Surf Rider North

2 people 1 water 1 tea. 1 oyster dinner, 1 bacon cheese burger. $ 36.00. Salads great. Oysters great. Burger done medium well, but dry and flavorless. Cook must be a burger smasher that squeezes out the juice, and doesn’t season.

I’ve been here twice and have gotten the softshell crab (on the special menu) and clams. Both fresh, generous, and all around tasty. Quality fresh seafood in a casual homey atmosphere.

I’ve always had very good food at Surf Rider @ Cyprus Point. I go in and order food for takeout and occasionally dine in. It’s always really good. I love their fried flounder, shrimp, and crabcakes and the caesar salad with tuna is excellent too. It’s not fancy food, it’s just really good Virginia Beach seafood. My only small complaint this last time was with the service. The server was nice, but she disappeared. She checked on us once but never offered to refill our water. Then, I sat there waiting with plates pushed away and credit card in hand, hoping to get our server to notice we needed the check. The hostess came over and picked up plates and provided a take home box, but still the server was nowhere to be found. We had a small child who was getting antsy, I just wanted to pay the check and go. Just felt like we were forgotten which happens, but no apology and I was actually the only one to say thank you when she brought back my credit card. I was a server for twenty years, I noticed. Regardless, Surf Rider has good food, always has. I have always enjoyed my meals here and will continue to go back.

Food wasn’t hot when delivered. They were busy and noticed a lot of orders were just sitting and not getting sent to the tables. Possibly the reason the food was cold. I think more organization in the kitchen would help. Hush puppies were hot… that’s about it…

We used to go to the location off Shore Dr., but since the building was condemned (slipping into the water), this was the next closest location. It’s never been my favorite place to begin with, but the old location was nice and you could usually get a decent burger if seafood isn’t your thing. We went here this evening to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 70^th birthday as she has always loved the old Surf Rider. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment.
First the service was spotty at best. Our server seemed absolutely annoyed when taking our drink orders (which she got wrong… twice). I get that you’re pregnant, but seriously you are in the service business, so if you are feeling that badly, maybe you should stay home. We tipped generously, because that’s what we do (waiting tables can be tough — I know, I’ve been there), but if she was half as rude to her other tables, the money she made probably wasn’t worth coming to work for.
The food was uneven. My «mid-​rare» bacon cheeseburger was well done. Hubby ordered the 12 oz. NY Strip, which used to be good at the other location, but was given the sirloin. At least it was cooked rare as ordered. The potato salad seemed a bit «off» tonight as well. The shrimp Alfredo was decent, but the shrimp were overcooked. My Mom enjoyed her crab cakes, but she never complains… ever, so I am not sure how good they were. Steamed shrimp were well cooked. On the plus side, the wedge salad was big fresh and tasty, and of course their hush puppies are still pretty terrific.
Considering we went in at 4:15 to avoid the dinner rush (and had older folks in our party) and still had to wait for over 45 mins for a table (there were only 7 of us and several 2 and 4 tops that came in after us were seated and well into their meals before we got sat), AND the hostess seemed to be discouraging us from staying when we checked in, we won’t be visiting again. Did I mention we had to practically beg for water refills?

Surf rider has loads of restaurants and makes a good income without a doubt. So, this review is written with chagrin. The tuna steak is not cheap, and it should not be as it is expected to be fresh. Season aside, you can get fresh tuna at Harris Teeter. No folks, not line fresh, just not that frozen tuna in the bag that you get at Wally World-​you get my drift. I ordered a rare tuna steak and got the food in no time flat. Which is an issue since a good steak takes two to three minutes on each side. The steak was COLD. I advised the server, who said, well yes, you asked for it to be rare. Correct, dear: rare-​but cooked food is actually supposed to be warm. She brought back the same exact steak, of course this time, it was overcooked and so hard it hurt my teeth –and this time it had hair on it. We left it there and paid the bill and wont be back. I have eaten here for years –and always thought the fish was fresh-​GUESS not –I GUESS I should have gotten the broccoli. I KNOW I wont go back.

Surf Rider is weirdly hit-​or-​miss. We first tried it when we first moved to the Hampton Roads area a few years ago and were very impressed — we thought it would be our regular seafood place in the area. The next time, still great. The next time, horrible. Then decent. Then horrible again. Then not horrible, but bland. I haven’t figured out a pattern with it, but I suspect there are some substantial chef differences from day to day, and I wonder if they don’t expedite well when they’re busy — when the restaurant is full, the wait is pretty long, and the food isn’t very hot by the time it gets to you. After this last time, we decided it wasn’t worth it anymore and will probably not be going back.
For the record, the fried food tends to be a lot better than the non-​fried food, but honestly, it’s not that hard to do fried food well.

I forgot to take a picture of my food. LOL! Sorry it’s gone now. This place is the BEST!!!

I try to stop here when I’m in town, the hush puppies are to die for, the seafood is very consistent, the crowd is a bit nature but at least you’ll have a quiet dining experience, love the shrimp and crab cakes.

Very disappointing. Two of us, in our party of five, ordered the clam strips with fries. First of all the clam strips were mixed together with the fries. After separating the clam stips from the fries, the vast majority of the clam strips were fried breading. The raw oysters were very small. Two of the fish and chips meals had bones in the fish. The cole slaw was chopped cabbage and very very dry and bland, We were there in the afternoon. The restaurant was not busy. Service was slow and not very attentive. The only thing good was the hush puppies. Have eaten at Surf Rider for years, but will now find a better local place for seafood.

We have eaten at the Diamond Springs restaurant for 15 years. Food and service does vary by location but we have found this location to be consistently good and provide great service. The prices are aligned with the great quality of the food. Once in all theses years our food was not blazing hot, and it was returned. Within 5 minutes a new fresh dish was presented and an apology given. They do get crowded, but if you are patient you will be rewarded with awesome food.

We were greeted by happy employees. The crab cakes are to die for with the broccoli and the hollandaise sauce… yum! Rachel was a very attentive waitress. We will be back for sure!

Love this location, but some things have changed. The potato cake was like cardboard. I always order fried shrimp, excellent, waitress was great, the fried flounder, is my husbands favorite. We eat there quite often with family.

What’s up with my favorite Surf Rider? This is always where we take guests for the best seafood around. We went there Sunday afternoon and ordered our usual oysters and the lunch special of flounder. The oysters were mostly breading and overcooked — yuck. I’m not sure if they have changed how they do oysters or if these were frozen but they simply were not up to Surf Rider standards. The flounder, too was overcooked — another yuck. Surf Rider you are slipping! The scallops came out fried instead of broiled — looked overcooked, too and the request for soft broccoli had been ignored. The waitress noticed and send it back for more steaming. The only item that was properly prepared was the crab legs from the raw bar. Not sure what’s going on the kitchen, but we are long-​timers with Surf Rider and this meal was simply not up to par!

It pains me to do this but…
We visited recently and found that they no longer have the parma rosa pasta with the pasta purses! It was the best pasta around and for some reason (not given to us), they killed it off.
We don’t care if we ever go back.

I have eaten here several times and also at the Hampton location. I am always pleased by the food and service at the Diamond Springs location. I had the signature crab cake sandwich and it was excellent as usual. There was large portions on the seafood entrées my family ordered. The waitress was attentive to us and the customers. You have to try the crab cake sandwich.

This place is good, sometimes the food can be bland. I ordered their chicken and dumplings and some kind of soup with a tomato broth one day and it was so bland I had to return it and get something else. I prefer ordering off their specials menu for that day, because they’re greatly priced and it’s different things you may not find in their menu.
Their food is mostly fried, which isn’t my favorite, but when they have their she crab soup, I love getting it. It’s the best i’ve ever tasted!
The service is slow, i’ve come to this location many times and I think i’ve only received quick fast service once. So be patient with the girls that are working, and don’t come here too hungry because you may not be taken care of fast enough.

My first time coming here. The place is away from everything at the corner. It was hard to find but the food has Great flavor. A lot of choices to chose from. The servers are friendly and quick to serve. The food is every homey and it taste fresh. I really enjoyed myself. And I will ask for the waitress Storm. She is friendly and quick to serve.

I will admit that I didn’t order seafood… so this review is more about the experience… not the food. I need to preface this with the fact that they were NOT busy… it was our party and about 4 other tables.
Food and service was ok.
My problems:
1. They charge for refills… everything except tea and water… that was absolutely crazy to me. Should have been warned.
2. We had a big party and many people’s side dishes (lima beans, collards, potatoes, etc) came out cold.
3. Toward the end of the meal, the air conditioner was turned off or down… it got extremely warm in there… uncomfortably warm.

The food is great. The service is always top notch.
I had the she-​crab soup tonight. It was like a thick rich bisque. For my main I had the crabmeat and shrimp. It was wonderful.
The other consistently terrific item is the crab dip. It is rich and creamy.
No matter which surf rider you go to you won’t be disappointed.