Hook Line & Sinker

Had the fried fish and shrimp platter with fries. Huge serving and very tasty! I love the self-​serve condiment bar. Will be back again once Lent starts!

Typical seafood restaurant. Prices are a little high for the portion size but expected.
Outside patio is nice in good weather.

So I face a dilemma as I rate HL&S.
Do I score them as if they were an Owen Brennen’s or as the good local Seafood restaurant they strive to be? I’ve read a number of the reviews here and I can sort of understand where they are coming from. Plus every restaurant has its bad days.
So I am scoring them as the restaurant they are.
Ambiance: 3*
Listen no matter what, the décor is cheesy but fits for the theme of the place.
Plenty of outboard motors hanging on the walls, which is interesting at least.
This store is very clean and well kept up.
Service: 5* or 0* depending
Well if you want to rate the service look no farther than the mirror. Once your buzzer goes off you have to get your meal from under the heat lamps. Since I’m very efficient at that I get 5* LOL. Again they are what they are.
Food:
Here is the crux of the whole ratings here. I come here for what I expect. It’s like going to Wendy’s, you know what you’re going to get and you are okay with it.
I’ve really enjoyed any dish I’ve tried here, generally 3−4*. Tonight I had the «Shrimp Poppers» off the special board (which never changes that I can tell). It comes served with a side of Cole Slaw and a dipping sauce for the poppers.
These are Great! Shrimp wrapped in Bacon with cheese and a Jalapeño wrapped in it. I would highly recommend these. They don’t always get all the seeds off the jalapeño so you will get a few Hot ones.
They dipping sauce is tasty and the Slaw is creamy (sometimes too much so) and quite good.
As far as beverages go, the Beer is Ice cold and the sodas are sodas. However skip the wine altogether. You will get a grocery store mini bottle of a lot to be desired.
My food rating tonight is 4*

Great Spot, love the seafood & best Gumbo… Always try the Cajun seasonings on your Fish. Great Summer Spot, best Iced Tea anywhere.
During the weekend i go here, during the week i go to the one off Lemmon Ave.
Yummmm

Bought a groupon for this place, thought the food was really good! Huge margaritas for $ 5, staff wS friendly, would return.

The only thing I enjoyed out of my meal was the hush puppies. I got the fried shrimp, catfish, fries and hush puppies (this dish is the most popular and what they are famous for according to the cashier) and they had ZERO flavor!!! I got the original seasoning, but everything tasted super bland. I love seafood so I can eat almost anything from the sea but this stuff was beyond bland and cheap-​tasting; even the fries had no flavor. Will not return.

I’ve always been to the HL&S on McKinney– this was a nice change as its not as busy. The Bacon Shrimp poppers are wonderful — the oysters fresh and my fav is the shrimp cocktail! Its just good old seafood!

Good service, nice environment, but terrible food! There was no flavor at all! So bland, not at all what it could be, they need to actually season the food, because the quality of the fish was nice but tasteless! I hope they add to the flavor soon, won’t be going back anytime in the near future

My wife and I went there on Sunday and it was bad. Really bad. Seafood was overcooked. Clam chowder was like warm to cold. Red beans and rice also had to be returned… for French fries. Overall, I would not recommend this place, even with a Groupon.

The service was alright, the place isn’t exactly clean (2 – 3 tables weren’t cleaned off). the fried catfish tasted like a cardboard box and the étouffée was watery and also tasted like a cardboard box. I think that speaks volumes.

I hesitated to go here the first time because both my sons had been and said it was so-​so but we went and it was good but not fantastic. The fried catfish had a good cornmeal crust. I’ve never understood why anyone would fry catfish in batter but a lot of places do. It needed salt but it was good with red sauce, horseradish and lemon. The drawback was the filets were thin, about ½ inch, but the portion was good size. I tasted my son’s shrimp cocktail. It was on the bland side but lemon and Tabasco helped. The fries and hush puppies were great. Outdoor seating and good service won me over. Good margaritas

Had a hard time choosing between a 3 or 4, but the service was good enough that I don’t feel bad giving them a 4. The food wasn’t bad, except the fries… Didn’t like them at all. They weren’t salty and tasted undercooked. The catfish didn’t have much flavor either, idk, I think they need a better recipe. My girlfriend though, really liked the oysters, so that also solidifies their 4.

I lost my lunch here.
No, seriously. The fried shrimp tasted like the residue on a fishing rod after a long day at the lake. I added salt and pepper to the fish and it still tasted like «the hospital special.»
What was so weird about this place, the kitchen staff looked very proud of their dishes.
Puh-​leez.
Bön Apeh-​freaking tit.

Cute cute place! Great atmosphere. Bacon wrapped shrimp is awesome!!! Def will be back!!!

They’re oysters are fresh and juicy. Catfish (fried and grilled) were both good. Mango habanero shrimps were super spicy and it ruined my meal. I literally could not feel my mouth! The bathroom was dirty. The butter didnt taste like butter tasted watered down. The outside and inside design was awesome! It had that authentic seafood place feel. Other than the shrimp being too spicy, butter taste and bathroom cleanliness it was a good first time. Dont know if ill come again though.

4 of us for dinner: 1 fried fish, 1 etoufee, 1 shrimp & fish, and catfish poboy. We also had 2 trays of raw oysters. Shrimp, fish, poboy, and etoufee were good but the general consensus on the hush puppies were meh. With the exception of a couple of iffy ones, the oysters were good. Prices are reasonable as well as portions… overall I consider this place a good value. Staff was friendly and I noticed tables bussed quickly.

Always good! I’m getting grilled tilapia with buttered corn and rice and my other half is getting etoufè! Iced tea and lemonade are always on hand!

Had lunch with the Team to celebrate.
Atmosphere is like eating on a boat. Fishing rods, nets, boating motors adorn the décor. Like it. 1 star earned here.
The menu board is confusing when trying to figure out what the food options are and where the fried/​grilled choices are. Took us about 5 minutes of reviewing the board to find a lunch menu all the way to the right. Finally ordered a Lunch Combo of the Catfish fillet, oysters, and shrimp.
filled up with Tartar sauce on the way to the table. Tastes like they make it there and it is tops. Since they provided crackers at the table, I found myself dipping crackers in the tartar sauce. A first, but very yummy. 1 additional star earned here.
When the food made it to the table, I found it lacking. The catfish filet looked appetizing, but the lacked ANY flavor other than grease. The corneal batter didn’t have any flavor at all. Copy/​Past this for the oysters as well. Looked appetizing, but lacked flavor other than grease. Same for the shrimp. The hush puppy sticks tasted just like Long John Silver (a good thing for me) yet shaped like a stick versus round. I got a side of fried pickles and they tasted like last nights batch just dropped back into the deep fryer the next morning. Disappointed. again, greasy but no flavor.
Bottom Line: Loved the décor… feels like you’re eating on a boat. Food looked very appetizing, but was flavorless and tasted more like grease than fish. Tartar sauce is the bomb here, but doesn’t save the food. I won’t be back.

I REALLY want to like this place but Damn, the service was terrible tonight. The kitchen seems to run smoothly but the cashier section is an absolute disaster!!! They try to do to much & are not prepared for some of the simplest requests.
What I would suggest to the owners is to hire additional staff to help the cashier station & to take away 1 table on the patio & turn it into a beer/​drink station to satisfy the patio drinks orders. This would alleviate some of the traffic going inside & take care of the needs outside.
The food was mediocre at best… nothing special.

It was Easter Sunday and everyone, except our family, was headed after church to some huge Easter buffet. We broke the tradition and headed for our favorite seafood place, Hook Line & Sinker on Preston Road. And our order was not ham or turkey, but Alaska King Crab Legs and Louisiana Crawfish. The king crab kegs were perfect and steamed just right amount of time. If I had not been so full I would have ordered kore. The Louisiana Crawfish had been cooked in a very and I mean very spicy spice mixture and just taking a bite you immediately realized they were hot-​hot-​hot. Some did not like them being so hot, however I just ate and ate even though my mouth was burning with heat. This place is very informal so if you get a little crawfish juice on your shirt none will notice as they too have that same stain.