Rockfish Public House — Restaurant in York

I have been a customer at Rockfish multiple times, and always had a great experience and excellent food. However, my most recent experience there was extremely disappointing, enough so that I will not be returning unless there is a policy change, and will encourage friends to do the same. I recently walked in with a total party of only 4 people, early in the day on a Friday, as we have done many times before. This day however, we were told that although the restaurant had almost every table unoccupied except for one, we would only be able to have a table for one hour, and would then be asked to leave, because they had a lot of reservations coming up. We were pretty astounded, as this had never been the case before when we were arriving before happy hour had even started. The staff asked if we would like to speak with a manager after noticing we were pretty put off by this. The interaction with the manager, Robert, is honestly what made the entire experience so unpleasant that I would never go back. He approached our table and did not introduce himself at all until we asked for his name, was extremely unprofessional, unapologetic that we were upset, and offered no solution whatsoever. He was very sarcastic towards every question we asked, saying only "oh great" to everything we said. I asked if we would honestly be asked to walk away from our table and our meal in one hour's time if we were not finished, and he confirmed that yes, that would be that case. He also stated that this was the agreement we had come to when they seated us. We corrected him stating that while we had indeed been seated, we had not ordered or asked for anything except to speak with him so as not to put out any of the staff if we decided to leave. While I certainly understand the importance of making reservations on a busy weekend night, and have done so there many times before, never have we been told that we only had an hour to eat when we arrived with only one occupied table. As someone who works in customer service myself, I could not believe that Robert was the manager of Rockfish, and felt that he had the right to treat us with such little respect. No solution at all was offered-such as maybe moving us to some seats at the bar so they could keep their tables open- just to leave if we didn't like their policy, which again, came totally out of the blue based on our previous experiences. Very disappointed that Rockfish has such a poor manager for what we had previously considered an awesome...

Food was delicious and Brittney, our server, was very attentive and didn't rush us. The flash fried Harris Chesapeake Oysters are the best and number 1 reason we go there. Tried the shrimp and crab egg rolls. WOW! They have become another go to for me. Hubby loves the New England clam chowder with bacon and the fried clam strips. The drinks were exceptional as well. The Spiced Pear Old Fashioned and the Cranberry variation were both YUM. Will definitely return soon.

Returned to get my Harris Oysters today. We also had the New England Clam Chowder. My husband had the Cobb Salad as well. We had very good service and the New Fashioned and the Spiced Pear Old Fashioned did not disappoint. HOWEVER, someone changed how the oysters are fried. They were battered and the 1st bite gave me a mouthful of raw batter. I have ordered these oysters since the day they opened Rockfish. You changed something. I don't recall thinking they were battered. I felt they were dredged in whatever and dropped in the fryer which were delicious. Whatever you are doing now needs to stop. I only ate 1 from the first batch. They brought me another order and it was the same all over again. I ate 1. Then the server charged me for the oysters. He indicated that he didn't mean to. So the charge was removed. Now I can't blame the waiter. Perhaps that was what he was told to do. Please don't do this to me again. I love Rockfish but not if you are going to pull this kind of stuff on the customer. I give my restaurants excellent reviews but if you stink for some reason, you are going to hear from me. Don't make me not like you!

Well we returned to Rockfish last night and I got my old standby...Chesapeake Harris Oysters. THEY HAVE REDEEMED THEMSELVES. They were their usual delicious oysters. Thank you, Rockfish! Also everyone was very pleased with their food and drinks especially our old favorite, The New Fashioned. Keep up the great experience. Who else gives you peppermint patties after dinner and at the door?...

Ok so I’m not a fan of Rockfish Public House. Lots of high-top tables with uncomfortable steel stools. A bit dark and also noisy. Very industrial feel with corrugated tin walls and plumbing fixture lighting. Not to mention it kinda smells like a dock at low tide.

What I really mean to say - it is overpriced.

We eat out… all the time, and do not balk at spending a dollar on a good meal. The food at Rockfish is ok – it is good, for what you pay? – that’s a different matter.

There is nothing new or exciting here – there is no innovation, it is basic sea food and a raw bar. The interior is not comfortable – the service seemed harried. Honestly the entire time I was there I kept trying to figure out why I should be spending all this money here – when we could have eaten at a Bonefish or Joes Crab… they seem to be at the same level. (actually we would have preferred Bonefish)

There is a bar but the drinks really aren’t all that special…Across the street Otto’s makes artisanal cocktails that are just short of awesome!

38 dollars for a filet at Rockfish, the same price as Left Bank just next door. Left Bank is comfortable and romantic – the service is professional and calculated. The food is innovative and you can tell someone cares and is taking great pride in what they do and what they are serving.

You get none of this at Rockfish and you will pay the same price if not more.

There are a number of first class 4 star restaurants around York, - Otto’s, the Left Bank, the Acomac, and Sydney to name a few – here you will be treated well and fed a wonderful meal artfully prepared all at just about the same price point.

The food at Rockfish is good - but that is just about it. Honestly we saw enough our first visit here that we really feel we don’t need to be returning. We can get a much more satisfying...