Bubba's Shrimp Shack — Restaurant in Gloucester Courthouse

Bubba's Shrimp Shack is one of those little, out of the way places that humbly exists in an older small town strip mall. You might miss it if you didn't know it was there.

We're new to the area, and I'm a Google nerd. I'd spent a while researching restaurants in the area, hoping to find a place that served oysters and crabcakes. Having lived in a small town on Maryland's Eastern Shore for about 15 years, I'd grown to love those Chesapeake Bay delights and have sorely missed them since I moved away. It's hard to find "real" crabcakes and oysters west of the Bay. Cooks in fancy, city restaurants seem bent on embellishing their recipes to the point that the original wonderfulness achieved by simple preparation is lost.

There were a couple of places with varying price ranges. We picked Bubba's because it was on our way back home to Richmond. We lucked out!

Bubba's has a clean, super casual, and welcoming dining area. The staff were very friendly and helpful. We ordered our food (which had very reasonable prices) at the counter, took a number, and sat down to wait for our meals. They brought our food quickly just as Hubby was coming back to our table with fountain drinks.

Hubby said his fried flounder was the best he'd ever had. I'd ordered a crabcake basket, and it did not disappoint. No fancy, distracting ingredients, and not too much filler. It tasted wonderful! While we ate, the owner (or manager?) strolled through the restaurant, checking in with each table.

We left very satisfied and happy that we'd stumbled upon a local secret that other summer tourists might have missed by seeking out a fancier place to eat. Their loss - our gain.

We will...

Good food, good prices. We weren't sure what to expect after talking with someone who thought we wanted an upscale restaurant. If you are looking for a fancy seafood restaurant on the water, this is not it. This is in a strip mall. There was a sign out front with daily specials, $10 including drink. Inside, they had a large board with great variety of choices, which were reasonably priced. You order at the counter, get your own beverage, choose your own seats, then your food is brought to the table. There are two dining areas, one has a fun large mural where it looks like you're on a dock looking out at some work boats. Two of us chose the shrimp burger with steamed shrimp (you could choose fried shrimp) and two of us had the fried catfish bites/basket. They all came with delicious fries. We all enjoyed the food. We really liked the variety to choose from. I like when I go to someplace new and there are a lot of locals patronizing the establishment. This was nothing fancy, just good food. We...

Yesterday my friend and I had lunch there. I had never been but she just raved about the food. It was good but the customer service was less than desirable. I didn’t feel welcome more like hurry up & order your food. When we did receive our order there was no hush puppies. I went up to the counter and asked about if the meal came with hush puppies. The lady said yes and she would bring them out. Well she did…….she brought exactly 4 hush puppies (2 a piece) and not one more. In past experiences @ restaurants when something like this happens usually you’ll get an apology and maybe a little extra for the “oops”. The host was not friendly @ all & I felt that she could care less if we ever visited again. Needless to say, if I visit again it will be the one in VA Beach. I believe that they would be more user friendly. Food was good but @ those prices I can spend my $$...