Friday's 1890 Seafood & BBQ — Restaurant in New Bern

Friday's is a New Bernian staple. Most all that are native to this town have eaten here, at least once in their lives. They have what are considered to be just about the best hush puppies in town. That being said however, I feel the need to be totally honest in this review. Its not my favorite place to eat. The food, while tasty sometimes, is often bland. The smell of grease from the deep fryers is OVERWHELMING most of the time. It is the first thing that assaults your senses as soon as you step out of your vehicle in the parking lot and it gets no better once inside the restaurant. The atmosphere is dark, dank, dated 1970's/1980's "woodgrain" everything. The design is meant to harken back to the interior of "Tall Ships", but it's more akin to someone's grandmother's old decor that's been handed down to the next youngster in the family to get their own place. The tables are CROWDED & CRAMPED. Sitting more than 4 people at them is NOT a good idea. Each dish ordered comes on its own plate, so in a matter of mere seconds the table is filled completely with dinner dishes. There's really NO ROOM left for anything else to be added without first removing some of the dinnerware already on the table. My family and I combine items onto the largest plate that each one of us receives. This helps reduce some of the clutter and congestion on the table top; however, getting a waitress to stick around while you dpi this, or too stop back by after you've completed this Olympic table maneuver is ALMOST always impossible. Our extra dinnerware usually ends up stacked precariously on the end and edge of our table, or on an empty, neighboring table. That's another issue altogether. The table arrangement. The tables in this restaurant are entirely TOO CLOSE TOGETHER for comfort. You'll not only enjoy conversation with your dinner, or supper companions, but you'll be able to clearly hear the conversations of those tables immediately surrounding your's as well. The food is mediocre at best. It all tastes the same. In addition, if you order Scallops do not expect actual, factual Sea Scallops. They're all uniform in shape and size, so they are, most definitely, NOT true Sea Scallops. They're probably Sea Skate that's been "punched" out to pass for scallops. For TRUE Sea Scallops you'll need to motor down East to Carteret County, or to Pamlico County. Or better still, go as East as you can in the contiguous state of North Carolina and hit the Outer Banks. It's only in these places that you'll find REAL Sea Scallops. Don't expect them at Friday's 1890 Seafood. Don't expect good fish either. The Cat Fish tastes like the Trout tastes like the Flounder and it ALL tastes very fishy. I really, really do wish I had a better review to give to the general public and tourists for this particular restaurant because it IS a New Bern staple. It's been here since before my birth in 1970. I just can not bring myself to, in a forum that is used to make choices for good places to eat by visitors to our little burg, over inflate the actual appeal of the culinary offerings of this old New Bern Native favorite. No matter how much the true locals may tour it's offerings. It's just not all it's cracked up to be. Even the fried offerings all taste the same. Trust me, drive the extra 30 miles to the coast for the freshest and best seafood offerings. If you're not fussed by taste then goo ahead and eat at Friday's. Just don't say you weren't properly warned...

Great mom and pop restaurant. When they mentioned Friday's, i was thinking it was the "Other" Friday's so i was super excited to hear it was now in New Bern. When we arrived, well it's not what i had in mind as we pulled up. Ordered the trio, taste was great but the cooking texture of scallops and the shrimp coating appeared to be flash fried. Didn't want to chance eating them. Still runny falling off type coating. I didn't want the cook to be frustrated. The two of each that I tested and tasted where good flavor, the doneness matched my visual. Politely covered and brought them home to the Air Fryer and completed the experience. The inside of the building is a bit dark, little musty smell and to close for a full table setting but after walking around, looking at the wood design, I concluded it may be designed for country family dining experiences. It's worth returning to sample some other items. The waitstaff was great and the drinks where never empty. Bought desert home and it wasn't quite what I expected but again air fryers are my go to resolve. Looking forward to my next...

We were in town for a trip, and our hotel recommended this for dinner. We decided to give it a try. Once we pulled up, the building is really run down and dirty. It could definitely use a make over. We got sat immediately, the table wobbled, and there was open butter cups already on the not cleaned table. We sat there for 20 minutes before the service came over, she apologized a bunch as she was unaware we got sat in her section. She was very nice. I had the deep sea scallops and they were really good, the hot crab dip was also good. My son ordered the Maryland style crab cakes, we sent them back. They were all mushy and had little to no crab meat, it was all filling, hush puppy filling. They substituted his plate for the pulled Pork, it came out and was very sour, like they marinaded it in vinegar. I offered to pay for that even though he didn't eat it, they removed it from the bill and was very apologetic about it. Overall I wouldn't recommend this restaurant, it's unfortunate because they have been there for so long. I...