Tried it here last night for the first time before a show at the Ballroom. Excellent calamari app. Expensive lobster roll at $20 for not much of bits and pieces of claws and legs. Cole slaw was good. My brother got the grilled chicken sandwich and liked it, but it came with a pitifully small amount of good tasting fries. I wanted the haddock sandwich but at $16 (the most expensive I have ever seen), I refused. Not sure how they demand and survive with city prices on Hampton Beach. Service was friendly but visits to the table were inconsistently spaced. I don't know if I would go back or not.
Review Source:The Purple Urchin was by far my favorite restaurant on the Hampton Beach strip. Their burgers were incredible, and their outdoor seating offered a magnificent view of the beach and busy street. Though it is noisy and always a little busy (due to being right above one of the numerous arcades) the Purple Urchin is a terrific and nice place to eat as a family. Our waiter was also very kind and funny. An all around good experience.
Review Source:This restaurant is terrible in so many ways--avoid it if you can.
The food was mediocre, but what enraged us the most was the horrendous service. It started with a 30-min wait for fried calamari and crab cakes (and there was one other table at the restaurant...I mean seriously, you're not making a plate of sea urchin risotto with truffles for God's sake). Our food finally came, and although the food didn't blow us away, we were at least enjoying the view and fighting off the horde of flies that kept coming at our table.
We then asked for the cheque, expecting for another long wait. Twenty minutes had passed and I asked the lady where our cheque was. She "gracefully" strolled to the cashier and finally *started* to print out our cheque. It came down to $148 (with 18% gratuity automatically applied, which is a nuisance in its own right because we didn't see much service at all...) for the six of us. We split the bill among ourselves and because one of our friends had to pay by card, we gave her $124 in cash and asked her if she could put the remaining $24 on the card--simple arithmetic right? Anyone with an elementary school education could figure that out. When my friend got her receipt, her facial expression gave it away--uh oh, they messed it up...Not only were her listening skills poor (she put $25 on the card), so was her math. It came down to $25 and $4 "tips" applied again. Hmm...the original $148 INCLUDED EVERYTHING, HOWEVER. I brought the receipt to her and tried *so hard* to get her attention because, obviously, she was too busy to notice me, who happened to be paying for her wages. I kindly told her that she had made a mistake with the receipt and explained why (okay, I understand you haven't gone to Harvard, but it's not rocket science). She insisted that she "got" it and informed me that the $4 was automatically applied to the partial payment and there was nothing she could do about it...Guess what? There's this mathematical concept called "fraction" and if you just divided $24 by 1.18, the after-automatic-gratuity total would be precisely $24.
So now it's the good part--
She looked at me and posed the question: "So what do you want? You want me to give you a dollar back??"
Not only was her condescending to her customer, but she acted as if we cared SOOO MUCH about the one extra dollar, which it wasn't (it was a $5 difference, your math teacher from elementary school should be fired!!!).
So I explained again--she owed my friend $5, end of story.
She rolled her eyes and, like a princess, made another comment: "well if you want the five dollars back, it's going to take me a while, so if you wanna do that..."
1) It takes less than one minute to get five dollars from the cash register
2) You're not the Queen of Sheba, your customer should be, however.
It's an important skill to have in life--to know what your job is and to position yourself accordingly.
The food is decent here,  not wonderful, but decent... Especially for the Hampton blvd.  Where this place actually bumps up from 3 stars to 4 stars are the cheap draft beers and the amazing 2nd level for people watching.  Positioned across the street from the Shell provides some of the craziest sights to see.  Think <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FPeopleOfWalmart.com&s=f8f0e50229bbe91684eb1006dac9e6d1d3e43de8cd4703c91ed4139d3869662a" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://PeopleOfWalmart.c…</a> roaming the streets and you have the best seats in the house!
Review Source:My best girlfriend and I found the Purple Urchin as we were strolling through the great boardwalk on Hampton Beach. This was an unexpected stop on our road trip, so everything was an improve.
We found the casual dining area which was open before 5 upstairs. We were seated, but not before being checked for the dress code. We are right on a beach, however shirts and shoes are required. I had to pull my long skirt up over my bikini top, however Emily didn't get a second look even though she wasn't wearing pants over her bikini bottoms. Haha, okaayy.
We were seated right on the balcony overlooking the music pavilion which sits right on the beach. It was a little chilly that day, however the view was spectacular, and the people watching is always a guaranteed good time.
We started with the Spinach and Artichoke dip, served in a crispy bread bowl with chips. DELISH! Everything tasted super fresh and hot, and the dip was chunky and generous with the ingredients.
I had Fish n Chips, and while Emily created her own vegetarian entree, the waitress was as helpful as she could be, but couldn't really offer too many of the things Emily wanted. While a bit overpriced, the food all tasted really good.
I cannot believe the reviews for the spinach and artichoke dip. Mine was more like left over soup, very runny, not really dip. It had kind of a funny wang to it and that should have been my clue to stop eating it. I was sick in the bathroom for 3 days after.
It does have a great view of the stage and you can hear the music well.
Also the drinks were very good.
But after being ill, I will not eat here again.
We went to Purple Urchin for my bachelorette dinner and it was really lovely. I loved the upstairs screened in porch- there was a band playing across the street so we got the background music. Our server was fabulous, if a tad bit absent (but not so much a that it delayed us).
Seven of us split the spinach and artichoke dip and it was awesome. You could really taste the vegetables. There were enough corn chips to dip and it came in a nice crunchy bread bowl. For some reason the kitchen couldn't sub salmon in a wrap that came with chicken, so I got grilled salmon, served with rice pilaf and grilled asparagus. Delicious... The prefect base for our booze-fueled night. I had a bite of the peanut butter banana sandwich dessert and it was divine.
Drinks were prompt and packed a good punch.
This is a really good place for a group, especially on a warm summer night!
If I were to base my review solely on my entree, it would be 5 stars. Â However, I have to take everything into consideration to provide a detailed review! Â
My wife and I initially went here because of the good reviews on Yelp, and because the restaurant's website listed "fish tacos and sangria for $10" as the Tuesday night special. Â When we arrived, we learned that the website was out of date and these nightly specials did not exist. Â But, our server (Maggie) was so nice, we decided to stay. Â
The pre-dinner bread that they served was not very good, so we did not even eat it. Â It seemed kind of old and hard. Â I ordered the Atlantic Ave. Bangers; which are basically homemade seafood sausages. Â That's right-thick sausage links stuffed with mushed up shellfish. Â It is normally served with mashed sweet potatoes, but they did not have that item, so they let me have it with the lobster risotto at no extra charge. Â This turned out to be one of the best, most original meals I have ever had. Â The bangers were so tasty and the seafood was so fresh, it was just amazing. Â The dish was also served with asparagus.
My wife had the swordfish with polenta. Â She really liked the swordfish, but found the polenta to be a little too buttery. Â
The restaurant is unassuming. Â It is nothing fancy, but it is just right, and the prices are reasonable for fresh seafood. Â The service was excellent, and one of the managers came out to apologize to us for the error on the website. Â She took the time to chat with us, and she was very friendly. Â We will definitely return on future visits to Hampton Beach!
Visited Purple Urchin during Hampton Restaurant Week. Had an excellent and beautifully presented meal. Started with lobster ravioli then Seabass with Miso glaze, and berries with prosecco! John had the Star Island pork chop stuffed with crabmeat. Yeah. It was as good as it sounds. This is a friendly comfortable place with unmatched creativity and excellence. If you are in Hampton Beach, stop into the Purple Urchin. It's fun to sit at the bar and chat with the locals and the visitors.
Review Source:The best spinach & artichoke dip I've had the pleasure of tasting yet! Â The dip was loaded with big pieces of artichoke hearts and had just the right thickness - not runny, but not clumpy either. Â It comes in a sourdough bread bowl which was surprisingly fluffy on the inside with a perfectly crispy edge. Â The entire thing cost $10 and is an absolute steal for the quality and amount. Â I'd also recommend the steamers: juicy and sooo flavorful that you can easily toss the dipping sauces to the side. Â The steamed lobster's a good deal too at $17, but there's not all that much meat and you'll probably still be hungry if you have a big appetite. Â
Our waitress was friendly and prompt and took good care of us throughout our meal. Â Oh and the view of Hampton Beach and the water was, of course, fantastic =D
Very touristy! They seemed to be understaff while i was there, the food is ok at best. You go in thru the stairs on the first floor by the main street. Once you're upstairs, they have a bar to the left and the restaurant on the right side. I ordered the main lobster dish with their home potatoes and i've had better at Red Lobster. No one in my party was raving about their dishes. I should have looked at the reviews better and even traveled a few blocks out of this area for real food.
Review Source:Two nights ago, I took clients from out of town to Hampton Beach to check it out. We had dinner at the Purple Urchin, it was a great spot because it was directly across the street from the free live music and was on the second floor, giving us a great view of the concert! It was also a Wednesday night, fireworks night, and we were able to watch from our table while eating dessert. Â Dessert, by the way, was amazing... Homemade key lime pie! I was very impressed with the food. Â We started off with the seared tuna and brushetta, both were fantastic! For our entrees, two of us had the seared scallops with lobster risotto, one person had the Mediterranean chicken, and one went with the chicken pizza. Â We were all very pleased, especially me with the scallop choice! The atmosphere was very fun and the service was great. I'll definitely be going back!
Review Source:A neat place to stop for dinner and drinks in Hampton Beach. The Purple Urchin is located upstairs at the Hampton Beach Casino overlooking busy Ocean Blvd, the Seashell Stage, and the beachfront. The place has patio pub dining to the right and the regular dining room to the left. I visited both sides of the operation on different nights, which have screen windows to see and hear the action outside.
On Friday night, we stopped at the patio bar for cocktails and appetizers while we watched the concert playing on the stage across the street. For apps, the Seared Ahi Tuna ($11.95) was very good and the Half Dozen Oysters ($14) were fresh and decent, but the Pan Roasted Mussels ($9.95) were okay, not the freshest. The service was pretty good with the food arriving quickly.
Tonight (Saturday), I went back to the Purple Urchin solo (my buddy was in a deep sleep at the hotel) and had dinner in the dining room. The whole place was very busy so I grab a menu and sat up at the bar. The bartender was very busy mixing drinks, so it took about five minutes for him to take my order. I placed my dinner order and the bartender introduced himself as Dan and we shook hands. I ordered a Diet Coke ($2.25) and Ginger Seared Scallops ($18.95), which arrived fairly quickly. The tasty and generous dish had 5 jumbo seared scallops, fresh vegetables, orange Dijon cream sauce over a dense lobster risotto, a great choice. I listened to the free concert across the street as I enjoyed my dinner. The service was spot on with Dan checking up on me, using my first name and offered me a couple refills (complementary) on iced cold Diet Coke. I was very thirsty since it was very hot outside.
Overall, I like the Purple Urchin since it offers good food & service and has a great location with great views in the heart of Hampton Beach. My buddy and I are probably heading back here again later tonight for drinks.
NOTE: Open 11AM to 12AM (stop serving food at 10PM).
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