Mo's Seafood & Chowder — Restaurant in Newport

My fiance grew up in Oregon; has been a enjoying BOTH the food and good service from staff for over 50 years. I've never been to the Oregon coast before, and he drove us out there specifically to ask me to dine here. He was VERY enthusiast and confident about this place. BUT!! It took almost 15 minutes just to get a menu; another 10 minutes to order and get glasses of water; after another 10 minutes of waiting? I finally got up myself and got the attention of a man back in the kitchen area and asked him for a simple cup of black coffee my fiance never did yet get!! The restaurant (bay side) was only about 1/2 full of people dining -- so NOT busy!! It took a total of 35+ minutes to get our simple lunches. STILL had never been given any silverware or napkins BEFORE getting our food, either -- already twice requested. I had to ask 3 time's for extra slices of lemon, and we never did get any more tarter sauce, requested. * I wanted get a $5.00 postcard from girl at front door desk when we were leaving. It was an EVEN $5.00 (no tax). My fiance gave her a $10 bill. SHE DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH CHANGE TO GIVE BACK!! The newly installed computer register wasn't working. Okay, I we understood that fine. But, seriously? She asked him if he "... wanted any change back?....". We both were totally stunned by such an ignorant question. "Yes", he answered her. She pulled out an envelope of cash and we could easily see she had NO CLUE how much change to give back!! Seriously!?!?! He had to tell her, "You owe me $5.00 change because I am certainly NOT going to give you a $5.00 tip!!". ** Well. ALL we can say is that Mo's was a BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT. To boot, the food was really NOT very good. Certainly not living up to the restaurant's reputation! We're NEVER going back there again. Ever! We drove down to the Old Lighthouse area and parked. Enjoying the beautiful day, where he asked me to marry him. He'd originally planned on doing that when we were in Mo's...but it was such a confusing, disappointing experience he opted to wait until we got...

Wow. I've heard about Moe's for years and I've finally got there. I had the Grilled Alaskan cod (blackened) with mashed potatoes. Other fam had fish tacos, steamed clams, Seafood Louie salad with pink shrimp, and finally the linguini (he sampled other seafood from us...) So the "scoop" is fish tacos where best son 3 ever had. He was visibly moved :) Louie salad was recommended with thousand island and was confirmed a good suggestion. I actually got to taste the steamed clams. Drenched in a wine and butter sauce which made the sourdough chunks especially tasty. Wife was dreaming about these clams for months and I understand why. I wasn't a big clam guy but those were good. My Alaskan cod was perfect spice when blackened. Loved it. I thought it would leave me a bit hungry but no of course I got the sourdough from wife (benefit of other family members being gluten free). It also came with their clam chowder or a salad... chowder. A pad of butter on top creamy. Wonderful. We rounded it off with the signature Marionberry cobbler with ice cream. The waitress automatically put ice cream on the side when one family member asked for it to be removed. It was devoured by others. The whole meal just made my shoulders drop with relaxation of culinary joy. Moe's has been around for 75 years. It has some interesting information there too. Didnt get chance to read and see all the pictures. One read was how the oyster industry started here. Sad. Was Indian nation. Dr Kellog basically got the land via a court in 1866. The oysters were almost depleted and they had to do lots of research to reestablish. Now it's flourishing. Great place will go back. I have to because when I got the check I got a scratch card which won us a family sized...

I'm torn on this visit to Mo's as we visit several of them and usually have nothing but good to say. We drove to Newport for a few things, Mo's being one of them, and it was semi disappointing.

To start with the positives, it was Friday before dinner so there was no wait to get a table and the food came out very fast. Almost concerningly fast. The staff was friendly and all that.

The disappointing part was the food other than the clam chowder. The chowder was what we've come to expect, consistent pretty good chowder. The rest of the meal just seemed lacking and looking at pictures from others it seems we may have been there on a bad food day.

Two of us got the fish and chips which was just that, some greasy fried fish and mediocre room temp fries. I've had the fish and chips several times at other locations and there is a reason I usually keep getting it. This version was disappointing.

One of us got chowder and a salad. The chowder was good, the salad was just a plate of shredded lettuce or cabbage, a small cup of shrimp, and a small cup of dressing. No croutons or anything else. Again, she always gets the salad when we go to other Mo's and this was a first. Very disappointing.

Ironically the 4th got chili and she said it was good. In fact it was probably the best looking thing on our table. Everything else was just plain and bland. The staff was so nice and we were having a nice day that we didn't complain or anything but it was a disappointing visit especially for $80. When we got home a few hours later opted to make a nice dinner to make up for our Mo's visit. Typically Mo's is our dinner when we visit the coast.

Will probably still give other locations a try but not sure we'll ever return...