Monstah Lobstah

We originally found this place on Unilocal.We love this place. The all you can drink beer is a great deal and if you can’t fill a pitcher, the owner will definitely call you out for it. ;) He has a great personality which really makes you feel like you a regular customer the first time you walk in. The all you can eat snow crab on Tuesdays is one of the best deals. You won’t go hungry and even the biggest eaters can fill themselves on crab and free beer. If you are looking for authentic seafood served unassumingly look no further than Monstah Lobstah.

First of all, I love their new location. The old location on Dale Mabry was hard to find and not that appetizing; but the new place is great!
I always get their lobster roll and onion rings when I go here, and I have never been disappointed. It’s not what you might expect from a lobster roll, with huge chunks of lobster all around. This lobster is finely finely chopped, giving a consistent and easy to consume texture. I prefer this kind of lobster roll, but many people love the huge chunks of lobster meat. So be forewarned, that’s not what this is.
They have good beer and the owner is just the loveliest guy. He runs a great place, and he puts out quality food!

Lobster roll was great, fried hadock was awesome, even the fries (which look generic) were really good. Definitely give them a try if you feel like some good seafood. Live lobster in a big tank and a good man behind the counter. Can’t ask for more.

Amazing hole in the wall! Friendly atmosphere. Great food!

I was terribly disappointed. The «Lobster» Roll was filled with imitation lobster meat. The fried shrimp was extremely oily and tasteless. The clam chowder was salty. I would not return nor recommend this establishment.

I tried the lobster roll and while it was good and different, but it wasn’t all that special or OMG good.
While i recommend for people to try this, I do think that it was not that fulfilling.
Kinda made me feel a bit hungry still afterwards…

Nice place + Fresh lobster + Super nice waiter

Great Maine lobster, great lobster rolls! Definitely not a ripoff. If the people in the other reviews would stop to think that lobster transferred alive from Maine isn’t cheap. With that in mind, the prices really are dang good. The service is great. Some nights of the week they do all you can eat crabs. Great beers. A high definition projector out on the patio. Definitely check this place out, it’s worth it. It’s definitely in my new lunch rotation.

The lobster roll was all right – nothing special – although definitely tasted fresh. The service was not good. We tried to order at the counter inside, were told to order at our table outside, but then they filled the one order we put in at the counter and forgot to fill the order they made us put in at our outside table, and then acted like it was our fault! It was silly. The crab claws looked really good though, so perhaps I’ll go back one more time to see if that will change my mind.

Why 3 stars? Because it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t remind me enough of my Lobster Roll from Boston.
— — —
I know, I know — it’s not fair to compare Monstah Lobstah to Neptune Oyster in Boston. But fresh off my vacation to New England, it was incredibly hard to come to grips with the fact that I wasn’t going to be at Neptune anytime soon. I HAD to duplicate it.
So after some research, I journeyed over to the Monstah. Unfortunately, it was an imitator… NOT…an innovator. And my Lobster Roll came out to the exact same price I paid at a much fancier/​nicer restaurant in Boston.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s good lobster meat. Just don’t be silly like me and think you are going to bring the NE to Tampa.

This place makes the best Crab and Lobster rolls, hands down! Love I have only tried those two rolls and they are plenty enough to justify my 5 stars!
Next time I’m in tampa i will stop by for sure :)

This review is long overdue!
I’d never eaten a lobster that knocked my socks off and I wondered what all the fuss about lobster was, until I ate here.
My first time here was for the $ 20-​all-​you-​can-​eat crab legs special on Tuesdays (not sure if this is still going on). The crab was excellent and plentiful and cooked fresh to order, not sitting under a heat lamp waiting for you. The hushpuppies were delightful and the beer was FREE!
Wanting crab legs and not wanting to wait until the next Tuesday, we decided to come back and have some anyway. He had a lobster special going on this time. I really, really love crab, but I thought I’d give lobster one last shot. I’m so glad I did!!! It was DEE-​LISH! It was prepared perfectly, not rubbery at all, sweet, but not too sweet and absolutely melted in my mouth.
The owner/​operator is a hunky, tattooed, ex-​MMA fighter/​lobsterman from Maine. :) He has all of his seafood flown in fresh from Maine, or so I was told by a friend that frequents the place. He has some great pics up on the wall, so browse around and get the story behind this lil gem.
I can’t wait to visit the new place! I’ll update when I do!

Monstah Lobstah — Expanded
This new location opened recently and having only tried a kiosk version at Tropicana field we wanted to give it a go.
Food:
Being from New England it’s hard to find fried belly clams anywhere down here and they have a prominent spot on the menu. They get points for having something I can’t get anywhere else.
We got the clam dinner and the lobster roll. Both were delish. I liked the seafood chowder as well with lots of scallops and lobster pieces. Both baskets came atop of fries, the thick crinkle ones. It was a lot of food and we ended up taking about half of it home.
They served beer and we got bottles which were ice cold.
Service: Friendly, polite and conversational.
The owner was super nice and came outside to meet our dog. He chatted with us for a while. He is a Boston guy but he promised to have the Giant’s game on, on Sunday as long as we don’t mind watching the Pats too.
Atmosphere: Quaint, nostalgic, kind of reminds you of those little summer places you used to go to as a kid. They have good TV’s too.
Overall: I really liked this place and felt right at home. It’s owner operated and I’m a definite fan of supporting our local gems.

Yeah, good lobster but couldn’t help walking away thinking I got ripped off.

I love visiting my cousins in Tampa and love the food there. I grew up in Boston so i really like seafood but Monstah Lobstah ripped me off. I ordered the uconn and it was a lot of bread with a small amount of lobster and some dam lettuces! i was like what the hell? I paid about 21 dollars for bread and some dam lettuces. i did try there fried clams and they were okay. so my meal cost me 47 dollars and i was still hungry so i when down the street to McDonald’s and got me a Big Mac (without lettuces) will not go there again! bah-​hum-​bug!

This place is an absolute and total shithole.
After I paid almost $ 30 for 2 lobster rolls, I got them home to find a cheap bun filled with a pound of mayo and literally NO lobster meat.
DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

We were in town for business and read the reviews on Unilocal.We decided to give it a try. I spent $ 60 for 2 and was not full which unfortunately is the downfall of eating seafood.
The restaurant is in strip mall facing the street but the sign is hard to see unless you were looking out the window at the right time. Definitely nothing fancy just a wholesome mom and pop seafood take out/​eat in restaurant.
The owner was friendly and greeted us quickly. It’s a very laid back, easy going place. We asked for recommendations and lobster chowder & steam lobster came to thier mind. The lobster chowder came in a to go styrofoam bowl that was heated in the microwave. It was more like soup than chowder, had chunks of potatoes & lobster. They weren’t cheap on the lobster which was great however, I wished it was heated up warmer. The soup was heated in the microwave which was disappointing.
We also ordered fried scallops which was very good when it was hot. Then our 2.5 lb lobster came. The lobster was great but very messy to eat. Even though the owner cracked the claw and split the lobster in half, all the meat was still not enough to satisfy our craving. I would come back to this place and try thier U Conn roll. All the lobster meat without the mess!

Last time I was in Tampa. I stopped by Monstah Lobstah. All I can say is… The food and service was the best!
The food was fresh and served with a smile.
Monstah Lobstah is now a destination next time i visit!
Make sure to tell AL (the owner) that Stew sent you.

So looking forward to the next time I get to go there !!! The lobstah rolls rule!
support this guy– he does real food and real prices for real people who just enjoy life.

Of all the restaurants that I’ve been to during my trips to Tampa, Monstah Lobstah has gotta have the blandest food of them all, AND THAT’S A GOOD THING! It’s really refreshing not to have a meal that’s chalked full of grease and over-​salted or over-​sugared, like most of the other food that I’ve had in Tampa.
I had dinnah here a few nights ago. Yes, I said it. Dinnah! They also have appetizahs, samplahs, groupahs, chowdah, etc. I love it! :) My friend and I split a lobstah dinnah with a one and a quarter pound lobstah. The lobstah was simply boiled and served as is with a side of potatah salad and corn on the cob plus some melted buttah. The lobstah was perfect, and the potatah salad and corn went very well with it. The dinnah was $ 21. Deal!
Interesting tidbit: Monstah Lobstah is owned by an ultimate fighter of the same name who’s from Maine, where apparently, the lobsters are from. So it’s no surprise that a few of my friend’s jiu jitsu classmates work here and you’ll also find many MMA folks dining here.
There’s nothing fancy about Monstah Lobstah; it’s plain and simple delicious food. Totally down home with no frills. Aside from lobstah, they also serve clams, shrimp, groupah and crab, the latter of which the staff really, really recommended we try the next time we were there. The staff members, by the way, are awesome. Besides making good recommendations on Monstah Lobstah’s menu, they also gave my friend and I good recommendations on other restaurants around the area.
I’m totally coming back here the next time I’m in town!