Shells of Melbourne — Restaurant in Melbourne

Well, I have been to Shells many times before. Usually it is a good experience. Yesterday was the exception. I tried calling twice before arriving - no answer. When we arrived, we were told that "the Bartender is supposed to answer the phone, but it is too busy." Well there were 4 people seated at the bar and the restaurant was perhaps 1/3 full. Too busy to answer the phone? I managed a restaurant and kept a cordless in my pocket in case we were too busy for the Host or Hostess to answer, this way the call did not go unanswered, with the caller perhaps presuming we were closed. So we ordered an order of hushpuppies, and the Early Bird Shrimp Pasta Mezzo Mezzo, and the same except with chicken. which is just pasta and shrimp or chicken in sauce for dinner. I received 5 very small shrimp, and they were kind of mushy. The chicken was tough and veinie. I did not send it back, it was not worth the wait. However, the booth in front of me sent their drink back because "I can't say what, just the whole thing tastes funny." The booth across from me sent one of their plates back - I did not hear why. I asked our waitress (who I will not name) if they no longer gave the table a complimentary basket of grilled bread? She responded (rather tersly) that bread is now "a request only item" and even after asking about it she continued "Are you now requesting it"? WOW!!! I asked for some hot sauce, and was presented with a tiny bottle of Tabasco with about an eighth of an inch at the bottom, which I could not get out of the bottle due to the top being clogged with old dried product. It was unpresentable, not to mention inedible. I asked a very very nice Spanish lady (I thought she was a server, she is not, she is a waitress, and a very accommodating and pleasant waitress.) If she could possibly get me another bottle of Tabasco. She looked at the first one and said very quietly "ewe" and returned with a new bottle. I also had to ask this very nice Spanish lady for some extra napkins. She did so without once saying anything about not being our waitress. I also noted the she brought her table bread without anyone "requesting" it. I know this for sure, because I asked the table as I left. I explained to the manager my experience, he was nice, said he has only been there since January, and that bread should be served without asking. That he will not seat me in that particular waitresses section again. I will give Shells another chance because I have been there lots of times. Next time I go I will ask to be seated in the lovely Spanish ladies section. Hope...

It had been several years since my last visit, and it will be several more (if ever) before my next visit as the food was very underwhelming and the service equally underwhelming.

It wasn't very busy when I arrived, so I was seated quickly, but that's pretty much where the prompt service ended. I sat there for just shy of fifteen minutes before the server showed up to take my drink order. She returned several minutes later with the drink and to take my food order. I ordered a cup of clam chowder, the conch fritter appetizer, and the Shrimp Trio.

After waiting another fifteen minutes or so after placing my order, the clam chowder arrived. The clam chowder was very good and had very good flavor. Most clam chowders are mostly potatoes and a little bit of clam. This clam chowder was mostly clams and a little bit of potato, so that was nice.

Waiting for another fifteen to twenty minutes after the clam chowder arrived, the conch fritters finally arrived. This was after the server stopped at the table twice to tell me "two more minutes and your conch fritters will be ready." The portion size was great (10 fritters) and the flavor of the fritters and the dipping sauce was very good. The only complaint was they needed to be cooked just a little bit longer as the batter in the middle of each fritter was still quite gooey.

Waiting another twenty minutes or so after the conch fritter arrived, the entree finally arrived. This too was after the server informed me a few times "two more minutes, two more minutes."

The Shrimp Trio... I'll start with the positive part... so the portion size was good, the rice was flavorful and moist, and the steamed veg was good. But the "star of the dish," the shrimp, well... to be blunt, they were nasty. For being a seafood restaurant, the quality of their shrimp was no better than any cheap low-quality frozen shrimp you can get a Walmart. Neither of the three shrimp preparations had any flavor and the texture of all of the shrimp was very rubbery - just as you'd expect from low-quality frozen shrimp. When you consider the amount of shrimp you get in the three different preparations (about two dozen in all) and the $16.99 price of the dish - clearly, they're not using quality shrimp.

So to sum it up; if you're looking for at least decent seafood, you'd be much better off driving past Shell's and going to Red Lobster located a mile to the...

My husband and I were in Orlando for an event and decided to drive back to West Palm by going through Melbourne JUST so we could have dinner at Shells.

Shells was my favorite seafood restaurant when they had locations in West Palm Beach and Delray Beach. It had been at least 20-25 years since I’d last dined at Shells and my husband had never been there, I was so excited.

We arrived and upon exiting the car - we realized that at some point during our trip our tire had been sliced and it was slowly tearing apart. Sitting in the parking lot / we called for roadside help and removed the spare from underneath the car. While waiting we walked into the restaurant, quickly explained our situation and asked the hostess if it was possible to use their bathroom to wash our hands while we waited for our assistance to arrive. She replied with an understanding, “Of course!” And even handed us take out waters to take outside with us.

Thirty minutes later, we returned for dinner. We were seated promptly and placed our order: Buffalo shrimp appetizer (which was good just not as good as I remembered), a bowl of gumbo (which was yummy and had a good amount of seafood) and two The Big Easy entrees (which I used to order all the time) and it did not disappoint - it was exactly like I remembered it and I was in heaven. The complimentary bread was also perfectly buttered and toasted.

As we were leaving we thanked the ladies up front and mentioned our two hour trip home on a spare tire. They told us to have a safe trip and to just drive slowly and offered us two cups of water to go. They were the sweetest and in a time of personal frustration they offered kindness.

We had a really great experience - with the exception of the man that raised himself off his bar stool and loudly passed gas in our direction (we were seated at a booth adjacent from the bar). That had nothing to do with the restaurant, the food or the service but it made me decide to never sit behind someone at a bar ever again. Lol.

Thanks for everything...