McGrath’s Fish House

The food is fair at best and the service is extremely slow, even if you sit at the bar.

We came here because Red Lobster was too crowded. While the atmosphere was better and quieter, we were disappointed overall with the time it took to get our order taken. (Not really our servers fault since he had three other tables when we sat down,
I ordered the Alder plank salmon. I should have ordered the wood fired, but I DID ask for it to be medium well.
We got the main course when we were still eating salads and they could have left it cooking for awhile believe me it was not even close to medium well.
So as I watch my hubby eat his dinner and complete his meal, FINALLY mine comes back out. And now he has to watch me eat…
The reason we go out is to eat a meal TOGETHER!!‘
Ugh! So no real apology from anyone except the server.
Normally when a restaurant screws up a special order meal, they have some consideration like a free dessert or a discount or comped entrée’ .
We received no consideration on our bill for the fact that we couldn’t even enjoy a meal together because of their error!
Needless to say we won’t be back.
They can keep their tight fisted hand on their profit margin.
Sad really, I wanted to like this place.

McGrath’s Fish House in Federal Way tantalizes the taste buds and serves you at a pace you can enjoy food and conversation without feeling rushed to move on. Fun for the Family or on a quiet meal to yourself.

My boyfriend and I love food. Especially good seafood (when it’s done right.) We have never heard of them before, so for my boyfriends birthday we decided to step out of our comfort zone.
Our waiter, Daniel was patient with us and was very helpful. When our drinks came out the long Island and rum an coke was refreshing. Now, I had the salmon. My dad by far makes the best salmon. I took a risk and had the Baker city salmon. Let me tell ya, the salmon was light, buttery and delicious! There was no «fishy» after taste to it. I highly recommend McGrath’s. You’ll for sure get your money’s worth.

I really liked this place! It was such a nice change from the routine chain restaurants! The food was good, the service was fantastic and the prices are reasonable! Everyone in my party tonight wanted different foods: ribs, steak and fish and all of those items are available from McGrath’s.
The most stellar part of our experience tonight was the service/​staff! I believe the waiters name was Nam, who memorized the entire order and was spot on with delivery. Also, drinks never ran empty and nothing was lacked! I’ll think that if you want a nice dinner/​meal in Federal Way, go here!

We want to the Resturant on 12÷30÷15 as a group of 8 people. We were also celebrating a birthday. The service, food and ambience was great. Our server Kena was very friendly, informative, attentive and awesome! She helped us select the menu with great interest, she was very friendly with the kids and kept them entertained and served us with a lot of enthusiasm and a big smile! Kena went above and beyond in customer service and made our experience memorable!

Waiter was extremely slow. That’s probably why my steak was cold. It was a long wait for dinner to be served again cause waiter was slow. The caesar salad tasted funny, the dressing didn’t taste right. The waiter forgot my side dish. But in the end the manger made it right by bringing me a new steak. My husband loves the oysters in half shell.

Good food, good service, good fresh calamari that isn’t frozen. Good drink selection. Tasty menu items. Fish and chips were good as well as the shrimp pasta. I’ll be back!

Try Red Lobster across the street, if you want the same food %15 cheaper. McGraths has the right idea as casual upscale seafood dining they just failed with prepackaged, mass distributed food. Teach the cooks to be Chefs to give that packaged food some life. Try training your servers to have a personality, it will go along way with mediocre food. Loved the menu, it’s what sold me, now make the food comparable, don’t false advertise with a great menu and stolen Red Lobster chow. Staff and Management did apologize and remove the Seafood Astoria from our bill when we discovered a hair or «basting brush bristle». So they do know how the business works, they just need to tighten up the details.

We met up with friends at this restaurant (who have eaten there several times before) & were very impressed with the aesthetics & decoration, the quality of the service, food selection & prices. Two nights before I had eaten at a 4-​star restaurant & ordered a steak & lobster meal for $ 32. The steak was less than 4-​ounces, the lobster tail was a good size, & the meal came with a few fingerling potatoes. At McGrath’s, I ordered the same which also came with a large baked potato, four prawns, & a larger steak. This meal was $ 10 less than the 4-​star restaurant! I will certainly dine here again & recommend others to do so as well.

Food was very good, service was top notch. I believe our waitress was Anna. She was fabulous, friendly and very attentive. The prices here are very reasonable and the menu is huge. We arrived at 5:40 on a Friday night and were seated right away. We ordered appetizer chicken strips, steamer clams, steak with fries and salad, burger with chowder and fries, ahi tuna with rice and salad, and jambalaya pasta with salad and one delicous specialty mixed drink. The bill was just over $ 90 before tip. Everyone loved their food and went home with left overs. We will definitely be back for dinner after Wild Waves next year. Wish I had more reasons to visit Federal Way.

Went to McGrath’s last night for the first time while I was in town on business. Service was good, very attentive and was not pushy. Food was good — I can’t say great, but good. Blackened salmon and wedge salad were good, but the server we had was terrrific — she sensed we were having some pretty deep, involved business discussions and just checked in on us every so often until we were ready to order — nice to see good, patient, attentive service like that. I’d go back when I’m in the area.

Stopped and had dinner there tonight, to be fair our server was good.
However, I doubt very highly that I will be going back there again. There was one good point. We had the grilled oysters… Pretty tasty.
Other then that, my wife had the halibut and to be honest it had the texture of something that had been microwaved and pretty much no real flavor I would have expected better quality. The veggies with our meal were easily an hour to two old and simply «heated» (we pointed that out to our server).
And yes I realize I was in a seafood place but I had a steak and baked potato and Applebee’s does a better job of that and I don’t like Applebee’s.
When your server tells you to stay away from certain higher priced items on the menu because they are frozen you should take that as a clue, have your drink, get your check and go eat somewhere else… I’ll be sure to take that advise in the future.

Another great visit to McGrath’s, as always. Where to start? The happy hour menu is unmatched. Great drinks, and fun, friendly service are a couple of reasons that keep us coming back, again and again. If you’re lucky enough to have been seated in Duncan’s section, than you already know what we’re talking about, right? It doesn’t matter how often we visit, he always remembers us, and makes us feel like we were just in yesterday. I’m glad there aren’t more of the restaurants around, because I think it might lose the sense of great restaurant/​neighborhood watering hole. Cheers McGrath’s, and here’s to many more crab stuffed mushrooms and steamers to come. Already planning our next visit!

My girl friend and I went in here for happy hour and it wasn’t too busy. We ordered nachos, two oysters and a couple drinks. We got the oysters first and decided we would get some more because she is an oyster fiend, so she ordered 12.
About 40 minutes later we get the nachos and oyster shooters. We’re so excited to dig in but we notice that in each oyster shooter there is an ¹⁄₈ of an oyster, the person who prepared these literally cut individual oysters into small pieces and tried to pawn them off as individual oysters.
I ask to see a manager, before even looking he says «there probably just small oysters,» so I dump 3 of them out and his response is, «oh… the guy that prepared these is old and pretty grumpy, don’t worry we’ll take these away and you won’t get charged.»
Oh you won’t charge me, after I waited for 40 minutes and now all I get is some nachos, which taste like crap? Oh thanks McGraths fish house, your to kind!
First time and last time coming here

I want to like this place!
I’ve been eating lunch here with friends since it opened. It was far better in the beginning & has steadily declined in my opinion. Oh there was a resurgence when a chef returned, but this week was the worst.
My wife’s stuffed prawns were extremely tough. The big surprise was cold peas on her side salad & very little greens. My fishermen’s soup, had no fish, & a couple of items that felt like rubber. Teeth aren’t supposed to bounce. The key lime pie, (yucky) no taste or I think it sit in cold storage too long.
Our friends seem to enjoy it there, when they choose which location to eat, mcgrath’s hits there short list. The wait staff is never the same, so I’m not sure what going on with management. Bottom line, we’ll probably be back, but it want be my choice.

We were new to the area and thought we’d check this place out. Overall it was a good experience, but not quite «great». I ordered the halibut and chips. The halibut was good, but not quite as good as a typical meal at a good Red Lobster. The «chips» (aka French fries) were not good. I’m pretty sure they had been sitting for a while before they made the journey to my plate. The beer selection was decent however and the service was slightly above average. The server was nice and all, but not quite as attentive as I would prefer, particularly toward the end of the experience. I’ve only been here once and the experience wasn’t terrible so I will probably try again and post a follow up.

This place is pretty tasty and the price is great for all that you get. The husband and I got entrees there and it comes with soup and salad and good warm sour dough bread before that. I got the fish that was crusted with hazelnuts and it was delish! Not fishy at all, and had the right crisp to it. I asked for backed potato and it was lovely. It was a lot of food so only are half of it. This place is good if you want to pay around $ 10-​$ 15 and don’t want to go to typical all American burger place like Red Robin (nothing wrong with that either).

I must have came on the right night with the right entourage because we had great service and great food. They must have liked the cut of our jib or something because we didn’t get the poor service other reviewers keep mentioning.
We showed up at 5:30 on a Friday and the place was busy but not swamped. We were quickly seated, given menus and drink orders taken. All within the first minute of sitting down. Can’t complain about that. We were a chatty bunch so it took us a while to figure out what we wanted but we never felt rushed. I ordered a Parmesan crusted halibut that was amazing. At first I was a little leery about ordering a fish that came with cheese on it but after I gave it a try I was pleasantly surprised. My wife order stuffed prawns and she scrapped her plate clean. Other reviewers have picked up on it but their seafood stew is a great appetizer. You can order it with most dishes and I highly recommend it over a salad you can get anywhere. The complementary sourdough bread goes great with the soup.
All and all it was a great experience. I have passed this place 100 times and also skipped it based on the Unilocal reviews. I’m glad I gave it a try. The menu is extensive and I already have 2 or 3 more dishes I want to try. They even have lobsters fresh from the tank! Overall a solid 4 stars in my book. No complaints on my first visit so I’m bumping it up to 5 until I go back. Definitely a place I would recommend judging for yourself.

Ok, third review. I’ve been living in Federal Way for several years. The first trips to McGraths weren’t great, I was not impressed and underwhelmed. Since then, it’s become more of a go-​to for my boyfriend and I. I have seen better overall service and either the overall food quality has increased or I’ve just found the items I like best. One of my largest complaints at first was the «dirty rice» that came with the fish tacos (some of the best fish tacos) it was over seasoned — not an easy task as I love extra seasoning — but it’s been toned down a bit, still not great though. I just learned to sub a salad! My favorites and often ordered plates by my boyfriend include:
Ahi Tuna Salad
Shrimp Wrap appetizers
Stuffed mushroom appetizer
The fish tacos!
Bay City Salmon
Wood fired salmon
Pear blue cheese walnut side salad
Fish burrito (lunch only I believe)
Macadamia Basa
They’re always changing fresh menu insert is always full of fun adventures. I’d say most encrusted fish entrees (halibut!) on the list are great. Sauces are usually on point as well. We’ve dined with others who’ve ordered steaks and were over all pleased!