Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar — Restaurant in Austin

Pricing: The food was well priced & they let you know prior to ordering that anything over $150 (or maybe $100 I don’t remember) will automatically be charged 18% gratuity. Even with gratuity it’s honestly not a bad price.

Orders: For myself I ordered the Reel Catch which runs at $55 & allows you to select your combo I picked 2 clusters of Snow Crabs(which were medium to large sized for the most part), 2 Black Mussels, & Crawfish. I added sausage & eggs for $8.75, & the spicy Hook & Reel special blend sauce (which is sort of an roux style sauce). The spice for spicy was at a jalapeño level & builds to Serrano as you eat so if you can’t handle a ton of spice mild stills has the perfect amount of heat (caps out around jalapeño level) for us spice lovers without it being overbearing. $63.75 was my total.

For my partner I ordered 2 pounds of King Crab, lobster tail, scallops, eggs, sausage, & Mild Hook & Reel special blend sauce. The MSRP for the King Crab was around $60 which is way better than what I was expecting. The lobster tail was $20, half pound of scallops were $14, sausage & eggs were $7 & $1.75. $162.75 was her total. Both boils came with 2 potatoes & some cob corn.

Negatives: I will say the crawfish wasn’t good without butter even when dipped in sauce & I’m not really a butter kind of guy. The reason being is the food is tossed in front of you. This worked well for everything, but the crawfish, potatoes, & eggs. I like my crawfish boiled in the seasoning so it soaks up the flavors better same with the potatoes. The potatoes & eggs are like flavor sponges when allowed to marinate & it softens the potatoes to allow a similar tenderness to the rest of the boil. They went hard, but the toughness contrast to the rest of the meal is jarring.

Total: For a grand total of about $287 including tax & gratuity. I can’t remember if we got any alcohol or not. Our server was extremely kind, she gave us a complimentary cheesecake (which originally would’ve been $7) for our anniversary. The staff were just cool normal people. I should also note that with everything we ordered they were heavy handed. The owner was also there on a random Saturday greeting patrons & asking them about their service. I ended up rounding my total up to $300 because that food & service was a 10/10 everything else is a bonus.

$300 is a lot of money, but at most other Seafood places in town for what we got, it would easily be $500. Not to mention we had enough to be full for a second meal the next day & I eat a ton. Also if you have T-Mobile with dining rewards you get 10% cash back on Tuesday & 5% every other day at eligible restaurants which Hook & Reel is one.

Sorry for the long review, I felt compelled to write it because I couldn’t understand why this place...

New ! New! New! Hook n Reel restaurant in Austin , I must say very inviting and friendly greeted by one of the managers and seated. The restaurant is very clean and put together it has dim lighting and big wall seafood decor of crabs 🦀 shrimp 🦐 and sharks 🦈…. The bar is a wrap around with seating all the way around. Started off with some complementary puff chips with seasoning 🧂 I must say they were a bit on the salty side but I did eat them. The waitress was nice and gave her name was good about explaining the menu . I stared off with a order of calamari for my appetizer, it looked crispy on the outside but tasted under cooked I tried a few more bite and they were all the same it also needed more spice . The entrees arrived in a timely manner hot in temperature and well portioned . My mom ordered the catfish basket and added 3 fried shrimp because they don’t offer combo baskets and instead of fries she had to up-charge again and get a cup of clam chowder what started as a $12 basket turned into $ 20 basket, the clam chowder was a bit sour and returned it , however the catfish was so tender and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside has a very good flavor and plump we both enjoyed it very much. I ordered the seafood broil got head on shrimp, 2 clusters of crab , and crawfish came with potatoes and corn I added 2 boiled eggs and spicy hook n reel sauce which I highly recommend it’s a mix of all the flavors they have mind you this is a step by step order you are allowed to pick 1,2,3 steps to complete your bag this is also great for sharing depending on your appetite. They bring out a bucket with all the must needs to open crack and enjoy your bag it’s steaming hot as it comes out they shake shake shake it up for you so all the food gets coated with the sauce it’s been a long time since I’ve had a broil that tasteful I loved it 🥰 the crawfish was a good size the crabs were full of meat and good flavor the shrimp 🦐 was huge but that hook n reel sauce was everything!!!!! Heavennnnnnnnn we didn’t have any alcoholic beverages but we had ice tea and they were good about refilling and would come check on us . It gets messy if have a the bag so have plenty of napkins on deck . I give it a 8/10 we spent $114 without alcohol so it’s a bit pricey but I would definitely recommend and go back because I really enjoyed the broil...

I chose Hook and Reel to celebrate my son’s birthday with a large group of 20-25 people, expecting a fun, memorable time. Our waitress, Victoria, was excellent—attentive and organized, especially considering how large our party was and the fact that she successfully separated our tabs. We were looking forward to a great meal, but unfortunately, what happened afterward completely soured the experience.

After the meal, I stayed behind to ensure that all the tabs were paid before heading outside to meet my family. That’s when I was stopped by the General Manager, Tommy Bennett. He asked if the large group was my family, and when I proudly said yes, he then told me, “Well, me nor Hook and Reel want you or anyone in your family’s business again.” I was taken aback and tried to ask what the issue was. Tommy then informed me that one guest at our table had complained about their food, which was described as lacking seasoning and having a rubbery texture.

Apparently, Tommy took the dish back, reheated it, and added more seasoning—only for the guest to still refuse paying for what was clearly the same meal that had been re-warmed. Tommy admitted to this and then snapped at me, making it clear that Hook and Reel was an “imitation” of Louisiana-style seafood, and that what we were served was just “what we get.”

This exchange was extremely disappointing, especially after we had been courteous, tipped generously (even though gratuity had already been included for such a large party), and paid close to $1,000 for our meal. My family and I were polite, patient, and understanding throughout, but instead of resolving the issue in a professional manner, Tommy’s attitude made it clear that they didn’t value our business.

It’s a shame, because we were genuinely looking forward to a great time. But after this experience, it’s clear that Hook and Reel doesn’t want to earn our business, and we don’t plan to give it to them again.

✨Please note this was a post made by your gm during our reservations....