McGrath's Fish House — Restaurant in Vancouver

On our way back to Seattle, my family and I decided to stop in Vancouver for a bite to eat. We spotted McGrath’s and thought it would be a good choice for seafood. Walking in, the hosts were kind and seated us right away, which gave us a good first impression.

Our server, Liz, came over quickly to take drink orders. She was friendly, attentive, and set the tone with her positive attitude. Drinks arrived without issue, so we decided to dive into appetizers. Unfortunately, that’s where things took a turn.

The crab-stuffed mushrooms were underwhelming, lacking both flavor and depth. The crab artichoke dip missed the mark completely, while the calamari tasted like it had been fried in old oil. I ordered oysters, but they were spawning, anyone who’s had them in that state knows they lose their firmness and end up tasting off, almost like organ meat. I managed a couple, but had to spit out two and left the rest. To their credit, the oysters were comped, but a restaurant specializing in seafood should know better than to serve them in that condition.

Hoping the entrées would turn things around, we pressed on. Sadly, it only got worse. The jambalaya was overcooked, the seafood tasting frozen and low-quality. My daughter’s shrimp pasta was so unappealing she stopped after a single bite. My son and sister ordered the ribeye, but it was easily the worst cut of meat I’ve seen served at a restaurant tough, flavorless, overly fatty and a complete waste of money. My son, who practically lives on steak, left more than half of it on his plate. That’s saying something.

Liz noticed our disappointment and asked what could be done better. I appreciated her honesty and willingness to help. She even offered us a dessert, but at that point we couldn’t bring ourselves to try anything else. While waiting for the check, a giant house spider ran across our area, which pretty much summed up the whole experience one nightmare after another.

At the end of the day, I gave 2 stars, and those are entirely for Liz. She was kind, attentive, and genuinely tried to make things right. I truly hope she finds another restaurant where her talent and effort can shine, because McGrath’s food and quality control simply don’t live up to the expectations of a...

We have been going to this place since it opened a number of years ago. We have always liked the menu, quality of prep and the wait staff. In fact we count it as one of our favorite restaurants. Unfortunately today was not good and a few weeks ago wasn't very good either. This shouldn't count that several weeks ago tried to use our bonus gift cards worth about $30 that were 2 days expired . That was really our fault, but didn't feel real good about it.

Three days ago we had lunch and I ordered the top sirloin steak special. The waitress was very attentive and helpful. The steak was very good, medium rare done just right. A good 5 star meal.

Today was a different story. Our waiter was very standoffish , taking our orders by standing about 5 feet away, handing us our plates instead of setting them down, expecting me to hand him my coffee cup to refill it, hand me the full cup by the handle and not distributing the checks to our party of two couples. Just a lot of little things that added up to a waiter who didn't care about pleasing his patrons (Robert 115).

Today's special was the St. Patrick's day corned beef and cabbage. There was about 1/2 cup of cabbage, 5 or 6 little carrots, 4 pieces of red potato and a hunk of corned beef that was about 1/3 fat. In addition was overcooked and nearly flavorless. It certainly didn't match the illustration in the ad.

A couple of weeks ago I had fish and chips that didn't meet with the quality of all of the prior meals that I have had over the years. The fish was mushy and overcooked, the fries though, were OK.

I still hope to continue to call this location one of our favorites, but it is close to becoming one of my lesser choices. My wife still prefers to come here, but she doesn't have the same luck as I have had. Probably should complain at the time, but that is something I don't ordinarily do out of consideration for the people that I am with.

I rated as 4 stars hoping it will again meet with this high rating, but the waiter as i star. I hope he...

Walking in we were asked if we wanted to sit in the bar or be seated at a table in the dining area, I noticed they had booths in the bar area so we went for that and the hostess said we could seat ourselves anywhere in the bar. There weren't that many guests there and probably five or six open booths to sit in. The problem is they were all dirty. We went to each and most were still left the way the customer left them dishes and all. The two with no dishes were still filthy because they weren't wiped down. It was our 22 anniversary and I ask my wife if she wanted to leave in stead she ask me to check the dining room. It was no better!! We chose the least dirty table in the bar and sat there waiting for it to be cleaned. The two dinners we had were not that great for the price. One full rack ribs and one Double Lobster tail dinner. I'm only giving the stars because the meal was eatable but in no way to par with other restaurants of the same price. Also stars for service as our waitress was great. Now the extra star and probably all that saved my night was the drinks we ordered, the came quickly and they were made properly, so great they saved this review!! My wife gets a lobster dinner once a year and I thought it would be a nice change to go to eat somewhere new, I was wrong. There are way better restaurants to spend your money and your time at!!

EDIT: I was talking to some friends and telling them about dinner during which i came to the realization as to how bad this experience actually was. It was our 22nd anniversary and i wanted it to be at least good. Truthfully, I'm really unhappy with how dinner was, enough so to come back and change my rating from three stars down to two. Again, i give two stars only because 1. the service, our waitress did a good job. 2. The drinks get a star, the bartender was fast and made excellent drinks. thats...