Before I begin let me start off by saying that this review is based solely upon my personal experiences and my personal experiences alone, so with that being said let's begin!. A co worker of mine's said he wanted some sea food and asked why I was doing for lunch and he recommended this place. At the time I didn't know what I wanted to eat so I said "sure, let's go "!. We walked in and looked over the menu, I was surprised at the variety of food options that were sold here! Sorry I didn't take any pictures because I was in awe of the food options because before I walked in I thought it was strictly a seafood market! I promise I will take some pictures on my next trip so you can see what I'm referring to as far as the menu goes... This restaurant has a few chairs to sit in as you wait for your food. I'm not sure if you can dine in and eat your food or is it just take out. I promise I will get more information on my next trip here!. My co workers and some of the other locals who grew up in this area said they have a bar connected to the restaurant where you can order drinks as well as order food. Remember I was told by the locals who frequent here so I'm sure there is truth to this. Once again I promise I will get more information on my next trip!. I was torn between a whiting fish lunch special or popcorn chicken and fries. I heard my co worker say he wanted the whiting fish lunch special which comes with two pieces of whiting, fries and about 4 hush puppies, and asked for his fish to be fried hard( crunchy) . My co worker also mentioned they have another special that comes with one piece of whiting if you wanted to go a different route!. So needless to say I decided to go with the whiting lunch special of two pieces of fish. I will say my first experience here was a good one, the fish was lightly seasoned and not overcooked and salty!. Seasoned and fried to perfection!. Now I told you some of the best restaurants are located in the hood, or should I say not the best of areas you want to frequent at night if you're not familiar with the area. But these hood spots have some of the best food, now this is the second time I told you not to sleep on these spots! And I know there are hood areas in every city out there, some of us may not feel comfortable in visiting them, if you are you are missing out on some of the best tasting food places, and this is one of them, so put this restaurant on the " I have to try list" if you're ever in Portsmouth, Virginia visiting. I promise you won't be disappointed. So stay tuned for more information about this "hidden hood gem"!!!... read more

BUYERS BEWARE: Believe the reviews! I ordered and purchase a dozen of mails final cost $54. The males I received were medium males at best. I called back to the restaurant and was told that they don't sell Jimmy's. So, I asked why I was charged $54. Then, the chase down the rabbit hole began, Like, who took your order (phone), who helped you in the restaurant, etc. Believe the reviews. read more

Fresh & hot seafood/wings. Customer service is good. I usually order wings/crab battered shrimp and fries. They also have fried whole crabs. My go to spot read more

Okay. So I love me some blue crabs however, Darla's blue crabs medium crabs for $19.99 were literally cold, small and came with a long piece of hair in the bag. Granted, it was close to closing time so maybe they were tired and ready 2 go but I was truly disappointed. The service was dry again probably because they were tired. read more

The two times I've ordered crabs from Darla's I have gotten sick. Steamed crabs are old maybe not even alive when they cook them. Do yourself a favor and get your crabs elsewhere. read more

food is absolutely disgusting or it was when we got food last night, so greasy and the shrimp was battered in a nasty batter it was soggy and dripping of grease. i do not recommend eating here it made our stomachs hurt as well. never again! read more

The good is amazing and the staff is fabulous I love it there the drinks is amazing the bartenders is amazing keep up the great job

As another Yelper said Darla's is a great weekend option because they are open on Sundays when most other seafood joints are closed. I particularly come here for the steamed crabs. I've had their crabs several times over the past year and I can definitely say the large males are worth the money. So meaty and flavorful. We got the regular males once and they just don't compare. You do have the option of calling your order in so you don't have the wait the 15 minutes or so it takes to cook the crabs. As for the fried food I can see why others have rated Darla's low if that's all they've had. On 2 occasions we got fried seafood and it just wasnt that good. Most recently I got the fried scallops and they were not good at all. Some of the pieces I dont believe even had scallop in it it was just fried breading. Totally unacceptable. If you come here just for the crabs its a great place. read more

Darla's Seafood - Large male crab steamed - Seafood Near Me - Portsmouth, Virginia

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The best steam crabs I ever had!!!the Cajun seasoning was amazing so flavorful throughout the crab!!! The fried crabs were also amazing, what we went there for originally but the steam crabs were the winner. These were the largest ones and well worth the price. We also got lumpia, pancit and deviled eggs. Lumpia was great my daughter ate all 10. Pancit and devil eggs were ok. Not the best looking takeout restaurant, I wanted to walk back out but we were traveling and had to try fried crabs from somewhere and this was the only place open on a Sunday at that hour. Best decision to just give it a try. read more

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Have not indulged in the menu enough to give genuine feed back, my stop was while owners were away the "boys" were left to cover- so I will hold my experience as a marker of the food to another time. However... With regards to the Bar Staff... I HAVE YET TO BE DISAPPOINTED !! THe Ladies have been great every stop with out exception So Farr. I look forward to lively conversation and good company!!! read more

I've had better but I have definitely had worse. Darla's is a lone outpost of fried fishery in this strip of Portsmouth. Overall a pretty good place. The deviled crab was really solid and the seasoning was tasty. Butterfly shrimp were good but have a little bit too high of a batter to shrimp ratio. Fries were crisp and all the food came out piping hot. The Cole slaw was a surprise winner and had raisins in it which were an unexpected and pleasant addition. Overall well worth going if you are in the area or just enjoy dive-y fish stands in less than savory parts of town. They also sell fresh crabs based on availability and have other items for sale too: batter mixes, hot sauce, candy? what darla lacks in pleasant scenery it more than makes up for in a solid product - worth checking out. read more

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Got my daughter some steam and fried crabs for birthday! She said they were some of the best crabs she's had! I'll be going back for more and to try other things on the menu! The service was outstanding and the wait wasn't long! Great service.....great place! read more

I go here at least twice a week!!! The crabs are always hot & well seasoned. The fried crabs are the best, they have different sizes small, medium & large. I always get the fried breaded shrimp w/ fries & a deviled crab! I have been coming here for years & have seen the same faces we now know each other by name lol. I live about 30 mins from this place but like I said I come at least twice a week. It's worth it! read more

Despite locale and modest appearance, food was excellent! It is about the food after all, isn't it? I could not get over how great the tray of lime chicken wings was - bar none, the best I've had! It's become a favorite (and worth) a stop over whenever my posse and I go near the area. In speaking with the owners, I was impressed at how they seek to innovate and seek to better the taste and quality with emphasis on keeping the prices affordable - who couldn't resist great tasting fares without breaking the bank! Kodus! read more

Darla's Seafood - Seafood Near Me - Portsmouth, Virginia

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Food was disgusting. Extremely greasy. The fried deviled crabs had more breading than crab. If I could give this place no stars I would. A complete disappointment read more

From what I see, most reviews of 4-5 stars are about 1yr old or more... b/c the last 3 times I've been there it has been tolerable at best, food is exceptionally bland and not much to begin with. Like most food places in Portsmouth, they only stay in business b/c there's no competition read more

Good Locals Only spot... Cook is slow as molasses, but they got some great Calamari, and the chicken wings were a good value. You'll need to bring your own sauce though for the wings as they only have one flavor, and it's bland! read more

My wife and I order fried crabs and fried shrimp the seafood was fresh but slightly overcooked. Prices was reasonable and service was quick with turn around time that was exactly as stated. We would return to them the next time we are in town. read more

Ordered bufferfly shrimp dinner with baked beans & hush puppies. I like that with the dinners you get to pick your 2 sides instead of being stuck with French fries. Fried seafood with French fries is to much fried in a single meal for me. The hush puppies had a good flavor and just the right amount of crunch. The baked beans were also decent. They really need to thin out their batter. It was so thick that each shrimp had twice as much batter bulk as the actual shrimp inside. Also, being so thick it didn't cook properly and was slightly gooey inside. You could tell that the shrimp were fresh, but after the first one I started picking off the batter because I just couldn't take it. Even then I felt that it was way too greasy. Needless to say, I'm not recommending anything fried from here. This place is definitely a hole in the wall, so don't come for the scenery. All the seafood was well iced and no fishy smell near the seafood counter, which is a good sign in my book. They said the other side had a sports bar, but I didn't check it out. read more

Ordered a dozen crabs.. They were great!! I drive past it , all the time but we never stopped. Because one of the local seafood restaurants we normally go to was closed on Sunday we decided to give Darla's a try. Great staff got out pretty fast and it's close to home. And they don't close until 6 on Sundays we definitely will be going back probably sometime this week. And they have a lot of different things to choose from read more

Just drove 20 minutes to there and paid $38 for my food to be completely wrong and for the owner to dispute with me then tell me they will only compensate if I drive another 20 minutes to bring back to exchange now. I ordered fish and shrimp dinners, shrimp breaded and it came battered instead which is disgusting . I also order 2 chicken wing and fry specials which they gave me fish instead. read more

Ordered a pair of large crabs before they closed got home and they gave me a small. I saved a crab to let them see what they gave me they yelled and refused to give me a refund or give me another order read more

The fried crabs here are great and are perfect for family gatherings! We stopped here when our favorite crab place in Norfolk was unable to fulfill our huge order. We will come again! read more

They have great food, very reasonable prices and the barmaids are sweet, friendly, and very helpful. Always a great atmosphere. We go there at least once a week. read more

If you live in Portsmouth and buy food here , especially crabs, check your receipt. They are ALWAYS trying to overcharge.They added .25 to my total and I didn't catch it until I left. It seemed like the total wasn't right with the tax and when I did the calculation they had charged me the 12.5 percent tax and an extra .25. When I called about it they tried to play it off. First the calculation was right and I was wrong, then it was charged for the seasoning ‍. Check your shit. Imagine if they did this to 200 orders in a day for a whole year. And my order was only $18. Imagine what they doing to big orders and how much they are stealing from us every year. read more

I only tried the fried deviled crab, which was an interesting experience. I didn't know what to expect with that...but here goes...they take a crab-shaped foil dish (like a small, shallow bowl) and fill it with crab meat- then coat the meat and the back side of the dish with tempura type batter and deep fry the whole thing. You then eat the crust off the back of the dish and the main part with the meat with some hot sauce. Very strange but also very good- It's worth a try if you've never had this before. read more

A fiend at work brought some of their food in and it was a smell you couldn't help but ask about what she was was eating and where from! Then I took a bite of the fresh cooked to order fried shrimp and I was hooked. Ordering the "ES#7" 7 pieces of fried shrimp with sauce. There was a 10 min wait with 3 people ahead of me but still good timing. It's owned and run by a Filipino family so they also have Filipino dishes. read more

I order the shrimp, whiting and wing dinner with 2pcs of croaker and I was not pleased. The food is cheap for a reason. The croaker was fried and I was hard pressed to find any "meat" to eat on this fish- it was all bones and batter. The shrimp was heavily battered thus it was a small shrimp dressed to look large. The whiting was also fried and VERY thin... Since it was a filet you were going to have "meat" but it was so little. All the fish appeared to be what would have been rejected from a quality seafood market/restaurant. The wings were decent. read more

My fiance and I went to try this spot out today and I would say don't come out of your way if coming for fried crabs. Too much breading old crab "NOT FRESH" and possibly freezer burnt. The devil crab was very good, but DO NOT get it fried. The staff was very friendly! I would go back, but NOT for fried crab. read more

Today 11/18/2012 I called in a order for 2 fried crab's told them just make sure the crabs are fresh,because a while back I had to return some because the crabs were dry and tasted old. Well today's were the worst I ever had,the crabs were fried hard as a brick and the meat was as old as I am (tasted like the ones I return while back and they kept them and recooked them). I live a good ways from Darla and I was in the neighborhood today when I called in the order and as high as gas is I just said I will let it go and just don't order there again. read more

Visit Darla for crabs yesterday. NEVER ever have I been served crabs this size and delicious. DARLA IS thee best in the 757 believe me. Fried super jumbo crabs you must try. Get light batter, vinegar and hot sauce. The greatest read more

I LOVE this place! It's been years since I lived in Hampton Roads, but I remember having their fried shrimp and how absolutely delicious it is. The breading they use has a flavor to it (not sure if its a tinge of Old Bay or what) but it adds a perfect spice to the batter. For the price, you really can't ask for more. PLUS I heard if you ask for Ted and say "Ha Nah Bit" you get a discount. Not sure if its true anymore... but if you go out there try it and let me know! read more