It's more of a tradition to visit the original restaurant than visiting for the food. The food is ok unless you get crab (which is good). The coleslaw and potato salad is good. The shrimp is the same that comes out of the freezer case in a supermarket (skip it). They seem to get more and more expensive each year. Definitely visit if you've never been, just get crab.
Review Source:I see the Phillips's defenders are out in force on Yelp so buyer beware. The truth of this review shall set ye free....to better establishments for your seafare.
First, I will say I have long loved Phillips. This was the second straight time where the food and experience was worse than the time before. Needless to say, I am not sure if I will return. And of note, it seemed to go downhill when they went commercial and were showing up in the seafood section of my grocery store.
So the review. First, the salt. If you run a restaurant, make sure the salt comes out of the salt shaker. It didn't come out of ours. So we grabbed a shaker from the table next to us. Salt again didn't come out. Always a bad sign.
Now on to the actual buffet. Secondly, the crab imperial...while tasty, was full of crab shells. A sign of a pathetic lack of attention to one of the most important dishes they serve.
Third, it would've been nice if the salad bar portion of the buffet had...oh I don't know? Salad!?!?
Fourth....the king crab legs..the Phillips signature! I didn't think they could screw that up. But they impressed yet again. The crab legs were clearly over steamed. I could bend the crab legs as easy as I could break them. Unbelievably pathetic.
Fifth, the shrimp. Seasoned perfectly, again they were cooked a little too long making them too chewy.
Sixth, the mac'n'cheese and fries for my son kind of tasted like they were supposed to....but not really.
Two good things...the fresh cut meat station featured well prepared and well cut meat. The dessert options were also very good.
It is a sad state of affairs when I can buy better Phillips crab cakes in the frozen section of my grocery store than fresh at one of their signature restaurants.
I am not one to dish out poor reviews, but this one was deserved. Maybe one day I will return to give them another shot. But I need plenty of time to forget this experience first.
The staff was fantastic with a happy attitude considering the amount of customers that they are balancing. Â The food was mediocre for being right on the coastline. Â I had the crab-cake style stuffed fried shrimp and my girlfriend had the friend shrimp. Â The stuffed shrimp had crab meat that really wasn't all that great at all. Â The fried shrimp was okay but the coleslaw was terrible. Â The french fries were okay. Â The atmosphere and the wooden tables was pretty nice where the booths were. I recommend trying to get a booth because they are the best table for privacy. Â I'm going with 3 stars on this one.
Review Source:My family was on vacation and we were looking forward to some great crab legs. Unfortunately, this place was poor on all accounts. We had asked the staff at our hotel for a recommendation...next time we will look into other options. Our server was less than accommodating and seemed uninterested in assisting us. They seated us extremely far from the buffet with rows of empty tables in between. They did not have all of the necessary tools for eating crabs either. I opted for the buffet and was able to find a few tasty dishes but was not impressed overall. We went there specifically salivating for crab legs...they turned out to be small and over cooked, making them difficult to eat. The melted butter coagulated very quickly and was very unappetizing. We left very disappointed. On future trips to OC, MD, I look forward to finding a good place to satisfy the craving. I'm counting on you fellow yelpers to recommend something great!
Review Source:came down here for vacation, so we asked the front desk at the hotel where is a good place to eat...she said all the tourist like to go here. so we had their seafood buffet. it was ok. nothing special. service isnt great here either....since our table wasnt even clean before they sat us. we didnt have a server for the first 10 mins.
Review Source:Was treated here last week for the all you can eat seafood buffet. I was skeptical about eating at one of these type of buffets, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of the food offered. The seafood was fresh, the Alaskan crab legs were full  of meat and fresh, the crab cakes were well seasoned and had large chunks of crab meat. The only slight problem was tracking down our server, to take away old plates and refill drinks, but that aside a very nice meal.
Review Source:OMG! We took user Mike S.'s advice and asked for the waiter Anton -- boy, what a meal! Anton had us in stitches! he knew loads of knock knock jokes and did a great impression of the fat couple next to our booth, even tho it was kind of mean and racist LOL. Â It got kinda weird at the end tho, when he wouldn't refill our waters since we said we wouldn't vote for Obama. Overall we had a blast and the food was yum yum! The staff shouldn't get involved in political stuff, tho.
Review Source:I can't believe this is the same resturant I always associate with ocean city. Every year since I was 5 I remember going and loving it. This past week I took my sister-in-law to the buffet side. It was awful. I can't believe this is the same place I tell everyone is a must when in Delmarva. The blue crab was good which is why it's getting a 2 and not a 1. It basically has turned into a tourist trap. The crab vegetable contained veggie's that tasted frozen, the crab legs were cold, they had a pasta station that sauce was awful, the fried shrimp/clams were freezer and I didn't even go near the raw bar due to sorting how fresh they were. I was very disappointed. I have to rethink going back to the buffet side, may try the sit down again.
Review Source:We've been coming to this Phillips location for several years now but after this week my wife and I agree that we probably won't be coming to this one anymore.
The food has certainly seemed to take a turn for the worse. We came for the buffet with two people who this was their first time here. I will say our waitress was very nice and accommodating, but the food was just really bad compared to previous visits. The staff behind the food stations seemed like they could care less. Salad was lousy, fried food selections were Meh. Dessert selections were okay, but I found myself heading to the kids's area and taking Mac and cheese with chicken fingers. I'm paying $32 per person for this? My wife who loved Phillips said the blue crab tasted fine ( prob cause its fresh) but the crab legs she said tasted like they were frozen then thawed in a microwave. Not good.
I was embarrassed that I had brought my friends here after hyping it. They did say that they were at the (?) 21st street location for a sit-down meal last year and they liked it. Maybe on my next beach trip well try down there. Very disappointing.
For decades Phillips has been the name that comes to mind when you think about seafood on the DelMarVa peninsula. Â It's been the standard that every other restaurant has been measured against. Â But if the last trip to Phillips is any indication, Phillips is becomming a below average seafood restaurant.
Precious likes crab legs. Â For the past decade we had been going to Phillips at least once a year for the all-you-can-eat buffet. Â There is a wide variety of food items to choose from salads to fried chicken to grilled and fried fish to the good stuff: shrimp, mussels, oysters, clams and the piece de resisitance Alaskan king crab legs.
But our visit last August 2010 was pathetic. Â It seemed like all the food was either overcooked or re-heated leftovers from the prior night or just plain poor quality. Â My dad had a sore ankle so I got him a big plate of shrimp. Â Born during the Great Depression, I've enver seen that man discard food before, but he ate a couple of shrimp and then just let the plate sit for the rest of the evening. Â Even the Alaskan king crab legs were watery and tough. Â We usually take a long time there, and we thought that maybe the next batch of food will be better. Â They refurbished the shrimp and the crab legs, but they were still awful, barely edible.
We made a comment to the management. Â We sent letters directly to the restaurant and to Phillips headquarters. Â We never heard back. Â It would be nice if they had just thrown us a bone: "Hey you guys. Â Sorry. Â We're doing our best. Â Thanks for the feedback." Â but we got no response. Â We are very disappointed.
There are other good restaurants in the area.
In fairness, I think I should add that this happened during the gulf oil crisis. Â Maybe some seafood like shrimp was hard to get or expensive at the time so maybe that contributed to the poor food quality.
I tried the seafood buffet here at Phillips. Â The food tasted good. Â They had a large variety of foods at the buffet. Â The best, of course was the snow legs and the seasoned crabs. Â The mini dessert cakes tasted really good as well! Â
The price for the buffet is a reasonable price, about $30 or so per person. Â It was worth it though because you can easily eat your money's worth. Â Well that's if you can eat like me! LOL
Check this place out guys! Â Enjoy!
Maybe we just had a rough experience, but it seems that Phillips has gone downhill in the last few years. We used to wait quite a while, but our group of seven walked right in with no wait. A telltale sign?
We shared appetizers of mussels ($6) and calamari ($8) -- these were both good, as were our salads. Several of us ordered the evening's special -- a crab trio of a premium crabcake, a small crab imperial and a crab au gratin ($26, I think). It came with a side, and I had the baked sweet potato.
The crabcake was the star -- good lump crabmeat and nicely broiled. The imperial was good, but tiny. The au gratin was terrible. When the waitress brought it, I was immediately turned off by the oily clump of cheese covering the top of the dish. I assumed when I pulled that back that I wouldn't find a bowl full of the oily cheese (think generic velveeta) with a few sparse pieces of crab. It was horrible, and all four of us who ordered it literally left it untouched. The food was overall too salty, too.
There are far better places in OC for a great dinner. Given how disappointed we were in this experience, I don't look for us to return.
Coming in for an early sit down dinner (not the buffet) we had a wonderful experience with a large party of 14 people. I managed to sample several appetizers -- the mussels, buffalo shrimp, and bacon wrapped scallops all of which were fabulous. I had a side caesar before main course of crab imperial and everything was great.
I do not know anything about the buffet but if you come in to order off the menu it is certainly well worth a visit.
What is the hype about this place. Â I think you get better food from Red Lobster. We sat in the traditional dinning section not the buffet. Â It has one thing going for it and that is fast and friendly service. Â So if you want real Maryland seafood skip this place. Â But if you like bland food (the fries and baked potato where weirdly tasteless) and warm beer this is your place.
Review Source:My boyfriend and I decided to go to Philips Seafood House after passing by the whimsical building. Inside Phillips, has a cheesy family "fun" atmosphere, quirky decor and a friendly wait staff. Once we entered the wait staff was attentive and we got a table right away. This is where the compliments end.
The service: Although our waitress was nice, the service was pretty slow. She forgot the wine I ordered, only came back to refill our water/soda once--after asking her two times-- and our entree came out after 30 minutes.
The food: The special was lobster with topped with imperial crab meat served with a butter sauce and two sides ( I choose apple sauce and a baked sweet potato) The presentation was nice, it was served on an oval plate with "Phillips" printed in old English font around the edges. The lobster was a bit over cooked and the "imperial crab" was nothing more that crab meat smothered in mayonnaise. My boyfriend ordered the Chicken Crisfield. This was the most pitiful looking meal I've ever seen! It was literally a grilled chicken breast, with melted cheese over crab meat. It looked like microwaved !
I'd never go back to this restaurant ever again.
Yeah hands down, for a chain, they take pride in the quality of food they prepare & make. Best crab-cakes, Wow, blackened catfish, salmon.Good god!!
Very fresh. Now their prices were actually moderate , but great quality.Get what you paid for!! Definitely like this seafood chain, The one in Baltimore is great , too.
Went here on a Friday night around 7pm with 5 of my friends. Â There was a huge wait on the buffet side and no wait for the restaurant side... so of course we went to the restaurant side. Â
Mandi was our server who was very cool (surpisingly not European), and very attentive. Â I give her 5 stars. Â We started with the spinach and crab dip which was great, but a little small for 6 people. Â I had the premium crab cakes which were as good as crab cakes could be (99% crab meat). Â My wife also had some entree salad which was amazing, not sure what it was called... They had some local beers which were great and a fairly decent wine list. Â
All in all, it was a great experience with great food. Â Perfect for a relaxed, but top quality meal at the beach. Â Can't go wrong.
Great food, great service!
Phillips IS the face of the restaurant business in Ocean City. Â This was the third restaurant built in Ocean City after the Crab House and Phillips by the Sea. Â A few years back they also added the famous Phillips seafood buffet. Â
Lines can form quickly and reach as long as 90 minutes-2 hours sometimes in the summer, so go there early, late or offseason.
I've always had the best service there. Â If you'd like a show with your meal ask for Anton. Â He's a gereat waiter and will keep you laughing throughout your meal. Â Audrey is great too and will make you feel like you're having dinner at grandma's house.
If you don't do the buffet, I suggest the stuffed flounder or premium crab cakes. Â The crab cakes are easily the best in town and possibly the best in Maryland. Â For appetizers, I recommend the cream of crab soup.
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