Jumbo Seafood — Restaurant in Tyler

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this place. We rarely go to North Tyler (we live South), but we had been camping and saw reviews for this place and thought we would give it a shot.

The location and outside appearance are not that appealing. The inside decor is not great. The staff was friendly and attentive, but there were not many people eating at the time.

We ordered appetizers of calamari and the Mexican seafood cocktail. As a rule, I do not like calamari, but my seven-year old son had been wanting to try it. The price was only $6.99 and we received a huge plate full. I tried one and it was the best calamari I have ever had. It was not rubbery, as I normally experience. It did not smell fishy and the breading was crispy, crunchy and delicious. (Incidentally, we were at another restaurant in town last night and paid $11 for calamari. We received about 1/3 of the portion and not as well breaded). Our family ate that whole plate of calamari.

The Mexican seafood cocktail was delicious. Only my wife and I ate that, but everything was fresh, light tasting with a little kick of spice. We cleaned that bowl.

For dinner, our children got the fried shrimp and fries. They were delicious (probably the best of everyone's dinner), but they had to take "To Go" plates, because they were full of calamari.

I ordered two Red Snapper (fried) and a bowl of Shrimp ettouffe. My wife ordered fried catfish, stuffed crab and fried jumbo shrimp. She loved the shrimp and stuffed crab. As much as we wanted to love the fish, it was not great. The fish was dry, especially on the thinner edges. It did not taste fishy, but it was still dry. The meatier parts of the fish were pretty good. I enjoyed the ettouffe. I'm not 100% it was fresh, but it tasted good.

Overall, we ordered and ate way too much food. The price we paid for the portions was phenomenal. This place is a very good value and an overall great experience. If we are in the area again, I'm sure we would...

Im editing again... i just had dinner at Landrys on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, spent $150.00 on 2 plates, their Samon was disgusting. Sent back twice. Im tellin you guys, give Jumbo Seafood a try. Its that good and over half the price of most places. Its AMAZING!!!!!! i can not brag on them enough. The staff are all very friendly and the food is the best. Its a little hole in the wall located in an area thats not the greatest, but they are ABSOLUTELY A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH!!! i try to go there every weekend. I am a healthy eater, meaning i eat healthy. I will go hungry all day so that i can get all my calories in during my visit. I would recommend the grilled salmon with grilled veggies and the grilled catfish with steamed veggies. Its what i get everytime, yes i get both plates, lol. The portions are very large, the price isnt bad at all and the quality is top notch!!! Their food is better than any of the "expensive" places ive been. I could go on forever. I promise that if you give this place a chance you will not regret it and will likely add it to your list of favorite places to go for seafood. And i stronly encourage you to try the 2 plates i mentioned above. My friend that goes with me always trys different things and has loved everything he orders as well. Go see them and try to get tiffany as your waitress, super sweet young lady and very attentive. I hope i got her name right, its the younger waitress with long brown hair. Such a sweet girl....

I had high hopes due to the reviews online. The service was slow. I never got a refill during the entire meal. The waitress was nowhere to be found until I was finished. The seafood gumbo consists of bland precooked shrimp and catfish that had the consistency of tapioca pudding. The grilled seafood with red snapper, shrimp, and scallops was also just bland. Overcooked red snapper. Scallops that had an odd consistency. The shrimp was done well cooking wise but the whole plate was just bland. The steamed vegetable came out cold. And the grilled veggies were the only item that were seasoned but were delicious. The sweet tea was delicious on a plus as well. Now for the kicker. Before my meal came, and elderly gentleman was seated 10 minutes after me. He received his gumbo long before I got mine but the waitress delivered some cold shrimp bowl to me which left me confused, first thought was maybe I had ordered the wrong thing as I was pointing at the menu whole ordering. I stirred through it to verify what it was and knew it wasn't mine so when the waitress finally came to me with my meal she took that shrimp cocktail of my table then gave it to the elderly gentleman across the dining area. My experience in food handing is that he gets a new cocktail instead of the one that had been stirred through and delivered to the...