Myself and my wife have been a loyal customer of Big Fish since they opened (approximately 15 years). Every year I purchase a $1000 worth of gift cards for family and friends, based on my personal experience at the waterfront and Rehoboth Beach location. This all changed with the last 9 months of dining experience at Big Fish Grill. Service: We sat at the bar to get quick prompt service and that didn’t happen! When we sat down there was one other patron and us. Being game day, we arrived early to beat the regular football fans. We received our drinks promptly and then waited 15 minutes for the bar tender to return to place our appetizer order. We asked for additional peppers with the FB Spicy Calamari and were told that they were not doing any food customizations today. I asked if there were no food customizations at all and once again told, no? We never received a set-up nor could get the bartender to acknowledge us to put in a request for one. I had to reach behind the bar to get napkins and go to the server area to get plates and salt. We ate using the appetizer forks that came with the calamari and mussels. When we received the bill, we were over charged for the beer by a $1 and charged an additional $2 for the bloody Mary mix (see receipt). I would assume that when you order a bloody Mary that the alcohol and mix is included. The explanation from the bar tender was “I have to make it so it’s an additional charge”. I cannot remember ever being charged an additional $2 for a drink mixer at BF. Service remained subpar the entire meal until we asked for the check at which time, we received the utmost attention from the bar tender (TOO LATE).

Food: The FB Spicy Calamari was greasy and tasted like it was cooked in old oil. There was a puddle of grease on the bottom of the dish. We have had the regular calamari several times and never were disappointed. This was mediocre to say the least. Fried oysters were ok, but the order came out with two oysters the size of a dime that were 90% breading. At $14 dollars for an order of oysters (6) I expect all of them to be big and juicy. Diablo Mussels was good, but the garlic bread that comes with them was not fresh.

The Wedge salad was good, but how can you mess up a Wedge Salad. We decided not to order entrees based on our appetizer experience and the “No Substitution rule”.

Pricing: The Big Fish Management is pricing themselves right out of the Wilmington Market. I understand that food cost has risen since the pandemic; however, BFG price increase must be at least 30% higher than the 2021 prices. Every time I dine at BFG the prices have increased again. I used to go to BFG for good food at a reasonable price and now its mediocre for at a high price. The prices are comparable to an upscale restaurant. Forget the game day specials as well. The BFG management needs to make some very drastic improvements in order to keep me as a customer. I would cash in the remaining balance on my gift card if I could!