Shell Shack — Restaurant in Fort Worth

I usually do not give less than a 5 star review as I try to get things resolved during my visit. However, I can see last night, Sat night at 9, that a full staff of people did not mean efficiency or great service.

SEATING/ORDERING Hostess didn't ask if we wanted a hi-top or regular table. She just walked us to a hi-top in front of the bar. Most of the tables were empty. I pointed to one away from the other filled table due to social distancing. After being seated, we kept looking around for a server to answer some questions. A female server came by the table behind us. A male server came by the table next to us. Neither acknowledged our presence. A couple of servers were huddled behind the bar, staring out, still no one acknowledged that we needed to be helped. So, at one point we were staring at the hostess stand where a bunch a of servers were chatting with the hostess. Still no one acknowledged us. I finally went up to that group and asked if we selected a table without a server? No acknowledgement, no water, nothing. I was told someone would be with us soon. No name, no apology.

WAITER He tried, not sure if it was his best. But the review was about the restaurant staff, management, training, etc. Our server answered our questions, took our orders and was very accommodating. However, not checking on us more often left was with problems along the way. Watered down iced tea, wrong boiled order dropped off, needed refills.

STAFF Most the staff stood behind the bar watching the floor instead of circulating and asking customers if they needed anything or maybe refilling beverages. They stood chatting and laughing with each other. Very unprofessional, especially when we didn't have a server come take our order for the first 10 minutes! The only hard worker was the busser.

MISTAKES The wrong order was taken out to our table. If my friend didn't ask about an item on her plate, our waiter wouldn't have known. A takeout order was given to us in error. Kitchen problem or waiter mistake?

Iced tea came out watered down, looked like water, tasted like sugar water. Our waiter got me another batch. It's Texas, I expect good strong iced tea. Even the second batch was below my expectations.

FOOD Boiled seafood came out well seasoned, tasted fresh. Fried catfish platter was lightly coated and crispy. But those fries were over salted and just became an non-edible bottom layer on my plate. So pretty much $14 for 2 catfish filets.

I'd asked for a Manager at the hostess station when I asked for a server. No one representing Management ever came to speak to me. Food and customer service go together. Especially with these prices. A server's tip for each of these tables is quite substantial, so you must hire, train and hold each accountable. Visit...

I was excited to visit for Fathers Day. When we arrived there was a large table in front of us and they took our name stating it would be a 20 minute wait. No problem on a holiday I would except a wait. Looking around I saw that almost half the restaurant was empty. My daughter walked to the restroom and and said she counted 17 empty tables on the way back. Three more groups came in and waited at the hostess station for someone to take their name. After 5 minutes with no one greeting them one of the groups left. Finally someone came up and stated taking names even though the restaurant was still half empty and no one had been seated since we arrived. After 30 minutes our name was finally called and we were the only ones to be seated in the half empty restaurant since we arrived! The server greeted us quickly and took our drink order. She apologized for the wait and said they had pulled a bunch of people to the kitchen since it got baked up due to the storm outside. Drinks arrived shortly and we placed our order. The appetizer came out in about 15 minutes later We ordered the crab stuffed tater tots and they a bit bland.l and soggy. I tasted some cheese but honestly didn’t see or taste any crab. The ranch that was served with it had a crusty coat on top like the appetizer had been sitting in the heat window for a while. Probably a “D” overall. Right afterward they brought out the fried oysters. Nice presentation served on the half shell. Unfortunately all it tasted like was breading. I pulled a few of them apart looking for the oyster. Not worth $16 price. We were still waiting on the kids meals to come out. A few minutes later our server brought out one of the kids meals a grilled cheese and said it was going to be a while for the chicken tenders kid meals because the tenders are fried they take longer. Never mind that we had ordered almost 25 minutes earlier. The kids shared the grilled cheese and they cleared our table. About 10 minutes later the chicken tenders came out. It had 3 smaller pieces of chicken and fries. The chicken was hand-breaded and tasty. Sad the best thing in a seafood restraint was the chicken!The fries were hand cut which was a plus but over seasoned. Everyone left still hungry as portions were pretty small.

Overall- small portions and over priced with a long wait to be seated and receive food we won’t be back.

Two stars - server Kennedy was really trying and the...

As someone who works as a manager in the hospitality industry, I understand the demands and pressures of days like Mother's Day. I also want to start by saying the crawfish here is always fantastic, and it's the reason we come back time and time again.

However, tonight's experience left a lot to be desired--specifically due to the lack of attention from management behind the bar. Despite it being a busy evening, there is no excuse for a manager to ignore guests, especially after being informed twice that we had been sitting for over 15 minutes without any service. A lovely server noticed we weren’t getting any attention and told the manager who just laughed at us. She was also informing him that her tables food was taking a very long time to come out and he just ignored her as well and continued to do something with his clipboard.

What was even more frustrating was that this manager appeared to be doing inventory or some other back-end task, while two bar guests sat waiting--completely overlooked. As someone in the same field, I know how important it is to multitask, but guest experience should never be sacrificed.

It's truly disappointing to see leadership set that kind of tone, especially on such a significant day. Because of this, we decided to leave and take our business elsewhere. For the first time, we walked out without spending a dime--which says a lot, considering how often we come here. Idk if I’ll ever be back and if I do I’ll order food Togo which is a shame because I usually enjoy CiCi the bartender but it felt like the people at the end of the bar who arrived after us were getting prime service while we were ignored completely. Places are a reflection of the management. If the manager was better there would be an obvious trickle down affect. At one visit they even mentioned they don’t have a first aid kit and a staff member had to buy bandaids so they were prepared. I’m mind blown as the lack of management and hospitality in...