Tidewater Grill

I have meant to write something nice about Tidewater for years and tonight I was reminded of why this establishment deserves 5 stars.
I no longer live in WV, but I grew up there and Tidewater was always a special treat reserved for graduations and other accomplishments. I can tell you that the food and service has always been wonderful. It’s been a special place for my family, though we were far from regulars.
But the reason Tidewater deserves recognition from me personally, is because of a night in 2012, I believe. It was around the holidays and they graciously accommodated my party of 7 with no reservation and kids in tow. (No easy feat for any restaurant) During our dinner my mother’s purse was stolen off the back of her chair. Not something that happens often. Especially there.
The staff was unbelievably amazing. Managers and servers and bussers and probably some line cooks were swarming and searching and trying to be as helpful as possible. They were inside and outside and under tables and inside garbage cans trying to find this purse. You would have thought it was one of their’s.
Unfortunately, the purse was never recovered. We filed some police reports and cancelled credit cards, but walked away unharmed and genuinely touched by their concern. That, alone, was enough for me to be blown away by their hospitality.
But then, a few weeks later, my mother received a hand written letter from a manager (I wish I could remember their name!) apologizing for the incident (like they could have stopped it from happening), and included with the letter was a gift card for dinner on the house and another $ 100 gift card for Macy’s so my mom could buy a new purse.
So this is long overdue, but thank you, Tidewater, for your genuine concern and heartfelt effort to make things right (even though none of it was your fault!) years ago. You do hospitality so well.

Excellent seafood fare! Had the seafood combo tonight. The swordfish was juicy and cooked perfect. My wife really enjoyed her sea scallops. Bread was hot and the Caesar side salad was huge! Finished the meal w the fudge choc cake, very moist and delicious. Great service very fast and attentive. Of coarse it was my birthday so ½ off the entire bill for two I don’t think I’ll be able to wait a whole year another trip to Tidewater!

Had a awesome date night dinner tonight at Tidewater. My husband got the shrimp & scallops and I got the Tuscan steak with a side of scallops. If you go you definitely have to ask for Tommy Mac, he set the perfect mood for our date night plus he’s hilarious.

Had dinner there tonight for my husband’s birthday. My steak was really good and he really enjoyed his pasta dish with shrimp and salmon. However, I got a piece of coconut cream pie to go, and all I can say is DON’T ORDER IT! It was pretty much tasteless!
Don’t remember our server’s name, but he was very friendly and efficient!

I eat out 14 times a week, all over the U.S. I think it’s time to start giving honest feedback; helping others make informed dining decisions.
Table of 6.
Décor is nice/​clean/​mid-​level and prices are in line with what you get.
+ Very friendly waitress and very attentive
+ Very good fish selection with a variety of sauce/​prep options.
+ Fish tasted fresh, even for a land-​locked state.
+ Good wine selections
+ The ladies loved the flavored martinis.
— Location is in a mall, in downtown Charleston… not the most romantic walk to dinner.
— Caesar salad lettuce was a bit wilted and didn’t taste fresh.
— Crab cakes had a lot of filling. Raise the price, if needed, but use more crab.
Overall Grade: 84% out of 100%
I would recommend this restaurant.

Food was really good had miso Seabass, tender tasty and bread was really good too! Service I heard is usually good but was really slow tonight.

The problem isn’t the prices. The problem isn’t the food.
The problem is the lack of a reasonable correlation between the two.
Before, when I thought of Tidewater, I thought of something that one looked forward to throughout the week, something planned; a reward of sorts to treat yourself or loved ones.
When I think of Tidewater now, after eating there fairly recently, I imagine a diner owner somewhere in central New Jersey who happened upon the menu of a successful five-​star restaurant in Manhattan and thought, «We can get away with charging five times for our food — look at this menu!»
Bland food lacking even a hint of the described seasonings, overcooked entrees, and that unmistakable yet indescribable corn-​syrup-​based taste of the sauces isn’t exactly unheard of in the Tri-​State area. You can get this sort of meal at (insert chain restaurant name here) in just about any strip mall or Wal-​Mart-​centered plaza within a stone’s throw of wherever you happen to be right now.
But, Tidewater gives off this illusion that you’re escaping the menagerie of Applebee’s/TGIF/Ruby Tuesday-​esque ‘thaw-​any-​entrée-​out-​for-​ten-​bucks’ themed restaurants, particularly by charging quite a lot more for relatively similar items.
So, you think you’re going to get something delicious, something savory, something succulent…
You’re not.
Sure, the staff is friendly, the service is ok, the restaurant is fairly clean, and the menu descriptions sound enticing enough, but — no — the food is just not that good.
Not good is not to say ‘terrible’, but… it’s not that far off. This is the sort of food you might plop onto a plate at a cheap buffet lunch, take a bite, and just think to yourself, «Meh,» and make your way back into the line to try something else.
But, this is not a buffet. This is allegedly fine dining.
And the prices are notably high; enough to where you might expect the meal to really stand out and possibly even exceed your expectations when ordering.
Regretfully, Tidewater falls short of the mark.
Of course we can’t eat like kings all the time. I suppose in the middle of the week when rushing through a fast-​food lunch, words like ‘mediocre’ and ‘ok’ and ‘not terrible’ are acceptable now and again.
But, when you’re going out on the weekend as an ‘event’; as something to remember or something to be celebrated, you do not want to feel like you just got served ‘school lunch food’ and then were subsequently charged for a thousand-​dollar-​a-​plate charity dinner.
In summary — hold onto your money.
You can grab a box of Mrs. Paul’s fish sticks at the freezer section in Kroger, and save a hundred bucks or so, and it honestly might be a better meal.

I have been coming to Charleston for more than 20 years and eaten here for most of those years. It has been up and down for all that time, now is one of the down times.
It’s a Friday, so they are busy. I get that. But that doesn’t excuse no silverware on the table and then a 5 minute wait to get it after the warm bread was delivered. That doesn’t excuse the wine glass that smelled like the chemical soap it was washed in, completely destroying whatever nose the wine may have had.
Prices match high-​end seafood places in DC and Philly, food doesn’t. I need to always remind myself that it’s a long way to the sea from Charleston.
I haven’t even had my meal and I would leave if all the other places around here didn’t have longer waits.

I will give this place 2 stars, ONLY because the restroom was clean. This place appears to be a more upscale restaurant with a great menu, wine and table settings, HOWEVER, the food is well below 2 stars. I had the shrimp and salmon pasta. The pasta was overcooked, very little alfredo sauce on it, which made it dry, had no flavor whatsoever. My friend had fish and chips, AGAIN, burnt and very greasy. Everyone raves about the Greek Salad so if you are in the mood for Greek Salad and Wine, this will be the place for you.