Backfins Crabhouse — Restaurant in Wake Forest

Second time there. First was a good time, good service and food. It's a very small restaurant so we waited about 30 mins for a table, which I don't mind for something good. Second time was not good. Service was terrible. We were seated right away this time, no waiting, but then forgotten about for a little while. The waitress gets our order and explained that the blue crabs were precooked in anticipation of people who would want them. That should have been my first red flag. We ordered several things. The shrimp were slightly overcooked. I ordered 12 blue crabs as well after the waitress said they might not have that many ready to go, which means freshly steamed for me...the way they should be. Have you ever had reheated crabs? Blue crabs are already challenging for people who don't know how to eat them. Add the fact that they are way overcooked and been sitting around waiting for people to order them. Meat sticks to the shell, gets dry etc. Not good. When you pay $40 for 12 crabs they should be cooked to order and cooked correctly. On top of that our waitress never once returned to our table and we had to ask a different waitress to go get ours and ask for our check. We only ate 4 crabs before giving up and I never asked to be comped, but when the waitress finally returned she said in a jokingly way after looking at the remaining crabs ... "Awe, to much?" Lol I wanted explode right then and there. I explained that I thought they were overcooked and not good at all. She made no effort to get a manager who could explain the situation to cooks and staff. Feedback is a good thing, but this woman didn't seem to care or maybe she wasn't trained properly, which again falls back on management. There were no apologies or attempt to smooth things out with the customer... just get them in and get them out in a high population area I suppose. I've been in the seafood restaurant industry almost my whole life and while I wanted this place to be so good so badly, I'm very disappointed in this experience. I will go back again bc the first time was really good, but I will never order blue crabs again. You shouldn't cook seafood and let it sit around all day waiting for someone to order. Hopefully this time was just an off night. It cost way to much to waist that much food. First night 4.5 stars this time 2...which I'll average out for my three...

My family of three arrived a little after 1700 and there were only 2-3 tables filled with diners. We were immediately greeted with a friendly disposition and a welcoming conversation. We were seated with extreme graciousness and made to feel, and were treated as if we were close friends that eat there every Wednesday night. All this, before we even placed an order! They made us feel like we were the only table in the restaurant. We asked for the server's recommendations. I always find this to be the way to get the chef's best dishes! We ordered cheese curds, bacon-wrapped, crab-stuffed grilled scallops, and were offered a sample of both chowders then ordered a bowl with both mixed--the thick creamy chowder and a dollop of the veg chowder in the middle.

Now, let me tell you first about the service. Our server was phenomenal! We had our minds read about what we wanted/needed before we could stop chewing our delicious food to say what we would like her to do! Our cheese curds were some of the best I've had. The scallops were heavenly, absolutely the best I've ever eaten. Scallops cooked to perfection, not overcooked and hard and chewy. Both chowders were delicious and it was a hard choice between the two. My preference in my previous experiences would prefer cream-based chowder. However, the vegetable based chowder had a nice tang that I felt added a complexity that very enjoyable, no matter if you take a scoop of one, then the other, a little of both on the same spoonful, or any which way you can come up with. All the appetizers were a solid start to an excellent all-around meal. Both of my parents got the two choice combos grilled and were completely happy, beyond typical seafood dinners. I, myself, had the specialty platter with shrimp, oysters, clams and crab legs with potatoes and corn on the cob. The crab legs were phenomenal and the other choices were good as well. Though I was not a huge fan of the grilled oysters or clams, I may have...

I was really excited to try this place and finally made it by Sunday about 4:30. Facilities looked clean and pleasant. We were seated on the patio as requested. Hosts were friendly. Sat at our table for 10 minutes without being greeted by a server. Went back in to remind the hosts of our presence and that we still didn't have drinks. I saw 3 servers clustered around the PoS. Host then came to our table to explain that the Point of Sale was messing up and that our server would be there after she got it fixed. I asked her if she could get our drink order. She replied that she could not, as she wasn't able to "ring it in under the server's number." At that point we just walked out. I understand if she couldn't get us beer or wine due to ALE rules or some other policy, but why on earth could she not get us a glass of water or tea? I got flustered with this lack of service and left. As I left I noted that 3 servers were still clustered around the PoS and the bartender looked incredibly bored and unoccupied.

The place was only about 1/2 full and we were there before the dinner rush. There is no reason somebody couldn't have greeted our table and brought us water in under 10 minutes. I have worked in restaurants for 20 years and understand the difference between poor service and legit problems. This was just a failing on the part of the staff and management to take care of customers. I won't be back. I spend a lot of money in restaurants and was looking at the $30 steamer plate for myself and probably a couple beers. Backfins has lost my business and I hope they can get it together and take care of future customers.

We went to East Coast Wings next door and were treated very well and attended immediately. They were far busier and appeared to be somewhat shorthanded and yet we never lacked...