I go to this restaurant for its lovely view of the harbor and to be near the ocean. Service is OK, with cranky waitresses with thick Rhode Island accents. However I have never had an amazing food experience. The chowder is too salty, the French fries somewhat mushy texture, and the clam cakes tasted good, with the right texture and not greasy, but not enough clams. read more

Server was very friendly and food was decent. Only complaint was the lack of clams in the clam cakes. Upped the review to 4 stars since I can't give 3.5, would go back again. read more

Our first time here, and it was awesome! We came in on 2 Buses, the food was amazing! The service was phenomenal. They served close to 100 people like it was nothing! Thank you for taking such great care of us. read more

We dropped in while waiting for our family to get to the bay, decided to get a cocktail. We were told by the hostess we couldn't order drinks without ordering food. (Ummm, really?!) so we got a table outside on the patio, the view was great, the service &food were just okay. The waitress didn't know what drink I was ordering, said "maybe the bartender will know what that is." It was a vodka gimlet. Turned out he did. Hubby ordered bottle beer, and the look of relief was evident on the waitress's face. She returned with the drinks and asked what we wanted to eat, and since we were obliged, we order small appetizers. I ordered the Lobster bisque, hubby ordered the stuffie (stuffed clam). Both arrived and both were sub-par. I am giving the three stars based on location and view of the bay. read more

They open early at 11am and serve lunch, just what our party of hungry soccer players and parents needed between games! Food was really good, fresh ingredients and good presentation. Nice beer list and the Bloody Mary's were tasty. Lost a star because the NE chowder wasn't thick. read more

We discovered Capt Jack's years ago and now it's a year around habit when they are open. We go to the seaside to have seafood....love the waterfront ambience, the marshes, the funky feel of the place. The food is generally very good and the desserts are legendary....that white, key lime raspberry monster cake especially. If you want different ambience, parking attendants and higher prices, go up the block. read more

I emailed the manager per his response, months ago - no response. Very disappointing because we always liked the no nonsense feel of Cap'n Jacks read more

We've been eating here for years as the food here is always good. This weekend, we brought relatives with us from out of state who were dying for a good old fashioned new England seafood dinner. Well. Saturday night the food was not just good, it was phenomenal, best I have ever had in all the years we were eating there, they were definitely on their game that night! Must tries are the lobster bisque, chowder, clam cakes, fish and chips, or broiled scallops. I didn't have the steamers, but my guests who did said they were out of this world. Thank you Captain Jack's for helping us impress our guests! read more

I took a party of five to this place and the food was really bad. I am from the Northeast so I have had some of the best seafood available. Everyone was really disappointed. I got the fish and chips which came with clam chowder and crab cakes. It was chunks of potatoes in warm milk with no clams. The crab cakes were like fried greasy dough balls with no crab meat. The fried fish had so much greasy dough batter on it that it was not eatable. The bill was $200.00 and we basically ate nothing. I would strongly suggest trying somewhere else. read more

Other than the point that its near the beach there is nothing good about this place. Watery clam chowder bland calamari but the service was good. Place made me sick..should be called captain sh!t jacks instead. read more

While visiting the restaurant after a beautiful day at East Matunuck Beach, we were met with an extremely unprofessional waitress who was rude and argumentative. The manager came over and changed us to a new waitress but by then it was too late. Why a restaurant would ever hire such a rude person to wait on people is beyond me. We will never go back. read more

Ordered Lobster Salad Sandwich which lacked any seasoning and was quite tasteless. Waitress was working tables all over the restaurant. Couldn't get her attention. read more

We've been coming to Cap'n Jacks for 15+ years and I have countless memories of incredible food and a great atmosphere. I'm so sad to say those times are over. Tonight, on a Friday night at 6:30, we found half of the restaurant empty (should have told us something). The service was wonderful as always, but the food was horrible. I never give poor reviews for restaurants and I've never had a meal like this. Multiple members of my table experienced rubbery seafood covered in a breadcrumb concoction with huge pieces of kosher salt and whole peppercorns. So salty I was forced to rub off all seasoning and I still was gasping for water and having peppercorns explode in my mouth. The fingerling potatoes were raw, the zucchini was hard and I paid $26!! In honor of TSwift, we will never ever ever being going back ever :( read more

Overall, for the price, the Cap'n is not worth your while. We ordered the creamy chowder, a "stuffie" (local favorite), the seared ahi tuna salad, the lobster roll, broiled scallops, and a cheeseburger. The good: broiled scallops were cooked well and fresh-tasting. The meh: Creamy chowder lacked clams and was basically potato soup, cheeseburger slightly undercooked, lobster was "nothing to write home about." The bad: seared ahi salad wasn't terrible but was a poor imitation of some fancy dish. The ahi was probably previously frozen and was covered in a salty/spicy rub. Then, it was roughly cubed and slapped on a bed of greens. The overwhelmingly spicy fish was combined with a "herb-citrus vinaigrette" that was nothing more than lemon juice. The spicy/sour combo led to a burn-sting-burn sensation that left me questioning the chefs pairing decisions. We definitely did not get $90 worth of seafood.h read more

We had one of our best dinners here on vacation in July. Sat in the bar area and the manager made sure the Red Sox were playing. The place was not crowded and our food and drinks were served quickly. Our server, Madison, could not have been more friendly and helpful. We had a delicious raw bar sampler tower and whole belly clam dinner- so yummy and fresh! Highly recommend! read more

Worst whole belly calms I've ever had in my entire 63 year living on the plant. This will be the third time I've written this review and seems bad reviews are not recommended.,,, then why have reviews! I patronized their establishment good or bad anyway my wife and I hemmed and hawed where to go for good fried calms where quantity, quality and price were Important, so shot the dice and boy did we get screwed. We got ten small calms on a mountain of fries that were chewy and over cooked and when we voiced our opinion they did not gives us a discount or one free meal..... ok I'm down with that I just would patronize your establishment again and tell all my friends as well. Anyway two calm dinners that included ten small calms on a heep of French fries, warm Cole slaw, half a dozen calm cakes also know as calm fritters which by the we were excellent and two ice waters ...,, drum roll $65.00 including tip I'll never go back ever read more

It's a great restaurant if you like clam cakes without clams, and a bowl of clam chowder with enough clams to fill a thimble if you're lucky. Fish was good. read more

Terrible service. Went to the take out window... skipped our order and asked us 25 minutes later to repeat our order. Said it was taking so long because we ordered stuffies although other people came and went while we were waiting with the same items we ordered. When giving me my ice cream cone it fell over. The girls at the counter told us it wouldn't be a long wait and we were there for about an hour. This place is terrible, do not recommend at all. read more

Had the baked stuffed lobster with three other customers. All were over-cooked--dried out and tasteless. Good thing I had a couple of drinks otherwise the meal was lousy. Will not go back. Across the street is Matunuck Oyster House. where the baked stuffed lobster is $3 more but at least it is good. Capt. Jack's should sink. read more

To be fair, I will try to write as comprehensive of a review as possible about this restaurant. We saw an ad in the newspaper about the newly revamped restaurant earlier in the day, we figured why not give it a shot. On the way there you drive by the Mantunuck Oyster Bar, which was packed to capacity. When we arrived at Cap'n Jacks it was nearly empty, this should have been the first sign of trouble. I should also say it was July 3rd at 7pm, more than likely the most busy time of year for this small part of Rhode Island. We were seated outside in the empty restaurant as per request. It took nearly 20 minutes for the waiter to come over to the table to take our orders. I ordered a lobster roll and my girlfriend ordered a Rueben. The waiter left and we believed everything was in line. An HOUR later (for two sandwiches that could have been made in 10 minutes and the place was empty) the food shows up. I thought somebody was playing a joke on me. Like Aston Kutcher was going to pop out and tell me I had been "punked". We he didn't, and I was left with a lobster roll with a subpar amount of lobster and I kid you not, eight miniature fries as a side. I asked the waiter what the deal was, if they had forgotten to add fries to the plate and he told me that lobster rolls don't usually come with many fries because of the cost of lobster. So essentially I paid 19 dollars for a lobster roll I could have gotten at McDonald's. At least that would have come with fries. Unreal. My girl friends Rueben sandwich looked like it had been pulled out of the trash and put onto a plate and served. The cheese wasn't melted and the sandwich was cold and dry. It was surreal. She also didn't get much of a side either. The bill came out to 55 dollars for two sandwiches and a couple of drinks. I almost fell out of my chair. I paid, left the teenage waiter a proper tip (nothing was his fault) and we left never to return. Avoid this place at all costs. Do not waste your time or hard earned money here, they certainly don't deserve any of it, it's a wonder they're still in business with a place like Mantunuck Oyster Bar right down the street. You've been warned! read more

I went to this spot last night. We wanted to go to the manic oyster bar but my friend has no patience and the line was long. We walked right in. Food was phenomenal. Oysters will give the spot across the street a run for their money, if they're not just as good, just less variety. The seafood Melody we both ate (two different versions) was out of this world and I would highly recommend! read more

Thought we would beat the summer rush and go for dinner before things get busy. We ordered chowder (white and clear), calamari and fritters. The chowder was close to the best I've had! Things went downhill from there....calamari resembled rubber bands and we had to pay .50 extra for marinara...Shouldn't that come with it? I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to clam cakes as I believe nothing beats the Hitching Post in Charlestown and I was right! These were not good. We ordered 12 - got 11 but that was OK because we left 7 on the plate. On a positive note, our waitress Nicole was very sweet and attentive Probably won't go back - if we do I will order chowder and dessert as those desserts looked amazing! read more

Very disappointing today. Service was poor from the get go, and when my fish n chips was soggy and undercooked the response was a literal shoulder shrug and "sorry about that" with no attempt at compensation. We will not be back - would rather spend the time waiting across the street at Matunuck Oyster Bar. read more

Some context first: my wife and I both worked in the restaurant business. I'm a RI native and grew up going to East Matunuck beach and visiting the Seagull Restaurant which is now the popular Oyster Bar across the street. Captain Jack's has been around for at least 25 years and since then has had a mixed reputation with the locals. Now we live in Mass. and decided to visit E Matunuck beach this weekend and try Captain Jacks. Perhaps they have changed? Not a chance. After a ~60 minute wait (that's okay, it was busy and we asked to sit outside) we had a lousy meal. First, the busser never set silverware on the table. The waitress, although nice, did not notice we had no silverware - even as she served the appetizers. We had to ask for silverware.. We had clamcakes and the drunken clams - it was okay. The side dish they gave me was totally dirty... like the wait/busstaff didn't care - it was that obviously dirty. Upon her recommendation we had the house Bloody Mary which ended up being like a $9 drink and had very little alcohol. The drunken clams came way later than the clam cakes - the waitress immediately said "I don't know what's going on with the kitchen" and delivered them some 10 minutes after the clam cakes. The white chowder was the watered down with milk - like they were trying to stretch a batch. Far from RI's best chowder . Our entrees came much later. None of our plates were ever cleared... even as she delivered more drinks for us and the kids and the entrees, our table was littered with dirty plates. My kids had the shrimp basket and split a fish & chips - this was okay. My stuffed flounder was disgusting with raw baby shrimp inside. I lost my appetite and returned it. No "I'm sorry" from the waitress, just more throwing the kitchen under the bus... she did at the end offer a free dessert. Overall, I'm very much disappointed - in over 25 years they STILL can't get it right. The worst $135+ I ever spent. read more

we are from out of town and tried to eat across the street but it was of course way too packed. We drove by Cap'n Jack's and were not too excited by looking at the outside. I did a quick google search and saw it got decent reviews, so we took a chance and went. Boy are we glad we did. We lucked out and got a place on the deck (please increase the size of the deck!!! would be so good for business!!!). I didn't know what a clam bake was, so I stupidly ordered a stuffie, plus the fish n chips which came with clam bakes AND chowder. Way too much food but it was all soooooooo good. Boyfriend had a salad and a lobster. Drinks were also very good and large. Waitress was amazing. We couldn't believe our luck finding a place like this. Don't understand how the reviews are so all over the place. Will definitely return next time we are in the area. read more

Visited here last night. Service extremely slow though our waitress was very nice. It's aggravating sitting long time for food when people came in long after us and got their food long before us. And we just ordered fish and chips and clam cakes. Food terrible. Did u ever eat clam cakes with NO clams? Well I did. We ordered 6 and ate 2 1/2. They were lukewarm soft on outside and awful texture. Fish and chips also bad. All thick thick batter. I peeled away batter and this minuscule piece of fish inside that was dry and tasteless. I didn't complain to waitress as my wife suggested. I just said lets just pay bill and get freaking out of here. 2/3 of food uneaten. I won't go back. Go to chelo's if u want a good fish & chips. Too bad chelo's doesn't have that gorgeous view. read more

There's "other" restaurants in the neighborhood that cars and ppl line up for hours to get into on daily basis, but for my money and enjoyment I chose Cap'n Jacks every time, specifically the pub and raw bar. Initially Cap'n Jacks started as the only option, after hurricane Sandy we spend every weekend cleaning up and rebuilding after our cottage took on water and significant damage, Cap'n Jacks was always there, a place to eat and warm up. Food was always good and always consistent, but with the addition of the pub and raw bar this year, they took it to the next level. The pub has a big bar and high top tables looking out over the salt pond, the menu is great, lots of different options with sandwiches, pizzas, salads, dinners, and the raw bar with shrimp clams and most days they have at least 3 different varieties of local oysters. There's multiple flat screen tvs throughout the pub, the bartenders are friendly, the atmosphere is relaxed and you don't feel crowded or rushed. Its a great place to relax grab a meal, a drink, watch a game, or just look out at the water. The owners are also class acts and very helpful and supportive to the area and its residents and that goes a long way. Great place. read more

Worst food. And we waited for an hour for it when it wasn't crowded! Hamburger tasted like lighter fluid and couldn't be eaten. They did take it off the bill. Fried clams were cold and very small order for 20.00. We swore the last time that we were done with this place, but gave them another chance. Never again. read more

I like Cap'n Jack's and go there about once a month in the summer. The food is very good and prices are in line with other tourist area restaurants. I had fish and chips today and everything was cooked perfect. My partner had the seafood platter and again the food was very good. My complaint is the flies. In the summer we ate on the outside deck and had flies all over but that's not unexpected outside. However today we sat inside but there were still flies everywhere. I killed three while waiting for our food to be served and there were at least four more hovering around. Not sure I'll be going back again. read more

First off, Im very glad my review will be at the top of this list. Having said that, I use yelp frequently to find great restaurants, but have never as of yet written a review...until now. I finally have a strong enough reason to write a review. I have dined here once before and remember thinking the food was average. Last night my mother and I decided to try it again, as we were going to a play and Matunuck Oyster bar was closed with no power from Irene (keep in mind Captain Jacks was fully operational on massive generators). If you don't know what Matunuck Oyster Bar is, look it up on yelp and compare this review to all the others from there. To have a 5 star AMAZING restaurant with innovative and talented chefs directly across the street from a one-star extremely mediocre restaurant is a shame. Gives a bad name to the area. First course was steamers. I love steamers and always expect the freshest and great preparation when enjoying them in the ocean state. To say they were bland would be an understatement. They do not cook them with any sort of vegetables or other ingredients, which I believe more than commonplace EVERYWHERE else. Second was white New England chowder...which should be hard to mess up...even at a tourist trap of a restaurant like this. The chowder has no white consistency to it. Instead it look like they mixed the clear with the white to make some grainy white tasteless concoction. It was so bad I sent it back for a salad. Third course was their 2 lb boiled lobster. How do you screw up boiling a lobster you ask? Simply undercook it and claim that it is cooked. I didn't even finish it it was so bad (and I have never before let lobster go to waste- a few bites in I actually thought I was going to be sick). My mother felt the same way about her meal (linguine with clam sauce- very sub par). We both agreed that maybe we had to give them the benefit of the doubt with them operating on generators. So on the way out, my mother stops to just leave a note of feedback with the manager and say that we did not enjoy our experience and were hoping that the lack of quality in the food could be attributed to the loss of power. The manager confirmed for us that everything was running as normal and no operations, food preparation, or food quality was affected that evening. He even confirmed for us that they do not cook their steamers in anything! They just plain boil them and put em' in a bowl! SO to conclude, I will never again be dining here and am saddened that a restaurant as frequented as this serves such poor quality and prepared foods as an example of Rhode Island and New England fare; especially to so many out-of-towners. Instead try Matunuck Oyster Bar (directly across the street) or La Scala pizza just a mile away for amazing New York style brick oven pizza. read more

Really disappointing, except for the beautiful waterfront location, and good beer & drink selection. Arugula & quinoa salad was very bland & underseasoned, poorly balanced flavors (needed a touch of sweet either in dressing or salad - like sliced or shredded apple - to offset the sour dressing). You needed a microscope to find the feta cheese it supposedly contained. Even the arugula was bland, it didn't taste like arugula! How does that happen?? My lobster stew had a lot of lobster, but the "soup" part was an orange-y brown color, and was kind of .... bleah, tasted overcooked or something. I was expecting pretty much cream and butter, with some seasoning. A friend ordered the New England Chowder, and said it was watery. Friends' sandwiches were just ok. Cole slaw looked like mush - certainly didn't look freshly made. I won't be back. read more

Had a great lunch today. Very personable owners and employees. Beautiful view from the bar. Had the Pub Burger, couldn't believe how big the patty was, and it was delicious. Two thumbs up read more

The take out counter had terrible customer service, the lady was rolling her eyes at us when we took a bit too long to decide what we wanted, even though there was no line. We inquired about the pies, and she told us they were all strawberry rhubarb, which we decided to get, but when we cut into it, it was blueberry. Also, we ordered the creamy chowder, which used to be my favorite here, but was so disappointed! The broth had the consistency and taste of plain warm milk and the potatoes were under cooked. It made me so sad to have such a bad experience here, as it used to be one of our favorite places! The only reason I am writing this review is in hopes the owner/manager will see it and try to improve. Good Luck! read more

We (family) have purchased take out meals from Cap'n Jacks after a day at the beach and the meals were decent. Well, I have to say, we will never eat there again. After a day at the beach we typically would eat at Matunuck Oyster Bar-which is always 5 star, both service as well as food. We decided to have an eat-in dinner from Cap'n Jacks and will NEVER eat there again. First, the waiting time was over an hour and a half from the time we placed our order until we received our meals. Our food was beyond disappointing. I had the fish sandwich which was super dry-served cold with cold fries. Also, there was a tiny shaving of iceberg lettuce which barely could be seen. Burger kings big fish was better! The calamari was extremely dry and when we added more oil it was now just a soggy, tasteless dish. (This is a RI staple-you should at least know how to prepare that). The shrimp scampi looked and tasted like bagged Bertuccis meals from the freezer section. The last dish was swordfish-fish of the day, that was extremely disappointing, as it was dry and sitting in some "sauce". The potato and sweet corn (not sweet BTW) it was served with was also dehydrated and looked old. All food came out cold and it was not fresh-all frozen! So very disappointed. I never post to yelp, however, our wait time and horrible food had to be shared with others. One more thing....the iced tea tasted like dishwater. This place should get no stars! read more

The lobster roll, clam chowder and stuffies were great. I have eaten there twice now and would definitely go back.

I'm from Maine originally, so I know my seafood shacks and Captn Jack's brings me back to the happy days of childhood. The food is honest and fresh and as crisp as the waitstaff. I always make it a point to stop when I visit South County, Leave the oysters to the people from away (who don't know any better). read more

We visited the Salt Marsh Pub for lunch today. It was not crowded at all with just a few people at the bar. We found seats easily and were happy to see a kids' menu with several "go to" options for my daughter. It took about 10 minutes to get drinks (only 1 alcoholic and it was a beer), and an additional 20 or so for our app of steamers. The steamers were very good, but incredibly sandy. I pulled legit pebbles out of my mouth. Our meals came out 15 minutes later. We ordered a grilled cheese for my daughter and it came out on hard, crusty, artisan-style bread that no child would even think twice about looking at never mind eating. We figured she would just eat the fries and fruit (which never appeared), and my husband and dad would eat her grilled cheese since their andouille sausage sandwiches were terrible. The bread was so crusty and hard they couldn't even bite into it. I had a fresh salad (very good) and a flavorless stuffie. My mother ordered the steak tacos, but the steak was so tough it was almost inedible. An hour after arriving we left $100 poorer and pretty unsatisfied. We should have asked to speak to a manager, but since my 3 yr old had already been sitting for well over an hour we needed to leave quickly. I've never written a review, positive or negative, but this place was so disappointing I had to. Hopefully they can make some improvements because it's a great location! read more

Stopped in after a day at the beach. My GF ordered the salmon which was a special today. When it came out it was half cooked so she sent it back and asked that they cook it well, well done. My meal was OK. 15 minutes later the waitress comes back and says they cooked her a new piece and it should be OK. It was worse than the first one and the center was cold to the touch, if we wanted Sushi we would have went somewhere else.. I had already finished my meal so she said just forget it and asked for the check. The waitress said she would talk to the chef... too late for that. We got the bill, the only thing deducted was the salmon. Not even a comped drink. Nobody seemed to care what happened. It was 4 pm and the place was 25% full... no excuse. I've had good meals there before, but the chef here has me doubting I'll go back again. read more

This place is a joke! The only good part was we walked out before we even ordered. The waiter came over and threw the menus at us. Was extremely rude when my son asked him if he could wipe down the table that was wet and dirty. Never made eye contact with any of us. Don't know how this place is still in business. read more

Tried this place years ago after hearing about it on the radio and coming back from the Fools Regatta in Jamestown. We have made it a tradition to go back at least once per summer. Their baked stuff shrimp is my favorite and I love the desserts, but can never make up my mind, they all look delicious. Sitting outside overlooking the salt marsh is a bonus! read more