Went here for a light lunch date. It was quiet and has nice views. We started with martinis. He…read morehad a salad that I will obsess over until I get it again. Butter lettuce, pork belly, goat cheese, apples and candied pecans with a maple, bacon and honey dressing ! Oh my goodness it was so good. My equally delicious shrimp taco wrap with bang bang sauce and an Asian slaw. Fresh and delicious! Service was very quick and pleasant! We'll be back!

Joslyn took excellent care of me on my time here! She was very knowledgeable about the menu and…read moretook her suggestions on all! And she was so right! I started with a dozen raw oysters (because I could!). They were really big, fresh, and flavorful. I asked for extra horseradish and it was also very fresh. Perfect. I also got the fish tacos and she crab soup as my mains. Good Lord, the tacos were so big and delish. The sauce on the was really fresh and the veggies were crisp too. The fries were nicely seasoned and, for me, they really complimented the fish nicely. The soup was also very good. Tho the chunks of crab were smaller that other soups I've had, there was plenty of crab there! The flavor was super great too. No complaints here at all. And Joslyn was ALWAYS there and very attentive! And take her advice when ordering. She knows what she's talking about. She makes a great margarita too! Really a great place on the water. I'll be bs k for sure and don't be misled when you walk into the larger building and it's kinda quiet. Just head to the back side and you'll find the place. You'll be glad you did! Thanks Joslyn for a great visit. Hope to be back soon!

Wonderful place to get great cocktails! I highly recommend the ole' fashion. You get what you pay…read morefor. Noah was our server and he went above and beyond to make our social gathering even better. The Red Snapper, trout and the crab cakes were beautiful. Very cool environment! Eclectic and trendy. Definitely going back! BTW: She Crab Soup is extremely good.

Saltine is a restaurant focusing on seafood with a pretty wide range of raw shellfish and fresh…read morefish. Situated in the Hilton it features a large bar area and a quieter dining area as well as some private rooms. I had a the old bay shrimp, tuna poke, she crab soup, and the rockfish (served bronzed which is like Cajun and brown sugar) on top of succotash. I had two mocktails too which were great. Service was friendly and the bread they brought out was delicious and served with herb honey butter. Overall I really liked this place and recommend it if you love seafood.

I did not dine at this restaurant, but I had two drinks. Jack was the bartender, and he prepared…read moretwo black cherry old fashioned drinks for me. I was set for the night! The ambience with the riverfront view was relaxing, and worth the visit.

I'll start with the most positive attributes of this restaurant in Bar, and that falls solely with…read morethe bar. Both bartenders were very friendly and attentive. They immediately sent the tone of a quiet comfortable environment. Quick service with both drink and food. The food itself was less than stellar. I had the happy hour coconut, shrimp, and chicken tenders on one night, and they were mediocre at best served lukewarm. I wouldn't really order either dish again, truth be told. Unfortunately, the service in the restaurant portion itself was quite wanting, slow and unattended. We had a member of our party, joined late and didn't see the server again until she was delivering our meals, which was when our friend got to order. Unfortunately, once again, the food was lackluster. We were staying at the hotel for the week, so we did try this place a few times. Again, the Bar staff was fantastic and the drinks were quite good, but the food was just not special. Yes, by chance, if we stayed at this hotel again. I would definitely give the restaurant another shot just to see if it was a one off with staffing. And the food was by no means terrible, it was adequate.

I have eaten there about 50 times over the years and every time it was very enjoyable.read more

Stopped in downtown Norfolk and decided to try Freemason Abbey Restaurant after hearing about it…read more The area itself was just okay, but the restaurant is definitely worth checking out because of the building. It's an old church built in 1873 as the Second Presbyterian Church, and it's been home to Freemason Abbey since 1989. The inside is really cool and gives the place a lot of character. You'll see some of that in my photos. I started with their she crab soup, which was excellent. It's one of their specialty soups and had that creamy, rich flavor you'd expect from a good she crab soup. For dinner, I was originally going to try the smoked gouda dish, but they had a chicken parm special for $24, so I went with that instead. Chicken breast, marinara, linguini and provolone cheese. Really glad I did. It was hot, flavorful and presented nicely. My only complaint was that it could have used a little more marinara, but I asked and they brought me some without any problem. Service was great from start to finish. I was there around 5:30, before the dinner rush, so it wasn't very busy, but everything came out promptly and there were no issues at all. Overall, definitely a cool place with a unique atmosphere, good food and great service. I'd absolutely go back again. Sometimes the building is half the meal, and this one definitely has a story to tell!

I don't understand why this restaurant gets bad ratings from some folks. The only real problem in…read moremy opinion is like all of Downtown Norfolk's restaurants, no place to park. My wife and I took advantage of Norfolk's Restaurant Week to enjoy a romantic evening, coupled with great service from a very attentive waiter. $45 each for a 3-course meal in a intimate cozy dark setting with great jazz music in the background. 1st course, she had the marvelous She Crab Bisque, especially the hint of sherry. Perfect. I enjoyed the four Fried Oysters, Fried flawlessly without the bivalves becoming rubbery. 2nd course, my wife enjoyed the Peri-Peri Chicken Penne. The breast of chicken was moist throughout, not dry. The penne pasta with the Romesco Cream Sauce was very creamy and delicious says my better half. I tried the Fried Catfish. A bed of creamy Grits; then some Braised Collards stewed perfectly with a surprise - pieces of Ham Hock meat imbedded - on top of the Grits; then on the very top a perfectly fried huge piece of Catfish filet with Key Lime Remoulade sauce on the side. A pretty presentation. If you like Catfish, this is a wonderful entrée. It still amazes me how the food I grew up on as a son of the South - except for the remoulade - is now haute cuisine. I also ordered for dinner a Perfect Manhattan made with Maker's Mark. The bartender was spot-on, a great cocktail. My wife enjoyed a glass of crisp dry California Pinot Grigio with her meal. Our 3rd and final course was the creamy death-by-chocolate chocolate mousse for me, while she enjoyed the wild berry sorbet that was palate cleansing and delicious. By the way, the restaurant also has a Speakeasy type bar area downstairs. Our romantic evening went perfectly. Norfolk Seafood Company is one of my favorite places to dine in Norfolk.

Tried Norfolk Seafood company by happenstance. Although I have heard about the restaurant many…read moretimes. When we arrived, we were able to be seated immediately. It took a server 10 minutes to get to our table, but the host did get us started with some waters. Our waitress was Kendra. When she did arrive, she did not give us her name, she went right into asking what we wanted to drink. We ended up asking her for her name later. I didn't have anything but water, but I do like that they offer sparkling, bottled, or tap. I had the clam chowder, and we ordered calamari as well. The clam chowder was good but salty. I am not sure if it was the added bacon that caused the saltiness. The calamari was also very salty to me. And for a higher end seafood restaurant, I didn't expect these tiny pieces. I ordered the seafood jambalaya without the sausage for my entree. The flavor was good, but it was WAY too spicy for me. My nose was literally running. I ate the shrimp out of it, and that was it. I will say all of our food came out pretty quickly while still being hot and fresh. And overall, Kendra turned out to be a decent waitress. I think this place could be OK for a date night or intimate celebration. It has a nice ambiance with dim lighting and nice decor. They have both an upstairs and downstairs area. I would probably try it one more time and choose different items to really be able to say how the food is.

We had lunch at Fish & Slips and liked it so much we doubled back for dinner the same day. That…read moreshould tell you everything. For lunch we started with the crab clam chowder, tuna bites (delicious!), and crab dip with homemade tortillas. We got the fried shrimp dinner - it came with hush puppies, fries AND mashed potatoes with gravy. Everything was surprisingly delicious. Even the water was good. For dessert we had the blueberry cobbler cheesecake and it was ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL. Still thinking about it. We came back for dinner THE SAME NIGHT and got the fried shrimp dinner AGAIN, plus the Old Bay wings and the meatloaf with mashed potatoes. The meatloaf is huge - enough for four people. I'm literally eating the leftovers today, the day after, and it's still amazing. The chili aioli they give you is pretty good. My least favorite was the blue cheese dressing, but that's just personal preference. Jamie, our dinner server, was amazing. Too nice to be true - genuinely kind, conversational and attentive. Our lunch server was definitely on her job and got everything right, just not as congenial as Jamie. She was definitely attentive to our needs but maybe just shy. Yes the interior is a little dated, but that's the case with most restaurants on the water. They have outdoor seating, really nice views of the marina, and great ambiance. Anytime we are in the Portsmouth area we will definitely be back at Fish N Slips. Highly recommend! Another recommendation is that the business update their website pricing which is drastically different than the restaurant menu. This may catch guests by surprise. Otherwise, thank you for two dynamic experiences.

The other 4 people in our family went to the commodore theater for dinner and spider man. So…read morewithout much army twisting i convinced my girlfriends dad for a boys night with beer and seafood. There happy hour prices are really good. We got there with about 30-40 mins left in happy hour (3-7 pm) ended up getting 18 raw local oysters that were huge and an order of peel and eat shrimp. They have 1 dollar oysters or clams, raw or steamed. My girlfriends dad got a shrimp po boy and coleslaw. His meal came with frys but the bartender/ waitress got him the coleslaw he ordered after we brought it to her attention. The food comes out as its ready not as a whole order in our case, which was just fine for us. This place is in a really cool setting, sitting up high over the boat slips. Our only drawback was our bartender/ waitress did not seem to have much energy. We had to get her attention when we wanted more drinks or the check... she might have just been having a rough day. She was not rude in any manner... just not very attentive. I would definitely come back! Wanted a shirt and when i asked the hostess she went through every shirt looking for my size... she could not find a xl that wasent pink. She said she'd check with the other hostess. When we were leaving there was a nice gray xl waiting for me .... I appreciate her effort as 80% of my wardrobe is places ive been too... I had about 20-30 places on my yelp list to try on this weeklong vacation to portsmouth and virginia beach. Im glad fish and slips was one i got to!

AW Shucks is by far one of my favorite restaurants in the 757…read more Food: Delicious! Best oysters in this area for the most reasonable price. Go on Thursday for $20 for a dozen. The oyster po boy is my favorite. The oysters are plump and delicious Service: Quick and polite. No complaints Ambiance: The outside doesn't look like much but the inside is very chill

This place was my mother's day lifesaver. I originally had reservations at another restaurant…read more After a long wait. Even having reservations. We only received our appetizers and after one hour I lost patience since it was only fish that we both ordered. My husband paid the bill and we left. He suggested this restaurant and we have eaten here several times before. We ordered my food to go. I ordered the flounder topped with crabmeat and green beans. It was delicious. I realize it was Mother's Day. So I appreciate being able to place the order to go. My husband was happy and so was I. The food hit the spot. I will be returning here for my seafood dinner whenever I'm in the area. Which is about twice a year.

Always a great dinner at No Frill. Food was amazing and our server was very attentive. Love the…read morevibe and how clean this place is. Don't sleep on the desserts!

It has been nearly three weeks; I can stop thinking about No Frill Bar and Grill…read more I'm a military spouse, so I know my time in Hampton Roads is coming to an end soon. I visited a Hampton Roads Restaurant group on FB and asked if someone was visiting from out of town: What is your go-to place to take them? Out of 90+ comments, No Frill Bar and Grill was mentioned the most - six times! So when I finally had a day off and some other business to tend to in Norfolk, it was the perfect excuse to finally try them. No Frill Bar and Grill has been open for nearly 30 years by Jerry Meltsner. Jerry's nephew Jon Kliner helps co-own and manage operations. It originally opened on Tidewater Drive, but the space didn't allow for much growth - 10 years later, he moved to a location off Colley Avenue and Spotswood Avenue. Growth continued, moving from counter service to table service. The second location, at 1620 Laskin Road in Virginia Beach, opened in 2005. The restaurant's longevity stems from quality, consistency, price, service, and staff who genuinely care about the business and serving the community. I asked the server for her opinion on two options - Salmon, Shrimp and grits won. The dish was incredible: lightly blackened salmon, for once blackened food that doesn't just taste like salt. I don't dine with the swine, so I asked for no andouille sausage. The sautéed shrimp, caramelized onions, tomatoes, and spinach simmered in Norfolk Canyon ale sauce over cheesy grits and Boursin lavash cracker. The cheesy grits were smooth, and the Boursin lavash cracker was a nice touch. The Boursin added extra creaminess to the meal. The cracker wasn't really a cracker - more like little toasted bread. After this first meal, I know two things for sure: 1. I definitely understand why it is such a local favorite, and 2. I will be back.

We arrived at 5:30 PM and unfortunately the service got off to a rough start. By 5:45 PM, we still…read morehadn't seen a waiter or waitress. When we asked an employee walking by how long it would be before we could order, she asked who our server was. After we explained that no one had come to our table yet, she simply walked away without helping. Our waitress finally appeared around 5:50 PM, but before speaking to us, she served a table that had arrived about 10 minutes after we did. We weren't the only ones waiting either--the table seated before us was also still waiting to be served. Once we were finally able to place our order, the food came out quickly. We ordered 1 lb. of shrimp and 1 lb. of crab legs in garlic butter with mild spice. The food was flavorful, and there was more than enough for two people. I'd give the food an 8/10. The service, however, was disappointing. Our server was friendly when she interacted with us, but she was very slow and never checked on us during the meal. Overall, I'd rate the service a 3/10. Food: 8/10 Service: 3/10 Great seafood, but the lack of attention and long wait to even place an order made for a frustrating experience.

Worse place ever! When there just now. Air conditioner was broken...that's ok I guess it…read morehappens....the place smelled like rotten fish! They have no glassware- asked for wine and a glass of water - big paper cups. It was ridiculous! No one at the bar where I sat and yet the bartender took her time like she had a full house. She had over grown nails that you could see dirt under them. That's when I decided to run out of there. I paid my $3 and tip her a $1 and she looked at me like I was crazy. Over priced food items! Horrible service. Dirty floors and bar top!

Too expensive and rude service Ordered a cocktail was…read morecharged 21.00 Told not to come back when I complained

I wanted to love this restaurant...really I did. I was excited to go there. The environment is…read morequirky and the chef is a James Beard semi-finalist (2016). Unfortunately...it was not good. I'm giving a star for the wine and a star for the service. The food was terrible. The skirt steak was actually an old sirloin. Not aged...expired. When we cut into it, it tasted like it had been in the fridge too long. To add insult to injury, it was still blue inside the middle. I hate to say this but the meat tasted like an old spot buy... absolutely awful. We sent it back. The other meal was rock fish...dried out and unseasoned. Plus it was super small...about 1 inch wide by two inches long. I love rock fish and this was the worst I have ever had. I didn't eat much but we felt bad about sending two dishes back given nobody else was in the restaurant. Honestly, I should have. The overly smoked mushy vegetables were absolutely disgusting. Even after washing my hands several times I could still smell the smoke on my hands, even though I never touched it. It seemed like the chef dropped an entire liquid smoke bottle into the vegetables which tasted like they were canned from 2022. Honestly, I should have known better. Nobody was in the restaurant when the Hilton down the street and other restaurants nearby were packed. When we sat down the table was sticky. We sent the dead sirloin back and still spent over 125 dollars and left hungry. Sorry for the awful review...but this was a terrible experience.