McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks

I’ve been to several of these restaurants across the US but he food here wasn’t that great. In fact, I was disappointed that the presentation and taste was lack luster.
I made a reservation for dinner a few days prior because I had a business meeting. I figured why not try McCormicks since I hadn’t been to one in some time.
I ordered the stuff shrimp and my guest the shrimp and grits. Everything about this place was strange. When we walked in there were less than a dozen people however it was a Wednesday night.
The waitress never gave her name nor did I ask because she couldn’t answer my question about how fresh their fish was or if it was farm raised/​wild caught. She told ex the farm raised was better than wild caught because they keep the fish in a controlled environment
Needless to say the fox was bland and there were shells in my crab meat. $ 75 bill for two entrees and wine, not so bad if the food was decent.

DO NOT COME HERE ON CHRISTMAS DAY! The staff have an absolutely awful attitude, your reservation time is not applicable, you wait forever (once you get seated) for drinks, once you finally put a drink order in our server goes M.I.A. You wait over an hour for your food and when it arrives your lucky if it’s luke warm! Stay home and make something, just don’t come here, giving this place zero stars would be being very, very generous!

The service was excellent. The food was good but it took almost 50 minutes for it to come out after it was ordered. I had the grilled swordfish which was delicious however portion was exceptionally small for the amount of money.

We were visiting Raleigh and generally enjoy McCormick and Schmick’s but we were very disappointed with the Crabtree Mall location.
First the positive. Our server was wonderful. Very friendly and welcoming yet professional. She knew her menu well and was able to help us in choosing. She met our every need without hovering over us
Unfortunately the chef let us down. I order a blackened redfish in a creole sauce with shrimp, oysters and crab meat. It was supposed to be a chef’s specialty. It was very disappointing. The flavor was just plain flat. Nothing to keep me interested. The texture of the seafood was like it had been frozen then microwaved. Nothing like you’d expect a professional kitchen to turn out.
For the prices charged you should get a better meal.

I ordered the Blackened Chicken Fettuccini, it was subpar, it tasted as if it had a chewy consistency. It reminded me of when you reheat pasta that has sauce and it never regains its creamy consistency. My father had the Steak & Shrimp Skewer meal; he noted that it tasted good. That particular meal comes with 4oz of steak and 4 shrimp with some other sides. Overall, the atmosphere was pleasant and neutral; I visited during the lunch hour. If I decided to return I would order something different. The waiter was good, he came by as necessary.

Happy Hour is the way to go with this restaurant! Firecracker Shrimp Tacos, calamari, mussels, mini burgers all were fantastic. My fiancé also ordered a scallop dish for an entrée. While the price was a little steep, she enjoyed them and the scallops were of good size and cooked to perfection. The bread pudding for dessert is HUGE and delicious.

In general, the food isn’t terrible. Their steaks can be dry and lacking a bit in flavor, but I haven’t had a steak I absolutely couldn’t eat. But for the price you pay, you’d think the food would be up to par. In my opinion, I think you could take your money elsewhere for a more satisfying meal.
In general, I’ve had good experiences with the service. The restaurant is clean and has a «nice restaurant» feel to it. I just wish the food would match the rest of the restaurant. It’s not bad, it’s just not worth it.

Had a great server — very polite and fun with excellent suggestions. Loved the calm and relaxed atmosphere, would definitely be great with larger groups. Would be more than happy to come back. Some of the best food I’ve had in a long time.

This was my first visit to this chain. I was there with a large group (60ish people). The service was attentive, but unobtrusive. The food was hot, well presented, and timely. The ambiance was actually pretty good. With a group that size, you expect to be shouting to be heard, but it was a pleasant environment in every way. I was pleasantly surprised and would go back again on my own.

I only ever go here for their happy hour menu, which is a great value. You can’t beat the quality of food for the price. They do require you to buy a drink, but still you can eat a lot of food and still pay less than $ 10 total. I know their regular menu seems a bit expensive, but I’m sure it’s great food. This is a very nice restaurant, and it’s huge! There is a large banquet area in the back that would be ideal for a wedding reception. Also, make sure to sign up for a Landry’s account, you get $ 25 to spend here every time it’s your birthday!

During a rainy day shopping decided to stop in for lunch. Was greeted nicely enough and sat at or table. Our waiter was young but came to the table promptly asking if we would like anything. I asked for a specific vodka for a martini, the waiter had to check to see if hey had that type of vodka, ok no big deal. My wife ordered a glass of wine. It took 10 minutes for us to get our drinks. After we received our drinks the waiter continued to ask us if we were prepared to order, we were, I ordered four oysters followed by a lobster salad for my wife and a lunch stuffed shrimp for me. The oysters seemed to take about 10 minutes before coming out and then the waiting began. It took 30 minutes after our oyster appetizer for the lunches to come out. They came out and the shrimp was cold, aggravated I told them I didn’t have time to wait for it to be remade. The waiter told us that it had taken for ever for the salad to be made and that the shrimp just sat there. I was so aggravated, why send it to a customer if you know it’s not going to be good. The waiter was apologetic but no management ever approached to explain nor to apologize. Frankly pour management and a terrible kitchen staff. I wouldn’t go here again especially as here were only 5 table in the whole place, imagine the problems when the place is full!

2 chances to cook steaks as ordered and 2 miserable failures. Well done and medium well, not all that difficult. The result ended up highlighter pink and pink… 2^nd try for well was burnt. Haven’t eaten here in 2 years until today. And won’t ever again. Staff was less than helpful, had to pry for specials and recommendations. Whatever has changed between 2 years ago and today, needs to change. This place is no longer good at all. IHOP with dimmed lights.

Good was excellent. The portions were more than enough and very tasty. There was a good selection for the kids as well. I would recommend the Seafood Trio and the scallops. The calamari appetizer was filling and enough to share with a few people.
The only negative part was the amount of time it took us to get our food. We waited for over an hour for our food and the waitress was not helpful when we asked about where our food was.

So disappointed with the food tonight!!! We ordered the special where it came with soup, entrée and dessert. I got the shrimp scampi w/​linguine and my husband got the bbq shrimp and grits and my daughter the kids mac and cheese. We also ordered a gumbo and calamari on top of it. The main course (linguine shrimp scampi, bbq shrimp and grits and mac and cheese) were not good. They usually serve good food, but I think that because they had an event to do tasting on their new menu, the chef’s probably were overwhelmed with the amount of food to cook plus the different varieties. Our server was wonderful, but he too was really busy that he tried his hardest to tend to us and everyone as quickly as he could. Our food took a while to arrive. I was really disappointed in the food because how likely is it that all 3 entrees were bad– my husband, my self and my 3 year old toddler!!! The shrimp scampi was EXTREMELY overwhelmed with garlic… my soul still aches from the amount of garlic I swallowed. my linguine noodles were undercooked– u can tell it was rushed. It was still a bit hard. My daughters mac and cheese were a bit salty– maybe they used a special cheese that had a salt taste to it? And on the mac and cheese, they used very large rigatoni noodles so for a 3 year old who is only used to the standard elbow noodles for mac and cheese, it just became too overwhelming for her. This is the first time she did not finish her plate of mac and cheese.
HOWEVER— we do like their restaurant because of the service. We were not rude. When they asked us how our food was, I was very friendly and just said it wasn’t good this time. The server said he’d see if a manager can do anything about it and we told him it was not necessary. But given they strive for good service, the manager came over and apologized and comp us for the main entrees.
Oh! The dessert was super good. I ate the chocolate molten cake w/​ice cream. VERY GOOD!

Pros:. Our server was named David and he was fantastic! Knowledgeable, efficient, and patient! We normally frequent our local McCormick in va Beach, but were ViSiting the area and came here. The food arrived in a timely manner and our drinks were kept full. Again, the server was great.
Cons:. We ordered our usual crab dip and while the dip was great, the pita chips were burnt and not good. We also had the seafood trio, the scampi was burnt and tough from the grill, and my scallops were drenched in salt. My husband had the swordfish special. The mushrooms underneath his meal were. Upsetting. They looked like they had tentacles. The restaurant itself is located above a parking deck so you are constantly shaking or vibrating from the cars passing. Overall we still love the restaurant, maybe not just this particular chef.

Some colleagues and I came in to have dinner. Knowing the standard of the usual experience here. Sadly, we were let down. After sitting in the restaurant for almost 2 hours, our entrees arrived at table in very poor fashion.
My blackened chicken fettuccine was one ball of noodle with dry chicken resting on top.
The beers previously were cold and refreshing, but the entrees were a let down.
In a nation of customer service, this isn’t acceptable.

Came here for Saturday lunch. Not busy and seated right away. Place is very clean with warm ambiance. They have $ 14 lunch specials on the weekend. Most items were seafood. They offered a dinner menu for my husband who likes steak but very pricey. He got a good sized hamburger for less than $ 12 and I ordered the salmon rigatoni for $ 14. It came out hot but was a little disappointed in the amount of toppings. The salmon was over the pasta in chunks and the skin was still on it. There was a total of one asparagus chopped up in the pasta and only two pieces of artichoke. Lots of pasta and creamed sauce was tasty. Probably won’t come back because of price, skimpy on items and not enough non seafood choices. Service was good and ambiance was good. Food quality was good too but not worth the cost.

I was expecting more.
Unfortunately, I got less than what I had hoped for.
Food wasn’t bad. Service was pretty good. But was it worth the bill? No.
When we ordered the seared ahi tuna, we weren’t expecting to get it all thinly sliced. Flavor was decent but not impressive.
The salmon was juicy and delicious though!
The side dishes (roasted veggies, potatoes, and fries) were all very ordinary.
Entrees run around $ 25 – 35 so it’s no cheap meal.
Honestly, you can get their kind of food from bonefish or cheesecake for a reduced price– just saying…

It’s really such a shame that McCormicks & Schmicks is not more a more popular destination. We stopped in on a Sunday after church and all the other restaurants were packed. People waiting outside to get in those hot spots, but at M&S, there were barely three tables in the whole place and we were one of them!
No matter, we received fantastic service because of it. Our waiter was friendly but formal. We sat outside in the sun on an unseasonably warm winter day.
We had an assortment of appetizers that ranged from outrageously delicious to fairly poor. The Coast to Coast tuna was astounding… So tasty and fresh, I would go out of my way to have it again. The mushroom flatbread on the other hand, was a bit of a greasy mess. The flatbread was limp with oil and the mushrooms were not to be found.
The oysters were scrumptious as was the shrimp and grits. The wine was poured a little in the light side, I would think for the price they would be a tad more generous.
And perhaps that’s the problem with M&S’s, the prices are very expensive and the food hit or miss.
We honestly had a delightful lunch overall but certainly couldn’t afford repeat visits. I happened to notice a few parties obviously coming in for special occasions: large families toting balloons and presents. So it appears to be the destination of choice for something like that. The dining room is definitely set up to accommodate large events and the indoor ambience is dark and formal.
Perhaps we’ll try their happy hour specials instead!

Went here with my job to celebrate our first 6 months together. I had a cup of Clam Chowder that brought tears to my eyes. Seared Wahoo and Sweet Potato Couscous. The Wahoo was good, a little more fishy than what I expected, but since I like fish this did not bother me too much, I just won’t plan on kissing anyone after. I loved the couscous so much. I love sweet potatoes so it was perfect with nice tender chuncks of sweet potato. We finished the night sharing a divine dessert called the Chocolate Bag. All there is to say about that is go and try it because words will not convey the richness and decadence of this dessert.
So all in all it was good. I do want to go back and try this restaurant again as the fish was a little too fishy. Salmon is my go-​to and favorite so I think next time that is what I will get. Definitely don’t knock this place. Be sure to have some change in your pocket or bank account before you go though. Hope you enjoy it!