Jolly Roger Seafood House

Everything you want in a fresh fish shack! Fresh great tasting fried fish! We had the Walleye and Perch. The Perch was my favorite. It’s a must stop if you take the scenic route on the way to Kalahari or Cedar Point!

Anyone who does not give the Jolly Roger Seafood House a rating of AT LEAST 4 stars, either does not have a discerning palate OR has a chip on his or her shoulder! I’m a bachelor, as well as confirmed food-​junkie. I almost never eat home. I live in Temperance, Michigan, just over the state line from Toledo, Ohio. I’ve visited just about every restaurant within a 60 mile radius of my hometown. The Jolly Roger is BY FAR as good as it gets when it comes to fried perch and walleye (and clams and onion rings and waffle fries and…) No other restaurant comes close! A very distant second MIGHT BE the Seafood Bar in Toledo.
The absolute best! I drive 60 miles quite often just to indulge here! This place hasn’t won tons of awards, accolades and 5 star ratings for nothing!
If you’ve never been here, put the Jolly Roger at the top of your list!!!

Made the trip from Indianapolis to Port Clinton on Halloween weekend. After reading a few reviews on here we decided to give Jolly Rogers a try for a quick dinner after getting into town. It did not disappoint at all! I got the perch & waffle fries, it was great. My parents both got the walleye and loved it. My girlfriend got the shrimp and it was okay, nothing special. The breading kept falling off the shrimp. If you are looking for some local spots with some good seafood go ahead and give this place a try. We enjoyed it so much we went back the next day for lunch and I got the same exact thing. Just as good as the night before for dinner.

We had read the other reviews so we knew what to expect. My husband ordered the perch sandwich, onion rings and hush puppies. I warned him about the mustardy tartar sauce, so he ordered it on the side (and really liked it). The onion rings were just that, nothing crazy special, but good. The hush puppies are really good. I ordered the perch tacos and an order of hush puppies. The order had two tacos in small flour tortillas. They came with some plain slaw and a sweet chili sauce. They were good. The fish is fresh! We will be back and we’ve already decided to just get the breaded fish ala carte with some hush puppies… Walleye next time.

Yummy! A family favorite for us! We always stop by here when in port Clinton… the fish is fresh and delicious

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Jolly Roger. By all accounts, it is a local institution so popular that it regularly commands lines out the door. But at the same time, there were just enough bad reviews to make me wonder whether it was living on memories of past glory days. We all know the type of place. One that was popular for a while, the word of mouth began to spread and pretty soon it’s coasting and everyone is afraid to say that the emperor has no clothes.
The Jolly Roger is not such a place. It is most definitely, and most elegantly, dressed.
First, it’s important to know what you’re getting. This is primarily a fried fish restaurant. If you don’t want fried food, it might not be for you. If you DO want fried food, read on.
There can be no doubt that the fish is fresh, and not pre-​breaded frozen stuff. First, you can tell by taste. Second, and more obviously, you can tell because you can watch them bread the fish fillets right in front of you. They have a window set up into the kitchen through which you can watch the fish go from naked to breaded.
The fish is fresh, as would be expected based on the fact that the lake is only a few hundred feet from the parking lot.
The breading is light and derives a great texture from the coarse cornmeal. It aheres well to the fish and, despite what you may read elsewhere, is not greasy in the least.
The onion rings share the same breading, but it doesn’t stick quite as well as it does to the fish. You get a large number of rings with your order. They are good, although they don’t hold their shape all that well.
If you can’t decide between perch and walleye (two of their specialities) they have a combo platter. But be warned it’s big enough for two. I certainly couldn’t finish it as much as I might have wanted to.
The only miss in my opinion is the tartar sauce. It’s flavored with mustard and tastes most like a mustard potato salad. I’m sure that others like it, but it’s just not for me.

When I first got out of the car, I was excited. I wanted fish, and it just smelled awesome. But when I go inside, I saw that it was basically a fast food, fried fish place. But this was the 3^rd place I stopped at (the first two restaurants were too fancy & expensive) and I was hungry & just wanted to eat, so I decided on something and ordered.
I got the perch sandwich (mostly because I couldn’t figure out the difference between that & the dinner, except for $ 3) with onion rings & iced tea. As a previous poster said, the breading has no flavor whatsoever. No salt, no pepper, no garlic — nothing. On the upside, it did look like decent fish and not some pre-​formed hunk of manufactured fish flakes. The tartar sauce was just bad — the smell reminded me of the pink soap used in public restrooms, and the color was just off. Needless to say, I did not eat the bun on the sandwich. The cole slaw had way too much watery dressing and was also non-​descript.
On the upside, the staff was very friendly and pleasant. The onion rings were pretty good, made with nice, sweet onions. The batter wasn’t anything to get excited about, but ketchup fixed that. And the iced tea was so fresh that it was still warm. I thought $ 2.09 was excessive for beverages — especially given the size of the cup they give you — but since you serve yourself, you can get enough refills to make it almost worth it. Key word being «almost»; I don’t understand how restaurants feel it is ok to charge so much for what costs them maybe 20 cents to make.
If you’re starving, this will fill you up. But if you’re looking for good cuisine, go elsewhere.

The place is small, the portions are big for the price. The breaking is to thin n falls right off n very greasy, I got such s belly ache after eating here, the shrimp would of been better without the breeding. Didn’t care for it n won’t be back

The food was great but the waitress who brought us our food was rude. She asked if we needed anything else she acted like she was bothered by our request. She brought us our tarter sauce and just flung it on the table and walked away. If she is bothered by helping customers maybe this isn’t the job for her. For what we paid for our meal we should have gotten better service.

Perch & Shrimp dinner with onion rings!!! SO GOOD — Will be back for sure! Great food!

Awesome perch and shrimp tacos! Lines are long. They move you quickly. Service is efficient

Best perch you will ever have. Clams are tasty too. People are known to drive great distances to eat here and it’s no wonder why. Walleye is supposed to be great as well but haven’t tried. They have chicken for non seafood eaters

The family was hungry for perch. So we made a 45min drive from Toledo to eat here.
We got perch dinners. And they were awesome. Nice size fish with plenty of fries. The fries are waffle fries.
We got side order of hush puppies. And the kids loved them. Plus got a side of deep fried pickles. They were very good.
We sat on the patio and enjoyed the breeze from the Lake and enjoyed our awesome dinner.
You have to try this place. Well worth the trip.

No alcohol ! When dealing with kids you need a drink !!! For being a wonderful seafood place, we need a glass of wine or beer to go along with food good food !!!

I. Hate. This. Place.
Fish coated in sand… er…tasteless bread crumbs and fried. Everything is greasy and fried. And tasteless. And greasy.
We can not understand why this place has a clientele. My 10 year old hated it as well.
We’ve officially given up on this cardiac nightmare.
Buh-​bye.

My husband went there for the grouper and they no longer have it, they have replaced it with a fish called Basa. He instead got the perch and he says that was just ok. He got the lobster bisque and that did not have any meat in it. He has been there many times in the past and loved it but it’s just not the same now. Not in NO HURRY to go bacck!
UPDATE: We went back today and they brought the Grouper BACK! NOW 5 !!

We were in Port Clinton for an air rifle competition at Camp Perry, so we had to try the local fare. We weren’t disappointed.
I had the perch/​walleye combo and my daughter had the shrimp/​perch combo. We also had a side of fried pickles. Everything was delicious and cooked to perfection. The tarter sauce could have been better, as it lacked the lemon tartness I always look for (I am kind of a tater sauce aficionado). But the fish was the star and really didn’t need any accompaniment at all. Fresh, piping hot and perfectly cooked.
Next time we come to Port Clinton (which we will), we will visit Jolly Roger again!

Best perch and walleye hands down! Onion rings are very good as well. My better half ordered chicken strips not listening to me rave about the seafood quality from past visits. We «shared» as she proceeded to eat more of my fish («I don’t like fish») than her own meal. I think that speaks volumes for the freshness and quality of their batter and preparation.
It is a very casual/​dive type restaurant. It is dated and not the best layout (parking stinks!) but wait until the food hits your tongue– smack yo momma good!
I will continue to always come here with every visit to Lake Erie– regardless of how well we do fishing ourselves!

Great Perch and Walleye dinners. Delicious onion rings and coleslaw. I love the roll with butter included in the meal. Very good service, I got my meal quickly.
This place reminds me of a Cape Cod style fried fish stand and I love that. Not enough of these places around, in my opinion.

We visited again this year on our way home from our annual Memorial Day trip. My husband and I were giddy all weekend with excitement of going to Jolly Roger’s on the way home.
Again, we were not disappointed! Fresh hot fried Perch dinner, perfect batter, crispy waffle fries, warm roll, cold creamy cole slaw… Mmm!
Hubster likes the Walleye which is not as mild as the perch, but he LOVES it. One of our friends got the Grouper, which he said was good too, but wished he got Perch instead. The hush puppies were probably the best we’d ever had. Also tried the fried pickles, which were a little bit spicy, were also delicious.
The restaurant is kind of old and divey looking, it appears like it’s been decorated the same since the 70’s, but it’s CLEAN. The bathrooms are also very clean and tidy. The booths are small but adequate. However we still wish there were more seating.
ADVICE: If you plan to eat in the restaurant… We still recommend sending someone to look for a table while you order if you’d like to sit inside in the A/​C, otherwise you’ll spend 10+ minutes standing waiting for a table after you’ve ordered. (There was no shortage of outside seating but most of it is not shaded.) This place seems to be busy ALL DAY. We’ve visited several different times of day and the crowd didn’t seem to relent the whole time we ate. But trust me IT’S WORTH THE WAIT!