I'm kicking myself in the ass for not reading the reviews on this place prior to coming here! Frankly the bar has a very slim selection and the food was more than awful. I was in the mood for crab cakes and was so excited since this place is located rite in the marina. To my surprise the seafood was so sub par. There was nothing fresh about it. The crab cakes were so dry and flavorless. Let me go back to the starter , my wife ordered humus which was a bit chunky and topped with a few olives and some feta cheese but still flavorless. Following that chunky flavorless mess my crab cakes as I previously started describing sucked just as much. I am usually very good at describing things but I have no words to make a comparison with but to say if Swanson made a crab cake frozen TV dinner I'm sure it would be more pleasant and for only a quarter of the price. My wife ordered Chicken Milanese which I recommend they use to creat a children's menu with since it was only 2 overly deep fried chicken fingers. The stater salads sucked as well. Mixed greens smothered in pickled red onions. For anyone to rate this place more than a 1 this must be their first meal after completing a 40 challenge of Naked and Afraid. What's the deal people have we forgotten what good dining is. We have come to accept being over charged for mediocrity. Don't waste your money here! read more

Marina Grille - Seafood Near Me - Belmar, New Jersey

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Located in Belmar on the site of Pier 9. Parking is difficult. The lot is shared with the fishermen. The service is average. The food menu is basic. Raw bar available. Busy, weekends and evenings. Cocktails available. We were there over the weekend. The server brought out the appetizers and entrees at the same time. We asked to have the entrees taken back until we were ready for them. The entrees were delivered dried out and over cooked. If you want to enjoy the view plan on going onlyfor a drink and an appetizer. We have Marina Grill a second try on Sunday afternoon. Service hasn't improved. Apps and entree came out at the same time. No wait for tables but 25 minute wait for food. Again the oysters were served warm. Burgers over cooked and grilled chicken under cooked. Spoke to the manager. She blamed the summer help left and new staff was inexperienced read more

Place is awesome!! Right on the water. Can not mistaken it for a better time! Cosmo is popping.. and you can sit and see read more

Marina Grille - Seafood Near Me - Belmar, New Jersey

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This restaurant is perfect for the summertime!! I forgot to take a picture of the marina and beautiful boats, but it was definitely a great atmosphere. My friend and I decided to split the Margherita pizza and the grilled chicken Caesar salad. We thought the portions would be small but we could both barely finish both meals! I would highly recommend this restaurant while you're down the shore this summer. The staff and overall service was great and very friendly. The only down point was sitting and burning in the sun since their umbrellas were very high up. However, there is plenty of seating inside or outside under an overhang. Otherwise this was a great experience that I would be glad to share with more. read more

Marina Grille - Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad & Margherita Pizza - Seafood Near Me - Belmar, New Jersey

Awesome place to watch Sunday football. Really cool specials. If you log in on Facebook, you get to spin a wheel and win a variety of things. I won a free shellfish app and my girlfriend won a free lunch for two, they let us apply it there day of (since we go there on Sundays). Good spot and reasonably priced. read more

Marina Grille was the first place we went to enjoy outdoor seating last summer during the pandemic. It was wonderful! The food selection was good and tasted good. The view is spectacular. We've since gone back 3 times and the experience has been the same. Very solid and friendly service. Marina Grille will surely be in our regular rotation. read more

Great ambience especially during covid. Quite busy. Great seeing all the boats on the marina while eating. A nice place to take a little stroll after a delicious meal! Great food as well and fast service! read more

Went here for drinks at the tiki bar outside got a vodka cranberry. tasted great, there was live music, tvs going, and great views, definitely gotta come back for the food read more

Came here with my mom for a nice night out. As we both work as waitresses, we always try to be courteous when we go out to eat. We ordered two alcoholic drinks, and I was never carded and got a strange look from my waitress (if she didn't think I was 21 she could have just checked my ID). She brought us our drinks and they tasted like there was no alcohol in them, so we kindly asked if they could remake them with less juice. The waitress sharply asked "both of them?!" And took them away while rolling her eyes. Brought us new drinks and they didn't taste much better. Ordered the tuna nachos which tasted very good. Besides the service, it's a pretty waterfront restaurant. Don't count on the drinks to be good. read more

I went here for an early birthday dinner. Food was delicious & Sabrina, our waitress, was simply awesome. Thank you!

Considered checking four stars just for the setting but despite the casual, bayside decks, food is why we go to restaurants (though yes, the location and atmosphere were why we chose here today), and, particularly since I review for vegetarians (Don't stop reading. Hey!), the stars need to primarily reflect the meal (Hey. Don't you... HEY!!). Yeah, that's right... First, drinks--mine too standard to mention; hers--a key lime martini with an excellent flavor, but not cold (which, not cool (Ha!)). Those glasses have stems for a reason... To undigress, I started with (3) soft pretzels which were standard/good, but which were served with a course mustard. I'd have preferred a cheese sauce, or, as I've had elsewhere, a combination. While that might be subjective, I think the hot accompaniment would make the offering more in line with an app (and would demonstrate a bit of thought/effort). Feels much more snack-y/sidewalk-y with the mustard. Yes, I am very particular; why do you ask? I followed that not with the interesting sounding (unfortunately not in the mood...) but theoretically appreciated cauliflower steak but with a white spinach pizza. The right size for one, it was good enough, but not only was it in no way great/exceptional, but the chef simply dropped a (very) few leaves on it before cooking so that they were dried out and papery, adding almost nothing to the pie. Is this a new thing? The great surprise though, was my friend's beet salad (Order it anyway; I don't like them either.). A large plate of (a lot of) very bright and fresh arugula, with small sections each of beets (I ate a few and they were fine.), finely chopped carrots, very well chosen candied pecans, and two (And it absolutely should have been three considering the size of the plate), breaded and fried goat cheese rounds, all in a very nicely executed vinaigrette (But seriously, it needs three of those goat cheese things--very aesthetically off balance plus they were really good and I wanted another one.). No, really, try it. My friend's lettuce wraps--fine, but not, she noted, as good as PF Changs'. While not an Asian kitchen, that's still a little well, you know. Uncharacteristically skipped dessert (Strollo's...), the small selection of which wasn't particularly (and by that I mean not at all) well chosen for a hot days of summer menu. By this I mean I'd have preferred cooler and/or lighter--Key lime pie, flourless chocolate cake, crème brulee, berry tart... You get it (You get it, right?). Homemade sorbets... Okay, well, if you don't get it now I don't know what to tell you... Still the relaxed, outdoor atmosphere though, with fine, friendly service, and very fairly priced. Can easily see going again. read more

Here I go again. Can't help it. This is my second review of the Marina Grill. Took my team to a late lunch. They seated us separately due to the Covid rules and restrictions. We were seated inside but still had an amazing view of the Marina as they have a great open layout. I just love this place. The food was great and the salad portions are humongous. Their pizzas are awesome. The fish is always cooked to perfection. Our waiter did a great job. Attentive, polite, energetic and enthusiastic. So easy to talk with. The service was perfect. If you combine the location, atmosphere, views, service, and food, I don't think you can find a better place in NJ. read more

Gorgeous open indoor seating, food is always great, drinks are superb! Love coming here for date night or lunch with friends.

This review is for vegetarian and vegan people. This restaurant faced the water and is known for seafood. However they had decent options for vegetarians. Options included pizza, salad, sides and all burgers can be substituted with black bean patties. Was pleasantly surprised with options that were tasty. Specifically the beet salad (especially the fried goat cheese) and the whipped potatoes (very well flavored and garlicy). For vegans they were good with substitutions because people in our party substituted black bean patties and asked for gluten free options and they were well accommodated. read more

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Come for the view on a nice day. Do not come for the food. Anything that I ever had here is mediocre or ill conceived. The cerviche was too hot, not citrusy at all and to cut the heat there is some canned diced pinapple. Everything that is in the cerviche overpowers the itty bitty bits of fish that is supposed to be in the recipe. Joke's on the customer. Wings are OK, but they try to jazz it up with a sweet buffalo sauce. Better to keep it basic unless you are a real restaurant. Salad with salmon: Salad did not have enough dressing and the salmon was dried out. The Michelob Ultra was excellent. Like I said, come and enjoy the outside on a summer day. Just have a beer. read more

Had one of the worst outdoor experiences i've had in a while. My girlfriend and our friend wanted to get some apps and drinks over the weekend, we went in expecting a wait and were told there was a 30 minute wait. No problem, we went to the bar and enjoyed the weather and had a drink or 2. Finally we go to get seated. Our server introduces herself and gets our drink orders. She returned with our drinks later and told her we needed a minute to order. 15 minutes pass by, we have no menus open at the table just waiting and we see a new table get sat and they get their drinks a minute later. Than we see another table get sat in the section 10 minutes after. We still haven't seen our server around for 10-15 minutes. I went to the front desk and asked if we could have a server at our table since it had been 25 minutes since anyone had come to get our orders or check on us. The lady at the front told me that our server would be right over. As I go back to the table to sit down we waited another five minutes, and finally I see our server, but she goes up to the table that sat after us to get their food order and then walked to the other table that sat after us to get their food orders and completely ignored us. That was the final straw. We got up and left. 0/0 service. The only solution we were offered after we were about to leave was to switch to a different table and server after waiting more than an hour to just order appetizers and some drinks. Unprofessional and disrespectful. read more

Bartenders get mad at you for ordering drinks. Gone three times and it's happened every time

This place is incredible. We got there around 5 on a Friday and while the parking was insane the food and drinks made up for it. We were quoted an hour wait but were sat within 30 minutes so we ordered drinks and sat in the outdoor waiting area. Beautiful view and excellent food/drink. Definitely would come back. read more

Outside seating overlooking the water, a fresh breeze, watching the fishing boats going out and coming back....what a perfect setting for lunch. An interesting menu with lots of fish options...they still have salads and burgers, sandwiches and pizza for those who are fish shy. This is a restaurant that requires many return visits...you review the menu and you want to try just about everything. For lunch I opted for the clam chowder that was rich with veggies and lots of clams.....and the grilled octopus. I've never had better octopus in my life. I want to be able to have this dish at least once a week. My first time here but I will definitely be a repeat customer. There are so many dishes I want to try...next time I will make it here for dinner. read more

The view is well worth coming here! I was pleasantly surprised with the food- i was told it wasn't great and i really enjoyed mine! We got the ahi tuna nachos which omg i would come back just for those and then a pizza and a cobb salad- both were great! We also got a pitcher of sangria and the price for what you get is amazing. I really enjoyed this restaurant- the food, the view, the waitress all were perfect for our first night out after quarantine! read more

Beautiful view, food was plentiful, our server was attentive and helpful. This was our second time visiting for lunch and we had an enjoyable time. Walked over for a quick round of mini golf on the property too. read more

Marina Grille - Seafood Near Me - Belmar, New Jersey

I went on Sunday afternoon for drinks and a light dinner. She ordered a chicken Caesar salad and I ordered the lobster roll. For 23.00 the lobster roll had no flavored plus found a huge part of the lobster shell mixed in with the lobster. On top of it , my friend found a bug, that looked like the head and eye of a shrimp in her salad. The manager was supposed to come out to talk to us, but never came. The drinks and bartenders are great, but the food is so bland and unfortunately not impressed. Although the salad was taken off by the bartender, just was not happy with the overall experience. read more

Marina Grille - Seafood Near Me - Belmar, New Jersey

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Veryyyyy overpriced for what seems like just a notch up from bar food. This place used to be great in brick, but I think they have a lot of overhead to make up for at this location. read more

First thing I'd like to say is the atmosphere and environment is beautiful. You can sit outdoors on the deck and see the boats while listening to the other restaurant's live music. This place is only getting less stars because the food quality was mediocre and way too pricey for the portion. The picture you see is the seafood platter for 32.99. A plus would be the $17 sangria pitchers!!! Also our server was soo nice he went out of his way to give an extra salad!! If I went back I would probably try out the restaurant next door because they are also on the deck. read more

Marina Grille - Seafood Near Me - Belmar, New Jersey

Food is average at best. Mostly good for burgers,fries and other appitizers. Stay away from the sea food. Both fishy and chewy. read more

Marina Grille - View from the Bar - Seafood Near Me - Belmar, New Jersey

Had a great meal. Got the oysters which were so yummy. Two strawberry lemonades, also good. And the salmon special. All very delicious I will be going back. read more

Meh. Overpriced and way too long of a wait for basic ass food. 2nd time I've gone there and they ran out of shrimp....at a seafood restaurant! How?! read more

This is one of the most beautiful places near the water. You can either drive your car or boat up to restaurant. The restaurant is very clean, great music and very friendly service. Waited 25 minutes around dinner time for a seat outside, very reasonable and worth it. Great view of sunset and wasn't loud. Our waiter Cody was great, very polite. The food was delicious! read more

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I would give them 5 stars , but sometimes their bartenders are less than attentive. The food is always constantly great. We love the ahi tuna nachos, lobster bisque is fantastic. Seafood tower is great. We love their happy hour for oysters on the 1/2 shell specials. The scallops entree is amazing and all of their pizza are brick over baked to perfection!!!! Let's not forget the dynamite views and sunsets, since the restaurant faces west over Shark River read more

As someone who hates seafood, I LOVE this place! The decor and atmosphere makes it for a nice casual - yet still luxurious experience. There are many non-seafood options for those like me, who typically stick to chicken and red meat. Service is always great and the food is delicious. It's even great to come for just drinks as there is always a spot to lounge by the water. read more

I really like this place. The food (mostly seafood) is very good although the prices are a bit high. The atmosphere cannot be beat. Harbor views, lots of seating and a great bar for hanging and sports stuff. It's popular so get there early as it gets crowded quickly. Hanging at the bar waiting for a table was fun. Although they handled kids pretty good this is primarily a place for grownups Drinks were not stingy like the chain places and were priced comparable to local bars. read more

Great views and food...but have a snack before you go...the wait was two hours for a table. But let's back up...it was a Friday night in August and we got there around 7pm..prime time. I expected a wait just not that long. Add Covid into the mix and bam...get ready to make friends. But it was a beautiful night so we grabbed some drinks and sat in the waiting patio area which worked out well. They do take your phone number so we tried to go to Pier 9 for drinks but there were lines over there too. Anyways...around 9pm we sit. Ordered clams and an arugla pie for apps. Both were delicious! Then ordered the salmon and the brick chicken for dinner. Both meals were very tasty and happy they give you some sides with the meal. Service was attentive and they did a great job at socially distancing guests at the bar and in the waiting area. Great spot for a summer date night but recommend either maybe trying a week night or going early if you don't want to have to wait long. Oh and try the skinny Paloma...you won't be disappointed read more

Marina Grille - Arugula Prosciutto pie - Seafood Near Me - Belmar, New Jersey

Meh. I've experienced better is pretty spot on! I will say, I had very high hopes of this place.. it has a lot going for it, but fell awfully short. First, the view from the restaurant is spectacular, it is overlooking the water and tons of boats! The layout of this place, grande! I loved the look of this place from moment one and was thinking it was going to my new favorite place. The decor, very trendy, fun, sheek, high ceilings, beams in the ceilings, the outside tables, the two big bars, the oyster bar!!! What could go wrong!?!?! Everything, the service at this place was awful. It was a beautiful day in October, I couldn't believe we would get to eat outdoors near the water.. We walk in.. mind you we have never been here before.. we are standing behind a lady who seems to be waiting to be seated. After 15 minutes of us standing there a passing waiter says "Yeah you don't get sat here, you have to go inside to the front" and just walks away. Rude! So.. we walk, we pass many open tables, some ready to be sat, others completely covered of dirty dishes, it was not a good look. But not to worry, once we would get to this front desk I am sure we would be sat right away.... No, a 30 minute wait with no explanation. *most of the seating in this place was empty* So we decide we will go to the outside bar and grab a drink! Let's make the best of this beautiful day and restaurant. We spent the next 20 minutes standing their waiting to get served before we ended up walking away. We could overhear the bartender say he needs more bartenders at the bar and he looks visually annoyed. Well join the club, so were we! We walk over to the other bar and have a seat and await a bartender. We sit there for about 5 minutes, a bartender says he will be with us, but that did not happen. He ends up serving a guy who just walks up to the bar beside us who literally walked up next to us and ordered from him. Okay so now we get our drinks, we get a bloody mary and a tropical spiked smoothie. The bloody mary did not look appealing at all but was the perfect spiciness! The smoothie was okay,, a little sweet, not really sure what I expected. Oh look, our buzzer goes off! We get a table! We are slowly, I mean slowly walked over to our table which had been empty for a very long time which was 10 feet away from where we were sitting at the bar. Our waitress comes over and is very peppy, gets our drink order and appetizer and leaves us with time to look over the menu further. We ordered a pitcher of red sangria. (very small apparently) Our drinks took FOREVER to come to our table, we basically had our appetizer before our drinks arrived, the ahi tuna nachos. They were actually very good, the chips were wonton and the spices were not overly done but nothing at this place is about presentation, nothing. The nachos were delivered by a waiter who literally dropped the plate down at our table, grunted and walked away. Now for our food, I ordered off the special menu, the soft shell crab sandwich! This was very good, tasted fresh with the lemon and spicy roulade! I was actually very happy with this, and the presentation was not awful, but nothing I would expect from the beautiful restaurant we walked into. I was able to try a buffalo wing as it was ordered as a meal at my table! Yeah, that was not good either. I did not like the flavor of the sauce, or the wings themselves. "Can I get you anything else?" Yes, the check, and I am never going back! read more

This place is the best. Such a great spot. We love the atmosphere on the bay. Really love the cocktails also. The stand out today was the service. My wife needed a hand coming back from the restroom and a boy named James apparently a barback or something walked her back to our table. He was a smiling happy boy. Reminded me of my younger self. He also told us he is a college baseball player. We wished him luck as he hustled back to stock Beer or change a keg or something. Anyway, check this place out Fist pump to the music like the good old days.. read more

I've been to this restaurant several times and think I've gotten to try just about almost everything on their menu - seafood, pizzas, appetizers, desserts, you name it. Everything hits it out of the park. There's nothing mediocre about any of the dishes on the menu. Their service is excellent. Special shout out to Joanne, the manager, who always recognizes us and goes out of her way to check in and make sure we're taken care of! I plan to come here for years to come. 5 stars! read more

Great selection of food and very accommodating. Outdoor seating is superb! 6 visits thus far and every visit was outstanding. Wait staff is good. Food is prepared nicely. A lot to choose from. read more

Great Happy Hour every day, 3-7 and all day on Sunday. Our favorites are the chicken lettuce wraps and chicken tostada. Great views all year round, this place is a staple for us. read more

I am giving Two stars only because of the view cuz the food was terrible. Super dry French fries. The sauce for the Octopus was super Sour and the chips for the guacamole were fried 3-5 days ago. They were very hard to bite. Maybe they have to change the oil fryer! read more

Mixed review. We waited an hour and didn't mind because it was Labor Day weekend, beautiful place to hangout and wait. When we were finally seated,we weren't given any silverware/napkin roll up. Our server Mallory was really sweet and quick to get us the tasters we asked for. Our appetizers came out pretty quickly and we asked the food runner if we could have some silverware. He said yes but never came back with any. The oysters were good, but the grilled octopus was completely inedible. For a seafood place this was really disappointing. Our family had said it was tough last week so we were hoping that was an off day but sadly it was still so tough we couldn't eat it yesterday. It tasted as if it has been cooked before and just reheated before being brought to our table. Mallory was kind enough to take it off our bill because we couldn't enjoy it. I wish a manager had come over to hear our thoughts so they can change something about how they prepare it, granted they were very busy. The filet was pretty good, nothing to rave about but better than the other things we had. They were out of the split lobster so i had to go with filet. The scallops entree was also very disappointing. They appeared nice and crispy on the outside but they were so tough. Again, they tasted reheated or prepared long before they made it to our table. We were so excited to have seafood here and after an hour long wait we were really disappointed by the quality of the seafood. The tiramisu was delicious and probably the only thing we really loved. They were extremely busy which surprises me because the quality of the food really wasn't great for the price you're paying. If it weren't for the great service from Mallory we wouldn't have really enjoyed our time. Save your money if you want good seafood this is not the place to go. read more

Today was my worst experience at the Marina Grill, although I have had several bad experiences prior to this. Why do I keep going back? It is such a beautiful spot, I want it to be great, but unfortunately it always fall short. It started off poorly when the server came over and took the order on a post it note, I thought this isn't going to be good. Unfortunately, this prophecy came true! The people at the table next to us had been waiting for their drinks for 20 minutes and were disgruntled. I ordered calamari and it was undercooked. I would have asked to have it cooked more but I didn't see the server again for 20 minutes and by then it was a moot point because everyone else was done with their appetizers. I still didn't have my Diet Coke, which I asked for again and hoped would come with my entree. But it didn't. After an odd interaction with the server, the manager took the calamari off the bill and our entrees came out. My salad came without grilled chicken. The food runner said he would bring me some and he did. My friend did not have silverware or ketchup for her fries. No one ever brought her either. Our server did not come by to ask if everything came out correctly or to bring the Diet Coke. Finally our server returned to the table and my friend asked for a box since she was not able to eat her food without silverware and had been sitting there for 20 minutes and the food was cold. Our server returned with a box, silverware and my Diet Coke, which she somehow put on the table with her back turned to us and no explanation. We asked for our check and left a 20 percent tip despite the poor service. Sadly, the Marina grill has run out of chances with this diner! That's it. read more