Fishlips Waterfront Bar & Grill

Reviews 3

R

R David Paine III

I dined solo at the bar on a Thursday evening that was exceptionally busy according to the bartender Nancy. This location has several bars, I dined at the one on the ground floor inside. I arrived around 7 PM. At that time there was one other gentleman seated at the bar also eating. The bar location doesnt have any TVs however if youre seated in the front of the bar you can swivel to people watch as this bar is situated just off of the hostess stand. It is a full service bar and they apparently have a happy hour until 6 PM. Its not a very large bar but they do have 14 beers on tap and an assortment of liquor and wine along with bottled beers and a few ciders. This location does have free wireless but the speeds on it were horrible situated somewhere around about a half a megabyte. You may be able to get email but thats about it. I was craving fish and I was able to get a list from Nancy as to which selections of fish were farmed and which ones were wild. Out of the wild choices I narrowed my selections down to either the mahi-mahi, the grouper, or the rainbow trout. Ultimately I ended up with the rainbow trout which is described on the menu as "a seared rainbow trout filet served with sautéed mushrooms, zucchini, peppers and roasted tomatoes topped with a mango Chablis reduction". When it arrived via of food runner and served up in a circular bamboo case (they just remove the top to serve), It seemed like I devoured this great tasting meal in all of about probably 15 minutes. I found it to be every bit as described with a great flavor and texture for both the fish and the vegetables however if youre extremely hungry, you may want to opt for an additional side salad or another piece of fish because this serving size was around four or 5 ounces at best. On the plus side, this did allow me to have the caramel cheesecake for dessert which was fresh and delicious as well. Pricing is normal for the area, with the entrée coming in at $17.95 and the desert was around six dollars. My draft beers were $4.25 each. I asked and cocktails come in at anywhere between seven and $10. The décor of the restaurant is fairly standard with a beach/Florida type look. Unique to this location was an attached art gallery perfect for perusing while waiting on a table, I imagine. I could do without the assorted items for sale scattered throughout the restaurant, but I understand that those types of items can be in demand for nonlocal travelers. Perhaps it would be better to set up a nice stand behind the hostess stand or another location where they can sell it all, instead of having it plastered on the walls. As far as the staff goes I really only interacted with the bartender. At first Nancy seemed a little overwhelmed with the large amount of orders she had to fill at the wait station bar, located at the end of the bar.. After a bit though, she warmed up and became a decent conversationalist, as every good bartender should. I was most impressed with the way she interacted with the various age groups bellying up to the bar while waiting on a table. She easily handled young tots all the way up to seniors without even batting an eyelash. She was even able to remain cordial as two, slightly drunk, college aged young men did their best at hitting on her. Overall I would definitely recommend this establishment if youre ever in the area. Its clearly a notch above the local bar fare. It is on par with the average restaurant in its class for pricing and the food was delicious.

LO

Lori Broyles

Ive been here 3 or 4 times in the last 2 years as part of a large group, and have enjoyed every visit. They handle a crowd well, and their service never suffers. And because the food is always fresh & plentiful, well be back. On this visit, last Thursday, we estimated a group of around 20, so I called a couple of days ahead to reserve tables. As we would be eating after a launch viewing, with many of our group coming from different areas, I also asked how flexible the 8pm time was for them, in case we were able to come earlier or ended up arriving even later. No problem! Fishlips is very experienced with accommodating large groups with undefined schedules... ESPECIALLY those planning around finicky launch windows. As it turned out, the launch was scrubbed at the end of the window due to weather, so about half of us were able to get to Fishlips early. I called as we were walking out of KSCVC, and spoke with James, the manager, who told me he would indeed be able to seat us sporadically within about a half hour. This was perfect, since parts of our group would have longer travel times. As it turned out, we had 24 people total, but still no problem for Fishlips! Once our group spanned 3 tables, a second server began helping us as well. As per usual at Fishlips, the food was delicious - always fresh & perfectly cooked, with large portions that I can never finish. They even had a couple of drink specials that some of us took advantage of. In the past, I have enjoyed their fried haddock & fried shrimp meals, but on this night, I was in the mood for a burger. And I was not disappointed! Cooked exactly as requested, it was juicy and flavorful. Others at my table also enjoyed their dishes - I didnt hear of one complaint. And because this group of people revolves around NASA Social, I knew everyone would let me take a photo of their food. Even though most dont Yelp, they *get it*. We were seated on the upstairs deck, which is always surprisingly comfortable regardless of the Florida weather. Overlooking Port Canaveral, we could see ships coming and going throughout our meal. When we first arrived, the live music was a bit loud for socializing, but the set finished a few minutes later, so no worries. We had a great dinner with old friends & new, thanks to Fishlips.

AA

Aaron Hodge

I came here with three friends from Titusville tonight. Ill start off by saying weve been here before, and liked it, but tonight both the service and the food were terribly lacking. We received clearly unclean silverware, the food didnt come out together (which wasnt a big deal) but when asking for a refill on water we had to wait 15 minutes. This is a long time when eating hot wings. Our waiter had no sense of urgency and seemed a bit "lost." Perhaps he was new or just recovering from a New Years Eve party. It was odd how the chicken wings were served; they come deep fried, without seasoning or covered in hot sauce -- the sauce comes in a cup on the side and you have to coat the outside yourself. The Ribeye tasted like a regular steak without any seasoning and little flavor. The oily Red Snapper should be renamed "Rubber Snapper" being that it was the most oily, flavorless and chewy filet of fish Ive ever had. The crab cake and the snow crab were okay though. We were asked if everything was okay after our meal, when the server eyed the barely-touched fish, so we told him that it wasnt prepared well to which he agreed when we showed him how tough the fish was by using the fork to pull it apart. He made no attempt to contact his manager or comp that part of the meal. Our table spent $93, not including tips, but I feel that neither the food nor the service was worth half of what we spent tonight.