Rockfish Seafood & Grill — Restaurant in McKinney

We traveled from Paris,Texas, to spend the weekend in Little Elm. We had heard good things about Rockfish Seafood Grill from other relatives who had eaten at one of the restaurants while visiting in the area and decided to try it.

What a good decision.

We chose the restaurant at 2780 S. Central Expressway in McKinney because of its proximity to Little Elm. We were met at the door by Abby who greeted us enthusiastically with great customer service skills. We later found out that Abby is not the regular Hostess but one of the Waitstaff there. She had volunteered to come in and be a Hostess today since Sunday is usually busier during the brunch period. We observed her obvious pride in her restaurant because when she was not greeting customers at the door, she busied herself cleaning the glass windows and doors. Very impressive.

Our Waitstaff was Ryan. He was personable and greeted us at our booth with the same pride that we had already seen in our Hostess. He took our drink order, dropped off the menus, and returned quickly with our refreshments. Soon, he returned to take our order. Ryan was very knowledgeable in how the dishes were prepared. I chose the Shiner beer-battered Alaskan Fish and Chips, while my wife chose the Catfish dinner. When I asked Ryan to bring me some vinegar for my fish and chips, he recommended their House Recipe Malt Vinegar, which he later provided with my meal.

Our meal was delivered piping hot from the kitchen in a very short time. I commented to Ryan how quickly our food arrived when he delivered it to us.

Several times while we were eating, Ryan returned to check on us to see if we needed anything else.

Our food was delicious. The beer batter on my Alaskan cod was thick and crisp and the malt vinegar Ryan recommended added just the right touch to a dish I remembered from Great Britain. My wife’s catfish were prepared just right with a crisp outside and a nice flaky texture to the fish inside. The apple cider slaw that accompanied both dishes was perfect: neither too dry nor too moist. The French fries and hush puppies were crisp and perfectly prepared. It’s evident the chef knows his or her way around the kitchen with a variety of seafood dishes.

All-in-all, our decision to try the Rockfish Seafood Grill in McKinney was a great choice and one we will make again on a future trip to the Dallas area. Abby, Ryan, and the chef all earned this restaurant five stars. Now, if we could just convince the owner to build a Rockfish Seafood Grill in...

Really terrible experience. Should have just gone to Pappadeaux as we planned.

Took my mother and son here Friday night since everyone wanted seafood. The restaurant is very clearly old, with torn seat cushions and just overall 'beatdown' appearance. I don't mind that as much as feeling like I was intentionally overcharged and stolen from. The waiter "Daniel L" charged us for another family's $115 meal! I've never experienced that type of mistake from any restaurant. When I pointed it out, he said he'd go back and fix it. It took him a very, very long time to come back out, which made me very suspicious of what he was doing with my bank card. He finally comes out with the exact same receipt from someone else's dinner and claimed it was a family sitting next to us that he got confused and would refund the difference. The thing is, there was no family sitting next to us! nor anyone nearby eating all the food he overcharged me for. The bill appeared to be completely fabricated (number of drinks didn't match number of meals, etc). The worst part is he lied and claimed he adjusted the bill. Well, my bank let's me know immediately when a charge is refunded. Never received notification. Waited a few days, still nothing. Had to call the restaurant back today and speak with a manager and he admitted there was no refund pending on the transaction! "Daniel L" either doesn't know what he's doing, or he intentionally skimmed money by overcharging our real meal and thought we wouldn't notice. Will never, ever dine here again. Thank you to the manager who took care of the refund today. I received the refund notice from my bank immediately after speaking with him....

Walking in there is a sign on the door. You must wear your mask at all times. There is a scan code taped to the table instead of a menu. Never having used this feature before, i had to ask for assistance. Once we were able to peruse the menu, i had to ask some questions about the menu because as many well know we have food allergies. My husband is allergic to corn, so i asked our server if there was any corn in the frying batter. She said no. After she walked away I questioned my husband and thought i should specify ingredients that have corn in it such as corn syrup or corn starch. When i asked her again she said "Oh, it does have cornstarch in it". Good thing we didn't order it. When the food arrives it has garlic bread on his plate which he can't eat... Outside of the fact that they are ignorant to food allergies, the food is decent. We ordered the Burbon Trio. I was really looking forward to try the crawfish etoufee since I haven't had any in a really long time. It was horrible. Bland and chewy with no Cajun spice whatsoever. On the platter as well was a grilled fish which was decent. It was cooked well and had a perfect texture. There wasn't enough spice in my opinion, but i corrected that with a small spice request from the kitchen. Their grits were delicious. We skipped dessert and got out of there as quickly as possible. Unfortunately we will probably not return. Too risky with our food allergies and the staff not being trained for guests with food allergies. In the pictures you will see the inside of the restaurant which was decently clean. There was ample spacing between tables. Also you will see the pictures of the trio...