Sharkey's Place

Terrible experience at this dump of a restaraunt. Service was absolutely terrible. There was no one over the age of 20 working there. The entire place is run by a bunch of teenagers who don't know what they're doing. Food sucked, and it was overpriced. Portions were incredibly small. The only reason I went there was because I had a Groupon and I will never ever go again. Also, the three people that ate there with me got sick later that night and so did I.

I really want Sharkey's to be great...there is so much potential!  I write this 3 star review honestly, knowing that there was a huge festival today with plans for another visit and a review update. I, like the first reviewer,had the crab cake sandwich. Here are my thoughts from dinner...good, bad and indifferent.

Woot for the Yelp deal--although not everyone knew what Yelp was...how can you not?!?  Yay/Boo

Private party next door so we got to enjoy the live entertainment! Yay!

Dessert prices a little high...6 bucks...Boo!

Beautiful food presentation...very artistic with edible flowers...Yay!

Drink specials...got the $2 Yuengling...Yay!

Kids eat free on Sunday and Monday...Yay!

Abbreviated menu for the Taste of Gaston...Indifferent

Very friendly staff...it's a family owned restaurant and it shows...Yay!

The word is getting out about is place which is great...they should invest in smaller tables and chairs to maximize the dining space... Indifferent

I will say for the price of the appetizers, the portions left something to be desired. We ordered the onion rings which were six bucks but looked like 3 bucks. Didn't like the crab cake...decent flavor but could have been cooked a little longer for my taste.

Overall, a good step in the right direction for G-town! I'll check it out on a not so busy weekend next time. Recommend getting house chips as a side....Delish!!

Who knew that Gastonia, that ugly stretch on I-85, is actually a really cool city with a great downtown waiting to be discovered.  We were lucky to happen upon Sharkey's Place while enjoying the 4th of July celebration in downtown Gastonia on our way back from hiking at Crowders Mtn State Park.

The restaurant is pretty large and occupies two storefronts right  next to a really cool park.  They also appear to have a small deck out back.  The left side is where they have the bar for preparing drinks for sit down customers, and on the right side they have a nice darker area with a cool bar.  Beach/Shark/Floridian paraphernalia abounds in keeping with the theme.

Their menu is primarily seafood oriented, but I also saw quite a bit of turf in addition to the surf.  I got a crabcake sandwich that was really good and made better with a good bun and a couple $2 16oz Tecates.  I guess their big thing is $3 Landshark beers, but I had already gotten a couple Tecates before realizing that.  I was glad that I was able to get some slices of watermelon instead of fries.

My GF got the fish and chips (french fries if you didn't know).  The fries were really good and the sea salt and cracked pepper on the table made it even better.  Unfortunately, she really didn't like her fish because it had a pretty fishy taste.  She is Chinese and loves fish so if she didn't like it, it must be a little off.  She said it didn't taste that fresh and it did have some of the brown spots on the fish instead of being all white.

Our waitress was also extremely nice and friendly and should serve as the archetype for customer service.  (Not sure why servers are gloomy these days, when a good personality would make customers happy and get more tips!)

My 4/5 star review is an average considering the service, location, atmosphere, drink prices, decor, and my food were 5/5.  My GF's fish was 1/5, but  she really enjoyed eating my crabcake sandwich.  Two people came to about $30 total.

One last note, they also have a cute little play area in the front for young kids that are waiting to be seated.  I've never seen that before and thought it was a good idea.  They also have daily drink specials.