We met for lunch at Pappadeaux's with oysters on our minds. As I took my spot at the bar I was hit with bad news. "We are sold out of oysters today and the special is over." That means when the oysters return they will cost $13.95 a dozen. Quality Seafood was to be our next port of call. Closed. We headed across I- 35 to Captain Benny's. Oysters are $5.99 a dozen. Fresh from Galveston Bay they were excellent. If you come during happy hour they drop to $4.99 a dozen. A large cup of seafood gumbo was quite tasty.Good food, good service, good price. I will be back. Captain Benny's is the new oyster king of Austin. God save the king. read more

Surprisingly good gumbo here. Otherwise, the fried seafood is pretty good, but don't expect it to be the best you have ever had. The nautical theme of the restaurant is fun and will make you feel like you are in a campy little beach town. read more

First of all I don't live in Austin I was just in town on business so I'm not a regular. I had a taste for catfish and this was close to my hotel so I thought I'd try it even though the reviews weren't great. I sat at the bar and the service was great which is why they get 2 stars. A regular sitting next to me heard me tell the bartender I wanted catfish so he advise me to be careful because they will serve you Swai. So when I ordered I was very clear I wanted catfish and he even said it was farm raised catfish. Well... it wasn't they served me Swai. I am well aware they know it because of the change in demeanor and the cooks that are near the bar preparing food even looked at me funny to see if if I noticed. I didn't say anything I just figured the best way to address it is to do a review and now I see why the reviews are not good. I would not recommend this place because they don't serve what they are suppose to and that's just dishonest in my opinion. read more

There's a lighthouse by IH35 that I must have driven past a thousand times before spotting on the way to meet a friend at the Captain's. How can you miss a lighthouse and a boat on the side of the highway? This is a sad realization America. Even a freaking lighthouse goes by unobserved these days. Good job I don't drive a boat any more. 88% theme and 12% menu choice. I had some kind of Gulf Flounder or something which sounded like a bad wartime tactic and turned out to be delicious and fresh seeming. And not fried. I'm still a bit too far from the coast to be eating "fresh" seafood IMHO. I'd go again, not for the food perhaps (which really was quite tasty) but rather dressed like a pirate and chasing scurvy knaves. read more

This is a place that I have never noticed. It took an out of town friend who decided, interestingly, that because he'd be coming to Austin in June, that'd be a perfect opportunity to find an oyster bar. This, um, makes no sense to me really, but whatever. Let me tell you why I never would have taken a second look at this joint even though it is a stone's throw from my house. Ready? It's on the I-35 feeder and is flanked by a Marriot Courtyard Hotel. It's true, I'm uppity about where my food comes from, and the thought of interstate/ big box hotel fare usually just gives me the heebie jeebies! Yeah, no thanks! Internet, I stand corrected. I ate an entire basket of calamari to myself. I also tried some of the other delights, namely the gumbo and shrimp and corn stuffed jalepenos! Oh, people. I sort of pride myself on being a jalepeno snob, and these were top flappin' notch! And guess what else I had? The single best michelada I've ever laid tastebuds on. It actually had real spice! The service was great- thank you, George! And the prices were really reasonable. We'll be back!!! read more

This restaurant is good for ambiance as much as the food. The food is mostly fried, but they do half 1/2 dozen oysters on the half shell for $3.95. Most entrees are between $8-$16, with specials for a fair amount of food at about $13. It is very maritime themed, with part of the restaurant being a boat which you can sit inside. they have a nice deck with little thatched hut covered tables ala Jimmy Buffet wonderland. I've had the shrimp po boy and the shrimp basket (hey, I like shrimp) and both were good. This is a nice casual place to go with friends and after work. read more

I've always wanted to dine on the boat (I never actually knew the name of the restaurant). Last night, we wanted to go to dinner and had no clue what we felt like, until Joel exclaimed "Hey! Let's go to the boat!" We ended up sitting on the deck since the weather was nice, and our server was nice and attentive and got us drinks right away. Only beer and wine though - so I went with water instead of the rum I wanted. They tried to give us other people's food, which we almost took because they ordered something very similar. Our proper food finally came out, and I got the biggest shrimp I have ever seen in my life, a plate full of nummy rice, and garlic bread. Everyone else seemed to enjoy what they got as well (shrimp po boy and scallops). Honestly, even though the shrimp was excellent, I would have liked more side dish options. Veggies, maybe? Slaw? The plate full of rice was just too much for me. Although, is it really a bad thing to be served too much of something? My friend definitely capitalized on it, as he got half my plate of rice. Next time (as I'll be back), I am gunning for tilapia next! read more

Looks kinda like a dive, but this place is the BOMB !!!! Had oysters to start that were the best I have ever had. Chose the sampler, shrimp, rice, scallops. You cannot go wrong with anything they had as we all shared plates. Recommend read more

First time in a long time that I went to a restaurant and was sad while I ate... the food is sad, fishy, over breaded, and was honestly probably all frozen. I could of made better seafood in my oven. read more

The boat restaurant. This is one of those places that produces nothing special except for good & consistant fried seafood. They have some "broiled" things too and they are OK. They are really good at frying. And raw oysters are always good. Get 'em now before the slick hits them! The price is on par for the amount you get. Family favorites: fried shrimp, catfish, if you are young enough popcorn shrimp. It is bigger than the popcorn shrimp had elsewhere. Hushpuppies are good too. I have had better gumbo. I recommend this place to anyone looking for fried seafood. The wait is not to bad either. And if you are lucky you can sit at the bar and watch the oysters getting shucked or sit facing I35 and it feels like you are driving the boat. read more

Love the gumbo here with crab and shrimp , and hush puppies are great . The stuff crab is amazing to . And micheladas are the best and go great with the fresh oysters! read more

Ok, first things first-- I'd actually give this place a 2 star rating, but I'm compelled to rate it lower to offset the plain head-scratching 4 star average this place has, as it was the main reason I visited. (You may notice that Gumbo's also has a 4-star average, and their food is so much better one would wonder if they were eating the same genre of food altogether.) As you can imagine, we were underwhelmed by the food and overall experience. The ambiance is pretty stark-- 3 words: white bright lights. It's got a diner feel, which is fine, and if I wanted to catch up on Sports Center I'd be in the right spot. Not exactly comfortable, but not terrible by any means. We got some beer and split a bowl of seafood gumbo. The beer was cold and served with frosty mugs (a personal favorite), but the gumbo was not so great. It had a strange orange color and was runny. There was no real depth of flavor, and seem to rely on more in-your-face hot similar to Latin food, instead of the long slow hot of southern Cajun food. (Not that it mattered much, since the main spice seemed to be salt.) The seafood was chewy and tasted previously-frozen. We split the crawfish piroque and etouffee for our entrees and it was basically the same. The piroque looked like something I'd have made in college -- smothered in a salty, greasy pile of orange cheese with some tasteless (I'm assuming frozen) crawfish underneath on a thick piece of hard french bread with fries. The powdered spice they used on top was so thick it crunched when bitten through. The fries were easily the best thing on the plate and we didn't finish them, either. The etouffee was runny and orange, very salty, 2-dimensional. Just pretty gross. We basically left hungry and found ourselves at P Terry's later in the night. The staff seemed friendly, I saw a guy cleaning, which is good. My gf said when she went to the bathroom there was a staff sitting on the sink talking on the phone the entire time she was in there-- made worse by the fact that the bathroom stall didn't latch shut. I mean, look: obviously people have had a good experience here. I don't know know if we came on an off night, or if we just weren't drunk enough. The reviews suggest the place has good raw oysters, but to be honest, based on the quality of food we ate, I wouldn't touch em with a ten foot pole. read more

Came in and guy at front said we could sit anywhere , we sat waiting to be attended then 10 minutes later he told us he had a waitlist and we had to get up , very rude , definitely won't be going back . read more

First time in Texas. Wanted to try local flavor. This place was in parking lot of my hotel. This is a hidden diamond!!!! Food was excellent and priced right. I left here wanting to come back. If I ever come back to Austin, I'm saying at same hotel just so I could spend the night here. read more

I ordered the baked oysters with butter and "Cptn Benny's" Seasoning. The seasoning is way too hot. On fire hot. You can't even taste the food it's so hot. None of this was mentioned by the waiter or on the menu. At least put a notation on the menu that your seasoning is super spicy as a courtesy to your customers. read more

Captain Benny's Seafood - Seafood Near Me - Austin, Texas

I don't know how to feel about this place. It was just an all around weird experience. For starters, this place is shaped like a boat, should have been red flag number one. We walk in, and some guy just yells, "seat yo self!" So we did. Red flag number two, Gross picnic tables inside. The table we were sitting at still had a few shrimps laying n it and looked like it wasn't really wiped down. Tried to ask the server but he just kinda cut me off so I just pushed t onto the floor. We only got an appetizer, because we couldn't find anything that really sounded good. I don't think I ever want to go back here. I mean yeah,the food was ok, But I just don't think this place is for me. read more

Had dinner here while on a business trip a few weeks back. Despite the humidity, we sat outside to enjoy the nice breeze and sunshine. Service to the patio is lacking, instead of one dedicated outdoor server, there were at least two servers handling tables both inside and out. As a result service was very slow. I had a michelada (yum!) and the Mate's Plate with catfish and oysters. The food itself was very tasty. I loved the cornmeal coating on the seafood, and the hushpuppies, fries, and tartar sauce were good too. Could easily be a 4 star review if the service would come up a notch. read more

I hadn't been here since the name change; it's now called Captain Benny's. I must sadly report that this restaurant no longer serves Oysters Diablo. I was seriously disappointed by this as I was licking my lips the entire drive up there thinking about those spicy suckers. So, we settled on some oysters on the half shell. They were delish: big, juicy and not at all gritty. Those shuckers know what they're doing! Our server, Orion (he said his parents were hippies and smoked a lot of pot), was fabulous. Always on top of everything and constantly clearing used stuff off our table so it never felt cluttered. We also had some gumbo, which was nice and spicy, lots of shrimp and I'm guessing catfish chunks floating around. The boiled shrimp were actually well seasoned too, hard to do with shrimp sometimes. We all ordered fried something or others. The shrimp plate I ordered was great: big ol' shrimp, yummy tartar sauce and perfectly fried fries. Cute outside area, with straw umbrellas, and the front side is shaped like a boat. I'm gonna have to ding 'em for their bathrooms, though. Diz.guz.ting! Fix that, guys, and I'll consider giving you a four if I ever come around again. read more

I thought this place was good, but needs some work. Oyster prices are great!! $10 for a dozen gulf oysters isn't bad, and they were definitely fresh. My problem is they just weren't cleaned very well. They made your hands all messy and the pieces fell into the other oysters. It made me sad because they were really delicious! We ordered a combo fried platter and the although the seafood was good, the breading just didn't add to it. It all fell off of my catfish and in the case of the poor stuffed crab, the entire thing was just deep fried. We also had the calamari and I thought the pieces were pretty little and salty. I'd go if you love super fried seafood and salt! read more

Yum, I love this place! I usually go to Quality Seafood for my seafood fix but this place is an almost-as-yummy, cheaper alternative. Plus, Quality Seafood is closed on Sundays and they aren't. I lovelovelove raw oysters and theirs are fresh-tasting and dirt cheap--$6.95/dozen if I remember correctly. They've got some other appetizers that sound good but I've only tried the oysters. The rest of their menu is mostly just fried seafood plates and stuff like that but I'm not complaining! I especially loved the fried shrimp and scallops. Oh, and this place is also boat-shaped! I first went here with my boyfriend half as a joke because we spotted the boat from 35 but it turned out to be a great find. The waitstaff is friendly and very attentive up until the end. We had to wait a long time for our check for some reason and I started to wonder if we were supposed to go up to the register ourselves. Our waitress never brought us a check but took our card when we offered it so I'm still not 100% clear on that. This place has a pretty awful selection of wine and bottle beers: bud, miller, coors, etc. but that's okay. I came for the cheap oysters anyway. On our most recent visit, my boyfriend and I split a dozen oysters and a rather large portion of fried shrimp, scallops, catfish and stuffed crab called 'captain's platter'. Plus one tecate our bill came out to about $26 before tip. Not bad! read more

My husband and I LOVE this place and wish there was one down south!!! I love it some much I don't even know where to start!... Ok, every time we go we share a combo basket half fried shrimp and half fried catfish. He gets the seafood gumbo and we also get their diablo shrimp- soooo yummy! The quantity and quality vs the price is great! My husband LOVES their seafood gumbo! He tries gumbo everywhere we go and nowhere compares...well except for my moms ;) Oh and you must sit in the boat! The staff is there for your every need and you get to watch the game on the tv while watching them make oyster platters and watch the food being made. Now, I can't vouch for the oysters b/c I don't do oysters but my dad says they're great! I wish there were more stars, I'd give them a 100! read more

I am the type of person that once I get something in my head that I want, I generally HAVE to commit and must fulfill that need..... don't be like me. So when you are craving some delicious seafood and roll into Quality Seafood around the corner only to discover it is slammed and there is no way you can wait it out, do not come to this place to fill that need, because it will do more harm then good. It wasn't awful, but it was not so great, especially for $24, one person with 20% tip and no alcohol. The food just didnt taste fresh, there wasnt a single vegetable offered on the menu a sides besides cole slaw, and the place felt a little dirty to me. Didnt try Oysters so if thats all you are looking for and some drinking to do, probably not a bad spot, but for a satisfying high quality meal, look elsewhere. read more

Overpriced. Tiny overcooked shrimp. Disappointing all around. No salad or other vegetable choices; they better realize people are eating differently now.... Service was good today but they weren't busy. I've typically had mediocre service all other times. read more

This place is great for many reasons... It's not a fancy place.. more like a Whole in the wall type... but the boat shaped Restaurant in itself is cool.. The food is great.. The broiled crab stuffed flounder is awesome.. You won't forget it. The Gumbo is also delish.. If you want good sea food with more options than fried.. Check em out. Cons; 1.) They don't carry Bud Light Lime.. 2.) Sticky tables. Sitting at the bar-side facing outside Light tower , the counter/eating table is permanently sticky.. Had the waiter wipe it down and dry it, still sticky.... read more

My boyfriend has a huge soft spot for this place. Every so often he looks at me and says, "you wanna go to the boat?" I always say yes. Captain Benny's Seafood sits n the midst of hotel-motels off I-35 -great vibe and solid seafood. Sitting around the slanty-floored "boat bar" are usually a group of characters with stories that will knock you right off your stool. Just your average no frills, seafood - faux boating experience. It's a solid bet for oysters, fried shrimp and a good time. Did I mention it's cheap? read more

The food was good. We were really surprised, it's been tough finding good seafood spots were you can order and go. We ordered quite a few dishes and everything was good. We had the stuff jalapeños, stuffed shrimp, fried shrimp, fried scallops, a dish that had calamari and veggies. We will definitely be going back to this spot. read more

No. Soupy gumbo, no spice, tiny shrimp, if any. $10. Fried crab/shrimp stuffed jalapenos $10. All bead stuffing, no sign of seafood. Never again. read more

Captain Benny's in Austin!? Me and my husband thought we were hallucinating homesick from Houston but, nope! Here it is! And the gumbo is consistent in flavor just like back home, DELICIOUS! Perfect. read more

Captain Benny's Seafood - Seafood Near Me - Austin, Texas

I worked near by when they opened in the early 80's. I started coming for oysters on the half cause they shuck right in front of you in the ship portion of the restaurant... yes I said ship as in big boat...out of water surrounded by thatchy decks out and chilled adjacent dining next to the ship...open kitchen so you see the freshness and all the action! The best cocktail sauce in Texas!!! The only stuffed jalapeños I'd drive 250 miles for which I did last week during a pandemic. I was served at the curb before I'd even put the brake on. Oh I forgot to mention the very very cold iced beer mugs and shiner on tap! What is not to love ... awesome slaw/ gently fried/ broiled or baked freshest seafood. I've eaten it all at least twice BUT never left without an order of stuffed Jalapeños for next day snacking. Always entertaining with games on and folks who love working here. Will return till I die! read more

Pretty good! Oysters were huge! Catfish was cooked well. There was a lot of good food for a pretty low price. The staff was really nice and it was easy to get to. The parking is pretty limited, but not horrible. If you're in the mood for good sea food this is a great place in the middle of town read more

I grew up going to the original Capt. Benny's on Main in Houston. Since then, and especially since they were taken over by some other company, I've been skeptical going to any other location. I'M SO GLAD I WENT AHEAD AND TRIED THE AUSTIN LOCATION. Seriously, since I moved to ATX, I have not found anything that touches Capt. Benny's for fried seafood. Sure, there is a little nostalgia in it for me, but I'm very particular in my judgement of each Capt. Benny's location and this one is easily the best of been to outside of the original. The food is 5/5 amazing. Shrimp, hush puppies, and fries are all perfect. Gator is awesome. I'm really thinking about ditching out on sports bars & making this my Sunday spot for the first NFL games of the day. Take my word for it - this is amazing. I just wish they had some decent beer specials and I'd be set! read more

I have eaten here a lot in the past and for the most part it is a decent enough sea food place. Oysters are good and most of the seafood is tasty. However, this last weekend I took the kids by there and ordered a Texas tradition, fried jumbo shrimp. In my opinion, a good measure of any seafood restaurant in Texas is their fried jumbo shrimp plate. I was really dissapointed. Primarily because, "jumbo" means big. There is a standard to be called a jumbo shrimp and these did not meet that standard. They were smaller and butterflied and pounded flat to make them look bigger than they were. When you're paying $20 for 12 jumbo shrimp, you expect way better. They cut corners on the shrimp and like I said, this is the yardstick for any Texas style seafood restaurant. They missed the boat. read more

I am from Austin been here for 47 years (51). Seafood in the Austin area is hit or miss. I have been to Capt Benny's and will say that the food is good as is the service. Its your typical fried fish / shrimp place. Its not going to blow your socks off. But if you want seafood it will do in a pinch. read more

Unfortunately, not great at all . I don't really have anything good to say about the food at all. I wanted oysters, simple enough right ? They eventually came out but we're not good quality oysters whatsoever. They were small and well, slimy quite frankly. I was having lunch with my boss and recommended this place for seafood based on reading reviews. He ordered the fried shrimp basket and it was just your basic fried, flavorless food, similar to that out of the freezer section at the grocery store. The shrimp was crispy and overly coated with cornmeal and tasted frozen. Definitely a disappointing meal overall. read more

My dad and I habitually order the same appetizers - shrimp diablos and a dozen oysters on the half shell (Texas Gulf coast of course). The diablos consist of grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon and jalapeno, topped with a light dusting of spicy seasoning. The oysters come on a tray of ice and lemon, with a plentiful cup of horseradish and cocktail sauce. I have never been disappointed, as every oyster is fresh and of perfect consistency. As for the main course, my personal favorite is the Mate's Plate - a combination platter with the choice of two of the following: catfish filet, shrimp, chicken, stuffed crab, crawfish tails, oysters or scallops, and sided with fries, cole slaw, garlic toast AND hush puppies. I always go crawfish and chicken. The chicken comes in tender style, but is lightly breaded in a flavorful batter that retains the juiciness of the chicken as opposed to the stringy, battery tenders of your typical fried restaurant. The cole slaw is of creamy, sweet style, the fries thick cut, and the hush puppies divine. The hushpuppies are slightly sweet, and if you love hushpuppies, have them substitute the garlic toast for a few extra. I need to stop saying hushpuppies. read more

It was late but the food hit the spot. The kids liked the shrimp basket and the catfish basket was also good. My wife thought the gumbo could have been thicker but said it was tasty. read more

Even as a child I was interested in trying this restaurant because it's made partially out of a boat. If you decide to dine here, I suggest you sit in the boat portion of this restaurant which will mean you are sitting at the bar. And what a fine bar it is! If it were a full bar, not just beer and wine, it would certainly make this place a step closer to getting four stars. Now, don't misunderstand my reasoning for thinking this place needs a full bar. Sure, I'm not a beer lover, but it's deeper than that. This place has decent food, not great, but the fact that part of the venue is an actual old boat means this place has awesome hangout potential. That could easily mask the average fried oyster dilemma, and make this spot cooler, therefore making every dish more special and delicious feeling. At the end if the day there is a long-standing seafood restaurant nearby that only serves wine and beer as well that will likely be more popular with the locals. This place is alright, but a few tweaks could really make it something! read more

We usually sit at the boat. Very chill and kitschy vibe. We come here for our oyster craving. Micheladas are good read more

Captain Benny's Seafood - Dressing the oysters - Seafood Near Me - Austin, Texas

OMG. 4 fresh oyster offerings. Fantastic, too. Great staff. We were sitting in the "boat" section, and it was Austin funky. Loved it. Gumbo had a lighter roux than I usually like, but the price was spot on. Can't beat that. Plenty of parking. Cannot wait for a bit warmer temps to sit outside on the HUGE deck with a cold beer and oysters! I'll be back. read more

Best Oysters in town !!! You have a hankering for some big ass oysters and a beer this is your stop! I have had oysters in Texas before and they been pretty disappointing when compared to Cape Cod and pretty much any where in New England! But this place is one to compare fo sho! My Buddy Robert is a mean motha shucker there and is quick! I recommend the boat section for quick service not to say the sit down area is slow but hey he shucks and delivers right there! Just a helpful hint this place is a Beer and small wine establishment, there are no liqueur drinks here so don't ask! If you want to kick it East Coast style hit this place up you might see me there slamming back some half shells! read more