Big Shucks Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Dallas

Been going to Aw Shucks and Big Shucks for maybe 30 years. This was the last time. Ordered both of the seasonal specials. A Cod tostada of some sort and some shrimp dish with spicy cucumber onion and other items. They both could have been good dishes but they weren't. I asked if the Cod was a breaded and fried or pan seared dish and he affirmed it was a breaded and fried dish over a cabbage mix. It wasnt. It was pan seared which would have been great but it seemd as though it was done maybe an hour or so before hand or something. Terribly overcooked, dry, hard, and only semi warm, like it had just been resting under the heat lamps for a good long while. The shrimp dish was just as bad. Could have been a good dish but was drowning in the lime sauce and the shrimp were all but inedible. They were some combination of chewy rubber and mush. Again like they had been cooked well before hand and reheated or something. Also ordered a pound of boiled shrimp. Ate maybe half of them then gave up. Again, over cooked, rubbery and flavorless, as if they were cooked once, then sat waiting on an order and tossed back in to warm them up. Had the snow crab legs and they were at least reasonably decent. The boil obviously wasnt spiced much but they were cooked properly which for $40/lb they should be. Got a catfish filet, they cooked all the good out of it. Breading stayed on but really it wasnt very good. Flat, thin, wide, over cooked. Got some of their usually quite amazing hush puppies. Not so amazing, all were under cooked, and just doughy in the middle. This meal was $125 before tip. We arrived at 4:50pm and the line was out the door, not out of character for Big Shucks but damn at 4:50? They do move the line along at a decent pace and turn the orders and therefore tables rather quickly. I suspect that's the issue these days. Too much of a good thing, and too many people demanding food has driven shortcuts in what used to be a great place to stop for a boiler and some beer. I don't see a reason to come back and subject ourselves to the wait and elbow to elbow crowd for some pretty terrible food. Hate to see it but that's just the facts of...

This is a great place if you just want some very decently priced fried seafood and a beer. I saw some people complaining about the decor and look of the place, but honestly it has a nice 'small town local' vibe to it. Very informal and comfortable the way a seafood dive should be. It wasn't the absolute most spotless place, and I agree it's dated but I actually really loved the vibe of it. The staff was wonderful and they service tables very quickly. It reminds me of some local fry-joints in New Orleans or some little dive you might find along the pier in San Fransisco.

Onto the food. I ordered the fried calamari and catfish filets. First note is that the portion sizes are great and the fish actually did taste fresh. (I'm really picky about my catfish because I catch and gut my own usually). It clearly came fresh out of the frier and the oil didn't taste old. Someone said in an earlier review that the prices were high. That's completely untrue. For seafood at the quality and amount they provide it's a 'deal' as far as seafood goes. My boyfriend ordered the coconut shrimp (a little sweet but again great amount and fresh) and had a margarita. Unlike most places they don't water it down and give you a good amount of alcohol for your money, I was impressed at how strong it was.

In conclusion; I wouldn't recommend this for a candle light first date, but it'd be great for a casual get together with friends or a fun date where you want to talk and make noise. Great for a local lunch stop in or a quick family dinner. They still use the honor system on checks which made me feel very 'trusted' as a customer. It was very approachable for coming in the first time and I felt very welcome. I'll be returning regularly!

Also: Someone said on here there are one hour wait times for food? Never have had that in over a year of coming to this place, so I'm not sure what crazy night they went on, but it takes about 15 minutes...

Me and a friend went for lunch. I ordered a shrimp and catfish plate with 2 lbs of crawfish. My friend ordered an 8 piece wing plate. When they called out our order they put it in Togo bags even though we said for inside, that wasn’t a problem. When we opened our food they gave us the incorrect order, they gave me two plates of catfish and shrimp, instead of one and they forgot our wings. I’m sure our order got mixed up, that’s fine, I just took the extra catfish plate and asked them to fix my order. They said “okay we’ll bring it out to you.” 20-30 mins go by and I’m done with my food, my friend still hasn’t received his wings. I ask about the wings and everyone looks lost and confused. They started looking for them and someone happened to have found in a bag at a to-go table by the entrance. As I see this I get very upset since I was chill with them replacing my wings and me being understanding of the situation. I was mostly upset that the wings were ready and no one brought them out nor were they called out on the speaker. That meant the whole time we were waiting for the wings they were just sitting on a table meant for to go orders, we also couldn’t enjoy our food together like we went into thinking we were going to. I’ve been to this place before but today was just bad. I gave you guys a chance to fix the mistake but instead you guys messed it up again. What’s the point of having so much staff if the restaurant can’t be ran smoothly? Very disappointed in the whole situation. The refund process was also terrible, why so complicated? I ended up speaking to the manager who was sitting in the back office and I got no apologies after I explained the whole mess, I was confused because everyone lacked customer service. There was no empathy to the situation or no corrective...