Black Pelican

Pretty neat little place. The prices are kinda high and the selection is slim. I had the grilled sword fish but I’ve never seen sword fish look like this. I don’t think it was sword fish. I’m almost certain it wasn’t sword fish. It was a tasty little grilled fish fillet though.
The side of sautéed veggies were very fresh and delicious. I also had jalapeño cheddar grits which were spicy and cheesy and just really good.
Didn’t really like the pita triangles they give you at the beginning.
My husband had the fried shrimp & fish with fries which was really tasty!
Our server seemed to be overwhelmed with tables. The host kept seating her table after table before she could even get their drink orders.
It was an OK experience. It was really busy & loud. The dishes are $ 19 and above.
Pretty much all I got. Lol. At least i can say I’ve been there before. Probably won’t come back.

Pleasant dining experience. The servers were super friendly and the food, while pricey, was delicious.
We ordered the crab, shrimp and artichoke dip. Fair warning — it is addictive! I ordered the portobello mushroom meal. I usually don’t order a vegetarian meal, but this one sounded delicious. (And it was!)
We will definitely be back!

Placed an order to go. The Chesapeake Bay pizza with crab, corn, bacon, and Old Bay immediately grabbed my attention, so we had that and the Bangkok shrimp app. The wait was just a few minutes past the 15 minute quoted estimate. Overall good service and good food. Slightly overpriced.
I hesitate to say that I’ll be back, because of what I heard at the hostess station. Please be aware that when you call to place a reservation, according to Black Pelican, what you are doing is registering a «call ahead» which does not actually guarantee you an available table. Sounds like utter nonsense, if not outright misrepresentation to be honest. A woman walked in with what she thought was a reservation for 3 and was told she had a 45 minute wait. I’d be livid.

I don’t often have a big night on the town in Chesapeake, but this past Saturday I did. The family was in the area and I had wanted to check Black Pelican out for quite some time since I am familiar with their OBX location.
The restaurant is located on the grounds of the Greenbrier Mall. If you know where the old Friendly use to be it’s in the same building. Our family adored Friendly’s and was so sad when it left. I could not wait to see how they transformed this into a higher end dining. Parking was plentiful around 7 PM which had me somewhat worried. The exterior looked really awesome, I could tell no signs of the rather boring brick building that housed the previous business. No debris in the lot, or door way was a great start.
The hostess was prompt in seating us and the waitress quickly followed after with menus and specials. Drink orders taken and were quickly brought back. I asked for a recommendation on the specials and was guided to the Rock Fish which was what I wanted any way. My wife ordered the Salmon and my son the pepperoni pizza. Our waitress smiled and was professional. I was really loving the start of this service.
From looking around it was busier than I would have thought by looking at the lot. The bar is in the same place as the soda fountain and seats around 12 – 15. The décor was neutral colors with wood floors and had a beach vibe to it. The dining room was spic and span. I excused myself to wash up and found the restrooms in the same location as previous in the rear right corner. The facilities were in excellent condition with proper supplies.
The food hit the table all at the same time within 15 minutes. Drinks were refreshed and our waitress confirmed that our order were correct and we had everything we needed. Every dish look and smelled amazing. I was completely blown away by my fish, possibly one of the best fish entrees I can recall in a while. I have not had Rock Fish in ages and was really enjoying. I sample some of my wife’s Salmon that she was enjoying and found the flavors were really popping. My son tore into his pizza and I sample it and found yet another hit. Our waitress checked in again within minutes of the food arriving to confirm all was good. Drinks during the service was somewhat slow with a couple of times water hitting the bottom. I think her section was spread out. It was never empty for long.
We decided on desert and got the brownie sundae and crème brûlée to split. The sweets were out with in minutes of ordering. I am a crème brûlée fanatic and this was darn yummy! Same for the brownie sundae. As we enjoyed I noticed a man standing at the end of our row of booths. He had been talking to a table of guest for close to 20 minutes. I suspected he was the GM and confirmed with our waitress he was. I had seen him around the bar area too! But I never once saw him at another table, or assisting the staff. This is where a deduction is being applied. I was disappointed that the service was not so easily elevated with the GM making rounds, especially considering he spent so much time at one table evidently talking to friends.
Check out was efficient. This was a fantastic meal and I had to ask the waitress more about the chef. It turns out it’s the Outer Banks Executive Chef that now runs the Chesapeake kitchen. He also is the part owner with the family in OBX. I have always enjoyed the NC location and was excited to hear this. I’m at a 4.5 rounding down due to the the above mentioned issue with GM. If the owner is reading this put this guy to work promoting great customer service that will set you apart from the crowd. I can’t wait to return.

This place use to be the Friendly’s restaurant near Olive Garden and in front of Greenbrier mall. This is definitely a seafood place. The calamari was delicious. Olive Garden calamari has been my favorite but this restaurant’s calamari is ranked up there. I ordered the Baja fried fish tacos and it was good. I only could finish one taco because I was full from the calamari and plus everything was fried. Our waiter was nice and the place has a nice ambience to it.