Captain Stanley’s Calabash Seafood

This place has been a favorite for many years, however… Seafood and delicious coleslaw go together like bread and butter and the coleslaw recipe had changed and it is horrible compared to what use to be.
As the story goes, the guy who made the coleslaw retired and the new guy is suppose to be using the same recipe – not so. I have not talked with anyone in line who is happy with the new version of slaw any of the times I have been since the change including today.
Today we were told that the retired guy was Melvin and they didn’t know if he was still living. furthermore, he must have taken his secret recipe with him – I would think the owner or someone on the wait staff would know what the coleslaw should be like.

Calabash style seafood in Raleigh. One of the very few good ones that I can think of around here. Captain Stanley’s has been around forever, but I hadn’t made it out in years probably.
You know it’s some good seafood when it is always packed and the average age is around 65. Ha!
I ordered the «small» fried scallops and oysters combo this time and they did not disappoint! Also, throw in the 2 sides (I did fries & Brunswick stew, yum!!) and hush puppies, and you have a ton of food! When we showed up, the line was out the door, but seems to move pretty fast. The service was great! I think our food only took 10 – 15 minutes. Prices are not crazy either.

Definitely delicious seafood and they give you very generous portions. Sweet tea is good most of the time. Great hushpuppies…

I don’t understand why this place is always busy. The food is not that great. Ordered the oyster cocktail, they were room temp. Should be chilled. The fried green tomatoes look and taste store bought. The vegetable pickled beets were room temp. And it’s a little pricy for not having alcohol as an option. I don’t get it. Service was fair. I suggest you also take the tops off the ramekins. Adds an extra service touch.

This place continues to be one of the best places to eat seafood in wake county. It had been quite a while since my last visit and the taste is still great! Sad to say, like most places, the prices have increased and the portions had decreased.

We ordered (2) platters with jumbo fried shrimp, fried oysters and fried scallops for take out. The breading was perfect and the food was not over fried at all. It was delicious! There is a slight up charge for each plate for jumbo shrimp, scallops and oysters but it was worth every penny! We actually could have ordered one plate and split it as there was a whole other meal left over.

Should have waited until I paid to leave the review, service was excellent, hostess, waitress, all the other workers in the restaurant until I went to counter to pay. The older white haired lady at the cash register has probably convinced me not to come back. I just don’t think it is proper to yell at people in the line that are trying to pay to hurry up. Most of the folks in the line were elderly and moving as fast as possible. I had combo platter; founder, oysters, scallops, and deviled crab, and all was great. Probably not the healthiest meal, but fried perfectly. Had left a 5 star rating, but that has changed. 5 stars for the food and wait staff –2 for the cashier.

This restaurant has been a Raleigh dining establishment on South Wilmington Street for 30 years, so hats off to that. It was opened by the Stanley family who sold it a few years ago, but just recently bought it back, I guess they couldn’t stay away from the Calabash Seafood business.
After being seated and welcomed with fresh hot hush puppies, we both ordered the Fried Combo Platters, choosing 3 different options from the Menu; between the two of us that was Shrimp, Whitefish, Flounder, Scallops, and Deviled Crabs. There are lots of standard Sides here including Specials for that day being Fried Okra, and Fried Green tomatoes.
You wouldn’t know by reading what we ordered on our Binge that not everything here is fried; you can also have your seafood Broiled or Grilled. Some of the sides include Salads, Baked Potatoes, Beans, and Brunswick Stew. You can also find Tuna, Salmon, and Mahi-​Mahi. They also serve «Landlubber» food if you are in the mood for Pork Chops, BBQ, or steak (which we didn’t try).
Sure you’ll find a good share of Seniors here, and they get special menu pricing too. But you’ll also find a variety of families and even after-​work techies from nearby businesses.
Yes, the place is old, and a bit musty. Yes, it could certainly use a fresh coat of paint, and a good makeover. But the Service was excellent, our cute teenage waitress was helpful and attentive, and we met her Mother and her Grandmother working there as we were leaving. Its definitely a family restaurant in every meaning of the term, and when the folks are friendly and the food is good, we’ll be sure to go back here again one day.

I really have to hand it to this place, even thought the food was well above average (not a guaranteed 5 star for me), and the atmosphere was… Well lets just say interesting, the overall experience for my wife and I was so memorable, I would highly recommend this place to anyone!
I am always looking for good seafood and Mexican in the Raleigh area, so my wife and I decided to come here on a whim one weekday evening. Based on the look of the place and the atmosphere, she was a little shy in trying the seafood, so she went with a grilled chicken salad… Very good choice as it turned out. If you see the attached photo, I went with the large «shrimp», which meant deep fried, fries and «Brunswick Soup», which as it turns out means a hearty beef and veggie soup. The breading on the shrimp was so light, yet crunchy! The fries (which I am usually not a fan of steak fries), were also VERY good, and my wife ate most of the soup.
But the real kicker, the reason this place is a 5, was the service and people. We didn’t talk to anyone eating, but everyone from the women at check-​out, to the busboy, to our waitress, ALL came over and asked if we were OK, how the food was, and even took the time to say hello to our little 3 month old baby. Now granted our baby was having a very cute night (not a yell and scream /​drool night), so that helped, but still it felt like we were sitting in our own family home with friends… Really neat when that happens.
Price was a bit higher than average for an LJS type meal, but for my money it was totally worth it! Skip going to Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen if you want good seafood or chicken, come here and pay a few bucks extra! Will definitely be back!

Ordered $ 40-​worth of takeout. Asked for a cup of water. They asked for 25 cents! Are you kidding me? Won’t be going there again.

Definitely a local owned and older restaurant, today booths were unavailable server said they has been varnished and we’re not dry, we were seated at a table by the wall and it was cold you could feel the cold air from outside coming thru the brick, had the lunch special fried shrimp with candied yams and coleslaw and the usual overly sweet tea, service is adequate but servers seemed to be overwhelmed. The mens room needed attention!

I met a friend at this place for lunch today. It was packed. Appearantly Thursday is $ 5 shrimp or something like that. Usually a packed restaurant is a good sign. Well… Not here. I ordered the shrimp burger which comes with a vegetable. The food was brought out quickly but I was instantly disappointed. It was literally a bun and fried shrimp. No garnishments. No condiments. Just a tacky looking hamburger bun that somebody grabbed out of a bag and tasteless gummy fried shrimp. My vegetable was a baked sweet potato with butter. It was one of the most uninspiring meals I’ve ever paid for. The only redeeming factor was that the food was cheap.

If you go there on a Saturday afternoon, you might find youself confusing this place with an All White-​elderly home cafeteria. Maybe it was just coincidental, and not like theres nothing wrong with that.
What I didn’t appreciate was the demeanor of the lady in the front who was taking my TO-​GO orders. Lets just say the so called «Southern Hospitality» only applies when you’re actually look like youre from around ‘here’. She changed her tone when my husband (white) finally said, «you know what I don’t want anything from here.» So instead in addition to Onion Rings, Shrimp platter I added the crab cakes for him.
Which was actually pretty good (the crabcakes)
To be fair, I will say, they do keep the souther style– deep fried everything and over cook all the veggies.

Listen to a guy who loves to eat. For price and quality of food, this place rocks! They don’t double coat everything and give you big pieces of fish. Staff is very good and the clam chowder was awesome. Was clean and service was fast. I will take my family there again

Well, after being closed for a week — the original owners are back. Unfortunately, this is not a great thing.
First, they refurbished the inside. Yes, the old carpet did need to be replaced; but, if you paint the tables, you also need to seal them. Second, NONE of the experienced wait staff survived the transition. Third, the $ 5 lunch specials are gone. Lastly, the serving sizes got smaller — as well as the quality. I was a twice a week regular — but with these changes — it’s time to move on.

I will be going back here. Great service, great prices and great food.

Probably one of the worst seafood restaraunts i’ve been to. I ordered shrimp and got a bowl of rubbery shrimp with the vein (I call it shrimp poop) still in. The Brunswick Stew tasted like ketchup and the green beans were from a very old can. I didn’t eat any of it and the waitress didn’t even bother to ask why. The price is cheap but then again it should be.

The Cap’n is a little calabash style seafood spot where you can get some good down home cooking at a very reasonable price. While the servings range somewhere between huge and gigantic, I haven’t found the meals to be the typical quantity/​quality tradeoff. The staff are pleasant and eager to please, and if I lived closer to this part of town I’d probably head over there more often.

I ended up here for lunch with my partner in crime recently, it seemed like the only non chain place in the area.
I’d recently heard about Calabash seafood, and knew it was simply a more interesting and exotic word for fried. I was fully aware of what I was getting myself into.
I ordered the popcorn shrimp, Peter got the flounder. I enjoyed my shrimp, it was basic breaded and fried. I ate it with lots of hot sauce. The flounder seemed dry and tough to me. I’ve never had flounder before, but wouldn’t order it from here. The sides went mostly uneaten. He got the fries and potato salad. He regretted the double potato, but had a moment of panic and that is what he ended up with. Anyway, the fries were crinkle cut so I didn’t even bother trying one. The potato salad was very yellow and unappealing, he said it tasted prepackaged. My coleslaw was typical coleslaw and also had a prepackaged feeling though I can’t be certain. I didn’t care for the Brunswick stew. It was my first time trying Brunswick stew, but it seemed like tomato juice, random canned vegetables, chicken, and horseradish. Not inedible, just not enjoyable either. We also got a big basket of hush puppies, which were pretty tasty.
Service was friendly and attentive, our waitress even offered to get us a round of refills in to-​go cups to take with us. The place was packed, and definitely the retiree crowd. I’d go here again if I was craving cheap quick fried shrimp.

Calabash style seafood done very well. Great prices and excellent food quality are what you can expect. Recently sold but the new owners are keeping standards high. Probably the best seafood in Raleigh. Be careful around lunch time; the line often wraps around the building. Get there early or just after noon to avoid the strong loyal crowd.