Hoopers is a good, old-fashioned, seafood "shack" where you feel right at home, just what you want when you go to the Jersey Shore. We had such a great experience here! The food was tasty and fresh, and the staff was so friendly and accommodating...we really felt like family by the time we left.
The Lobster Bisque was so good. We also had salmon, crab-stuffed flounder, and crab legs, all delicious!
It was my daughter's 3rd birthday, and they brought out a cake and the whole restaurant sang, so sweet! Will definitely go back as often as we can.
That was good!! Â Very quaint setting in an old corner store. You would never drop in if you drove by but one of the best seafood restaurants I have experienced.
For Appetizers we had mussels and calamari. Â Very generous portions, but don't fill up because you will need room for your main meal. I had the Hoopers grouper, baked with a corn crust and a banana sauce. Â I highly recommend this plate. My wife had the Ahi Tuna and shrimp over a bed of Asian slaw. Â When asked what her assessment was she replied "wonderful" and added "big portion of tuna". Â I guess that's a good review.
Tip o the hat: The restaurant is BYOB.
Wage of the finger: none really. I think service can back up if it gets too busy though.
My husband and I are on the island for the weekend and stumbled across Hoopers. We absolutely loved our food! The New England Clam chowder was incredible and I think the calamari was the best I've ever had. My husband got the fried seafood sampler and loved everything. I had salmon which was also quite yummy! In addition to the great food, the staff was lovely and very quick to keep up with refills, checking in on quality, etc. Everyone in the restaurant seemed to know each other which allows for a relaxed, casual, family feel even for out of towners like us. Don't miss Hooper's if you're in Brigantine!
Review Source:This is becoming my favorite place to order delivery. I think the person I usually place the order with might be an owner, because you can tell he cares about your business and is trying to accommodate you. Food is delicious, which is the most important thing. If you want top notch, fresh food--order from here with confidence. Great place with a friendly staff.
Review Source:Went here with high expectations during a rainstorm. We got to the restaurant, and their power kept flickering. We kept hoping they didn't lose power, and thankfully, they didn't.
The meal was disappointing, the lobster bisque had no lobster, and was very bland. The rest of the meal was unmemorable and not really good... very disappointing
My family ate there last summer while on my vacation. Â We were really looking forward to having some great seafood at the shore. Boy, were we disappointed! My sister's crab cake had a piece of paper towel in it. Needless to say, we all lost our appetite after that. Save yourself some money and skip this restaurant.
Review Source:We are in town for a family vacation and decided to go out for dinner. Â We went to dinner early and we promptly waited on and served quickly. Â The meal was excellent and everyone was happy (even the children). Â I think the waitress was new as she did not explain the soup of the day properly and were charged extra for it. Â All in all, it was an excellent meal and reasonable priced. Â
The restaurant is small we were fortunate to have arrived early. Â It filled up shortly after we arrived.
Hoopers is the real deal for casual, no-frills seafood. I've spent the last couple days oscillating between a 4 or 5 star rating, and I'm settling on 4.5...for now.
Having spoken of almost nothing else for the past month, boyfriend finally acquiesced (he knows what's good for him), and off we went.
It's not much to look at from the outside, true, but who really cares? It's tiny but cozy inside, and we were the last table seated before a wait lined up.
Service from beginning to end was probably the best I've ever had, anywhere. The  hostess, our waitress, even the bus boy were absolutely fantastic. Our server, whose name I've forgotten (I blame my pre-dinner Bloody Mary at Harry's Oyster Bar in AC), was quite busy, but never missed a beat in checking on us in between courses. The young bus boy kept our table clear and boyfriend's water glass full. It's just a really awesome vibe in here--nobody looks miserable or like they'd rather be elsewhere.
Boyfriend and I decided to split an entree and order a couple appetizers, since dinners come with two sides and a choice of soup or salad. There was an appetizer special of buffalo calamari that sounded too good to pass up, and I was craving oysters on the half shell. For our entree, we (I) decided on the broiled seafood combination: stuffed flounder, baby lobster tail, scallops, shrimp, clam casino and oyster rockefellar. For sides we chose the tomato salad and mac and cheese...and of course we had to try the New England Clam Chowder for our soup.
The Clam Chowder came out first. It was a wonderful consistency, comfortingly warm and tasty, but didn't blow me away. This can most likely be attributed to the fact that I made a BANGING homemade clam chowder last week, and I have to say mine is better than Hoopers'.
My oysters on the half shell were huge and deliciously briny. I was pleasantly surprised at how plump they were, and happily slurped them down.
Usually I'm skeptical about anything "buffalo"; I've found it's really just a way to douse less-than-fresh food in hot sauce and butter to make it taste better than it really is. NOT the case with Hoopers' Buffalo Calamari. The calamari rings were a great size (not gargantuan), deliciously tender and fresh, lightly covered with buffalo sauce that actually tasted like BUFFALO SAUCE. Incredible concept! It was served with some kind of dipping sauce but honestly, it wasn't even necessary.
The main event is delivered shortly thereafter, and the chef kindly portioned it onto two plates since we were sharing. Through some telepathic connection, our waitress placed the dish with the oyster rockefellar in front of me (boyfriend doesn't get down on oysters) and he got the plate with the clam casino. Every component of the dish was perfectly cooked, seasoned, and super fresh. The standout for me were the scallops. I don't typically like scallops as they tend to get chewier the larger they are. These scallops were on the smaller size, but were so tender and juicy. The stuffed flounder was excellent as well. The mac and cheese and tomato salad were perfect complements.
The portions didn't look very big at first, but I eventually ended up throwing in the towel and piling my leftovers onto boyfriend's plate.
All told, the bill was just over $50 before tip, which was quite a bit less than I anticipated. Excellent quality, superior service, and undeniable value for just-caught seafood in Brigantine.
Hoopers was pretty good but, in my opinion, not worth the great ratings. My momma really wanted some seafood and we decided to pop over to Brigantine to try out Hoopers. Â When we drove up I was really tempted to turn around. Â This place looks like a total little chum bucket at the beach. Â Note the really terrible curtains. Â But, we decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and went in.
Decor: Â Pretty bad. Â Lots of nautical stuff but it's tacky. Â Maybe I would have liked it more had I known what to expect. Â I felt like I was sitting in my grandma's living room at the beach.
Service: Â The service was all around great. Â Out server was a gem.
Food/Drink: Hoopers is BYO. Â We ended up here on a Friday and we got like 3 menus- an anniversary, a fish fry, a normal one (even though they all had the same stuff on them)? Â There weren't a lot of non-fried options. Â I ended up getting the crab cakes. Â They were okay, nothing spectacular but nothing poisonous or vile. Â My momma got the fried clams and they were pretty good. Â
All in all, we ended up having a pretty fun time and the food was okay. Â But, I don't see myself making a return here.
Wow... if you want great seafood for a reasonable place escaping the hyped prices in AC, this is the place. the food here is absolutely fresh. the ambiance is cute and tiny. me and my husband ordered from the $16 menu,which includes a soup or salad, the entree and dessert! cant beat that.
first they brought out the bread,crackera and cream.mm delish. the soup - mushroom barley was pretty good. the highlight was the entree that my husband picked. zuppa di pesce. so yum, I was beating myself for not ordering it.mine was ok-deep fried shrimp.lil bit too deep fried for me.
but, overall, I highly recommend this place. its a gem :)
I'm not sure what all the hype is about. I had an average experience at Hoopers. The food was mediocre at best.
Pros:
-Very homey feel to it.
-Comfortable, small, quiet, not overcrowded
-Nice beach decor
-service was outstanding
Cons:
-Food was average
Service was great. Calamari was rubbery, fried grouper was mushy, and the mussels were large, but unflavorful.
They should focus more on local fish.
Been coming to Brigantine for years and thanks to the reviews, we decided to eat at Hoopers.  Everyone who works there was just so nice. Had like a 15 minute wait on a Saturday evening.  Then had an awesome appetizer of scallops on field greens ...... Great flavors with nice large perfectly cooked scallops.  Then, crabmeat chowder.  The waitress said in the four years she's been working there she's never seen it on the menu.  This chowder was delicious! Fresh tasting, not salty, ample amounts of  lump crab.  My husband had a chilean sea bass special and I had the seafood fra diavlo over rigatoni.  Mine was very good (the crabmeat was in the shell and a little too messy for me to eat but my husband tackled it) but his special was absolutely wonderful.  All i could think of was what we could order the next time we visit!  Seriously, a really good meal in a friendly, casual place that didn't break the bank.  Highly recommend this restaurant if you're in the hood.  It's byob which could cause the place to get a tad loud.  So be prepared for the table of guys that bring in a case of beer.....or bring enough of your own that it doesn't bother you.
Review Source:Don't judge it by it's cover. Seafood was most of all fresh, and cooked perfectly. Broiled seafood combo was awesome, with melt in your mouth scallops. Crabcakes were huge, but jersey style, not maryland style(think breaded and fried), but very tasty. Wife enjoyed her stuffed shrimp as well. Much better than the normal jersey shore seafood joint
Review Source:Very good seafood. Â I had the broiled combo platter. Â The shrimp and baby lobster were the best on the plate. Â Also, had a side of squash and New england clam chowder. Â Both were also good.
My bf had the stuffed shrimp. Â He enjoyed it as well...with a delicious side of corn. Â The service was quick and good. Â The atmosphere is perfect after the beach...relaxed.
This place is a nice hidden gem.
Hooper's is an small, intimate place with no pretensions -- they play radio for ambient music, the friendly waitresses are likely to sit down for a spell between slow periods, and the decorations have a distinctive nautical theme. Â But you don't come here to be hovered over by a foofy waiter in a stuffy suit, you come here for the seafood -- and boy, do they ever dish it out like they mean it. Â Everything, from the softly broiled scallops to the buttery lobster tail to the oysters rockefeller, was fresh and full of flavour.
Calling Hooper's a hole in the wall would be disrespectful -- rather, it's a buried treasure in the heart of Brigantine that you hope will be kept hidden away from the main crowds. Â Shh! Â ;)
OMG what a hidden treasure. The outside looks like a little seafood shack, but once inside the food is 5 stars and large portions. The inside only has about ten tables but this place gets packed fast, the locals always say that if you come in after 6pm expect an hour wait. This is the freshest seafood possible.
The menu contains many seafood dishes, pasta, and a couple other items for non seafood lovers, but trust me, if your gonna come here seafood is the main choice.
Recommend:
"special" seafood pasta- lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, and scallops over pasta in a garlic sauce, its basically two meals since the pasta and seafood are loaded up on the plate.
"broiled lobster"- three baby lobster tails, tender and tasty.
"crab legs"- out of this world.
"crab cakes"- crispy and served with cocktail/mustard sauce.
"lobster bisque"- creamy n tasty but doesnt have a lot of lobster chunks like some places.
"garlic/butter clams"- great appetizer!!!
Overall this place left us wanting more, the food was tasty, large portions, and friendly staff.
Come Here!!!!! =)
BYOB cooks up great fish on Brigantine.
Hooper's Seafood is a small BYOB fish joint that makes some great non-standard fish fry meals. Outside of the typical Fried Flounder (which is delicious, lightly breaded, crispy) Hooper's offers nightly specials were are also outstanding.
Recently the grilled tuna steak topped with a creole seafood hollandaise sauce, served with rice and beans was a standout. The tuna was cooked perfectly (rare) and the hollandaise sauce was more like large pieces of seafood (scallops, shrimp and lobster) in a rich seasoned sauce.
Other standouts on the menu include the Hooper's Grouper, which I like but could use a little less banana chutney. The crab stuffed broiled flounder and the orange roughy. Each entree comes with your choice of soup or salad and two sides.
Take the soup, the New England Clam Chowder is outstanding and better than the Clam Bar's in Somer's Point. The Manhattan Chowder has a spicy tomato broth that is great. The Crab chowder is a winner and the Lobster Bisque is creamy perfection.
Be sure to either come earlier or be prepared to wait up to 45 minutes for a table.
Save room for desert as Aunt B's Ice Cream is directly across the street.
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