After a recommendation from a local bartender, our family of 12 stopped in for dinner. It was one of the worst experiences we had during our 5-day trip to Georgia. We called about reservations and they said they could seat us if we could be there by 5:30 since they were expecting a lot of walk-in business for the holiday weekend. When we got there, the place was practically empty. They assigned two servers to our table who were friendly but couldn't answer hardly any of the questions we had about the menu. They gave us a drink menu but they were out of practically every drink on the menu. Did we ignore these red flags? Yes. Why? Because we were starving and trusted the recommendation. After we got drinks sorted, we started browsing the menu. They have four non-seafood protein dishes on their menu and they were out of three of them. They were also out of spinach, the salsa for the fish tacos, and something else. Long story short, we had very little to choose from. My 280 lb husband ended up ordering a wedge salad and hush puppies for dinner. The hush puppies were severely overcooked and dry, so he didn't even get to eat them. We also ordered crab cakes for an appetizer. When they were brought to the table, I thought someone ordered grilled portobello mushroom caps. I have never seen crab cakes that were paper thin and gray. The rest of the food was mediocre at best. The shrimp and grits (or fried grit cake actually) were decent, but the worst dish was the seafood linguine. There was plenty of seafood, but the sauce was basically pasta water, an alarming amount of thyme (or rosemary), and fresh squeezed lemon. It was so sour that it made your lips pucker and your eyes water. Hands down, this dish was one of the worst plates of food I have ever tasted in my adult life. By the time we left an hour and a half later there was only one other table that sat down. Between the 12 of us, our bill was $500. We paid it and immediately went and ate pizza. As we walked down the street to the pizza parlor, every other restaurant was buzzing with patrons. This is 100% an issue with food quality and taste. Someone lost their passion in that kitchen and it shows. read more

Salmon & mashed potato were cooked perfect, Brussels sprout not so much. Still thoroughly enjoyed my dinner especially Appetizer ahi tuna was 5 out of 5. Lit expensive but was worth it. read more

YellowFin - Salmon Provençal Brussels Sprouts Roasted Garlic Potatoes Roasted Garlic Potatoes Salmon Provençal - Seafood Near Me - Gainesville, Georgia

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I didn't get a real feel for the atmosphere because we must have come at an odd time and we were the only customers until we were finishing up. But the decor was neat, little round mirrors on the walls like windows on a ship. The staff were wonderful, they hung out by the bar so they wouldn't be awkwardly hovering since we were the only ones there. The restaurant does get busy, the first time I saw it the place was packed. Everything on the menu sounded good but I went with the special which was a blacked salmon over mashed potatoes and corn with some sort of sauce. The flavors were absolutely amazing. The sauce paired perfectly with everything and brought it all together. The menu was clearly put together by chef that knows how to bring flavors together to create a delicious dining experience. I will definitely be back to try out more of the menu. read more

YellowFin - Salmon over mashed potatoes and corn - Seafood Near Me - Gainesville, Georgia

This restaurant was not worth the money ($150) we paid to have the dinner and drinks we ordered! I tried the fish n chips, the fish was overly greasy and fries were stale. My grown daughter ordered the Mac and cheese which was decent but, not very warm. My husband ordered fish tacos which were just alright, nothing fancy. Our appetizer was the apple brie grilled cheese which was good and very fresh. The service at this restaurant was good, we had a young lady who was attentive and sweet. Overall, the ambience of this restaurant was not very inviting as a patron. read more

This review is an update of our former five stars. I'm afraid that it is looking like there might be a variation from day to day at yellowfin. Joe was our server. He was very polite and filled our drinks before we had to ask. This caliber of service is, unfortunately, rare these days. There was no soup-du-jour today. Their soups are extra special here, so we were disappointed. We chose the daily special and the seafood combo. The special included a rib-eye, ordered medium rare but received medium well! Also came with huge scallops (3) that were very tasty. When we received the check, we were a little surprised that the cost of the special was $54. The seafood combo has never failed to please, coming in at $32. After all was said and done, the total check was over $100, $127 with gratuity. Imho a little high for a casual dinner for two. And I'm sorry, but a fifty four dollar steak should, at least, be cooked correctly. YellowFin can shine like a star ( we've seen it ), but missed the mark on this visit. The takeaway pearl from Yellowfin is "inconsistent ". read more

We love Yellowfin. Nice seafood place in downtown Gainesville. Sister restaurant to Recess Gastropub next door and the food is equally as good. Fish is always fresh and tasty. Servers are knowledgeable and have great offers. read more

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Godzilla, it was ok. Great food really for the price. Serving staff was efficient and nice, They didn't have any sake though read more

YellowFin - Seafood Near Me - Gainesville, Georgia

I can't say enough nice things about this restaurant and the owner. I had a disaster of a rehearsal dinner to deal with last minute--as in 2 days!--and he really come through! 2 days and 28 people isn't something many restaurants would even consider making work. It will now be on my list for any event or dinner for just two and everything in between! Highly recommend!!! read more

After seeing the reviews and overall rating, I had high hopes for this restaurant. The inside ambiance is pretty dark and lackluster which isn't a huge deal but it has so much potential. We came during happy hour and opted for the oysters to start, but they came out fishy, dry, with zero oyster liquor, and just overall unappealing. Typically when there is no oyster liquor that either means they were shucked improperly or are pretty old, we didn't want to risk it with the fishy smell so we sent them back. We tried to order 2 different cocktails and each time they had to check to see if they had all the ingredients so not sure what is going on there. My husband really enjoyed the salmon dish and my Baja tacos were alright. We are visiting from Tampa so we have a lot to compare to, but at least the service was decent. read more

Very good food, and good service also. We have eaten there twice, and have enjoyed it both times.

The seared tuna appetizer was delicious very Asian inspired flavors. The original salad was small and had a spicy tang to the dressing. The shrimp and grits were ok not very much flavor being that it had the Cajun sausage with it. The fish and chips were not very good. The fries were the most flavorful of all the fish was bland and had absolutely NO flavor whatsoever so ever. Had the old fashioned cocktail and waitress was nice and had to go across the street to get cherries for the drink they were out of most of their cocktails. For a grand total of $105 it was not worth the cost of a flavorless meal the only thing I would get again would be the seared tuna. read more

We went and decided to get appetizers. They were absolutely amazing! Christian was very helpful and the food was delicious! Highly recommend! read more

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Everything here is top notch. The best sushi in town. Highly recommended. Pick up service is great too. Any time I have friends and/or family come into town we head over their way. Five stars. read more

After first moving to the area a month ago & seeing this is one of the highest rated places, I tried to come. Two times seeing a full parking lot & no place to park made me shy away. Last night offered the opportunity on a Tuesday so we made reservations for four. Arriving early at 5:30 & pleased to see we made it for Happy Hour too! Great cocktail & glass of wine from an attentive bar staff. It's a beautiful & charming old building beautifully updated, that screams an earlier time & love that the character of the historical building is kept to create an upscale bistro feel. We were immediately greeted by a polite & professional staff who eagerly got us to a table & immediately ordered drinks. We ordered two appetizers- calamari & crab cakes. The Calamari was the largest rings I'd ever seen. Not your typical type order of this dish at all. I do have a preference for smaller pieces & tentacles but this was perfectly cooked & freshly breaded. But it lacked any seasoning. Just clean, light breading. The marinara was cold. I do think it would have been better heated & the breading seasoned a tad. The crab cakes are easily noticed to be handmade in house. Very good & fresh! The sauce was light & perfectly seasoned. We ordered 4 entrees. Being a seafood fan I wanted so much to order a staple in the fish tacos but opted for the seafood platter consisting of blackened Mahi, shrimp & a crab cake. Two sides of Brussels sprouts & broccoli & cheese. All of the seafood was perfectly prepared & very good! The Brussels sprouts were a bit crunchy & could have used a min more to cook but was fresh & hot! But man... that broccoli & cheese was awesome! May sound silly but it was served in a soup cup like you'd get French onion soup. Golden brown cheese from under the broiler & a ver smooth cheese. Great flavor and a surprise in such a simple side dish. Loved my meal & felt it was moderately priced. 2 in our party opted for the Filet Medallions that were perfectly cooked medium & two variations was candied Brussels sprouts & asparagus. The candied Brussels were awesome & I had wished I had know as I would have preferred that over my hard plain Brussels. Bits of bacon, onions & a lighter sauce than most seen out. Very good plate! The other had the largest asparagus stalks over ever seen! I told the table it was Jack & the Bean stalk style! HUGE! I think we all know asparagus is favored to be smaller & young tender shoots but this was grilled and Al dente. But superb presentation. It wasn't left though as our 12 yr old guest hammered the entire plate down with a side of fries to boot! - natural, in house cut & fresh! The 4th plate was the seafood Mac & cheese by our other 14 yr old Teen guest. She loved it & we ALL asked for a bite but was curtly refused! She guarded it & was already thinking of leftovers for lunch tomorrow! LOL Again the cheese was set under a broiler & golden brown which increases the flavor & accentuated the homemade preparation. Overall it's easy to see this place is going to be a staple to be a Go To spot in years to come. Great staff. Superb service. And 4 of us dined for what would normally be a check for 2. Looking forward to returning here & to try the sister restaurant next door as we were told they are owned by the same person with home style foods & certain to have a similar staff that treats you like neighbors & family on the first visit. The new parking garage a building away is now open - but if you come by & see a full lot, still walk yo this gem. So happy with our visit! Even the bar back who came by gathering plates was kind enough to take pictures for us. Nothing wrong at all with having such a professional, polite, attentive & very friendly staff. Next visit more than likely be outside on the sidewalk with our dog to enjoy as well. read more

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Delicious food, excellent service, nice casual atmosphere. Try the Crème brûlée! Must save room for it!

Here now. Writing a review. We've all been there. The long wait. We're two. Splitting a single meal. We had a dozen oysters that were delicious huge northern oysters. We came hungry. Very hungry. Our oysters arrived within ten minutes of walking in the door. We ordered a salad and a seafood platter. Within 5 minutes of finishing our oysters our salad arrived. We drank 3 drinks all delicious salad delicious. It's been about 30 minutes since eating our salad and drinking our drinks that we've been waiting for our singular entree to arrive. Meanwhile a table of 8 ordered what we were 100% sure was their meals after us. After our salads they got they got theirs. But before we got our food they got their food. And not only did they get their food they had an identical plate to ours on their table. Wiggling out legs. It's a struggle. Writing all this as we wait for our entree. It's been at least 30 minutes with no movement for us. The vibe was good. Everything taste great. Hope you get more luck with the kitchen than we did. The server has offered to comp our desert. Not really interested in desert generally. I'll probably be back because of how delicious everything has been. But pretty disappointed. Posting. Still waiting. Will update about the dinner if it feels significant one way are the other. read more

Love love love! Great service, amazing food, great atmosphere! Save room for their dessert!

Cute place, love the environment, love the food too. 2 time went there always happy so far.

Removing a star for this visit. If I could take half a star at 3.5 it would be more accurate but not a 4 on this visit. We had a reservation for 6:30 friday and arrived 20 minutes early. There was no seating at that time except a high top. We said we would wait (vertically challenged wife) until our reservation time. When we returned, they sat us at a table for 6 that was already open when we got there originally. The hostess had a voice that sounds like she is yelling which is off putting as a customers first impression. Our table was next to the hostess stand, not so optimal but not a high top. Apparently all the waitresses keep their drinks on the stand so it was quite a busy little area. We ordered the calamari as we had not had it before. While the breading was good some of the pieces were cooked too long and became rubbery. Since it is easy to do this being cut that thick, we wil not be ordering calamari there again. The waitress told us I willl bring you bread, when I asked about it later since it had not arrived, she then said there is a charge for bread, ok, please bring it. Perhaps I misundertood her but, I do not believe that to be the case. Next, I ordered the seafood mac and cheese and a side of hushpuppies. While this is a large quantity dish it was aslo a greasy dish. The shrimp were only partially de-veined, not sure if by design or just sloppy prep work. I did not care for it this time and I love mac and cheese. I only ate about 1/3 of the dish. The hush puppies we order every time as they are awesome and were tonight. She had the salmon and loved it. It had a nice presentation on the plate and cooked perfectly. Last we had the cheesecake that was key lime flavored. Very rich and tasty. We could not finish the whole slice. While we have been here 3 times prior this experience was dissapointing since we drive 50 minutes to get there. read more

Yes, good steak seafood and pasta at a reasonable price. Casual ambience. Great hot oysters with different topics.

Yum, yum, yum! Food is super good and service is amazing. Very knowledgeable staff with awesome recommendations! Had sword fish and avocado rice and grilled Asparagus - soooo good! The appetizer of beef tips with red cabbage and ginger dressing- amazing!! Definitely will go back!! read more

Here on business, easy to make reservations. Waithelp was friendly, enthusiastic, and very helpful. Had the crab cakes (lump crab with right amount of filler amd lobster bisque. Nice chunks of lobster. Special cocktail made with Southern sweet tea was perfect and not overly sweet. Would come here again!! read more

We went to YellowFin for our anniversary this year. The ambiance and service was excellent... the food not so much. It was a tad bland for my palate. I will give it another shot this summer to see if it gets better. read more

YellowFin's ambiance is casual but not "bar" casual - more a bit upscale casual. Older, renovated building with high ceilings. Service was excellent. Our waiter knew the menu very well, including wines and beers (we weren't interested in cocktails). The food was excellent! My dining companion had 2 appetizers: mussels and tuna poke. The mussels were plentiful and perfectly prepared. The poke was delicious! Fresh, perfectly seasoned, and the wontons were fresh and crisp. I had salmon with Yukon gold mashed potatoes, capers, shallots and Brussels sprouts. The flavors blended perfectly! We split a crème brûlée- mmmmm. We tried to go back, but it is closed Sundays and Mondays. HIGHLY recommend read more

Friendly staff and love the atmosphere. Although, we disliked more more of the food we got than we liked. Slaw, bang bang shrimp and broccoli weren't good. Would go back for drinks or apps, probably never dinner again. read more

This is the best restaurant ever. The filet is outstanding, better than any fancy steakhouse. Great service from Alex. We will definitely be back. read more

Was quite surprised that this was as good as it was. The grits Cajun was overpowering but good. The crab and shrimp macaroni and cheese was awesome. But...the creme brûlée was a big miss. Good flavor but that hard crunchy top was soft and mushy. Bad enough to make this a 3 star, especially since our waitress who was super helpful with the menu up to this point just shrugged her shoulders after she asked if we liked it and told her it wasn't good. read more

YellowFin - Shrimp and grits. They're good not great, Cajun overpowered the dish. - Seafood Near Me - Gainesville, Georgia

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Decided to give this well reviewed restaurant a try and o found it very disappointing. Upon entering the place was empty, but it was a Tuesday night on a holiday week. I sat at the bar and had an old fashioned drink Oyster Rockefeller to start. The bartender/server was excellent. Very personable and out going. The old fashioned and Oysters were on point. Originally I was just going to get an app but the app was so good I ordered the seafood sampler. It came with a crab cake, shrimp, grouper and 2 sides. I should have stuck with the app and left! I had the platter blackened and it still was way under seasoned, the bland fish was not even a full serving, just 4 little pieces, and the shrimp were even smaller. Check out the photo it doesn't look appetizing. The vegetables had no season just very disappointing after such a great start. In fact the oil the used to cook them was strong and had a terrible taste. This place only gets a 3 star for me. I don't think I would try it again. read more

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Had a great first experience at Yellow Fin. The girls working there were very friendly and polite to our table. We had raw oysters as an appetizer that were very reasonably priced and hit the spot. I was a little disappointed that the seafood pasta that was on their website menu was not on the menu that evening but the crab cakes were a solid substitute. They were moist and tasted fresh. The rice and spinach served with it were just ok. My boyfriend had the ahi tuna entree and really enjoyed it. I do think there's room for improvement with the overall ambiance / atmosphere in here. It's a great space with lots of potential! read more

YellowFin - Crab Cakes - Seafood Near Me - Gainesville, Georgia

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Great meal and service all around. Mussels, steak medallions, pasta were all spot on and delicious. Highly recommend.

good food, great service. We ate here often when our mother was in the North East GA medical Center. The food was always good, and cooked fresh. will eat here again next time I'm in town. The rice is my favorite part of the meal here read more

The best food & service!!! Anytime I have to work in this area this restaurant is a must!

Giving this 5 stars for the food and service. Could have had a couple of tweaks on atmosphere but spot on for what we were craving. First note, this is not cheap- but well worth it. It's a bit of a dive at first glance, kind of loud but people having fun. So my son and I checked on yelp first and drive up. Started with 2 doz oysters - and I got a cold beer. Casi was or server and met us within a minute of sitting! Spiced up our sauce with tons of horse radish and tobacco - NEVER have crackers- a dash on each oyster- gone in 2 min. Very good. Then followed with Ahi tuna appetizer and the Tuna poki- this was the test. We are sushi guys. Very impressed. Fresh, tasty and enough for us to share and enjoy. The tuna was seared perfect and we had to fight over the last bite then started on the Poki. Had fresh wontons- huge- to snack on but dove into the bowl of raw tuna sesame oil, and some scallions I think. My dream meal! it was perfect and more than it looks- deep bowl. Fought over it too. So with seafood in our bellies I went for the Filet Oscar - son opted for Duck special. Filet was perfect lots of crab on the steak and in the mashed taters. What a great flavor. Perfect Rare to MR steak( the only way to eat a fillet and fresh asparagus . Very very good. The duck was in a blood red sauce- a lot more meat than expected - same taters and very good. This was not a brown or blood sauce- but sweet vinegar- raspberry or red wine. A bit too much vinegar but adjusted to our taste and it was fantastic. Thought it would be $35- only $20!! I've had 3 bites of duck for $30 so was happy. The meal was fantastic. Ended with a creme brûlée and Cordial and we were stuffed. So for a $130 for 2- with all we had - this would have easily been $200 plus in Atlanta. Loved it. Didn't get the escargot or stuffed mushrooms- next time- but saw them and will be back. Great night out with my son and thanks Casi for a great night and PERFECT service!!!! can't wait to go back. read more

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Delicious as always! Perfectly cooked seafood and yummy sides. And our server, Joe, is always friendly, attentive, and so kind. He's the best! read more

Really enjoyed YellowFin's twist on the shrimp & grits. The grits were fried and crispy and were more of an nice accent to the dish as opposed to being the main ingredient. I think this made the dish lighter and allowed the Shrimp, Italian Sausage and Brussel sprouts to really shine! read more

YellowFin - Shrimp & Grits - Seafood Near Me - Gainesville, Georgia

Excellent dinner. The wait next door was way too long so we dropped in YellowFin. A bit more expensive but we were seated right away, the service was excellent and we very much enjoyed the food. read more

Nice location for a seafood dinner, typical layout for restaurants around the G square (altho YF is off the square). Friendly service, my go to is the shrimp & grits, delish read more

Fantastic food. We have been here several times and have tried lots of different dishes and all of them do not disappoint. Anything you order will be great. Definitely recommend read more

We arrived early and it was a good move in that we had no reservation. We were greeted by Suzy who would also be our server. They have a full bar and the service was excellent. We had shrimp and grits and fish tacos. Both were piping hot out of the kitchen. Dinner was tasty and thoughtfully prepared. Dessert of crème brûlée and beignets topped off a great meal. While we were dining the entire restaurant filled. Make reservations. read more

I've eaten there years ago and it was great food and great service!!Nice atmosphere also !!