Shrimp House. My wife ordered a cup of gumbo as a appetizer and after 20 mins. I went to ask where it was. I was told by Viktoria that they are making it. I’m pretty sure all you have to do is dish it out of the steam well into a bowl to serve it, however this girl was just rude about me asking. When our main food came out the shrimp were great as always but the oysters had been sitting under a heat strip or lamp and were dried out. My suggestion is don’t order the gumbo as it takes a long time to get and was mostly bell peppers (only 2 shrimp and nothing else as far as seafood goes).

Worst service ever! It is the first time in my life that I get out from a restaurant, not even tried the food: waiting for more than 45 minutes (place not full) and people who got after us, got their food, but not us). Only person trying to help, was the guy cleaning the tables. Manager did not care; preferred to give me the refund in my card instead of trying to fix the situation. Never going back; I recommend you to go somewhere else.

30 minutes and counting. It takes a long time to get your order. If you have hungry kids, go somewhere else.

The food was just ok. Ordered a burger and pasta and both were blah. Oysters were good though.

My favorite hometown spot. We are always the youngest ones in the building, but that’s okay.
Their ceviche is a little lack luster, but when you come to Sea Island, you don’t get ceviche. You get LEMON PEPPER FISH. Yum. So flaky and seasoned well with 2 hush puppies and sides. I got steamed veggies for the first time yesterday as my side (instead of corn) and it was delicious.
A great place to take family members and kiddos. Don’t forget to tip your busser!

The hallway leading to & the restrooms themselves have the most disgusting urine smell I have ever experienced in a restaurant. And there’s tables right there, not sure how anyone could even eat at them. The fried shrimp is just eh, no flavor in the breading at all.

Hubby and me had whole fried red snapper, baked potato, salsd, hot green beans, white fish filets and fried okra. fish ead fresh. All was so delish and served hot.

I have to say that the food here is consistently good.
Tonight the husband had the three filet plate. I had my usual shrimp feast. Both were great.
But I want to talk about the bus/​wait folks. I’m talking about Lea and Freddie. If more Americans had their work ethic, this country would be golden. Teamwork, guys. That’s what it’s about! Within seconds of a customer leaving, they swooped down on the table and had it ready to go very quickly. Lea and Freddie work like a well-​oiled machine. Lea was also doubling as the hostess until it got so crowded that she shifted to work with Freddie.
Both have sunny personalities. Smiling and friendly while hustling. Oh and they also refill your drinks for you. Geez. Go there and maybe you’ll be lucky to see these two in action.

This place is AMAZING!!!
I purchased the seafood platter and could not have been happier. The fish was tasty and crisp. The shrimp were large and plentiful. I have no complaints and will be eating here again ASAP.

I think this place keeps a whole fleet of fishing boats employed
They PUMP out sea food here like no ones business. It’s not the greatest or «fine dining» but this is a San Antonio classic. Just ask anyone’s gramma or grandpa!

Great experience at the to go walk-​up counter today. I am picking up Salmon which has been very consistent with a 5 star rating for taste, seasoning and temperature. If you are a lover of salmon, I promise you will not be let down with this as your choice from the menu!
Also ordering the lemon pepper fish for co-​worker. I love this dish also.
As I said before in a previous review for Sea Island; «diet or no diet I need to have my two hush puppies.» Try their amazing dill sauce, you have to ask for it.

For the price, the food was really good. After ordering at the counter, they give you a buzzer thingy to let you know when your food is ready. This is a bustling restaurant.
I really don’t know how anyone could give this place a bad review. Someone compared it to Long John Silver’s and Captain D’s. While I’m a fan of Captain D’s, I hate Long John Silver’s. The fried fish I ordered at Sea Island was pollock and it was fresh and well prepared. The hush puppies were so good that I ordered 25 of them to make a secret recipe.
My boyfriend’s fish sandwich was the best I’ve ever tried. His plate included fries and cole slaw. I tried his sandwich and it was amazing. It had the perfect amount of tartar sauce, cheese and lettuce and it tasted a little grilled. It was better than my fish filets.
Th slaw was excellent. I definitely did not love the french fries. They were tasteless and bland.
They have a very efficient and great system for ordering. For three HUGE plates of food, our order totaled about $ 21.

What a surprise to find good fish in San Antonio!
The ordering system is a little weird. Pick up menus at the door, order at the counter, then wait for your pager to go off. And it’s a long wait.
We ordered some appetizers: Coconut shrimp, calamari, and ceviche. The ceviche was pretty darn good! The calamari was ok and the coconut shrimp was not good at all.
But it was all worth it when the lemon fish and shrimp came! It looks like it’s going to be dry an rubbery and then you take a bite of some seriously good fish and immediately wonder how they managed it.