Surf Rider Restaurant

We love surf rider. Always large portions and great food. Friendly staff. Although I am not a seafood eater, this is one of my favorite restaurants! Always exceptional service, large portions. My favorite is the sweet grilled chicken breast sandwich. Best I’ve ever had!

Alex was absolutely perfect last night! 10/​11/​2015. She was really laid back, and always had a smile on her face. Even when the people behind us were bring complete a holes to her. She never let our drinks get low, and the food was perfect.
1÷10÷2016 Another 5 star experience. Tonight we had the pleasure of having Amber as our waitress. Unfortunately she was not treated right by some other guest that we seated in front of us. They ended up walking out on her. Amber was more than nice to them and they were very wrong for leaving. She stayed positive after the incident and kept a smile on her face. She is a sweetheart! We love this Surf Rider and will continue to eat here. The food is amazing every time.

Wow! What a great menu! Food was excellent, service wonderful. Entire experience was great. Will go back for sure.

Great food when we dined in! It was seriously delicious! But we got take out a few weeks after a and it wasn’t very good. Maybe a different chef that day. We will try it again thigh because the Cajun shrimp tacos were amazing.

Had a delightful time this past week with a few great customers. They recommended this place and love just about everything on the menu. I had the Crab cake dinner with a side of fried Oysters. The crab cake was good although I do like my meat to be jumbo lump. It was shredded. The Oysters were super fresh, tender and delicious. Great atmosphere. Our server was awesome. She took real good care of us the entire time. We were a group of 10.

In town for Family and Friends weekend at Old Dominion. We decided to stop for lunch while shopping during the girls afternoon out. A couple of us had the grilled seafood platter which was a large portion of fish, shrimp, scallops and crab cake. Everything came out hit and fresh. My side of broccoli looked like a half head. Wow. The student ordered the 12 piece fried shrimp. Hot, perfectly breaded and delicious. The staff was attentive, informative and friendly. I will return! Yum

The fried shrimp are superb! Add the sweet potato fries and I’m in heaven. My only complaint is there is no take-​out on weekends. Bah humbug!

Nice little seafood spot.
Considering our first stop was Red Lobster, this place is definitely a step up from that.
I ordered the broiled seafood dinner. It came with the fish of the day — flounder, crab cake, scallops, shrimp, hush puppies and broccoli. I was very impressed. Everything was cooked to my liking and the broccoli was perfect.
The BF was mostly impressed but didn’t care much for the potato salad, so I’d say choose wisely if you pick that side.

We just left Surf Rider West on Newtown Rd. Something has totally changed, because we’ve been going there for years and tonight’s dinner was flavorless. We ordered the broiled flounder and the broccoli; the flounder had absolutely no flavor and seemed totally without being broiled… more like steamed with no browning or butter and the broccoli was overcooked, I asked if there had been any recent changes in the kitchen staff, and was told no, but something has rendered this great place less-​than-​mediocre. We will definitely never be back. If the management cares, they’ll take heed and do something to fix the problem.

Usually don’t write reviews but wanted to say that the broccoli as a side was amazing!!! And this is the first time I didn’t have to fight with my girls to eat their meal. Service was quick and friendly!!!

Came to Surf Rider on Thursday night July 16^th. I have been here a few times. The food is always great. The service is always great. I was very disappointed tonight when my mother and I came here. We had to sit there hearing some of the workers sitting at the bar speaking very loudly about seeing uncircumcised male parts. Very unprofessional. Other than that food was great and our waitress was also. When I return I sure hope that they aren’t talking about something worse.

The main reason I gave this 2 stars was because the waitress was amazing… The food however was not good. We got fish and it was dried out all 3 of us that ordered it. Even before we said it was dry the waitress asked if it was over cooked. The shrimp was rubbery also. The only thing that was cooked well was the scallops. We will not be returning anytime soon that’s for sure. This was the Western Branch location.

I would not recommend this place to anyone. We ordered two burgers cooked the same way (medium) and one was undercooked. We also ordered steak which was not cooked to the right temp. That’s just to mention some o the things that weren’t cooked well… Also they give police officers a discount but not military… Hmmm that’s a first.

Only been here once but the restaurant is gorgeous, the service amazing and the food delicious. We ate crab cakes, flounder and yummy fried oysters. Can’t wait to go bAck. For great service ask for Jessica and save room for the seasonal cheesecake!

immediate impression confirmed the fugly Shoney’s style appearance. The restaurant is not aesthetically appealing. Country music was blaring. There were 2 occupied tables @ noon on a Tuesday. The hostess was not warm, not even lukewarm, she did not greet us. we had a stare off and then she finally asked if we needed a high chair or booster for our 3 year old daughter. She proceeded to attempt seating us at probably the worst table in the restaurant, right by the drink station… but as a super fun fellow Unilocaler informed me, I don’t deserve any kind of service or respect at all because I take my «bratty kids» in a restaurant… Anywho, we then requested a booth and the hostess seemed majorly put off. So far, ugh… I had no idea that people automatically dislike paying customers if said paying customers are accompanied by minors. Boohoo… However, our waitress was much nicer, warmer and very friendly. We ordered some crab dip (which apparently is made with blue crab, same Unilocaler kid-​hater dude informed me of the dwindling blue crab populations. I had no idea they were in such trouble. that’s very sad. Anyway, the crab dip was a pretty simple mix of crab and cream cheese with old bay sprinkled on top. it was served with small pita rounds which were over buttered but still pretty good. I ordered a salad with blackened chicken and my husband ordered a salad that was on special, a Caesar with scallops and shrimp. They also have a variety of options for children. our salads were well executed. They used actual bacon for my wedge salad (I know that may sound ridiculous but you never know). The blackened chicken was in the form of tenders and were ok, 4 total. My husband’s shrimp and scallops looked pretty good and he said they were cooked and seasoned well. He complained that there could’ve been more on a $ 12 salad. I think there were 3 or 4 of each, not sure. My daughter’s apple sauce was weird, looked like it was smushed canned apples. She is apple obsessed but refused them. Overall, I would rate this restaurant as ok, mediocre. It’s not at all fancy, it’s not at all fantastic, not overly clean, but it wasn’t horrible. The hostess was beyond meh, the ambiance was blugh, but the food was consistent and ok. We probably wouldn’t go back based on the unremarkable nature of every single aspect with the exception of our waitress. I must admit that she, Kristina, was genuinely super sweet and a really great waitress. She was personable, knowledgable, & awesomely accommodating. She liked kids too so we lucked out with her.

The food is incredible. The atmosphere is amazing. The service was fantastic.
I had the steam pot, and while it was WAY too much food, it was amazing! And the leftovers weren’t half bad re-​heated. ;)
My husband ordered the tuna bites for an appetizer. I was being picky and asked for them to be cooked medium, while my husband was unhappy with this, he went along with it anyway. He wasn’t a fan when it got to the table and after «making a face» the server came over and asked if we would like it redone. We said yes and when she brought it back it was amazingly cooked (1 point for hubby, 0 for me).
My friends dining with us got the Sweet and Spicy shrimp for an appetizer and they were incredible!
5 days later and my hubby can’t stop talking about the Blackened Cobia! & the craft beer they offer — he wasn’t even upset it was not on tap because it was so good.
I literally have nothing bad to say about this place. The prices were great considering it’s seafood, and delicious seafood at that.
100% recommend this place!

My wife and I ate here the other night. We had an appitizer, 2 entrees, one mixed drink and a soda for $ 65.01.
The Sweet & Spicy Shrimp appetizer was probably the best dish of the evening. Not overly spicy or sweet. The breading and sauce also didn’t overpower the taste of the shrimp. It comes with ranch dressing which tasted fine, but I think something more creative would have been better.
I ordered the Black & Bleu Steak & Tuna with lima beans and a potato cake. The sides were utterly forgettable. The potato cake was crispy on the outside and had a strange juicy texture on the inside. Not sure what all is inside that thing, but there was little to no flavor. The lima beans are cooked with sizable chunks of bacon, but they were overcooked and mushy.
I ordered the tuna rare and the steak (.5″ thick ribeye) medium rare, and both were cooked to the right temp. That said, both had way too much bleu cheese! I scraped most of it off and still couldn’t taste any of the blackening seasoning on either piece of meat. The tuna fared a little better that the steak in that I could still taste tuna. With the steak, all I tasted was bleu cheese.
My wife ordered the fried shrimp dinner which is pretty difficult to mess up. She said that the shrimp, both the appetizer and her dinner had not been de-​veined. I didn’t notice. Both meals came with 2 hush puppies that weren’t anything special.
I was happy to see a Dark & Stormy on the menu, and it was pretty good. It’s served in a pint glass, so it’s worth the $ 5.75 price.
The specials aren’t conspicuously posted anywhere that I saw, and the side dishes aren’t included in the menu. This didn’t phase our server, Emily, who read and re-​read them to my wife and I. I’ve been to places that didn’t post their specials, and I’ve never liked the practice. Leaving the side dishes out of the menu doesn’t make much sense even if they change from night to night.
The staff was friendly and the restaurant is a big improvement from the last one that was here. Our waitress was helpful, patient and friendly. We may give it some time and try again, but overall the food was pretty average.

My husband took out kids to eat there last night. They said the food was great and the server was polite. He bought me back my dinner and after eating almost everything on my plate, I found a bug worm or caterpillar in the broccoli! Tell me why but I will not be eating their vegetables!

The food said Surf Rider (Greenbrier). The décor said Shoney’s. It needs help.
Service was friendly and steady. My scallops were incredibly overcooked. They had to be cut with a knife; that’s how tough they were. So of course I sent them back. The next batch came back cooked a little under and barely seasoned at all. Also every scallop was drastically different in size. What a flop.
The rest of my party of four enjoyed their meals. The seafood platter. (The shrimp hadn’t been de-​veined. So uncouth.) The fish of the day — flounder. The crab cake. She-​crab soup. The crap dip was great. Always is.
Surf Rider relies heavily on Old Bay Seasoning. So if that’s what you like, this is where you need to go for your seafood cravings.

This location for Surfrider restaurant just opened! Yeah for the Chesapeake Square area.
The location is great with plenty of parking. Great booth seats with comfy cushions. Great color schemes. The bar area is coming along nicely.
The hostess was excited and her smile cheered us up. Our waitress knew what she was presenting. She knew the menu items and how to pair the appetizer with our entrée for the best dining experience. She asked all the right questions to help us select our food.
We started with a bowl of SheCrab soup, it was good. Moved on to Calamari, it was excellent with a wonderful homemade marinara sauce. Our entrée was the Broiled Seafood Platter, it was amazing. Tasty and plentiful. Cooked to perfection just like the menu said it would be. Yummers!
We arrived later in the evening and saw many of our fellow foodies were already there. Cool! The service was amazing. I will update this review with our waitress’ name.
Come, eat and enjoy! This location is a gem. The place was packed with happy people and they were not even serving alcohol until next week so you know the food was fabulous!
I will come back and update this review. I am excited to see what will happen when they are finished with all the details. Woo Hoo!