If you want fresh seafood in a fun atmosphere, then pls come to Sammy's. I've been coming here for years and the food is still the best! Try the fried fisherman's platter. OMG! The amount of seafood you get is unreal--fresh and delicious! The pickled veggies and bread and cheese are always good. Come early or you'll have to wait a long time--even with a reservation. (My only complaint.) The valet parking makes it easy to park. Yes, the restaurant can get loud--but who comes to Sammy's for a quiet dinner. Pricy--but it's seafood. You won't be disappointed. You'll be stuffed! read more

Everything was very good and portions were huge got Italian seafood feast for 2 had to take it home great service

This place is truly a nightmare kitchen. I ordered the tuna steak with baked potato and my wife ordered the Whiting with baked potato it all tasted old just nasty it tasted as reheated food the baked potato looked and tasted as if it was baked days ago. I was very disappointed but I will not judge the other restaurants on city Island as being the same if I could give this a zero stars I would. This is definitely a good place for Chef Ramsey's show nightmare kitchens just one word describes it all nasty. By the way the menu is huge but repetitive I don't know why they think that a huge repetitive menu makes a difference. The staff...I can only judge our waiter he was unprofessional everything seemed to bother him even taking the order. We left the food behind I tried a bite or two and left the rest because it was nauseating. when they cleaned the table you could see them trying to clear it carefully as not to mix the leftovers.????? read more

This place is definitely expensive. But the portions are big and the customer service is top notch. I will come here again for sure.

Wonderful place, especially in the spring/summer time! Me and my husband go there all the time in the summer and walk along city island. The staff is very friendly, and they give you so much food! The last time my husband and I went to sammy's he had a whole lobster with a baked potatoe and they give you vegtables and rice and corn bread!! He finished the whole meal!!! He loved it! The drinks are amazing! Best pina coladas ever! read more

I thought it was going to be great.BOY was I WRONG. My wife and I just ordered steamed clams that were tasteless and I counted about 18 clams fo $22 . I could go to any seafood place and get double the amount of steamers for less and better priced. We also got piri piri shrimp for $16. for 6 tasteless shrimp.Then we split a lobster roll for $20 . A rip off for a 6 inch sandwich. I guess for my 1st time we ordered the wrong stuff. Appetizers were very small. My wife is a small eater and we went out to eat later that night because we were so disappointed.I will never make that mistake again. I was so upset. $80 . For garbage read more

We drove in traffic for over 2 hours to get the most disgusting experience ever. First we ask for 2 children's seats and the hostess give me an attitude.We ask for the king crab legs and we got 5 legs at a cost of $69.99. We question the waiter and very rude he reply. That's all what you get. The stuff fish with shrimps was so dry that not even water will fixed. The fried fish and soft crabs tasted old. The amount of flies over the food was very disturbing .A family dinner to celebrate our new addition turn to be the most expensive and disgusting experience ever read more

Came out to celebrate my moms 55 bday and what HORRFIC PLACE. The service was terrible and the food was bland and over rated. I ate the shrimp scampi and it wasnt good. The waiter was terrible and very rude. This is the only restaurant that doesn't do separate tabs as well. The service was so bad that I decided to not pay tip that was included in the check. Would never return again n DON'T recommend it to anyone. Food is way too overpriced and Did I mention that the service is terrible!! read more

Love this place......the portions are huge & the food tastes great!!!!!

I'm 31 years old and I've never had service this bad. Our waiter didn't come by once to check on us. Not even once! We had to flag him down to get refills on our drinks and to get the check. Just horrible. The food was ok. It was a little overpriced but not outrageous. I'd consider going back based on the food alone but the terrible service makes Sammy's a place to avoid at all costs. read more

My family went to Sammy's for the first time, to celebrate a birthday. We had 6 people. I wanted to try the fish which was advertised on the menu, but the waiter said they dont have this anymore. We Asked the waiter which meal she would recommend, she did not give any suggestions so we all decided to try the special on the menu and ordered the Clams with rice. The meal was exceptionally a huge portion, it came in a frying pan which was burning hot. there was enough rice to feed a whole family in each portion. There were pieces of clam shells inside the rice which made it hard to eat. we each took 3/4 of the portion to go which we had to eventually throw out. The place was noisy and waiters were not friendly. We will not return to this restaurant again. read more

Last night, my family and I decided to have dinner here for my mother's birthday. It's one of hey favorite restaurants in the tri-state area. We arrived during the dinner rush. As can be expected, the place was bustling with patrons wanting to enjoy the same great service that we anticipated from a well established and adequately priced seafood restaurant. However, that is not at allWhat my family and I encountered! To begin, or waiter who's name was "bud," provided the absolute worst table service I've Ever experienced in my entire life! And I've been to quite a wide variation of food establishments in my thirty years of living! Just to make light of a few instances, the menus are pretty large in size but that's neither here nor there. Upon collecting the menus after we'd placed our orders, I knocked over my glass of water onto the table. Mind you he's there to witness this. Fir some strange reason at no point in time what so ever did he ask ore take the liberty to refill the glass or bring a replacement to me. My family and I are acid water drinkers. It can only be my assumption that if we ALL ordered water add the beverage of choice that common sense would tell him that us quite necessary or even highly recommended that the spilled beverage be refreshed it was not. He wad very inattentive to our needs and not very amicable add one should be in the field of which he had chosen to work. I've worked in the restaurant industry throughout my high school career as well as periodically thereafter. I know God stocks when I see it! He also failed to adequately provide follow up visits to the table to ensure that our meal was not in anyway unsatisfactory. On that note, my sister and I ordered the seafood skewer entrée which included a wide variety of different seafood obviously on a skewer. Unfortunately the fish peon 5 of the skewer was actually rancid not to mention nothing on the skewer had any flavor to it AT ALL! Bud wad unaware of such a circumstance because he never came back to the table after the initial follow up. Not to provide more water, check for quality of the meal, nothing. Eventually I made contact with a manager whom I addressed the issue with and he assisted me in that aspect. Both my sister and myself were very displeased with our meals! My mother had her usual seafood platter "fried combination" wick actually was good! My brother in law who ordered the salmon and shrimp combination had no complaints other than his fish being tasteless and flat. So to sum this all up just be aware of a few things when attending this restaurant. 1) if you're pregnant and order any type of grilled fish or prefer not to be exposed to rancid fish (Luke my sister and I were who is in fact pregnant) by all means, do a smell and taste check before freely consuming your $40/plate meal. 2) Do not order water add your main beverage, apparently it infers absurdities amongst the wait staff. And finally, do not sit in hours of nyc city traffic traveling from NJ I in hopes of a pleasurable dining experience if your not willing to run the risk of being exposed to such unprofessional behavior from the staff at this restaurant. I have pictures of my entrée. I'll see if I can attach them to this review. read more

I went there with hubby and friends. There was no waiting time. The staff was courteous . The food was delicious. The portions was gigantic. We had enough food to bring back for lunch the next day. thanks for a wonderful meal. We will be back!!!! read more

Everytime I go there, I always order the family feast. Its tastes good and fills u up good.

This is the best seafood restaurant on city island. Everything from their piña coladas,strawberry margaritas..to their raw clams , steamed clams, calamari, crab legs paellas lobster tails....is absolutely delicious. Yes it's a bit pricey BUT U GET YOUR MONEYS WORTH! and you walk out of their stuffed! Their desserts are tasty esp chocolate mousse cake and love their cappuccino! Our waiter was Jeffrey he was absolutely the best! Amazing service and staff! Always go back !! read more

Very very disappointing. This is high priced fast food. The presentation is far below what you would expect for such an expensive restaurant. Food was bland and poor quality. Definitely not worth the $40 - $50 entrees. You can go some place else and get much better food for those prices. read more

how anyone can hate on this place, I have no idea. my family has been raving about Sammy's for years, but I'd never been until recently. and I must say I was very, very pleasantly surprised. first, the waitress, one of those really sweet, pleasant, buxom st pauli girl types, comes over and apologizes she cant get to us right away, she'll be with us as soon as possible. then the fresh warm Italian bread with butter, cornbread, and cheese come out. damn that was almost enough in itself, that bread was GOOD, man. then st. pauli girl comes over and takes the drink orders, brings the drinks, takes the food order, has the Mexican dood bring more bread and cheese, then brings the food. as good as the drinks were, and the frozen margarita, though expensive, was really done with a delicate touch. strong and full of flavor, a good punch of booze, but in no way overwhelming, an EXCELLENT drink. but the food was even better. everybody got fried shrimp, I felt like Italian, so I had the shrimp and chicken parm with spaghetti. and man. it was really really good...juicy succulent shrimp, fresh tomato sauce, a huge, but tender and lightly breaded boneless breast smothered in parm, covered with sauce. deep bowl of tender and perfectly al dente pasta on the side. exactly what I wanted, exactly what I had in mind, and it did. not. disappoint. in any way... st pauli girl came back like twenty minutes later, we were all on the verge of passing out....lol. handed us plates to help pack up the leftovers. it was expensive, no doubt, but there was no skimping, very generous portions led to several doggie bags worth their weight in gold. not very difficult to get to, maybe twenty minutes driving from manhattan, but worth it, man. its been a while since I been, but to the best of my recollection, better than carmines, better fish, better chicken, better sauce, better food. a little bit on the loud side, but kid friendly, and again, first rate service, really, really good people there. worth the trip ABSOLUTELY. two thumbs way way up.... read more

This is the first time at this restaurant. I am from the west coast and used to paying inflated prices for seafood. I have eaten at other City Island establishments and found them quite good and reasonable. That was not the case for this establishment. The service was not good. I was put as a single in a corner booth and rarely checked on if I did not summon the waiter. I had an iced tea and the grilled shrimp stuffed with crab. I was assuming for the 46.95 price, these would be some big shrimp. Wrong, there were 5 medium sized shrimp on top of a decent amount of crab. The crab was actually good. Additionally from the soup to the entree, the food was just like warm. I'm glad I tried it, but I will not be back. They need better service, hot good, and price it to the point if there are issues you don't feel like you got robbed. read more

I loved my first experience at Sammy's! Got the lobster lunch special and it came in such huge portions and was absolutely delicious. Great, fresh seafood at killer value prices. It helped that Lauren (Sammy's wife) personally came around to check on each and make sure they were happy. I'll be back again for sure! Lovely place. read more

I'm just being really nice with the 1 star after last night they deserve 0. Anyways went there last night with my wife. Place was not full. We were sat down at our table and got served the bread/ corn bread and some veggies. Our waitress was arguing and cursing loudly on her cell phone we thought it was another customer. Anyway that went on for 10 minutes so we're in there 15 minutes now with just the corn bread and veggies. The manager kept on passing by without saying anything to her being on her cell phone while customers are waiting to order. Three customers were sat behind us by now it's 20 minutes and no one ever came for our order but the manager kept walking back and forth I guess he thought we was just sitting statues. Lol. So here we are starving and 25 minutes have passed when the waitress came to the table behind us and started taking their order. Really? I guess she was so distracted from her phone call that she never saw us with me yes on the table? And to think I was going to treat my wife to dinner that he haven't done in so long. After 30 minutes we decided to get up and go and that's us being nice waiting 30 minutes for our order to be taken with just the corn bread / bread and veggies. Horrible horrible service will never return there again. Sorry Sammy's you need to get better management that are on top of their employees and not letting them talk on their cell phones while your customers are waiting to be served. 2 thumbs down for you. read more

This place is horrible & The food is disgusting. I came here thinking I was going to get fresh seafood yet it felt like I was chewing on rubber. Simply horrible. The shrimp wasn't cleaned properly talk about poop cocktail. The crab meat was simply tasteless. Then they bring u complimentary unappealing mixed vegetables served on ice which made no sense to me cause they also serve u the same complementary veggies again except heated and with rice which also too was tasteless. I expected fresh soul food seafood and was very disappointed. I will never go back there again. Place should be shut down. Where is Chef Ramsey when u need him. Smdh ! read more

I've been to Sammy's many times. always a great experience. I also frequent their other places, Seaside Johnnies and the Tiki bar in Rye. Although I will still go to the Rye places, I will never go to or suggest Sammy's Fishbox on City Island to anyone. I brought my family there on Friday Feb. 27, 2016. I knew to make a reservation, I knew there would be a wait anyway. However I never expected the hostess to be so nasty. When I gave my name and said I had a reservation, she snapped back "that's too bad, you gotta wait like everyone else". I said how long and her response was "no idea, maybe an hour, now move over, theres other people" I said cancel my reservation and she said "whatever" Apparently my couple of hundred dollars spent when I go there was not important. Bad example for an otherwise nice place. I will NEVER be back. read more

Whatever you do not park your car with the Valet. I was there on Morher's Day and my day was ruined when I got my car back with the entire passenger side scratched from the rear quarter panel all the way to passenger front door. At the time we all agreed to have a shop that works for sammys try and buff the scratches out but the damage is too severe. I took my car to an auto body shop near my house as I live in Westchester and rather have someone I trust to fix my 2016, Honda Accord with barely 1000 miles. The manager Steve told me to give him estimate and they will take care of it needless to say after I got a quote of $1400 he felt it was too much and refuses to fix my car stating to go through my insurance. Is it fair that my rates go up or is it fair that I have to come out of pocket for deductible when I did not damage my car. They refuse to give me any insurance information. I spoke to my insurance company and they state that this is what these restaurants do in order to pay less for damage they create. What happens is ... I pay my deductible then my insurance has to sue sammys to get back even having to settle at a low price in order to gain payment all while the money I put up for deductible is being held. This is not good practice. Make sure you don't drive a new car into sammys valet. read more

So I wanted to come here because of the reviews. Let me tell you if you want bad service come here. Our waiter Bud took 20 mins to come take our order. Mind you it wasn't busy at all. Takes the order this is our 1st here and I'm asking him questions no input whatsoever I was like okkkk. Anyway our food comes out never comes to check up on us never comes to ask if we need anything wrapped. I stopped another waiter to help me get me to pack my leftovers. I asked her to get me my check she sent me to another waiter who called my stupid waiter. He finally shows up doesn't even apologize prints out my receipt and o had him my card to pay he takes another 10 mins with the check. Never came to offer me what comes with my meal didn't even offer if I wanted to take it to go. Horrible service. So as soon as I left I called to speak to the manager I was on hold for 10 mins and no one came to the line. I'm sorry but this isn't the way you get service. read more

Me and my family went on 9/22/2018 to the restaurant for our 10 year wedding anniversary after 10 years back that I engage my wife there, I maybe a personal reservation and spoke to a worker that she told me she was going to be there and will be try to give us a very nice area and will have my champagne before my wife come to the table and I told her please try you better to have a nice table. My reservation was a 10:30pm, ones I got there was very pack is ok but went I went to ask for the worker she was not there and I spoke to the other worker that was very helpful we me but she can't help me, ones I went to the table wooooo is was very dirty and table was on even moving a lot to the side and was right in the middle of the area went I ask the a both side, all the waitress look like they don't want to work there because I did not see not waitress friendless at all, bathroom was not a nice inside dirty and etc.... the person on the bar didn't have no eye contact we any one the bar area my wife call her like 4 time never came to the area passing by and noting happened at all for the 30 min. that is was there we dissing to go to another place and we went to VISTA MAR they really take care of me and my family in a level to 10, but to close this for my 30min Experian I will not be come back to the restaurant and will not tell my friend and family to go there SORRY SAMMY very nice 10 years back but now bad read more

I can't say enough about this place I come here often before the food is always good and the service ever better I always go with the broiled king crab legs and there isn't anything better that sometimes I'll get the paella feast for 2 and when I tell you that will feed about 8 people easy it may even feed more because my family eats a lot and 4 of us still took about half of it home and it is the best paella I've ever ate hands down so much seafood in that paella and he rice taste amazing read more

I went to Sammy's on a Friday night. I ordered a red snapper, since i love sea food. When i got my meal, and i took the first bite i could not even swallow it. The fish did not have absolutely any flavor. The fish was supposed to be fried and the flour that they used had to be the cheapest. The sweet potatoe fried had more flavor than the fish. When i told the waiter he told me that the fish supposed to taste like that and that it was very different than cooking it at home. I was apalled when he told me this. I have eaten red snapper before and in places that are less expensive and it tasted much much better than at Sammy's. After i told the waiter this he told me if i wanted to take it home. Are you serious? My friends and i had ordered fried calamari as appetizers and they were equally horrible. I do have to say that they gave me a discount for the plate, which was better than nothing. On the positive side the Mango mojito was really good. I was very disatisfied with the food. read more

Wanted to take my wife somewhere special on Friday night, what a mistake this place was... Ordered fried JUMBO shrimp which were actually 6 medium beer battered shrimp whiched taste like they were fried in Old oil - just horrible. My Wife ordered broiled shrimp in garlic sauce - recommended by the wait staff. Tasted like grilled shrimp with a splash of oil and no garlic. We GOT GOT! The Rice was desert dry. Paid about $70.00 for crappy tasting food. We won't be back! read more

Really great seafood, generous portions, excellent service, clean and friendly. The complimentary bread, cheese wedge and marinated veggies are almost a meal in themselves. The Bronx Chowder is for Tabasco lovers! Can't wait to go back again. Tell Abu, the Manager, that I sent you and ask to be seated in DeShawn's section! read more

We wanted soft shell crabs and decided to go to Sammy's which is a 45 minute drive but always worth the ride. Since it was a Monday we decided to call and ask if they were serving them. We were told yes. When we ordered them we were told that the delivery hadn't arrived yet. We told our waiter, Dru, that we had called and he felt so bad that he mentioned it to the Manager, Gratin Kyle (sorry if we misspelled it). Kyle came and told us he was going to call his other restaurants to see if they had them. He did and personally went to pick them up. They were fresh and delicious. We can't thank them enough for going to such trouble for us. Kyle kept us updated on his search and went above and beyond to make us happy. Whenever we want lobster or good fish we make the trip to Sammy's. read more

One of my favorite places in city island. Service is good, food is excellent. Make sure you have reservations on the weekend.

.....My whole family gathered at Sammy's to celebrate my sister's 50th Birthday on 9/24/14. I must say that I was very disappointed and wondered if some of these people that rated them with 5 stars actually ate here. The service was horrendous, the prices for some of the dishes were outrageous and the food was horrible!!!!! I will never go to SAMMY's again and will not recommend this place to anyone. The waiter forgot we needed forks to eat with, he forgot my daughters food, he forgot to tell us or ask us if we were ready for the birthday cake, he forgot to ask us if we wanted coffee or tea, he forgot my nieces drinks, the bill was $600.00 (not including the tip) it was so not worth it! I advise anyone who wants to go to City Island to stay away from this place! read more

During my first visit to Sammy's fish box I was served water and there was a gnat in the water!! I alerted someone and was given an apology. During the entree, I was given mashed pickled vegetables that should not have been mashed. Cauliflower should not be mashed, the salad did not have cucumbers and I alerted the waiter!! The time factor for the food was LONG!!!! So I gave them the benefit of the doubt and went back a second time like a dummy. During the second time, my lettuce was old and wilted, the pickled vegetables were mashed again, the complimentary bread came with a small piece of cheese while other patrons had two pieces!!! My food order was wrong, I received shrimps instead of scallops. The food service is horrid and the waiters are rude. I will never ever return to Sammy's fish box!!! Do yourself a favor and eat someplace else. read more

Went for dinner on Sunday night...Starting with the waiter he was old and looks like he does not want to work, he came after 15 minutes we ordered our drinks took another 15 minutes, after all we decided to order a paella and it was an extra $5.00 charge for an extra person, we were okay with that and we were trying to have a calm dinner a HORRIBLE fight started in a blink of an eye. My kids were on panic ...they were crying...it was men throwing stuff to each other it was completely HORRIBLE I would not recommend this restaurant to nobody Whoever reading to this review please do not even think to go have dinner in that place, it is not safe, they did not have security guard and we couldn't leave the restaurant for almost an hour I would let everybody that I know to not go to this place EXPENSIVE, the food was tasteless and it is not safe The fight was looking like David and Golliath.... It was HORRIBLE read more

Very poor service! I went to Sammys with my husband over the weekend. We went for an early dinner, so the restaurant wasn't very busy! However, our waiter paid no attention to us!!!! Not even checking on us to see if our orders were ok (even though I did notice him walking back & forth). When we were ready for our check, he was no where to be found. I asked someone else if they could bring our check & was told they would let my waiter know. She then walked directly over to him & he STILL took at least 10 -15 mins to come at that point. Maybe he had too many tables? I don't know...but who wants to be ignored when they are spending their money? I will never go back!!!! read more

Sammys fish box has a special place in my heart. I've been coming here since I was a kid. Not much has changed and I like it that way. Service can be better but it doesn't take away from the experience. Love the Crab and lobster feast; it feeds an entire family of 4. I just love this place. read more

I agree with other reviewers to stay away from the chicken, steak and ribs. Their seafood is great but the other stuff not so much, not terrible but not as good as the seafood. The service was good. It gets very busy in the evening so there is a delay in service but that's to be expected. Overall a good place, good food, good drinks and a pleasant atmosphere. read more

the decor is average and the staff is average as well, however the crab and lobster feast is the bomb. we order that everytime we go there and it never disappoints. read more

My family and I are never coming back. Initially, I was going to have my graduation party some place else, but my aunt convinced me to make a reservation with Sammy's Fish Box. I spoke with "Tiffany" that assured me that they had space for a party of 20 plus people. Instead of being served, we were held in the lobby for 3 hours and then escorted to the restaurant across the street as a courtesy for the wait. I had family from CA, CT, NY, and NJ with me to celebrate my graduation day and this restaurant gave us the worst service ever. They revealed that reservations are honored but if all parties are not present then they can fill the seats. Mind you, all 21 of my guest were present and some came early. I would have preferred being told this over the phone or given a more straightforward answer that you don't have space or a separate room to accommodate a large party. My family and I returned to NJ very dissatisfied with our experience, but our money was spent better elsewhere. read more

sammy s fish box ,i been there over years and i'm not lieing ,i use to work there so i know the in and outs of sammy s ,first the bus boys mostly dont know english ,dirty uniforms ,the kitchen superizer ABU indian man he only checks big food dishes going out ,spoons and forks are not wash only a quick wash truw machine ,small cake peisces due to un trained staff (ask for chocalate cake its the best and big slice,dont order soup as it doesnt sell so it just sits there in pot,make shore your plates are cleaned as the staff are trained to wash them every sunday only for the week in bleach ,rest of week only quick rise. the fish is safe and best and big plates seafood cook been there 22 years, deep fried food no good oil changed every 3 monthes by owner, for good service go to take out they hookyou up in drinks and for for money on side just talk to fat white guy ,i bought shirmps for $10.00 and 4 drinks for $5.00 due to owner not paying his staff right , read more