We came here around 7:30 PM on a Friday and it was super busy! We were able to grab a drink at the bar and waited about 30 minutes before we were seated. We shared the crab cakes and shrimp. Both were really good! The crab cakes had more meat then filler (which i think is hard to find in Cincinnati) and the shrimp were done well. This is the best place to eat seafood in the Anderson area. read more

A wonderful place to eat. The seafood has always been great, and the service was tremendous. We highly recommend it. I just wish they would bring back the clam strips! That was always their best meal! read more

We had placed an order via Grubhub, and I called to update. The woman that answered the phone was completely combative and yelled at me that they have way too much business to use Grubhub and there was no way they would be filling that order. I was shocked to be meet with such aggressiveness by a local place we have frequented many times. In this environment I would think owners would be glad of the business, and a simple explanation would have been all I needed to empathize. However, being verbally attacked is unacceptable. Not good! read more

Best seafood in the Cincinnati area. I briefly lived in St Augustine, FL and Pelicans Reef reminds me of an easy going beach restaurant on the coast And the food is absolutely top quality. Love the calimari and mahi sandwich! read more

Feels like a going out for a casual seafood dinner while you're on vacation at the beach! Friendly staff and great food! Can't wait to go back! read more

You'd never know this place existed if you weren't looking for it, but you'll be happy once you've found it! It's in a strip mall but belongs at the beach! The seafood is fresh but even if seafood isn't your thing they have other options - from burgers to pasta but not so much that it's overwhelming. read more

This place was packed on a Saturday night and rightfully so! Located in Anderson, Ohio, I felt like I was on vacation when I went here. I ordered the linguine and mussels with a side of grilled asparagus. My goodness it was delicious. I had over 25 mussels which was way more then I was expecting. I would of eaten everything on the menu. Also, they had a great selection of specials that looked good. I can't wait to go back. I did not have dessert because I was so full but heard how they were homemade so I will be trying those when I return! read more

So excited to see that they finally offered Grub Hub delivery! An hour in, I receive a notification that my ordere has been cancelled by the restaurant and my debit card will be credited within 5 days.......seriously????? Trying to help out the local restaurants, but guess they are busy enough! Disappointing to wait so long then need to start over with dinner plans. read more

This place is a hidden gem! Not very noticeable in a strip mall, you wouldn't expect to be transported to the beach once inside. The friendly staff and beachy decor are a breath of fresh air. Their clam chowder tastes like you are at a ocean side restaurant. If they have the sirloin sliders when you go, you MUST get them! The crab cakes are full of huge chunks and are absolutely delicious. If you are in the area GO HERE! read more

It may sound weird but this place has the best Caesar salad! If there is one food I have missed during quarantine it is a Caesar salad from the Pelicans reef! read more

If you want consistent great food every time then you need to visit Pelican's Reef. My wife and I go at least once a month. I would highly recommend Pelican's. read more

Good food, good service, good atmosphere!!! Only thing I would suggest is putting some blackened scallops on the menu, even just as an appetizer! read more

Went there last Saturday night with my Mom and ate upstairs. I ordered the tuna sandwich. I asked for the tuna to be cooked through, and it arrived overcooked. I ordered dirty rice as a side and it tasted rubbery, and like it had been cooked the day before and then overheated in the microwave. My mom did not enjoy her fish tacos either. There was no chopped lettuce or dressing on the fish taco; it was really dry. We really enjoyed our server, Mary, but the food definitely did not live up to the hype. Based on the high prices, I was expecting better quality. It also would have been nice to have more healthy choices on the menu. Unfortunately, I won't be coming back. read more

I usually get the cod basket which comes with 2 sides. The portions are generous. The acoustics are terrible; you have to shout to talk to the people at your table because everybody else has to shout as well. It is very loud in there during peak times. The service is good, but due to the noise factor, I usually order things to go. read more

I've lived on the East Side of Cincinnati for over 4 years now and drive by Pelican's Reef all the time but just now finally visited this little east side gem. To be honest, I never looked it up before and I never realized it was a seafood place (I know, I just didn't use my brain). An opportunity presented itself this past weekend and we made our way to Pelican's Reef. You guys should have seen my face when I realized it was a seafood place. It was pure joy because my husband doesn't eat seafood and one of our other companions is the same way. Typically, it is so hard to get my husband to visit a seafood place with me so I almost felt like I tricked him and was happy about it. Alright, so the good stuff; the place is packed and we were told it would be 20 minutes wait but I don't think we even waited 10 minutes. Maybe it was because we had a baby with us. This place is decorated in you true beach fashion and I am pretty sure the owners just randomly kept picking up all things beach and hang them on the wall. And it works! Very cozy. Our waitress was very bubbly and friendly (I wish I caught her name but I don't think they had name tags). We were presented with a regular and a specials menu which both seemed to have the same amount of items on it. Our waitress recommended a bunch of things and knew her stuff. I ordered a very boring dish comparing to all the wonderful options they had, north Icelandic cod basket with fries and Caesar salad. The fish was very yummy, generously breaded; fries was crispy and salty and Caesar salad was interesting. The waitress warned me about their Caesar salad being a little bit on the sweet side and she was right but I am still deciding if I liked it or not. We ordered cheese sticks for appetizer which took a long time to come out due to kitchen overcooking them the first time and my salad came out after everybody's meals were served. As a compensation for those mess ups, we received two desserts which we asked to be boxed up. One dessert was some kind of peanut butter cake which was gone about an hour after dinner. I don't eat peanut butter desserts but my companions said it was delicious. I on the other hand opted for raspberry cheesecake. I devoured this piece of yummy goodness in just a few bites. It was sweet and melting in my mouth good. I was miserably happy for the rest of the evening. I feel that maybe my brain purposely made me order very generic seafood dish so I can go back and try their fried oysters soon. read more

My husband took me here for my Birthday and it was the best.. I had the coconut shrimp and crab cakes with sweet potatoes fry and my husband had the coconut shrimp and cod, witch I tried. It was the best we have ever had. The peanut butter pie is a must to get! The best you'll ever have! The place was busy and we had a wait but got lucky and got a set at the bar.. The people that work there are just so nice and with how busy they was had the best customer service! Just the sweet lady's at the bar!!! We will be back thanks for making my Birthday great!!! read more

We have been told by many people since we moved here how good Pelican's Reef is - we've tried it twice now and were hugely disappointed both times. Our food was fishy and not very well seasoned. Just couldn't understand how we had bad experiences both times when so many people rave about it. Sad because the owners and employees are so nice. read more

Excellent seafood pub which is unusual in Cincinnati. Worth the trip wherever you are in the Tri state area. Fried oysters, fish tacos and sweet potatoes fries didn't disappoint. For non seafood folk the burger was big and juicy. Full bar with a nice craft beer selection. Great pub atmosphere with bar service, high tops and sit down tables. Service was good - a little slow at times but the dinner crowd was growing. read more

Best grilled chicken sandwich I've ever had and a damn good price too. The swordfish sandwich taste like the orgasm of an angel.

This is my favorite place in Cincinnati to get seafood. It has all of the ambiance of a harbor side bar in Florida, and the prices are very reasonable. It's amazing! read more

Just okay. The calamari was woefully under-cooked - slimy and lukewarm instead of crispy and piping hot. Thankfully, the grouper sandwiches were much better and saved the meal. This place is a viable option ONLY because Cincinnati is completely devoid of quality seafood joints. We have a few Bonefish restaurants... why can't their much more attractive cousin - Roy's - make a stop into town and shake things up a little bit?!? I hate that I have to go Chicago or fly down to Florida if I want some decent seafood. And please don't tell me that Mitchell's, McCormick's, or The Anchor are adequate options. read more

Very good seafood at reasonable prices. The only thing that keeps it from being 5-stars is that the menu isn't anything close to inspired. Pick a fish, pick a preparation, pick two sides. That's 90% of the menu. Occasionally there is a special that resembles what I would say involves a recipe, but the servers are often unaware of the details (and the specials are written on a blackboard that is visible to about 30% of the restaurant and the glare from the lights narrows this down to about 15% visibility). If you want fried/grilled/blackened/sandwiched (insert seafood) with two sides, this is your place. If you're looking for a place with a chef-designed menu involving creative use of sauces and seasonings... not so much. Still, something to be said for a place that keeps it simple and does it right. Decent beer selection too. read more

Excellent food, grouper sandwich is great, everything is made with care. Owners are friendly esp. to kids. It can be very hard to get in here on any given night. read more

Large menu and generous portions. It doesn't measure up to most seafood places you'll find near the coast, but it's probably as good as you can hope to find in this part of the country. My only issue with this place is that none of the sides (besides fries) ever line up with my tastes. Admittedly, I'm a picky eater, but I just wish they had one more offering I could get behind - for a little more variety. read more

Fresh fish in Cincinnati! Little gem for us east coasters to get outstanding calamari and crab. Give them a try..... read more

It is good, not great, but good. A little pricey for what you get. The menu could use more dishes that are not deep fried.

Normally I LOVE this place, but NOT today. I had the beer battered cod. Not good. The batter was hard the fish wasn't to bad but when you are ordering beer battered and you cut it with your fork and it breaks off like a pretzel you are in trouble. The bartender and all the staff were excellent. I could not finish my lunch and the bartender should of recognized this and offered something different. I did get the gumbo to go for my husband, lets cross our fingers. read more

I lived in japan for 10.5 years and am very picky about seafood. The pelican's reef rises to the challenge.

I love this place! I along with most of the people in my neighborhood frequent this place often. The food is always great, the beer is reasonably priced and its a fun atmosphere. Its popular so it can be extremely busy on weekend nights but its worth it. Also, the side salads are much better than most restaurants and the sweet potato fries are great. read more

We try to go weekly! I have had hundreds of meals at Pelican's and I have to say I have never been disappointed. They have a great menu and the specials are awesome! One of my favorites that they have everyday is the Caesar Salad! My favorite special is the Seafood, shrimp and lobster, Mac and Cheese. The staff is top notch and really know how to take care of the customer! read more

They use plastic plates. For a place with VERY upscale prices this is really tacky and offensive. With foods that are either hot or acidic it's also possibly dangerous. Even Frisch's uses regular ceramic plates. Some of their fried items are previously frozen -- shrimp and clams in particular. The clams were barely mediocre. You'd think that a restaurant with a main focus of seafood would be able to source and fry all of their seafood. read more

Everything that is fried is delicious. Once you leave the fried food, it gets iffy. The gumbo and typical Cajun sides are deficient in every way. read more

I came here on monday with a bunch of people. I had the Icelandic cod with fries, coleslaw and a cup of clam chowder. Clam chowder was good but not great. The coleslaw was good. The fries were good but the cod looked like refrozen cod. My friend had the walleye with cajun spice and enjoyed it. Another had the coconut shrimp and the cocktail sauce was amazing. The service was amazing as we had older folks with us and there were very patient. Overall 3.5 to 4. read more

The food is good, but not spectacular. We had popcorn shrimp and lobster mac & cheese as apps, and each ordered a fish sandwich for entree. The seafood was fresh and the food tasted good, but I wasn't wowed by anything. Only disappointments were the lobster mac & cheese special which didn't have much lobster, and the sweet potato fries which I personally would have preferred crisper. Prices are reasonable. They don't take reservations and there was a wait when we got there, so we ordered drinks from the bar while we waited. read more

It was my first time there and the service was great. The staff was very helpful and friendly, which was definitely a plus! I ordered my food to go, but while waiting I sat at the bar and had a drink. The service was quick and the food was delicious. Since I live near here, I am sure I will be a regular there before you know it. read more

Want fresh fish? This is the place. be prepared to wait , though. It is very very popular.

My soon to be father in law recommended this place to us, I checked out the yelp info on them and was deff intrigued... But as big as I am into seafood, I'm not crazy about fried seafood and alot of what I saw was that, so we put off checking it out for a bit. Well yesterday was the day! Lol. I'm actually very excited to say not only was it better than expected, they have alot of written specials on a big chalkboard top wall that are way far away from just fried seafood!! We were just doing a lite lunch before we headed to coney Island for the fireworks competition, or we would of tried a larger entree.....so here's the breakdown, fiancee had the crab cakes they were very tasty, not over bready, came with 2 sauces a cocktail and a sweet chili lime which was tasty! I had the calamari, which was touted as once voted best in Cincy and it was very good! My only complaint would be the spices were a little lite so the flour taste shone through a bit too much, but the serving size was huge and I love having some to take home.lastly we had the lobster bisque, was creamy and strong wonderful lobster flavor, I just wish for the price it would of come with bread....that soup just demands a crunchy toasted baguette to dip! We wound up having to order a side of garlic bread, which for the price didn't measure up, 2 fairly small slices of French bread with garlic butter, but it deff turned the soup way up! Drinks were made very well, they appear to have a nice full bar, large clean dining area. Lots of seating avail, we didn't have to wait on a seat at all, but navigating where to go to get seated was a little hectic, but I also believe we arrived right at shift change for the wait staff, so it happens. All in all we really enjoyed our lunch, we will deff be back to have a full dinner. read more

This place is a hidden gem. Definitely the best lobster bisque in town. The wasabi tuna wrap is delicious!! I think it's only available as a dinner special every once in awhile. I wish they would put it on the normal menu!! read more

I've come to this place on and off since they opened. Admittedly maybe 5 or 6 times a year. Obviously not a regular, which if you have ever been here, they pretty much grade you when you enter. Food is average at best, so if you are currently on the regulars or cool kids list, avoid it. It's not a surprise to anyone, only are permanent planted at first table read more

Excellent neighborhood gem. Great place for a quick lunch or an after work drink and dinner at the bar. The menu is diverse and the specials of the day are quite well done. The Mahi Mahi BLT and the coleslaw will make you happy indeed! read more