This was not a researched or planned stop. I did not have high expectations when we pulled in to the parking lot. Once we walked in the door I realized this may be a good spot, there were a lot of patrons and the place was lively and friendly. The service was great. The seafood gumbo was excellent. The broiled red fish was excellent, it was very small and especially considering the price. It was perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked, bdidn't get my fill. They should rethink the price or amount of fish at $26. Coleslaw was excellent, I could have eaten a little more. The rice was okay, didn't eat a lot of it. Beer choices were good. We may go back for lunch tomorrow. read more

What a great experience!! We wanted to try something new. This is our first time here and didn't know what to expect but Jackie blew our mind . She was very pleasant and recommended the Captains Catch (Tilapia and shrimp platter) that was delicious. She even went out her way to split in into 2 plates for us . We also tried appetizers and had some ice cold buckets of beer on the patio with michelada. Love the staff and had the pleasure to meet Johnny on the way out . We will definitely be back ! Highly recommended. read more

Capt Benny's - Bucket of Xx Lager - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

In Houston for work and had to go by Capt Benny's. This little ship has the freshest seafood and serves non farm raised shrimp, unlike Pappadeaux. Their fried food is perfect, their gumbo is not as good as Pappadeaux, but also doesn't cost 24 dollars for a small bowl and is perfectly adequate. Beers are cold and delicious, bartenders are nice. Love Captain Benny's. read more

My follow up review awards Benny's another 5 stars! I am sorry, I love this good old fashioned hole in the wall, pseudo boat! The food is always amazing! No, it's not healthy by any means, but it's buttery and greasy and delicious and sometimes you just need that! I always get oysters on the half shell, but I have to speak VERY highly of the Shrimp Po Boy, the french fries, the sweet potato fries, the gumbo, the shrimp platter, the hush puppies, the Cajun rice and now, the Pirogue! They were running a special with 2 mini pirogues, 8 fried shrimp, fries, garlic bread and hushpuppies and now were hooked! It's a must have! They make their cocktail sauce and tartar sauce in house and it's amazing. Pro tip: dip the fries in the tartar sauce! Follow me on my way to Foodietown! http://britneygfoodie.yelp.com read more

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This was my second time here the first time was great the second not so great the waiter was cursing shutting me up when all I wanted was to order an appetizer with the drink order he was very rude and made smart remarks I tried brushing it off because I was with my family and friends that I had brought and talked so great about the place but at that point I felt embarrassed to have even bothered recommending this place at all I'm not saying all the waiters are like this because of my first experience but this second time around was horrible never again . read more

Captain Benny's has been around for a very long time. I stop through here sometimes after work when I want some quick and tasty seafood. I've never come and not been happy with the meal. The atmosphere is pleasant and the servers are friendly. read more

Capt Benny's - Menu - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Amazing customer service they were so nice and Rene was wonderful she was very helpful. This was my first time coming here and will come here again when Rene is here. The food was also good I got the Tuesday special. read more

Easy seafood, always ask for extra seasoning, fine in when you can, oysters are big if you like that..

Man!!!! Let's just say it's "THE Deal" . The taste was like my mother cooked the seafood. Season to perfection. I will be back . I have been in Houston my whole 40 years of living and nobody cool seafood like them ! 100% satisfied customer. Take it from me , I am a fat boy #Sheesh. read more

I love this place. I'm never disappointed by their service, prices and quality. Oysters are always on point, i never had any that left a nasty after taste and if they're small, they'll give you 13/14. Michelada could be better but there are plenty things available to adjust it to your taste. I recently hosted a family from CO for an entire week and this was their most favorite eating experience. Highly recommended! Very inexpensive too. read more

I do not like the fried shrimp here that's the only reason why they get 3 instead of 4 stars. I find them bland and the batter too thick for my taste. A little flour n cornmeal is the perfect way to fry in my opinion. But all other items I have enjoyed. Love the boudin balls and the fried catfish. The boudin balls are never mushy and the serving size is good for the price. They also serve fresh gulf oysters, not frozen. At some of the Asian owned spots , they serve frozen oysters. Not here!!! The wait for takeout is always 20 minutes but the food is cooked to order. The place always has a crowd. For seafood in this area, it's a sure bet. Always consistent and fresh, decent dining area with a patio option. read more

Food was good fresh and very presentable I didn't expect it to be as good as it was .

I forgot how good this place is! The food was delicious today! I can't vouch for consistency, because like I said it has been a while. The pick up service was also excellent and everyone was friendly. My food was piping hot! read more

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I saw this place and someone told me they had good food. We stopped to eat. We had the basket with fish & shrimp. Also the fish platter. The platter came with scallops, shrimp, fish, stuffed crab, fries and hushpuppies. The food was good. No heavy batter. I ordered and ice tea. It taste like water. I sent that back and just got a coke. The service was Horrible!!!!! The waitress took our order and we never saw her again. A man came to refill our drinks. He was really nice. She never asked if we needed anything or came to take the bill. I had to get up an another man cashed me out. I paid with a credit card and put 0 for the tip. He did some strange eye roll when he saw zero not knowing that I left cash. Soooooo disappointed in this place. Liked the food but I'll never come back to crappy service! read more

I don't know why Houston gets such a bad rap. Any place that has this this much seafood can't be all bad. Though I'm from Corpus and I rag on that place all the time, so there you go. Captain Benny's is a casual seafood restaurant less than 10 minutes from the Medical Center, in the shape of an old school shrimping boat. I wish a had a place like this 10 minutes from my house. I would be eating fried shrimp and gumbo and catfish and hush puppies and fries ever'day. Okay, maybe it's good there's not a place like this close by... We sat at a table for about 10 minutes with no service. Zero. Zip. Nada. You start to wonder, are we not the desired clientele? Did we have a Sixth Sense experience and were actually killed in crazy Houston traffic on the way here, but now our ghosts are here trying to grab a quick bite and no one can see us? Do I offend? We decided to sit at the bar which is what we should have done in the first place. I longingly looked at the various instances of fried shrimp on the menu and reminded myself it was probably cornmeal breaded or flour or a combination of the two and not the crunchy cracker-meal breaded fried shrimp that is ubiquitous in Corpus Christi. But wait. In a photo of one of the specials, the fried shrimp sure did look like the shrimp of my youth: fried to a crisp orangey-color and granular, rather than the anemic and flat appearance of flour- or cornmeal-based fried shrimp common everywhere else in the world. I asked the guy what they used to fry the shrimp with and he said cornmeal and I said, "oh, it looks like cracker meal" and he says he can do it in cracker meal. Really? Yeah, he says. Okay. I'm still suspicious. If you could do it in cracker meal all the time, why wouldn't you? Of course, I now happen to be saying "cracker meal" a whole lot in this restaurant which got me some rude looks from the other patrons. Mind your business, y'all. We order a special that has two shrimp pirogues (little french breads stuffed with tiny shrimp and mushrooms, topped with melted cheese) and 8 fried shrimp, a hushpuppy and fries. We also ordered a cup of the gumbo each. Well, our gumbo never arrived and a patron who sat down after us was served his immediately. I re-ordered mine but my dad declined. The plate we got was good, and the shrimps were in fact fried in the meal that shall not be mentioned again. They need to punch up the horseradish on the cocktail sauce (it was maybe 20:80 horseradish to ketchup, could def be closer to 50:50) and even I had to add hot sauce to the gumbo which is saying something. Next time, I'll forgo the pirogues, and just get jumbo fried shrimp platter with a cup of gumbo on the side. Or the stuffed redfish. Or the whole flounder. Or the etouffe. Or the fried alligator. Dang, they have fried scallops too? I clearly have been land-locked too long! read more

Capt Benny's - Cracker Meal Fried Shrimp. I don't know why you would always do it if you could do it but they did it. - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

When passing by I thought what the hell is going on here and who would have a restaurant that looks like this e.g. It's a boat lol. Being raised in Louisiana I realized this is what a Cajun restaurant could look like in the back waters of Louisiana and I've eaten some of the best Cajun food ever in joints that looked worst than this so I have to try them out. I have been craving boudin forever since boudin is impossible to find in Florida I decided to give it a try, OMG the boudin is some of the best I've had in years. The texture and seasonings are spot on this and a cold beer is all you ever need. I definitely will return to try a few more dishes here. read more

Great lowkey place to grab some fried seafood and raw gulf oysters! Limited Bar and table seating so just be aware depending on time you go, read more

SERVICE IS TERRIBLE, but the oyster are the best and that's it nothing else here is worth these high ass prices read more

Capt Benny's - Chicken and sausage gumbo - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Came here around 8 and it wasn't too busy. There's only tables for two and counter seating, so I don't suggest coming here with more than 2 other people. I had the shrimp basket and shared a cup of gumbo. I've never been a huge fan of gumbo, but I enjoyed the cup I had here. The shrimp basket comes with fried shrimp, french fries, cole slaw, garlic bread and hush puppies. I thought everything tasted good, but there was something strong and distinctive about the batter used for the shrimp that kind of overwhelmed me. I couldn't finish the whole basket. The price was a little more than I expected, but still affordable and the staff was friendly. read more

Capt Benny's - Shrimp Basket - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Great place for oysters on the half shell! Everything else was underwhelming. The breading to meat ratio was too high for my taste. Great service : ) read more

Went back to Captain Benny's with the fam and this time ordered the catfish and I must say it was fried perfectly but was not well seasoned at all. The corn meal breading was flavorless for some reason. When I was here before I had the fried oysters and they were delicious so I guess I will stick to them next time. read more

Capt Benny's - Whole catfish - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Food is classic, Texas style fried fish, shrimp and fresh oysters and their gumbo is GOOD!!!

Although not as popular as his cousin Captain Tom, Captain Benny has conquered the greater Houston area with 6 locations scattered all over the city, as well as an additional location in ATX -- a feat good ol' cousin Tom has yet to achieve. Other than that, the concept remains mostly the same for both chains: * Both are, first and foremost, oyster bars. * Both have gumbo, fried/broiled seafood platters, and the infamous michelada . * Both are cleverly shaped like boats. * Both boast insanely cheap prices. However, if you're on the fence on which one's "better," the nitty gritty details reveal some key differences. When it comes to gumbo, I tend to fancy Capt. Tom's; it's just more chunky, spicy, and full of bold flavors, while Capt. Benny's contains okra and is more on the bland side. The bill at Capt. Tom's tends to be smaller too, but that's only because Capt. Benny's menu offers so many tempting options (FYI, that's a +1 for Benny). Aside from bigger, better-tasting platters, Capt. Benny's gives you a choice between different kinds of oysters from different areas, and sometimes, with different toppings. They're a little on the pricey side, but SO worth it. Oyster bars aren't the cleanest of places, and although that fact is a given, it's still a pet peeve of mine. I also had an issue where a miscommunication led to me paying double my bill (just a note, a bill over $50 for 2 people should raise a red flag) and it took the manager awhile to void the transaction and fix the problem. Other than that, since Capt. Benny's is closer to my side of town, I have no problem coming here for my oyster fix rather than Capt. Tom's....and luckily, this is the better choice! read more

Good food. Reasonable prices. We ate at Captain Benny's for the first time when we were in Houston a few weeks ago. We are back again tonight. read more

Capt Benny asked if I wanted a ride in his boat. I said uhhh. Then he handed me delicious oysters and I walked right on to that boat again, and again, and again. Seafood has a pricey tag when it comes to most places. Not Capt Benny's. Affordable prices, fresh quality food, and all the fried seafood goodness that your Sunday afternoon is begging for. When my man and I pull up a stool to their huge u shaped bar we order a little over everything and play share-sys. Although, we do feel some tension in our relationship when we have to wait for the other to get their spoonful of gumbo. One visit consists of no less than 3 dozen oysters that are so cheap, freshly shucked, and huge that we leave full of aphrodisiac that the tension melts away. It's a dive but in all the right ways. Go getchu some. read more

At First Sight I was hungry and was craving seafood so my bf and I decided to stop at Captain Benny's. It's a small place. The door opens and people are seated in a half circle arrangement. We didn't sit in that area, but instead towards the back of the restaurant where 2 booths were located. The booths were a bit more intimate and were mildly away from the noise. We chose to sit there so we could chit chat without raising our voices too much. Service I did not get the name of our waitress, but she was sweet and helpful. As soon as we sat down, she walked over to us and offered us a drink. We ordered a beer. She gave us some time to look over the menu before we placed our order. The Food While waiting on our orders, we chose to order a dozen baked oysters. The oysters were small. I've been to Captain Tom's and their oysters and bigger and better. I had never tried baked oysters so we wanted to try something new. Not a fan, next time I'll just get raw oysters like we always do. Because the oysters were small, I'm removing a star from this place. It wasn't so much the taste of the baked oysters, but the size of them. :( I ordered the shrimp basket because I love shrimp. If I could eat shrimp everyday, I would but you know it gets expensive. As I was saying, the shrimp basket came with fries, hush puppies, and garlic bread. I loved it all! It was delicious! Overall Experience I loved this place and will definitely return. read more

Capt Benny's - I can't but to put hot sauce of my shrimp sauce \^__^/ - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Pretty decent and solid seafood fare... Tried the captain's platter and it was your usual solid fried seafood fare. Very very friendly staff and welcoming atmosphere (if you can find a seat). read more

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Must try jalapeño boudin balls were fresh, good & hot very spicy! White dipping sauce was also delicious.

My experience was okay. I was craving fried seafood and this was he only place open late and I'm not a fan of pappas seafood. We arrived about an hour before closing and the place was dead. We were greeted by the manager and an employee who was very upbeat and nice. My husband ordered the broiled redfish filet with shrimp rice and for a $3 up charge you can make the redfish stuffed with shrimp and crab. My husband kept saying my grilled redfish is better, the best part to him was the stuffing. I ordered 9 jumbo shrimp and they were definitely not jumbo for $16.50 it was way overpriced. Just because shrimp are butterflied does not classify shrimp as jumbo. The shrimp was mostly cornmeal which confirmed they were not jumbo. I could even taste a small squirt of frying oil as I took a bite of the French fries. One thing we both agreed on is the food was definitely not worth $50 for the two dishes. I've had waaayyyy better. I do recommend this place to oyster lovers, other than that, everything else offered you can get better elsewhere. Now I remember why I stopped dining here in the first place. read more

Capt Benny's - Now this is jumbo shrimp. Not those butterflied baby shrimps they serve and call jumbo. - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Ordered the boudain sausage and shrimp lovers plate. All the food was cooked perfectly. The place is a hidden gem. Get over the decor cause you are going back in time when you walk in here. Service is good and has a local vibe. Lots of the neighborhood stops in to get a bite and chat with the staff. read more

Nice little hole in the wall. TVs with sports on. Gumbo was very good. Chose the seafood gumbo. Oysters Benny was excellent. Seasoning was spot on. Local craft beer selection was decent Would come back. Service was a little slow read more

Capt Benny's - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

This is my new favorites seafood restaurant. Food is amazing. I had the scallops, it was like eating candy! Amazing amazing amazing.

Excellent food, love the gumbos. Both chicken and sausage as well as the seafood. Also love the atmosphere and service. This is a definite repeat. read more

Just had a terrible experience at this establishment. This is our second visit for dinner. The food was not the problem. The service at dinner time is downright awful. During our first visit, the waitress got our order wrong, so we waited for a long time to get our food. When it was time for the bill, our bill was wrong as well. We were charged for a dozen of oysters when we had only half of a dozen. During our second visit today, our order was taken quickly, but we still had nothing 30 minutes later. While we waited, the guests came in way after us received their gumbo as soon as their order was taken. The gumbo I ordered was no where to be seen. When I went to talk to our waitress, these same guest were about to get their half dozen oysters. The one dozen oyster I ordered 30 minutes ago were not prepared yet. At that time, I pointed out what's been happening to the waitress and asked her to cancel our order. She told us "bye" with an snarky attitude. It's safe to say that we will never visit this establishment again. read more

Visiting Texas and came across this place. The food was delish the atmosphere was awesome and the waitress was bubbly. We had a great time! read more

Capt Benny's - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Not worth the money. 2 piece fish was really just 1filet cut in half and was flavorless. So won't be going back!

Always get exceptional whole broiled flounder, but today's was superb. Prepared by Antonio. Nice job. read more

Capt Benny's - Perfect whole broiled flounder by Antonio. - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Excellent food, excellent wait staff, beer specials, fresh oysters! The gumbo was fabulous! A little pricey, but hey it's seafood, and darn good seafood! Atmosphere ain't much, but the food and service makes up for it! Thumbs up all the way around. read more

The food was great. I ordered the seafood gumbo, fried calamari, and the fried shrimp and catfish combo. Everything came out hot and fresh. My only complaint is the cleanliness of the restaurant. It was so dirty in there! I had to ask for my table to be cleaned before I sat. It should've already been cleaned after the last customer left. It makes me wonder how much they're actually cleaning throughout the day during this pandemic. I had to keep telling myself not to look around while I ate so I wouldn't be turned off. In conclusion, I would order food from here again but I'm most definitely taking my food to-go! read more

The food was ok but the catfish fillets were small, and the shrimp were a bit overcooked. The cornmeal batter was more gritty than normal. It was like gritty sand from the beach. Our server was pretty much nonexistent. He brought our gumbo and we didn't see him again until our food came. He didn't bring utensils, or the extra tartar sauce i asked for. My husband had to go get me a refill and i asked for the ticket on my way from washing my hands. Speaking of the restroom, they lie about the cleaning schedule bcz someone initialed all the way down to 9pm that the restroom had be checked. WRONG! I left at about 8:15pm and the restroom was a mess. We use to really like this place, and would even come for lunch. It's time to cut ties bcz its not worth $40 spent. read more