McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks

We love this restaurant. The best service and the best, consistent meals.

My sweetheart an I had to go to the mall the other day, and stopped here for a small lunch prior to shopping. We were greeted in a friendly manner, and were seated at a nice table next to a window. Our servers, Maria and Claire were helpful, friendly and came around at just the correct times. Thank you for such wonderful service.
We enjoyed the crab cake, oysters Rockefeller, and a couple of raw oysters. They were fantastic, and what we were hoping for.
A good experience, and will come back.

First let me start by saying we planned a great night here. My friend decided to propose to his girlfriend the week before she left for Afghanistan for 6 months. With that being said, I cannot express how important this night was. I called ahead and spoke to the manager Jim who was very polite and accomidating. However his staff was not. Our waitress took forever for everything we asked for. We asked for flutes so that we could take a toast to the new year and she said she could not give them to us unless we ordered alcohol. All 10 of us are active duty and we’re driving so we did not want to drink too much. We said fine and toasted with our regular glasses.
Once it was time for the checks, we asked that she split them and she shrugged her shoulders, rolled her eyes and said «for all of you»…she looked quite disgusted to say the least. It was like no one told her what was going on however I don’t think the had to in order for us to recieve decent service. She was just rude! Luckily the proposal lightened everyone’s mood however we never plan to return. It was everyone’s first time and it was a horrible impression. I DO NOT RECOMMEND!

We arrived at 6:30 pm. tonight. The room had several empty tables. However, it took 1 – ¹⁄₂ hours to get our food. Some of our party 4 (a birthday dinner) never received the water or tea they ordered. The waitress took our order 45 minutes after being seated. We had to flag our waitress down to get our first soda and tea refill. She did not know who ordered what when they delivered our food, we had to give instructions. Truly, I have never experienced worse service. This experience was so mediocre. The food was great, but nothing you cannot get at other fine restaurants. I would not waste my time again at this establishment.

My boyfriend and I went here for NYE and were disappointed with everything in general. We thought it would be a little more up scale (we were dressed nice) but everyone was dressed very casual (jeans, t shirt) lots of older people also. Not that it’s a bad thing but when we walked in we felt a little awkward, like out of place. The environment is a little depressing also, something about the lighting and the way the seating was, it didn’t feel relaxing. Our salmon was over cooked, dry, I can cook a better salmon. Sides weren’t that great either, lots of olive oil on my veggies. Even the presentation on the plate was just blah. (I’m being petty I know Lol.) Our server was just ok, we felt a little rushed. Won’t be back, it’s not a horrible restaurant, it just wasn’t our type of place. Definitely have had better.

My wife and I, along with another couple, came here for New Years. The only reason why I give it 2 stars is because my steak was actually pretty good — but everything else was really, really bad — mostly with the service. Given the service, the price could not be justified.
We had a reservation for 7:45. Our table was not ready until 8:15. OK, it is a holiday. So we ordered drinks at the bar. These guys do seriously measured pours — definitely don’t want to go too heavy! They make sure they don’t give you a dime extra. I’d even say it was on the lean side for a shot my friend ordered.
After we were seated we instantly asked for water. It took at least 30 minutes and 3 reminders to get it. Our waiter kept asking someone to bring it. we’d see someone walk around with 4 waters and then drop them off for other tables. In one case, our waiter shook his head like «damn, he gave it to the wrong table.» Instead of shaking his head, he should have gotten 4 waters himself! It was ridiculously long wait. 30 minutes is not an exaggeration. Instead of blaming the runner, he should have apologized when he brought the water himself.
Since we were going to be drinking, I asked if he could make sure to bring us bread. Every other table had it so i thought it was a slam dunk. Unfortunately, no bread ever came. Ever.
We ordered an appetizer. Crab Cakes. Well, Crab Cakes should be singular. It came with one. Despite the menu saying «perfect for sharing,» it was barely enough for one to be a decent appetizer. I’ve posted a picture. Not only that, it tasted like tuna straight from the can. Gross.
We eventually flagged down our waiter for refills. He got us refills and never took the old glasses. so we had at least 6 empty glasses at the table.
He charged us for 2 beers instead of 1.
He never brought my wife’s salad and when we mentioned it next time we saw him (when he brought the dinner)… he said «Ohh, I’ll be happy to take it off the bill.»… gee… thanks.
Anyway, I won’t be going back here. The food is decent… crab cakes suck. But the service is horrendous. It is too bad because when I used to go to the one in downtown Sacramento, it was amazing. Really a 5 star place. This one needs work. U

Happy hour: Started off pretty good. Stopped in after a long travel day. Server came quickly and took our drink order, menus followed and food ordered.
Shrimp tacos were really good! Asian type of dressing and tasty shrimp. Coconut shrimp next. Bland. Sauce bland. Mango salsa bland. Tried mixing it with the leftover Asian sauce and that helped a little.
They cleared our plates when we ordered chicken lettuce cups, and when they delivered them… didn’t bring new plates or silver. You can’t eat these by hand a cross a table. Asked for plates. Then silver.
Lettuce cups are pretty bland as well. What’s happening !!!
I get that it’s happy hour, but it was Monday and not very crowded. Service just seemed very lackluster.
This is my 3^rd time here and I think I’m giving up, well, after I use up what’s left on my gift card.

I have a hard time writing negative reviews for restaurants but this one has some necessary qualities. My parents and I came for Christmas Eve for 7pm reservations and didn’t get sat until 7:40 or so. It was a busy night so maybe this isn’t their usual delay.
As for the service, our server must have been new or not trained well. She had no knowledge of the menu when we asked for recommendations for good starters nor did she know which fish were wild versus farm-​raised.
The appetizers we ended up choosing were mediocre. Stuffed shrimp wrapped in undercooked bacon and coconut shrimp with an awful tasting sauce.
Thankfully our entrees were SUPERB. Truly the best swordfish I’ve ever had which made up for the lack of sides it came with (maybe 6 small Brussel sprouts) Their Chilean sea bass was perfectly cooked and topped with pesto and the seared scallops were nice and fresh.
Overall not an excellent experience but not negative either. Probably would return to give it another shot.

We decided on McCormick’s for lunch. I’ve been to the SJ location, and recommend Happy Hour at 3pm for some solid deals.
We sat in the bar, service was great and the Lobster Bisque was a tasty starter to share with 2 people.
The pasta in the Shrimp Linguini was filling and the side salad for a few extra bucks was a nice addition.

Atmosphere was nice and the service was good! I ordered the king crab and steak medallions and my fiancé ordered lobster and steak. The only thing I have to complain on is I ordered my steak medium and my fiancé ordered his medium rare and the switched our steaks. The king crab was sooo good!!!

I met up with my parents at McCormick & Schmick’s for dinner. It’s a family favorite that I don’t get to enjoy as often as I’d like. It’s always a fun place for me to go because I’ve never been anywhere quite like it before. The atmosphere is a little fancy without being over the top and comfortable. Think something like the country club meets cabin in the mountains. Some of the booths over curtains that you can shut to reduce noise and for more privacy which I’m sure would be wonderful for a romantic date night.
Our server for the night was Maria and she was absolutely fantastic. When I first arrived at the restaurant to meet my family we started in the bar for a pre-​meal drink and when I asked for mojito mule she was off with my order and back in a heartbeat, almost like they already had my drink made before I even sat down.
When we were ready to be seated for dinner the hostess ushered us to one of the curtained booths. Maria popped over with a surprise that she would be our waitress for the night as well and we all had a good laugh. She really was on her A game with bringing refills, making sure we had everything we needed, and food recommendations.
The food itself was perfect. I had the oysters, lobster bisque and the fish and chips for my meal. The oysters were a bit small but the bisque was perfectly creamy and warm. Presentation was beautiful too. The fish and chips, which were recommended by Maria, was amazing. I couldn’t finish all of it tho so I ended up taking the rest home with me. At the end of the evening when Maria brought the bill she also surprised us with crème brûlée topped with fruit. Pretty sure I fell in love.
You really can’t go wrong if you go here. And if you have the option, ask for Maria, cause she’s just awesome.

What can I say? The absolute worst meal we’ve ever experienced. I write very few reviews, never before a negative one, and mostly try to focus on the positive aspects of the experience. This by far was the worst we ever experienced and we’ve had some doozies!
Service mediocre, they ran out of rock cod (a favorite fish of mine) at 6:45pm!?!, grease dripping from the calamari appetizer, mediocre fish and chips and my wife’s Parmesan flounder, floating in grease, so bad she could not finish and would not think of taking it home.
I’ve eaten at other M&S’s and found them acceptable … this one, not even close.

Came here for dinner last night with my daughter who is 6 and is quite picky. We were greeted promptly by our host and were seated right away. They even put our names on the top of the menu to welcome us as it was our first time dining there. Our server was very nice. He took the time to go over the menu with us and was very attentive. I’m very happy with the service here. They were very accommodating. The new Executive Chef went above and beyond for my daughter and made a special dish for her. I’ve never seen her eat her food so quickly. He even came out to make sure it was made the way she liked it, which she loved.
We ordered the Lump Crab Tower (made with avocado, mango, and an orange vinaigrette), Apple Miso Sea Bass (made with cabbage, Japanese mushrooms, and mashed califlower sitting on dashi broth), Shrimp and Andouille Mac & Cheese (Andouille substituted for salmon), and their Crème Brûleé topped with berries.
My compliments go to the chef. This was a great dinner. The salmon and sea bass was cooked PEFECTLY. Perfectly! Very pleased we decided to come here for dinner. Looking forward to coming back and trying the other items on the menu. What a great experience!

I love oysters and I love that they have a dollar oysters on Wednesdays!!! And the best Caesar salad dressing too!

Have not been here in years. This is my second or 3^rd time here ever, in which we usually hit up happy hour. Today my 8 year old and I dined in for lunch. Server was james and he was very attentive and professional, however his professionalism got in the way of his personality and he came off too robotic for me. Nice guy, just wish he smiled more and was more warm. William helped out too and he was also nice. We sent the clam chowder back because it was the worst I have had. My daughter did not care for it either. The kids burger was pretty good and I had a field greens salad with mussels and an oyster. The salad was $ 8 for spring mix and dressing amd was barely bigger than a small side salad. They also serve bread and butter with your meals, and it was so tough it was hard to eat. Almost like it has been sitting out too long. I am not saying I wont come here again, but it would not be in my top 20 choices.

Always the best Service!
Friendly staff and today they honor Veterans with a complementary lunch.
The Cedar plant Salmon was excellent.

We were so excited to go to McCormick & Schmick’s for dinner last night. We were celebrating a new job and a work anniversary and figured this restaurant would be a great one to check out. It was my first time at this restaurant. With the higher prices on the menu (we spent around $ 80 for the 2 of us), I figured the food would be topnotch.
We made a reservation via Open Table for 5:30pm but when we arrived, the person at the counter could not find our reservation. We didn’t want to lose out on our Open Table points, so we asked to make another reservation on our phone app, and that one came through immediately.
The restaurant was pretty empty at that time, so we were able to get a table quickly. Our server was very friendly and did an excellent job last night. We ordered a bowl of clam chowder to share, the lobster salad, and the ribeye steak.
The clam chowder wasn’t too bad and it was interesting how it had big pieces of what appeared to be ham in it. It was quite a bit saltier than we’re used to, though. We chugged down more ice water, which our server was quick to refill for us.
Then our entrees came and they looked fabulous. We even took photos because they looked pretty impressive. The lobster salad was in the shape of a tall circular tower, and the ribeye steak was elegantly presented with a side of broccolini. Presentation was good.
Unfortunately both dishes LOOKED way better than they tasted.
The bacon and bleu cheese in the salad was WAY TOO SALTY, as was the dressing that we asked for on the side. We ended up asking for a side of another kind of dressing instead (Thousand Island), which wasn’t as bad.
My husband’s ribeye looked awesome when it came out, but when we took a bite, it was very bland. We commented to each other that places like Outback Steakhouse taste WAY better.
The side of broccolini looked very appetizing, but when we took a bite, we had to spit it out. It was WAY too salty, almost as if they had been soaked in salt before cooking. We figured they probably boiled or steamed the broccolini in salt water thinking it would be more flavorful, but instead, it just ended up tasting like it was preserved in salt.
The entire meal was very disappointing, other than our server’s great customer service. As we were trying to swallow down the expensive meal, we decided to look on Unilocal to see the reviews and were surprised to see how low this restaurant is rated. After having dinner there, we can see why. Usually we have great experiences with higher-​end restaurants, especially those in the Landry’s chain, but this one was not a good one.
The ambiance was nice, the A/​C was great, service was excellent, but the food was awful. Based on our experiences last night, we don’t plan to go back to McCormick & Schmick’s. There are way too many great restaurants out there to be spending this much money on such an awful tasting meal. Perhaps they need to get new cooks, or at least train cooks to prepare food better. Add flavoring to steaks and stop overusing the salt shaker. Maybe they use more salt in their entrees to make people drink more or something.
Well, at least we can cross this restaurant off our list of places to try. :(

I must forewarn that this review is only in relation to their happy hour. We have not done the full dinner visit as of yet.
The happy hour is one of my favorites in Sacramento. They have tasty options that are large portions for «small plates». The shrimp tacos, burger, and hummus are a must-​try. They have strong, well made drinks. They make their mojito a little differently than what I am used to (unsure what it is) but it’s delicious. They also make one of the best lemon drops in town. The service is always wonderful, even when it’s 95 degrees outside and you’re sitting on the patio. We love it here!

Sat down at 715pm, did not eat dinner until 9:30pm. Bill was over $ 700 for 7 people and for the price, the service should have been much better from drinks taking 20mins+ down to the dinner. Appetizers are extremely small, not enough to share. Biggest disappointment was lobster bites with no joke 3pcs of lobster. I spoke to the manager about 9pm about the dinner taking so long and what happened, and he didn’t look up at me to even make eye contact, he just continued doing what he was working on and said it’ll be out shortly and brushed me off.
Quality of food Is 5 star, but we all know other things factor into a great business.
I would come back solely for a dinner entrée with maybe just my husband… But bringing both of our Father’s again for the embarrassment, I don’t think so.

Great bar, great happy hour, okay restaurant. McCormick & Schmick’s is an upscale seafood eatery with the feel of a good steakhouse. Spacious and airy with dark wood furnishings this is a great place for a nice lunch but just okay for dinner due to the high prices. Most of the lunch items are in the $ 20 range so you can imagine what the dinner price range would be.
The bar is very large and great for happy hour the cheese burger is outstanding for a measly $ 4. Come early for a good seat as the bar fills quickly.
I would have to describe the regular food as somewhat lackluster. Better than Red Lobster but really only 3.25 stars tops. The lobster tasted frozen and a little salty to us although it was beautifully displayed. My blue crab and corn chowder looked like it was microwaved and although not bad in flavor it was not made fresh.
Service was outstanding although the place was pretty much empty for lunch. Our waiter was fast, pleasant and efficient.
Overall this is a good spot for happy hour and not bad for lunch, but if you want a nice seafood dining experience someplace like Scott’s on the River would be a better choice for the same price.