21st Street Seafood Raw Bar — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

Coming here during our bi-annual trips to VA Beach has been a family tradition of ours for about a decade. This was the first time there’s ever been an issue with service or atmosphere.

This issue was somewhat beyond the fault of the establishment, as a driver was having car trouble and decided to park in the lot of this restaurant to determine the issue. The driver used the space directly in front of the entrance and consequently, also in front of a large area where people were seated (including my party) to dine.

The vehicle ended up catching fire and causing a large scene in which my part of the dining area was evacuated, the fire department was called, and pandemonium ensued.

After the commotion settled and the fire was under control, a very large party dining in the same area decided to leave without paying. This prompted a chase by our waitress and a subsequent police report being filed. All of this while we were waiting for our appetizers. It had already been a half hour BEFORE the unfortunate series of events.

After noticing that no manager or coworker came to assist our server, my patience had expired. I went to the hostess and asked if she could help check on our food. She explained there were “runners” assigned to bring food out (where they were with ours is still a mystery to me). Anyhoo, our food arrived, entrees came out prior to salads and appetizers, we had no silverware, and, a few of our orders were inaccurate. Yippee!

Based on the response from our waitress when she finally returned to pick up the pieces and attempt to salvage our experience, it seems she expected us to empathize with her as she explained that in addition to the fire, a party had bailed on a $700 bill. While this was indeed unfortunate, I didn’t agree that my party’s experience should be lackluster as a consequence. We were still there and expected great service with no intentions of dining and dashing.

I was VERY disappointed that when I explained this to her, the only suggestion she had was to go and get us a new server. This was not the best solution, in my opinion, as we wanted nothing but the service in which we were used to on our visits here, and what their menu prices suggested. Our experience came up to about half of what she lost out on from the party that decided they weren’t paying. And she almost lost that as well should we had decided to leave before our food finally arrived.

I would really love to chat more with someone from the leadership team here regarding our experience. Or perhaps we may need to find a new venue for our...

When we arrived (party of 5) there was no wait to be seated. Our sever took 15mins to come and introduce her self and take our drink order, we also ordered appetizers. 10-15mins later the drinks came she stated the appetizers will be up shortly, so we ordered the main dish. I ordered the all you can eat Lobster and shrimp which came with a clam chowder, the waitress told me they didn't have the clam chowder and I couldn’t substitute for anything else. So I asked were they going to reduce the price of my meal she said no!!! (I should’ve left then) 20mins later she brought me a bowl of clam chowder, she said they made some….. my daughter and son Lin law ordered she crab soup… they were still waiting… I ate my entire bowl of luke warm soup and they were still waiting for there bowl. 20mins later the appetizers came….. we were staving by this point, we inquired about the soups, the waitress stated oh I will check with the kitchen. Please note that we have been seated for at least a 1hour and 15mins by this point. I asked another waitress who was hopping and on her job to get the manager. Took him another 15mins to come out, as he arrived so did our food (coincidence, I think NOT) I informed him of our unfortunate experience, he said since your food is here there is really nothing I can do!!!! ( I guess my reaction wasn’t pleasing to him so he offered us a discount on the food) The fried food was warm but not fresh from the grease, my food on the other had was dry and cold. The lobster’s shell was soft and the meat was very hard to get out the shell, when I did manage to open it the meat was rubbery. I didn’t even eat it, I focused on the shrimp which was now very hard to peel! Because we were celebrating Father’s Day I didn't make a huge scene…. But the kicker was us waiting another 30mins for the check…… the waitress never even asked me if I wanted another plate of food since it was all you can eat!! She came back with the check said the manager gave us a %15 discount on the meal….. I informed her I had a military discount she said she would be right back…… 15mins later I WENT INSIDE….I was geared to make a scene but God stopped me!!

The moral is That I will NEVER come here again, The service was horrible and the food was tasteless. The manager doesn’t have any customer service edict and OUR waitress couldn’t handle her job. She DID NOT DESERVE A $37.56 gratuity!! ...

Want to try a good seafood spot in Virginia Beach, VA? Check out 21st Street Seafood Raw Bar. This spot is located right off of the Atlantic Beach strip, which is ideal if you want to walk or take an Uber Lyft, etc. The first thing that caught my attention was the big "Home of the Hurricane" sign on the side of the building....lol....I knew I had to TRY it!

The Starters:

The Crunchy Calamari - This was excellent. Like the name stated, it was crunchy, well seasoned, and piping hot when it arrived at our table. The Seafood Eggrolls - This is a new item on the menu, and the eggrolls are stuffed jumbo lump crabmeat, shrimp, cabbage, and carrots. This was also a hit for me. Full of flavor!

The Main:

The Fried Fish Duo - This is also a new item on their menu that comes with fried flounder, fried catfish, and your choice of two sides. I went with the rice and fries. The fish was fried just right with bold flavor. I would certainly get this again. I also added a crabcake, which had a nice crunch on it. I wish the crabmeat would have been lumped, but still good.

The Drink: 🍷🥂🍸 I was tempted to try this Hurricane since this place is self-proclaimed to be the home of the hurricane. "MEH" it was ok....I still finished it, though......😂😂 ……I did see other drinks that I want to try next time.

The Dessert: 🎂🍰🧁 I went with the Homemade Key Lime. This was also ok... but then again, I've had so many Key Lime Pies from Florida, so it would be hard to compare.

Over, all this place is good and I would go back for the seafood and service. I waiter was very nice and attentive.

Restaurant Rating: 82 out 100% (B-)

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