Drop Anchor Seafood & Grill — Restaurant in Long Beach

O.M.G. BECKY!!! Brother in law and I stayed Friday night there in Longbeach, so we could get our RazorClam dig on Saturday morning. We were having a fun roadtrip and decided a seafood dinner would be great, so we stopped into the Drop Anchor to see what they had to offer... and BOY HOWDY!!! What they had to offer was TRULY a nice treat! I'm a self proclaimed 'chowder-snob', so that was my first question, even before the hostess seated us, (oh, by the way, it was just AFTER closing time when we arrived. The hostess darted back into the kitchen to check and see if the chef had turned off the grill yet, and returned with a big smile and told us to pick any table!) WOW! 5 outta 5 stars for hospitality!! Got a free sample of an amazing banana creme Brule fudge that was for offer even before we were seated. Yummy! My brother and I decided to go all-in on dinner. A WHOLE crab, bucket of steamer clams, shrimp salad, clam chowder, Alfredo pasta, and almost a whole loaf of garlic bread. A pint of draft beer for him, a tall glass of cold milk for me, and super fast, or food was delivered to the table. 5 outta five for service, speed, and friendliness from the staff. I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't a pretty sight watching two grown men ABSOLUTELY DEVOUR everything on the table. Everything was AMAZING! My inner chowder-snob was very VERY IMPRESSED! The crab was delicious. The steamer clams were perfect. The Alfredo was home made and wonderful. The garlic bread was a fabulous distraction in between bites of crab meat I was inexpertly digging out of the legs. I KNEW this was about to hurt, because we just couldn't stop eating! And I was right. We ate every morsel! I called the chef out and personally thanked him and shoved a $20 in his pocket. I asked if it was possible to get his chowder recipe, and he informed me there were 'chowder kits' for purchase, which I immediately ordered one to go. The price was surprisingly less than I imagined for the feast we had consumed. I can't say enough what a pleasant experience it was, start to finish. It wasn't 'fancy', I didn't feel under dressed, but it was very clean and just a super neat little spot to eat. My only regret is I'm only allowed 5 stars! Before leaving town the next morning, I stopped and bought 2 more chowder kits to take home. HIGHLY recommend! WILL be dining...

By far, the best place to have seafood on the east and west coasts.

From the top:

Easy and plentiful parking.

Beautiful decor, not over done but tastefully “Beach”.

Price may seem high, but I guarantee WORTH IT!

I ordered the combination, everything Cajun style, upgraded from cup to bowl of clam chowder and fries. I didn’t add any seasoning to anything (but the fries, though they didn’t need it)

Clam Chowder, packed full of clam meat! Creamy but not thick, every bite was savory and textures blended beautifully! - My wife finished her cup and kept swiping bites out of my bowl, I love her so I let her. 😉🤣

Cajun style, most places get this so wrong and thing hit as heck burn the tongue off. Drop Anchors Chef knows better and it is a medley of flavor notes that are spicy, lightly smoky with subtle sweet notes. Thank you!

Calamari, usually cooked to what I call “salt water bubble gum, minus the bubbles”. This was NOT. This was cooked to perfection, soft and lightly chewy but not overly so.

Oysters & Scallops, I’ll just skip to the .. Not over cooked, just right in the lightly chewy and retained the hint of salty and soooo yummy! - The pan fried oysters where great too! Not breaded, but lightly coated and seared just right!

Salmon & Cod fillets, tender .. melt in your mouth, close your eyes and mmmmmmmmm. - the pan fried versions where also buttery in texture and just that hint of crispy “skin” of batter.

Fries, lightly battered, perfect amount of salt. Crispy on the outside and soft and flavorful in the inside. I only added something to these, dipped in cocktail sauce added a touch of kick! - Sweet potato fries were just as good!

Marionberry Cobbler & Peanutbutter Pie, I had the cobbler and it was amazing. Ever had that perfect cobbler with the right amount of berries and dough, cooked just right and not a gooey sloppy mess? This is better!! - My wife had the Peanutbutter Pie and all she could do was the eyes closed, slow chewing, and mmmmmmmmmm response.

The wait staff and the kitchen staff were all top notch, attentive but not over bearing, easy to chat with and knew when to swoop in with the refills!

Worth every penny every day of the week.

If you don’t go, it truly is your loss.

10/5 stars Definitely will go...

• updated* from my previous 1 star review as seen below. I am changing the stars simply based on the interaction from ownership on my initial review. It's never easy for me to write a negative review, and so I never do so lightly. I count on them as well to help make my decisions on different things especially when my family and I are traveling. I know it's not easy for the owners to receive them, and so I have to applaud this restaurant for being so quick to try to turn around a negative response to their establishment. The owners went above and beyond to ensure that we could turn the negative into a positive experience at the end of it. So based on customer service alone, I am updating my stars to a FIVE from a 1 and my family and I are happy to give it another try when we are back in town again!! Thank you for knowing that it's NOT just the meal that counts, but ALSO how you treat your customers that keeps them coming back!

Initial review-- Our family of five had NEVER been to this restaurant before and as a last minute overnight trip we booked a great room and were excited for some local seafood. The service was second to none, even though it was only for take out, however, we spent over $200 and am disappointed that most of our meal was definitely NOT worth the money spent. The seafood combination platter was not seasoned at all and just dropped into a container of what appears to be melted butter, all the seafood in it was overcooked and rubbery, the crab cakes were extremely dissappointing! Not only were they completely mush on the inside, they were also bland and tasteless. Honestly I wasn't able to tell what exactly the cake was made of, it was pretty inedible. The list really does go on, and I wouldn't normally leave such a negative review. However, when you pay as much as we did ($187 PLUS a $36 tip) i would expect to get at least edible food my family could enjoy and not have to throw away.. some pros- the staff was friendly and helpful, the drinks were decently priced and tasty, the seafood chowder even though was very soupy like in texture was pretty tasty. And my boyfriend did enjoy the salmon. I don't think we would come back here again, I'm not comfortable spending that much money on so much...