Pier House Restaurant

I don’t write reviews very often. The place has to be amazing or the complete opposite for me to take the time out of my day. Please use this as a detour sign to go next door, and AVOID this place at ALL COSTS!
My experience was as unpleasant as the waitress was. We don’t know what her name is because she never told us, but we heard her screaming in the kitchen at the top of her lungs while there were multiple tables sitting. She slammed our silverware down, our plates, and our beverages on the table when they were delivered.
The food was unsatisfactory for the amount of money we paid. We would rather have found a random diner in the middle of no where that sold seafood. The platters we ordered ranged from $ 28-​$ 32 and were extremely bland and tasted frozen and out of a bag. The crab cakes were mushy and disgusting and probably made with the same disgusting stuffing that was used for the clams casino. Needless to say, there were no signs of clams in the clams casino or crab in the crab cakes.
Don’t waste your time or your money.

Firstly, there was no crowd, which was good. I came in and immediately used the bathroom. It smelled… disgusting. Like they had fish chum lined in the walls. Very small and cramped. When seated… the booths were VERY SMALL. You have absolutely no elbow space with 4 ppl seated.
The waitress got us water, 3 out of the 4 had black specks floating, and had to be returned. My lemon had these nasty brownish strings on it as well. Our basket of bread was warm and it tasted ok. I have had better bread, but it was just bread. The silverware was seriously tarnished.
As soon as the food was put on our table, my mother said «this stuff was out of the packet, it’s not fresh» which is consistent with the other reviews.
The fries were nothing special. I had the fish and chips. This fish definitely tasted frozen to me… but i mean, i could be wrong.
My dad ordered the same thing as I did and he said «People don’t cook things fresh anymore. They just heat it up from being frozen» he also said «yhis fish and chips is nothing to write home about» (him & my mother lived in England).
And myself, having had fish and chips plenty of other places… this meal was comparable to a boxed, frozen meal. The service was fast, very fast. Which also makes it hard to believe that this food was cooked fresh.

Terrible, do not eat here! The seafood is frozen and tasteless. The calamari was rubbery. I ordered the talapia stuffed with crab instead of flounder bc the menu was so expensive and the server got my order wrong and gave me plain tilapia, which was swimming in tasteless butter. And there was also a small beetle-​like bug crawling around in it, and it didn’t appear to have wings, so it’s not like it just flew in. I can only imagine how disgusting the kitchen must be if it’s anything like the dirty the bathrooms! The grilled vegetables were inedible – burnt and soggy. My 4-​yr old ordered the fried shrimp which she normally loves but she complained that they tasted bad and when I tried one, she was right. Didn’t even taste like shrimp. Even the salad was gross with wilted lettuce. I just hope we don’t all get food poisoning…

The food was gross. The onion rings were nasty and had no onions in them. The clam strips were hard and chewey. And it was expensive. Only nice thing was our waiter.

Stay away! Just left after an over-​priced awful dinner. My husband ordered baked stuffed lobster… it was served steamed with the «stuffing» on the side. I had the fried flounder with stuffed baked potato. The potato was a potato skin stuffed with instant mashed potato that was dried out. The French fries were obviously frozen French fries. This restaurant isn’t even trying to serve edible food.

July the 4^th, 2015. We decided to try this place for dinner. My husband ordered a steak with fries. Steak had no flavor and was tough. I had a chicken dinner that was loaded with so much salt I could not eat it. Our friend ordered Shrimp parmesan, which was over cooked and dry. The apps were just as bad. Clams casino were all bread with a poultry seasoning, soup was watered down and awful, Shrimp scampi, she was given a very overly spicy Cajun shrimp Also the ladies room was dirty. Two waste baskets were filled and dirty paper towels were on the floor. No toilet paper in the holder, it was on the back of the toilet tank. Price for awful food was $ 110.00. NEVER AGAIN!

We ate here yesterday. Usually we go to Bum Rogers next door but wanted to try something different. The interior has a «ship» type décor which feels beachy but it’s very dark. We ordered from the early bird specials at lunchtime. The waitress was very nice. I’m sorry to say the food was terrible. The salad dressing had a weird taste but the lettuce was fine. Nothing special but ok. The main dishes were terrible. The crab cake was like fried crab paste. The stuffed potato was only warm and dry. The fish and chips were hard as a rock. The flounder was fishy and the ribs were chewy to the point that my son couldn’t separate them. There is no way that this is fresh food. If it is they have the worst cooks ever. It seems like packaged food, reheated badly. It’s everything you don’t want when you go out to eat. I wasn’t expecting gourmet — I was hoping for a diner type meal but it wasn’t even close. I hate to write a review like this. I really prefer to compliment a good place but when you are down the shore for the day or for vacation you want your meals to be good and a bad one can ruin a special day so I wanted to let people know.

Please be aware that Captain Hamway’s is not following basic health standards. My husband and I ate there for the first time today and found it to be absolutely disgusting! The hair in the soup was just the beginning of the nightmare to come. Our waitress said we are in for a treat and that everything is very fresh since they just opened for the season. Ohh it was fresh from the freezer. My shrimp were still frozen inside. That was nothing in comparison to my husbands dish which contained plastic meat wrapping that was surely contaminated. As soon as we noticed it, we stopped eating immediately, paid our bill and ran for the hills. If we get sick, everybody is going to hear about this place. I’m shocked that they are still in business. How do you serve frozen processed food and charge luxury prices? What a disaster!!!
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Located in what’s now a one-​horse town (apologies to Chef Mike’s ABG, a wonderful place that caters to a more rarified clientele – and doesn’t take reservations for small parties), Pier House could be the more «traditional» counterpart to its freewheeling beer-​and-​crabs next-​door neighbor, Bum Rogers. I guess I’m weird, but in my mind’s eye, I want Pier House to be something that it doesn’t want to be. So for this, I take the blame. Which explains why it gets two stars, instead of 1– 1 ½.
From the outside, Pier House looks like an old-​fashioned seafood place. Inside, the décor is whimsical, nostalgic, and shore-​town kitschy, in that really cool «parents-​took-​me-​to-​a-​nice-​restaurant-​when-​friends-​came-​down-​to-​see-​us-​at-​the-​shore sort of way» (which I love).
The food was, as others here have noted, meh, bordering on barely edible: Truly awful frozen french fries accompanying fried platters; overly salted entrees; gummy crabcakes; etc. And I came here not expecting an Aquavit-​level experience; I just so badly wanted it to be better, because I am rooting for more dining options in the SSP, South-​SSP area. Sadly, this place seems to be happy serving patrons who couldn’t get seated elsewhere (i.e., at Bum’s). The prices are on the high side, at least relative to what you get. But I guess when the fish are jumping into the boat, there’s no need to change your tackle…
The staff are super nice and waitpersons attentive, but the restaurant nevertheless seems uninspired; just coasting along doing what they’ve been doing for decades. On the menu, it’s a total grandparent experience (not to take a swipe at early Boomers and Greatest Gen-​types), with a focus on broiled seafood platters (again, apparently relying on frozen fish and shellfish), with a heavy preponderance of barbecue platters, and steaks/​chicken. And that’s the shame of it. A few fresh-​caught additions (it’s a block from Barnegat Bay!); some rearrangement of features (move the old-​fashioned soda-​fountain/​ice cream cart to a spot more inviting than antechamber near the mens and womens toilets); etc., would make a HUGE difference.
Not one to tell others how to run their businesses, but with the closing of the beloved and lamented Berkeley Seafood, there’s a huge opportunity for a place that serves steamed platters and a decent clam-​roll. Better still, offer these specialties from a take-​away window, to accommodate people heading to and from Island Beach – and locals who want to indulge in a lobster bake after a day on the beach, without having to put on shoes… And that’s the thing that gets me: It’s like this place begrudges its location – sandwiched a block from both beach and bay! Surrender part of the large parking lot and install more outdoor seating. Or failing all that, at least offer Maryland-​style (lump) crab cakes, as well as the old-​school deviled ones…
With so little effort, this place could be an absolute landmark, an institution. Open some windows and let the sea air course through the ample nauticalia adorning nearly every inch of wall-​space. Embrace the laid-​back Shore vibe a little – and let it embrace you back.

After shown to our table, my friends and I noticed the menu was outrageously priced for what it is. We are not cheap by any means and I understand this is a tourist area AND I understand this is a seafood restaurant, but even items such as chicken fingers were way overpriced. So not to be rude, we still decide to order since we were already sitting at the table. «What beers do you have on tap?» my friend asks «We do not serve alcohol» the waiter says. Well that was probably the worst thing we can hear. We should have just walked out. Going on, we ordered two appetizer platters of basic fried food — mozzarella sticks, jalepeno poppers, cheeseballs, etc. Well, the platter was semi-​disgusting. Edible, but just not good. I was buzzed and still didn’t want to eat the food/​I feel like the food was sitting in the freezer for 10+ years. The service was very friend, though. So I will give 2 stars for the experience. Anyway, I will not return and will walk two more steps to Bum Rogers next door.

Kind of Bland for what I would expect from a seafood house. It wasn’t horrible by any means. I guess for the price it wasn’t too bad.

We were on our way to Island Beach State Park and decided to get out of the traffic and grab a bite. Very bad decision. The server was very nice but the buck stops there. Lunch took nearly 2 hours. We ordered the $ 20.00 seafood sampler platter with Clams Oreganata, Clams Casino, Mussels, stuffed mushrooms, garlic shrimp and garlic bread. You do not get $ 20.00 worth of food. The garlic shrimp and garlic bread were ok, the rest was really not very good. Sad part is that the appetizer was the best part of our meal. We had a scallop dinner, a clam strip appetizer, a fried flounder sandwich and kids mac and cheese and no one was happy with their food. Sadly this disaster was $ 106.00 with tip. Save your money and go to Wawa or 7 – 11 for a sandwich.

This place is overly priced for the food it’s serving people. Maybe one day it was an amazing place but no longer. I ordered calamari and Mac and cheese (I know weird combo) well the calamari were tough and had visible evidence of freezer burn. The Mac and cheese was Kraft then microwaved with a thick hard fake cheese top. I wanted to stand in the parking lot and turn people away… this is a kitchen nightmare candidate for sure. Please look around at other places…

The reviews made Pier House a hard choice, but we weren’t ready to wait an hour to eat at the other nearby options. So we took a chance. I would guess the restaurant was 75% empty, so reinforced the comments on Unilocal.
We had the salad, it was not wilted, but they could chill the plate to make it a little more crispy.
We had the wings, and they were good enough we ordered it twice.
The Escargot were good size and OK tasting as well…
We started wondering where all the negative comments are coming from…
I had the Chicken Parm, which was 3 large chick breasts, crispy on the outside, moist in the inside. Good Pasta and Sauce. (Was too big to finish, so did take away on the last piece). And had the Lobster Fradiablo. Nice presentation, a little spicy for me, but I didn’t order it. Otherwise ate that up as well.
Overall, it was better than OK, waitress was helpful and attentive. We left a nice tip for her efforts.
I would tone down the lighting a bit, especially on the outside porch, if no one is there.
For what we had, they did a good job and didn’t break the bank eating there.
Not sure what everyone else is talking about.

Pier House has a lovely ambience, great staff, prompt service, and a family-​friendly attitude, but the food is mediocre at best. Everything we ordered seemed to be drowning in butter, even broiled items. Salad was wilted. For the high prices, the food should be better.

I was surprised there was no wait on a Saturday night, it was empty. Food was okay– crab wasn’t fresh.

I wanted to support a local business in the area, but boy was I disappointed. My wife ordered a salad that had rock hard avocados, sour raisins, and chicken that looked like dog food. I had the fish and chips and it was mediocre at best! The staff was friendly and the décor/​atmosphere was charming, but that is sadly the only positive.

We come here at lease one morning for breakfast every summer while staying in Seaside. We have never had a bad experience. The breakfast is always nicely done and served hot. The service may not always be the fastest but always pleasant and friendly.
I can’t speak for lunch or dinner service/​food but I can say that Pier House is the perfect start to your beach day. This isn’t the kind of place you can come to and expect to entertain family and friends with a über-​fancy meal and 5 star service. This is a warm family place (esp great for kids!) who serves «down the shore» food. Its a comfortable place to sit and enjoy each other’s company.
Looking forward to more great breakfast!

They had awesome service and excellent food. The atmosphere was nice, the prices were reasonable and the wait was much shower than the other nearby popular restaurants. I would recommend this for dinner to anyone — awesome dining experience!

Found this place to be better than the reviews. We eat out for approximately 80% of meals in a great food city (Philly), so we have a decent basis of comparison.
The décor is cool and authentic. They’ve been in business since 1972 (I asked) and has that old school 70’s nautical thing going with a little bit of island/​tiki/​hawaii thrown in (check out the doors on the way in — they’re incredible). Love the dark wood.
The female got a flounder sandwich which she liked and came with fries for just $ 9. I got 2 big soft shell crabs that came with thick fresh bread toast, a salad, and fries for $ 25. The crabs were lightly fried and fresh, not dry. The fries were originally frozen out of a bag but that’s pretty normal at the shore.
Not selling beer is a drag, but you can bring your own. I didn’t know Seaside Park had no liquor licenses until we biked over from Island Beach State Park.
The bike ride was 15 min from Bathing Beach #1 (4 miles), and the restaurant has a bike rack. Just leave your towels and chairs on the beach to reserve your spot, bring your valuables, and bike over. There’s also tables to eat outside.
This place is worth a shot.