Bluecoast Seafood Grill & Raw Bar Rehoboth — Restaurant in Rehoboth Beach

Short version: The only redeeming qualities of this place are a cute interior design and a few decent appetizers. Everything else is disappointing. Would not recommend.

Long version: Bluecoast Seafood Grill & Raw Bar Rehoboth is just a run-of-the-mill, uninspired, family-friendly tourist restaurant. They don't have to try hard at anything, because they have a guaranteed revenue stream from the innumerable tourists that will inevitably dine there every summer, either by random chance, or because all the better restaurants have long waits. I normally don't even bother writing reviews about these kinds of places, but there were several specific failures that I wanted to draw attention to.

We dined here as a group of five. After walking in, the first thing I noticed was the "library" section of the interior dining room, which is very cute and made me feel almost nostalgic or something. The inside bar is also nice looking. We ordered a table on the outside patio, so we went to the outside bar to hang out while waiting for the table. It took somewhere between five and ten minutes for the bar tender to acknowledge us. We attempted to order some kind of blended frozen drinks, but the bartender informed us that some of their machines had broken or something, so they couldn't make those drinks. It took them another several minutes to ask us for our drink order again. By that time, our table was ready, so we left the bar empty handed. We were seated on the outside patio. It took another good while to be greeted by our waitress. She kept disappearing for long periods of time throughout the evening. We first ordered drinks. Our cocktails arrived in plastic water cups, and I noticed that they were serving martinis in beer tulip glasses (hilariously embarrassing) at the table next to ours, so I guess they completely ran out of clean glassware? After another long period of time, our waitress returned and we ordered appetizers. We first tried to order the tuna poke bowl, but they said they sold out of that. So we ordered some other appetizers. She brought them to the table when they were ready and disappeared again. Our table had no silverware or plates, so we sat there while the appetizers got cold until our waitress came again. She then blindly asked "how is everything so far?" without even taking a moment to notice that we hadn't touched the appetizers because we had no utensils or plates. She then brought those over after we pointed it out. The (now lukewarm) appetizers were actually pretty decent. We then ordered entrees. There is little-to-no detail printed about the specials, so I played it safe and ordered something off the regular menu. The entrees were very forgettable and egregiously overpriced. We left shortly after, without hearing so much as another word from any of the staff. Several of us were sufficiently unenthused about the quality of the food that we didn't even bother taking leftovers home.

To reiterate the specific failures of this restaurant: Broken bar machines Ran out of clean glassware (on a tuesday!) Ran out of a popular appetizer (on a tuesday!) Slow and inattentive staff Egregious pricing for entrees with small amounts of seafood

Overall, the service and food at Bluecoast are mediocre at best. It's a serviceable family restaurant. If you are looking for anything even slightly interesting or memorable, I would recommend checking out any one of the many better options within a few...

My first dining experience at Bluecoast occurred yesterday, September 7, 2022. We arrived around 4 pm, and were seated at a booth on the right side of the main dining room. My first observation was that the place is very similar to Thompson Island, but the bar was on the other side. There is a kitchen that's open and you can see into it. I loved the decor, especially the black leather (pleather?) booths. I also noticed another dining room off to the right that had a lot of books. I want to sit there on my next visit.

I ordered a strawberry mint mocktail with a shot of rum to spike it up. It was sweet and refreshing. My partner wanted to have a Matt's root beer to drink, but they were out. He settled for one of their many beers on tap. We ordered the hot jalapeno bacon crab dip for our appetizer, which came out quickly and was served with old bay kettle cooked chips. The chips were kind of stale, but the dip was tasty. I ate some on the bread that was brought to us, which was warm and fresh!

I wanted crabcakes but I didn't want the fries and coleslaw that accompanied them. Our server informed me I could switchy sides for an upcharge, so I opted for the whipped potatoes and farm fresh vegetables. The vegetables were delicious and consisted of green beans, carrots, and zucchini. The potatoes were creamy. But most importantly, the crabcakes were broiled just right and had a lot of lump meat! There was a small ramekin of a creamy yellow sauce which I did not use at all. The lemon wedge provided was all the meal needed!

My partner ordered the shrimp and grits, which I tried. The dish is prepared with corn, bacon, and cherry tomatoes. I tried the grits and thought they were pretty bland and tasteless. He liked the grits but not the shrimp, which he said were not seasoned at all, just steamed. With all the restaurants around the area offering unique and flavorful takes on this dish, sadly Bluecoast's rendition did not stand up.

For dessert I ordered the lemon meringue pie with vanilla ice cream to go. It was a generous portion and incredibly tasty! I'm glad I got it to go so I could enjoy it and not be overly full.

Our bill came to just over $100, which is what one would expect in the area for a dinner for two. The server, Tyler, was friendly and efficient. I will return to try some other items on the menu. They have a fish board that offered 4 different fishes and some other seafood dishes that piqued my...

We visited Blue Coast to celebrate my mom’s birthday and unfortunately had a very disappointing experience. We were seated outside at a table that had visible mildew and really should have had a tablecloth or placemats. Service was well below expectations—after our meals were dropped off, there were no check-ins at all. We had to approach the hostess multiple times just to track down our server: once to return an overcooked steak, and again to inquire when the replacement would arrive. By the time the corrected dish came out, the rest of our party had already finished eating.

The food itself was equally underwhelming. The fried fish and calamari were bland, lacking flavor, and nothing was served hot. Nothing about the meal or service felt special, especially for what was meant to be a celebratory evening. We requested a birthday dessert, but after waiting over 15 minutes with no follow-up—and with a toddler growing restless—we finally asked the hostess for our check instead.

What made matters worse was the absence of any management presence. At no point did a manager check on our large party, even after a clear complaint was made about the steak. No one followed up to ensure our satisfaction, which only added to the sense that hospitality is not a priority here.

What’s especially disappointing is that in a sea of very tourist-driven restaurants, we genuinely appreciated that Blue Coast has a more modern aesthetic and a thoughtful menu. Unfortunately, the execution fell far short, both in the kitchen and in the service.

Overall, the combination of poor service, lackluster food, and no management accountability made this visit incredibly underwhelming. I hope the restaurant takes these concerns seriously, because this could be a standout spot if the basics of hospitality and food quality were...