Croakers Spot Restaurant

The food was amazing! And the service great! Everyone of the staff was so nice!!! Definitely try this place out. I usually don’t get daring but I followed my son and tried it. And I’ll be back!

Let me preface this review by saying I hate being lied to. I am human, and so are you, so I get things happen, but don’t lie to keep me there and waste my time.
I got to the restaurant around 6:50pm. While I waited for the rest of my party I got a drink at the bar. I ordered an old fashioned and should have known from that point the night was going to be terrible. There was no muddled sugar cube, no cherry, and no twisted orange rind. What I got was watered down rail whisky with a quarter of a full orange dumped into it. That and one other drink cost me $ 20. $ 20!?! For that? I’m from the DC area so I’m no stranger to overpriced drinks, but at least where I’m from they’re made right.
We were sat around 7:30. Granted, we had a table of 11 people but LITERALLY half of the restaurant were sat after us, ate, paid their bill, and left before we even got our food. Service was ridiculously slow. When I asked what was taking so long, someone came over with a very sincere apology and said it would be worth it because all their food is made from scratch, fresh, and sautéed dishes are «made with all the love and attention it deserves». After 2.5 hours, my southern sautéed chicken dish finally comes out and it looks and smells amazing. The portions are huge and I’m ready to put my face in the plate. I take one bite and almost spit my food out because it is waaaaaaaaay too salty. And I don’t mean just a little salty and you can kind of balance your side items with a bite to even out the flavor… It was so salty i thought they knocked the salt shaker over on my plate and just dumped some gravy over it to hide it. So I say something again and the hostess (Ms Linda– I think was her name) and she goes into the kitchen with my plate to talk to the cooks. I go back to my table to wait. She returns and informs me they can have the exact same dish out to be made fresh in 7 – 10 minutes. So at this point not only am I hungry and pissed, I’m utterly confused as to why such an amazing dish took 2.5 hours the first time, and yet they’re telling me they can pump out an even better one in minutes.
There was no attempt to apologize or offer to comp anything or make up for any part of that night. I asked for the check which took another 30 – 40 minutes to get and I finally made it out of there. Luckily there is a Mc Donald’s down the street that was open so I stopped for chicken nuggets. So long story short, I wasted over 3 hours of my life that i will never get back and I have to be up in a few hours to finish out this conference and then drive 4 hours back home.
The one good thing I will say is the cornbread appetizer I got was REALLY GOOD. It was more like a cake than corn bread but it was to die for.
Otherwise I would not recommend to anyone or ever go back again.

Brought my man and my daddy here for Father’s Day dinner and was not disappointed. First off, our waitress was great! She was super friendly and gave great recommendations. The four of us were able to split the seafood nachos and the four piece fish boat. There was sooo much food that we had plenty to take home. The fish was battered to perfection. Not greasy or heavy at all. Everything certainly tasted as homemade as our waitress described. The cornbread was deeelish! Hands down the best soul seafood I’ve eaten at a restaurant.
We drove all the way from Virginia Beach and were so glad to find out they’ll be opening another Croaker’s on Granby street in Norfolk next week… sweet!

Finally tried this place that I’ve heard so many wonderful things about! I must say, it was worth the wait. It was oviously the place to the go to for dinner on a Friday after work because the bar was full and the servers were all over the place. Now, I will say I was a little shocked by the menu pricing, because Unilocal gives it $$ but I’d personally say it’s leaning in the $$$ range as entrees ranged from $ 14.99−25. But again, totally worth it because the Mac&cheese and cornbread is just too legit to quit!

My wife and I just celebrated our 26^th anniversary at Croaker’s Spot. We are from Irvine, CA and are in Virginia visiting our daughter. What made this special, aside from celebrating a special event with family, was that this was one of the very best meals I have ever had in my 54 years. Everything we had was ABSOLUTELY delicious. I had the fried fish with potatoes and peppers/​onions — phenomenal! My wife had salmon — terrific! My daughter the shrimp scampi — delicious! Huge portions, reasonably priced, terrific service (Shanna was wonderful!) — I honestly think this is one of the top 5 restaurants I have ever eaten at! Thank you Richmond! Thank you Croaker’s! Try it — you’ll love it!

The food was delicious. We had fish and grits, butterfly shrimp and the eggleton fried fish basket. The cheddar ranch grits, are a bit thick, but still super creamy and very good. The potatoes were roughly mashed and were well seasoned. I was disappointed that they did not have collard greens at this location, but he steamed cabbage was cooked perfectly.
The shrimp is lightly battered and a decent size. You do not get to much breading and it’s perfectly cooked. Fried fish was also good.
The cornbread was more like cake. It was a sweet cornbread, very fluffy, with a crisp top. We ordered sweet tea and uptown lemonade. The uptown lemonade is freshly squeezed and includes the halves of a lemon.
Unique was our waiter and we were greeted by Benita, the manager. The service was great. The servers are very kind and attentive. The inside is clean and nice, and the ambience has a vintage feel. I enjoyed my time and would be happy to return next time I’m in Richmond.

I had the pleasure of going to eat here, yesterday. And I was not disappointed at all. The service was great, the food was to die for. very large portions of food is served. I couldn’t eat it all. From what I hear a location will be opening in Norfolk on 35^th st if are familiar with this area. I gave Croaker’s 5stars!!! Yes!!!

Where do I begin! I found this spot for my husband and I while visiting Richmond. It has my 2 of my favorite things… Seafood and Soulfood!!!
I was impressed immediately… The hostess was SUPER cute!!! And she even complimented me and my husband on how great we looked as a couple… Yasssss honey butter me up!!! LOVE IT! We felt like we had just entered the home of family! Warm and welcoming!
We were seated with little wait. The waitress was very helpful in assisting my husband with his selection. We never had to request plates be removed, drinks be refilled OR a to go container… She was taking of it before we even asked! That’s the type of service I’m talking about! The prices are beyond reasonable and the portions are large! We had cabbage, fried seafood, grits, the potatoes and the soil wedge! That SOUL WEDGE! Oh Lawd it was delicious!!!
When we are back in Richmond… This is where we will eat!!!

2^nd time coming here and definitely didn’t disappoint.
I can assume there will be a wait so you should make a reservation but either way it is worth it. Busy atmosphere but its to be expected.
I ordered the shrimp po boy with mac and cheese with the fries were cold unfortunately BUT everything else made up for it tenfold. The po boy was like eating everything that was right in the world.
Blackened Chicken was super tender, grits and cabbage more than cooked to perfection.
For added enjoyment, players from Seattle Seahawks were there… Richard Sherman, Marshawn Lynch, etc

Awesome Spot! New favorite spot on my way from the beach back to DC. I had the fish and shrimp, my husband had the Salmon, and my 2-​year-​old had the kids fish and it was DELISH! The price for the huge amount of food you get is incredible. It came with my favorite… grits with cheese and a huge hunk of perfect… not too sweet, super moist… cornbread. Oh and the cabbage I could go on and on. The staff were so very friendly which made this spot even more amazing!

My mom, sisters and I drove here from Rocky Mount, NC for our pre-Mother’s Day road trip.
The wait was annoying… there was nowhere to actually ‘wait’ and after the long drive we were starving…
HOWEVER…The wait was sooooo worth it. Sooooo worth it…
The food was amazing and fresh… definitely not frozen… The cornbread is a meal in itself… it is so great!
The cabbage was perfect… perfectly seasoned… not mushy… not undercooked… just pefect…
The Mac and cheese had a kick… and boy was it delicious…
I was a little disappointed with the dessert they didn’t taste exactly homemade but they were good.
The pineapple lemonade was amazing!
I am so glad that we made the trip. We will definitely be making another trip to eat…

My husband and I dined here today, after hearing many good reviews from various people we know. And, can I just say… WOW! Everything was amazing, and the portions were HUGE. We both ordered the Fish and Shrimp platter. Everything was delicious. My husband and I are both from the South (South Carolina and Georgia), and THIS was what you look for in soul food. We will definitely be back.

The prices outweigh the food quality by far. We ordered the shrimp dinner and the crab cake sandwich. I substituted the Mac n cheese for the grits with my shrimp and everything seemed relatively bland. I will say that the cornbread was probably the best part about that meal. My wife wasn’t pleased with the crab cake sandwich at all. She said the texture wasn’t consistent with that of a typical crab cake and it was soggy. It was also about a third of the size of the amount of French fries that they gave her. The restaurant also wasn’t as clean as one would hope. There were dirty napkins left at our table. Lastly, the service was ok. Nothing that made up for the list of disappointments.

This was my 2^nd visit to this establishment, have gone previously for lunch. Great experience then.
I enjoyed the food tremendously! We got the Feast Platter Broiled… cornbread, fish, shrimp, scallops, cheese grits, red potatoes, and cabbage. Food was wonderful.
Service was not good. Hostess seemed confused. Wait staff in no way were professional. Never around when you needed them and always when you didn’t. Took forever (25 plus minutes) to get our food… but that was to be expected when a FIGHT broke out in the kitchen just shortly after our arrival between some of the staff.
Owner needs to invest in training the staff on service quality levels.
Again food was fabulous! Service lacking!

Stopped here passing through Richmond due to positive reviews. Entering, the atmosphere is very juke joint like and southern. Very representative of what a soul food place should like like. The feel was authentic. There was southern creole jazz music playing.
The wait: 15 min to be seated and long to leave as the food took 40 minutes (which I’ll give a pass since food is made to order), and the food bill took too long to get. One guy was serving many tables.
The food: enormous portions, and tasty. The large portions are unique to other similar restaurants. I got seafood chili and my mom got Fettuccini Alfredo w/​salmon. The seafood chili was as described seafood in chili (wendy’s) over rice. The flavor lacked and it was not what I’d expected. I didn’t care for it. I was going to keep it but the server was very nice and said I didn’t have to eat it and took it back. I was relieved! My mom and I shared her delicious meal since it was big enough and we still had left-​overs! The sauce was good, adequate broccoli and fresh tasting. I recommend it! The only reason I opted for the chili is because it’s a novelty that I never had. The cornbread was also very good!

This was my first visit to Croaker’s Spot. I have to say I was not disappointed. I ordered the Eggleston Fried Fish Boat. It came with 3 pieces of fish, mac n cheese, corn bread, and I added a side of cabbage. The fish was seasoned and fried to perfection. The tartar sauce was really good, it has this nice sweet zesty taste. The mac n cheese was creamy and delicious. The cabbage I didn’t care for, it taste like it was cooked in butter. The cornbread was the best corn bread I’ve ever had in my life. The top of the cornbread had this top layer of crust that was the best. It was sweet and moist, it was just really good.
The inside is cozy, but enough space that you’re comfortable. It’s clean in side and the staff is friendly and attentive. I was very pleased with my dinning experience.

Always a great experience although sometimes a little wait it’s expected and well worth it.
We were disappointed on Super Bowl Sunday when they closed at early at 5 and not thinking we showed up at 5 til 5… fast forward a week later we were back to make it right!
Hopefully you can see from the pictures how great the food was not to mention our service was phenomenal.

Croaker’s Spot is one of those restaurants that I crave every 6 months or so! Their food is great– soul seafood! I typically order the butterfly shrimp with grits, cabbage, and cornbread (duh)! Limeade is also pretty darn good! However, this restaurant is TINY and typically crowded because people like the food!
My suggestions: If you are trying this restaurant for the first time, do NOT go during peak hours. You will get irritated! it will take a long time to get a seat! It will ruin your experience. My dad used to be a regular but for these reasons, he has given up hope.
Nonetheless, definitely a RVA must try! I hope you enjoy!

It’s an incomplete review. I need to go back and see what the other stuff taste like. The portion and wow factor is there. But the seafood pasta was way too salty. I couldn’t eat it.
The waitress was totally cool about it. She offered to take it off the bill. I paid for it anyway. But the gesture was nice.
Maybe I just order the wrong thing.

My dinner date told me that she visited this place during the week, and knowing that I’m into different kinds of food, she was really excited to bring me here. I feel really bad posting this review, but I have to be honest… knowing that what I say will probably come with the side eye from Croakers lovers.
Okay, so I was fine with the 20 – 30 minute wait. I get it… it’s a popular spot. I felt like with each passing moment, my bar of expectations kept rising. Finally we were seated in a cozy booth by the bar area. Our waitress came over and she made it clear that she was waitressing for that entire area of the restaurant. So, my bar went down a few notches. Let’s face it folks, it’s hard as heck to manage the bar AND tables… I was fine with that.
The things I wasn’t fine with:
–a 15min wait to get my drink
–an additional 10min wait to order my apps
–a 25min wait to get my food… after which my apps finally arrived
–shrimp and grits that tasted like I was eating candied shrimp and peppers on top of grits. It literally tasted like they dumped ½ cup of brown sugar into the shrimp/​peppers mix. I took a few bites and just decided to take the rest home. It really tasted like a dessert item… and that’s pretty hard to accomplish with shrimp and peppers!
–a 25min wait to pay my bill and get the heck out of there
What I was fine with:
–the wait to be seated
–the cornbread
–the sweet tea
That’s about it. I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing how this place has an average of 4 stars. What am I missing? Someone, puh-​lease fill me in!