Fishbones — Restaurant in Greensboro

The first time eating there I got the fish and chips. It was good but i was just hoping for a bit more tastes on the cod. The slaw was a bit to overwhelming and burned my nose from the inside when eating it. The fries were ok though and Service was good. The lady attended our needs well. The second time here was this past weekend. The place was packed and there was a small 10minute wait which wasn't a problem for me. I believe we had atleast 3 different servers. The server that took our food order got my order wrong after me even asking questions about the item. I ordered fish taco and some kind of burrito came out. A different server took it back to correct my order. Then I was brought out fries. At first glance I seen what seem to look like black hair on my fries. I told the waitress and she said it was normal and it was just from the corn they cook and all fries came out like that. I was kinda taking back by that because if that were true I whispered the waitress that took my order would have explained that to me so I wouldn't be caught of guard. Secondly I had their fries before and would have noticed any hair like things on my food especially since I was dining outside that first day and played extremel attention to my food. The waitress then said she could get me another batch of fries but she had even seen them in the fries before so it was normal. I agreed for a new batch and they came out in less then 5mins. They kinda looked like the first batch but just had been moved around and on the corner was that frie with the black hair like thing on it. I really didn't want to make a fuss because I really hate sending my food back for fear of tempering out of spite. Just a old fear I always carried when dinning out. So I just left it be then my taco arrives. There were two small ones and the sauce was put on top of a bunch of lettuce and a few broken pieces of fish. It was extremely dry and tasteless. I was soooo disappointed. At that point I had whispered that I just ate the burrito that was mistakenly brought out. Maybe they were try to tell me to not eat the taco and I would have a better chance with the burrito instead. Smh I was so disappointed with my meal and the service and my date could tell but I didn't want to seem like a picky person. When the waitress came over and asked how was it I told her about the taco taste but I could tell she was kinda tired of me so I just let it be. My date and I had plane this outing for about 2 months and was finally able to get our schedule free to come. I hate that it went this way and I'm not sure if I will try them out again. I understand know ones perfect but it just really made me less interested in...

I’m writing this review hoping that things will change so I can eventually return to this place. I’ve been going for years and overall the food and service is good but my experience tonight was not. My husband and I went there for tacos. We came right before the dinner rush. We sat at the bar, ordered drinks, and waited for our order. As we waited we watched four patrons be served and leave. The wait staff seemed overwhelmed by the crowd and very timid. We’ve been to the place when it was busier though and had different servers that seemed to have better control of a large crowd. About ten minutes before we decided to pay for our drinks and leave were told to move spots to accommodate a guest. We did it with no problems. After an hour of not getting our food I kindly requested our check to pay for our drinks to leave as we waited entirely too long for the food. I was told that I couldn’t go because our food was being prepped at that very moment. I looked at the kitchen and the food that she claimed was ours was not. My husband went back and forth with the server. I intervened to explain that we waited for an hour for our food and we were just ready to go. No fight, no attitude. I was told that I only waited 40 minutes and that they have been telling everyone that there is a long wait for food. We weren’t told that and as I said, we watched four other people be served that didn’t have to wait that long. The response shouldn’t have been that but to simply give us our check for the drinks so we could leave. After several back and forth we finally got our check. Who knows what charges we will see on our card but we were finally “allowed” to leave. We weren’t trying to dine and dash. We waited entirely too long without any communication to us of the wait and just wanted to pay for what we actually got and go.

Post pandemic, customer service doesn’t exist in several spaces. The correct thing to do would have been to firstly, apologize for the wait. We never received that. Also someone should have let us know there was a wait, offer us drinks while we wait, or allow us to pay and go. I don’t believe the servers tonight were trained well enough to handle situations like these. My simple request for a check because of the wait was seen as a threat. It was strange. The staff tonight gave their best effort to manage the crowd but it didn’t seem like they were the best for customer service. I will definitely give this place another chance, just not when these folks...

If the intersection of Walker and Elam is a wheel of dining and drinks, then Fishbones is an oft-neglected spoke. It may not boast of quite the same recognition as Sticks n Stones or the Lindley Filling Station, but on food quality alone, it can hang comfortably with, if not outshine, its neighbors.

For a restaurant with “fish” in the name, Fishbones offers a surprising amount of diversity. Thai beef salad, adobo pork tenderloin, Tex-Mex turkey, and a fried bologna sandwich are among the non-piscine menu options. And while a number of these looked tempting, you can’t go wrong by sticking with the ocean’s bounty. The crab soup, a house specialty, was rich and disarmingly spicy (I had expected a smoother, bisque-like soup, but this version is enjoyable in its own right). A snapper on blackboard special tasted fresh, and it was well-paired with fried green tomatoes and a bed of sweet potatoes and greens. My companion’s fried Cajun catfish was light and flaky, and her sides well exceeded expectations. The blackened green beans were smoky and irresistible, the rice and beans were hearty, and the garlic spinach provided a potent kick.

Pricing is quite reasonable for the quality of the food. My companion’s $12.50 catfish was generously portioned and plated; my slightly more expensive snapper somewhat less so. Still, nothing here breaks the bank. Even salmon and tuna entrees top out at $13, and there are plenty of sub-$10 options.

Were this the extent of the Fishbones experience, one could eat here and leave as happy as a clam. However, there is also the ambience to contend with. In terms of décor, Fishbones is essentially an aging bar superficially dressed up with metal fish sculptures. While some find quaint comfort in the well-worn wood floors, there is little of the same to be found in the high stools and closely spaced two-seat tables. Should you opt for outdoor eating, you will have more space but also plenty of traffic (foot and vehicle) to offset it. The servers are generally efficient, but as Fishbones fills up easily, expect slowdowns when busy.

Just like with the other spokes on the dining wheel, the popularity of the Walker-Elam location is both a blessing and a curse. You can expect a lively atmosphere well-suited for a good time among friends, but you can also expect crowding and waits. In Fishbones’ case, you can also expect uncomfortable seating and food that will be good enough to ultimately make it...