Seaboard Seafood Festival

Maybe don’t go on the second day because all you’ll get is scraps? Waterworks Bar & Grill was the only vendor who had their game faces on. The rest were either scrambling to offer anything they had (That’s Amore actually showed face with some sad dried out pasta) and struggling with relevance to a seafood festival. Rule one is don’t dare invite Unilocalers to a food event if you are unprepared to host them. This event was all around sad.

I went last year, when it was on Harbor Island. It certainly was not impressive, only a few food vendors & those dam tickets you have to buy. Last year we spent very little time at the festival and sat at an outside bar overlooking the events & the water, that was the good part.
This Seafood Festival is sponsored and put into place by Ken Walters, who does some other events locally. This year it had a better location & different vendors. I did not make the mistake of buying tickets, with so few vendor’s.
Yes, it was a dreary day, but I really don’t think that had much to do with the poor turn out of people. I think most of us that went last year, would not have gone again this year. Me, well, I had an obligation, so I had to show up. I didn’t say I would stay long…
I think the Seafood Festival was as much a failure this year, as last year. Well, maybe the third time will be the charm.
What’s a girl to do? You always keep obligations, just try to stay away from setting a time frame.

This event sounds great on paper, but was a bit of a bust in the actual. There were litterally 6 vendors and 2 of them had no seafood offerings. That’s Amore had eggplant lasagne and some sort of penne pasta in a red sauce. They said they sold out of their «crab sauce» for the pastas on Saturday. The other was a kettle corn and corn dog stand. The only vendor out there that seemed happy, upbeat and mentally prepared was Waterworks Bar & Grill, which is the new restaurant in the Barrymore Hotel (formerly Howard Johnson). We met the chef and her apprentice and they were both as friendly as can be. We tried their habanero Shrimp with coconut rice and it was fantastic. I think the restaurant deserves a visit for sure just based on the sample and their passion.
I don’t know man, but with 6 vendors, even if they all offered up seafood, it wouldn’t have felt like much of a «festival.» As fr the crowd, there might have been 50 people there, including TPD officers and workers.

I had high hopes for this event. Thankfully, I had won complimentary tickets through Unilocal and didn’t have to pay the admission fee.
The fact that this event was held at Curtis Hixon Park made this event a must. The breathtaking views are spectacular, but $ 20 a person for admission and food is not included? No no no.
There were six vendors expected to be at the Seaboard Seafood Festival. When we were there on Saturday, only four of the six vendors were there. Of course, the Grouper Tacos and the Smoked Mullet are the two things I wanted the most, only to find that these vendors were a no-​show.
The food we did eat, was pretty tasty. We had Deviled Crab from Alessi’s which was very good, but then again, what isn’t good from Alessi’s?
We also tried the Bacon Shrimp with the Habanero Marmalade and the Clam Andouille Chowder with Old Bay Dumplings from Waterworks Bar and Grill located in the Barrymore Hotel. These two items were flavorful. I am actually looking forward to trying this restaurant,
And finally, we tried the Shrimp Spring Rolls from Rich n Rise Thai food. These were not too bad and easy to eat without making too much of a mess.
If you wanted to drink, you were relegated to the Spirits Garden. The only beer they had there was Bud Light (yuck) so we weren’t too pleased.
Another pain in the ass was the fact you couldn’t use cash. You had to buy «clams» which were in the same value of $ 1? Whhhhatt?
The staff running the event was very friendly, and the band playing was not too bad. They played a lot of covers of Top 40, so everyone was familiar with most of the songs.
Other than the food vendors, there were some fair games, an electronic bull, and some things you would find at a typical fair.
Great concept, but poorly executed. More food vendors are needed. This festival seemed almost like a fair, except there weren’t carnies here.

Great venue, not so great weather but would prefer paying cash for what I purchase as opposed to tickets and need a way more exciting DJ to liven things up.

Weather kept this festival from getting to be happening. First, you check in so you can get inside. Why oh why did there have to be an entry fee. Thanks to Unilocal,two tickets were on the house. If not, you could have gotten tickets for like $ 15 each. Yikes, that’s a lot.
There were it seemed to be like 5 vendors, maybe. Big maybe. Food consisted of pasta w crab like sauce, shrimp, stone crab claws, clam chowder, shrimp pad thai, spring rolls, & deviled crab. I didn’t eat any of the food because I didn’t want to get stuck with tickets.
There was a tent for v.i.p for alcohol, as well as individual drinks not vip. Yes, you did have to get tickets for that. It was not a big deal, & nothing I could go actually go out of my way for. We sat at a table, & the musician playing was dreadfully sleepy. We were already feeling not that great because of such an overcast day.
Glad to have had the opportunity to check this out. I’m sure if the weather had been better, more people would have been out.