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    Mariscos El Barco

    4.0 (56 reviews)
    ModerateSeafood, Mexican, Spanish
    Closed • 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
    Updated over 3 months ago

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    Pulpo en salsa Ranchero
    Sean G.

    I came across this spot out of luck as I was being interviewed for a job in early 2020. Once my job was secured and moved here, it was the FIRST place I wanted to come back to. Mariscos El Barco is that kind of hidden treasure in the land of bland Mexican food in Richmond. Their menu is simply a tour of costal cuisines that are well prepared and with incredible variety. This is some of the finest Mexican/Latin seafood I have experienced, and their patronage is certainly a testimony to that sentiment. From fish to squid, shrimp, mussels, and even octopus, there are amazing varieties to chose from. Tostadas (chips) are served stacked and whole with side dipping sauces that are certain to please those who love spiciness!! Break up the tostadas and dip them in the sauce and get your burn on! They also have assorted spicy condiments at each table. For me, I typically indulge in the octopus, "pulpo." Now, don't get squeamish. Octopus is an amazing thing to eat, and El Barco does it right. Choose from a variety of sauces (I like the ranchero and the ajillo), and comes served on a large platter with fresh salad, cucumber, fries (amazing) and rice. Plates are definitely large and can easily be split between two adults with a medium appetite. There is also a cornucopia of seafood that are cooked in a mushroom sauce, topped with cheese, and served in a pineapple called Pina Rellado. This thing is simply amazing! Weekend nights are busy and sometimes difficult to get seated if you don't start early. Wait staff is always friendly and eager to please, but some may not speak English too well. Still, there's always someone who will be able to take care of you if you don't speak Spanish. If you're looking for seafood with a Mexican flare, then Mariscos El Barco is definitely for you!!

    ceviche
    Lisa G.

    You definitely want to check out the menu before you go, as this is not your typical Mexican spot. Lots of seafood options including crab, octopus, shrimp and fish. For that reason (that it's not typical Mexican), I was stuck as to what to order. And for that reason, I didn't really enjoy my meal. Because there's no online menu, I can't name what we got, but I'll describe it. Our appetizer was essentially ceviche soup. It was a cold mixture of various seafood--mainly shrimp and octopus--with pico de gallo in a tomato juice. It was very flavorful, but cold soup has never ever been satisfying to me. AND the crab in it was imitation. I literally got stuck on what to order, so I didn't order. My boyfriend ordered something, and it sounded like a large something, so I just agreed to eat some of his. He also ordered a ceviche. As soon as he did, I thought it was going to be just like the bowl of cold soup we just had. And it was. Just not soupy. Disappointment. More cold food when I really wanted something hot. His main dish came out, and essentially it was a mixed seafood grilled in aluminum foil. It was flavorful. Almost tasted Asian with a soy sauce base. The rice with it was good. The fries with it were good. It just wasn't satisfying. Service was fine. One girl didn't speak English and the other one spoke passable English. No problem. Atmosphere is much like the other restaurants and businesses in this area--definitely nothing fancy. Rather holes in the walls, but still an active and thriving business. It was freezing cold in there, and I asked them to turn off the AC. They did, for a while. Not sure I'd go back. It was okay. Just not my thing when I'm in the mood for Mexican. But the guys who referred us there love it.

    What to get when you have so many delicious options
    Lizzy H.

    I noticed the sign tucked behind my current favorite boba shop. Honestly, the name rang a bell till I realized I saw this spot on yelp. Me and my step mom was greeted by a friendly waitress . The menu was bilingual and easy to read . We really just wanted to see the menu and check the place out if we're being honest. The menu looked so good and the seafood seemed fresh so we got a little tester. We got the mixed seafood tostada togo and they were very fast. For $8 we got a big cup packed with mixed seafood & topped with fresh avocado. It also included the tostada and crackers packed in a nice bag and 2 salsa. I got a taste of the seafood and let me tell you that octopus was FRESH. The pieces of seafood were also nice chunks & not small at all. We definitely wanna come back and try more stuff on the menu. This is a Mexican SEAFOOD restaurant with prices ranging from $8-$40 . They offer shared platters as well as some carne dishes and soups. The kitchen seemed clean as well as the restaurant itself . It was quite and not very busy since it was mid day. Like my girl Kristen H. mentioned .. the menu is bilingual but not the staff so much . The waitress that was helping my mom did speak English & everyone was very nice.

    The ceviche and oysters were divine. Will be coming back.
    Gabriella L.

    We ordered the fish ceviche and oysters and enjoyed everything. Will be coming back. The service was great and I can't complain although I am not a Spanish speaker the staff were great. The ambiance was nice. Not too loud.

    Terris J.

    Excellent service and amazing food. Everything was cooked to perfection and the flavor was like a party on my mouth. Seafood Empanadas Tostadas Guacamole Fish topped with seafood

    Menu
    Gabriellap99hjlvgii. D.

    We went there last night, the place from the outside looks like a house! However when u stepped in you'll how much effort this guys have put in the place its so pretty, they have this comfy chairs Now the food..... I was really excited about trying this new place but im guessing is bc they just opened: -I wanted a flavor margarita(it was even listed on the menu) they say they didnt have flavors, not big deal lime flavor was still goof. -We ask for a bottle of moscato, didnt had it either. -We wanted to try the "camarones sarandeados" they are only available on the weekends But i have to says besides those little things -We had a great service A+ - The dishes we tried were very good, cant remember all the names! - Cocktails are pretty good i tried the cantaritos and margaritas Ill definetely be back for more!!!

    Beautiful El Cantatito
    Apple Y.

    I love to come here with my family for special seafood dinner. The food taste like the best compare to other place that I have been to.

    Seafood platter
    Shelley B.

    Bae and I finally made our way to Mariscos for dinner last night. According to Yelp, they close at 9pm but we arrived at 8:50 thinking they were open til 10 and there were still sitting people. Inside there's a small dining room with a giant community table and a few side tables. They also have a covered patio section which had zero people seated, probably due to the fact there were no heaters and it was freezing) but we decided to sit there anyways because the seating inside was not exactly meeting Covid guidelines. Side note, employees were wearing makes but I did see more than one taking theirs off when. Or directly around patrons. The menu is huge and center's around Sinoloan cuisine. I, having just watched Narcos:Mexico, had all kinds of fun facts to share with bae over dinner and quickly realized I may be a little obsessed with the cartel but that's another topic. You aren't really going to find standard Mexican food here. The menu is dominated by seafood. Like all the seafood. If you want cheese dip and various barely distinguishable dishes covered in cheese this probably isn't the place for you. But if you love seafood and wanna get adventurous definitely check this place out. We ordered this massive seafood platter with peeled shrimp, scallops, oysters, octopus, giant prawns, and crab legs. The platters basically are $40 or $80. We went with the smaller one and it was legit enough food for like four hungry humans. Everything tasted great but I'm not that it was all fresh and not previously frozen. The platter is just the seafood no sides but they do give you these giant tortilla chips with quite possibly the spiciest salsa ever. Margaritas are also ginormous. Pretty standard. Not fancy but decent.

    7 mares
    Beatriz Q.

    I didn't like it to much grease do not order ajillo shrimp , and the 7 mares was to much salty

    Jake S.

    This cute little place has become a new favorite! My girlfriend and I went and the service was absolutely spectacular. The food came out quick, tasted amazing and was the perfect amount of spicy. We can't wait to go back! Highly recommend everyone to try this place. You won't regret it

    Tostada de camarón y pulpo

    I've been looking at this place for a while and finally got to eat here. I was not disappointed, the food was well seasoned and fresh. Service was great as well as ambiance. Location on GPS is a bit confusing, this restaurant is actually behind "Original Mexican Restaurant". I ordered a tostada de camarón con pulpo and it tasted really good. The red snapper was also delicious even though my friend went for a basic butter flavor, it still had lots of flavor. I ordered the breaded shrimp, the shrimps were big and well seasoned. Both dishes had a side of white rice, salad and French fries. I will definitely be coming back to try more dishes.

    Medium margarita 9.5 and it was HUGE
    Dani L.

    We decided to try something different for dinner and we were glad we did. Most amazing Mexican seafood spot. We will definitely be back. The food is definitely worth it

    These 2 salsas that come to the table are not for the faint hearted that think ketchup is spicy, yet they are delicious.

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    3 years ago

    Average food. The fish I ordered was supposed to have garlic, butter and mushroom toppings but came plain.

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    4.3(233 reviews)
    4.5 mi•Virginia Union
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    Best place to get fresh, succulent deep fried oysters in a flash!…read more I treat myself to their dinner plate with bettered fried okra as a side. It's a bit of an investment, but the freshness and food quality is excellent. The wait staff and window folks are courteous and very competent. I've never been disappointed. I wholeheartedly recommend Sugar's Crab Shack for a delicious meal you'll be sure to remember fondly!

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    Hobnob - Rockfish BLT with side beet/mandarin/pecan/goat cheese salad

    Hobnob

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    Hats off to the staff at Lillian who continue to be wonderful, but now that they have scrapped…read moretheir dollar oyster lunch specials, the food has absolutely nothing to offer. Like too many restaurants in the Scott's Addition area, this is seafood cooked without finesse and then absolutely brutalized with absurd amounts of palate fatiguing, brash, loud flavors. Every item on the menu endeavors to conceal mediocrity in the quality and handling of the ingredients with explosive, overwhelming additives meant to shock you into submission. Things like black garlic and chili oil, raw garlic, sesame seed oil, and punishing heat are inescapable on the menu, which really says to me loud and clear "we do not understand the appeal of seafood, and might have a fundamental misunderstanding about good food in general." I don't exaggerate when I say these dishes would be improved (setting aside things like inability to properly cook octopus) by scaling back the flavors to 5-10% the loudness level they are currently at, to let the ingredients speak, and to make the dining experience less of a punishing marathon with no relief. I have had much subtler and more skillfully balanced dishes at Indian and Thai restaurants, cuisines known for strong flavor profiles. I'm through listening to these Richmond restaurants trying to excuse simply bad food by claiming "that's the nature of the cuisine." In this case, Lillian claims that dishes characterized by these cacophonous competing flavors is "South American." No it isn't - the person conceptualizing the dishes is just a bad chef who doesn't know what he's doing, and at the prices Lillian charges, that's inexcusable. Drowning every dish in flavors that overwhelm the palate is not a way to respect your ingredients or your diner, and only communicates youth and insecurity. Anyone who's eaten widely and knows their ingredients will rightly feel assaulted and insulted by this overpriced, unskilled fare. To anyone who decides to go anyway: Good luck with the digestive distress, and with the taste that will still be left over in your mouth the next morning, no matter how much you brush your teeth.

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    Bar Buoy

    Bar Buoy

    4.0(25 reviews)
    3.1 mi•Scott's Addition

    Honestly, 10/10. Yall had me at $1 oysters. Their HH ends at 7pm and it's bar/patio seating only…read morebut the fact that it goes on until 7pm AND all day Sunday?!? sign me up. Despite the crab dip being mediocre, I am obsessed with the $1 oysters and will be returning on at least a monthly basis.

    Extremely slow... unacceptably slow... when the food finally arrived it was decent, but not worth…read morethe wait. My wife and I came here on a Friday night with a reservation, got seated right away and ordered shortly after. Our drinks came, and then we waited, and waited, and waited for the appetizer. When it finally arrived after about half an hour, the waitress apologized and said they had a big group that had caused the delay so she was comping us the appetizer. I appreciated that, and expected things to go more smoothly after that... But then we waited, and waited, and waited some more. The waitress kept walking past us without even looking in our direction, and when we finally got her attention to ask if our food was coming, she said it would be out in two or three minutes. By the time it finally arrived, about ten minutes later, we'd been sitting at our table for more than 90 minutes. The manager brought it to our table and explained that they had a group of 30 people in a separate room, and there had been some last minute changes to that group's menu that had caused delays. Ok, I understand how that could happen, but the dining room and patio weren't even full, so it's not like the whole restaurant was slammed, and if you know that a group of 30 is coming on a Friday night, you staff accordingly, right? And if the manager brings the food out and offers an apology, you might expect him to also offer a round of drinks or something, right? Nope. We got the one comped app, but other than that, just a halfhearted apology for the fact that we waited an hour and a half for our meal. As for the quality of the food, the oyster po-boy was pretty good, but on the small side, and the sides were decent but nothing to write home about. If it were the best seafood in Richmond, maybe I'd go back, but I've had better elsewhere without the wait, so I don't plan to go back anytime soon.

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    Mariscos El Barco - seafood - Updated September 2026

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