Everything was absolutely amazing, the flavors, the level of freshness. Great spot to eat and enjoy the view! Good service. read more

Randolph's On The River - Fried soft shall & crab cake - Seafood Near Me - Port Royal, Virginia

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We loved Randolph's On The River. It was clean and nice with a wonderful view, nice people, and good food. Yesterday was different. Sadly, very different. Randolph's is expensive. It is a seafood restaurant and we expect to pay more for good, fresh seafood. We cannot do that often and it had been a year since we had been there. Our experience yesterday was so disappointing, I doubt we will be back. First, little things: there was no beer on tap, the cold cases were not labeled correctly with dessert names holding wine and other unknown items. The sign outside with the name of the restaurant is long past time to be refreshed. It was barely readable. The number of tables had been reduced and there were pieces of tables outside and in the dining room. It appeared that there was only one person in the kitchen and the TV blared some "reality" show instead of music playing. It still was cute and clean but it felt like something that was nearly ready for the final lap. Second, the food: the pictures shown here are "before" pictures. The crab cake sandwich, for example, was the cheapest crab meat you can buy (yes, bordering on "goo") breaded and fried. It had more binder than crab. Unlike the pictures, you could not see pieces of crab and you could not taste crab. Let me recap in order. We ordered steamed spicy shrimp. They came out and looked great. Something was wrong. I've never needed so much effort to peel a shrimp. Husband used a fork to split the shell off of the shrimp. I ended up chewing a lot of shrimp shells because I could not get them peeled off. We also ordered the Captain's Platter to share. It is huge and that's the best thing I can say about it. They were out of scallops so we substituted fried oysters and picked catfish and our two sides. The catfish, oysters and hush puppies were fine. The crab cake was, as mentioned above, terrible. Not 'disappointing.' Not 'not good.' Not 'room for improvement': terrible. Embarrassingly terrible. Our meal came out without the sides. Our waitress was busy with the one other seated table in the place having a long conversation about tattoos and tattoo places in Fredericksburg and was heading back to the kitchen when we flagged her down. By the time our sides were out, we had finished the main course. The mac and cheese and the twice baked potatoes had just come out of the oven so the were blazing hot. Let me be clear: they cooked our main and sent it out and then started firing the sides. Actually they probably cooked some else's food and then fired our sides. The mac & cheese was fine, the twice baked potato skin was so charred, it was inedible and the inside of the potato was, well... mush. It looked like they had put it in a blender resulting in a tasteless paste consistency. And then the too-hot-to-eat food was presented to us after we had finished the main. Hubs ordered iced tea, I ordered water to drink. They were nearly the same color. To describe his tea as "weak" is a kindness. Something nice: The person who waited on us was very nice and did her best. Here's the best part: we dropped $60 for two people sharing app and entree. For $60, we could have had a nice meal served in proper order that had texture and taste. Instead we got unseasoned, tasteless gruel (with the exception of the catfish) that was way below "not good." Randolph's On The River will now just be a fond memory and not a special place to go. That makes me very sad. read more

Stopping off in the early spring and we return home from Doswell. This place is smaller, but riverside and has a small boat launch. Docking, as well. It is too early in the season, but they have a lovely deck later in the season. We had our dogs with us, and it was an 84° day, so we set up a tailgate picnic in the very large grassy parking lot. I ordered the crab cake sandwich and my husband and daughter both had the soft shell crab sandwich. The soft shell sandwich consisted of two crabs. They were quite good, probably could have used less cooking time. My crab cake was very large, made with claw meat, not a lot of breading, seasoning was okay. The hush puppies here are a 10 out of 10! I enjoyed my twice cooked baked potato. The coleslaw was great. The cucumber veggies were fine. Sauces were great, especially the Remoulade. We ordered a side of melted pimento cheese dip to share. It was substantial and tasty. We will stop in here again. I think next time I'll order their shrimp, which I heard is great. I'd also like to try the she crab soup, which was not available today. All the desserts are homemade. We brought home some chunks of the coconut cream cake. Desserts are all homemade. Service was great, helpful because we're doing carry out read more

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Waited an hour got it to go finally and still got the wrong thing. One last serving and cooking. No outdoor seating. Don't waste your time here read more

Have stopped at this restaurant for the last 8 to 10 years on our way home to NY. The food is excellent and we stop at 759pm, theyclose at 8 and they still prepared us meal. You couldn't ask for a better restaurant. Enjoy the crab cakes and hush puppies. read more

This used to be a favorite stop when it was not Randolph's. We've tried twice. Nope. The food is just not good anymore in our opinion.

Food was just okay. Crab dip was served with baguettes which made dipping impossible. My oysters on the half shell were just okay. Not the typical Rappahanock sweetness. No saltines were available but came with oyster crackers (what to do with them). Flounder and Catfish sandwiches were good and big enough to take the other half home. Hush puppies were meh. Too hard on the outside and crumbled when eaten. Kids grilled cheese spent too much time under the heating lamp and was crunchy. Service was slow on a Saturday mid afternoon with two servers present and only four tables to wait on. Finally got to try eating there but was ultimately unimpressed. read more

We had lunch here today for the first time and the food was INCREDIBLE! The chef, Auntie, was also serving as the waitress, and she was as sweet as could be. Every bite was delicious, and the collard greens were SUBLIME! I will go back just for the collard greens . . . and the hush puppies . . . and the crab cake . . . Everything was amazing!! read more

Randolph's On The River - Seafood Near Me - Port Royal, Virginia

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Previously posted: What a great little spot in the middle of nowhere. But as you travel towards Port Royal make sure you come with an empty stomach and a love for seafood. This place has a beautiful view of the water, it has friendly staff, and one of the cleanest restaurants I've been to in years. And that's just about the restaurant. Now let's talk about the food. We showed up with empty stomachs and a big appetite so pretty much ordered too much food for a small army. We started off with crab dip which came with bread but we ordered a side of pork rinds at an additional cost. When the plate showed up with the crab dip, Bread, and pork rinds both of our jaws dropped to the table due to the size of the portion that they give here at this great restaurant. Automatically we decided to snack on the crab dip but take most of it home. Having ordered our main courses before getting our gigantic crab dip appetizer we waited to see how large these portions would be. I ordered the fisherman's platter which came with scallops, shrimp, a fish fillet, a crabcake, and french fries along with a house salad. The house salad came with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and probably the best ranch dressing I've had in years. It's called jalapeño ranch and it has a great taste of ranch dressing with a little kick I highly recommend it. The seafood platter came out and like I said before everything here is huge it was so big that I ended up taking almost half of it home with me. I got the fried version which had a nice flaky batter perfectly seasoned and delivered to the table piping hot. Again highly recommend it. As I said before this place is not only a diamond in the rough, if it were closer to my house it would be my twice to three times a week restaurant. The prices are reasonable, the food is delicious, the ambiance is excellent, and the staff is second to none. If you're ever in the area give it a shot. read more

Food was good but hushpuppies need some work (dry, not sweet). Oysters were very good. Waitress attentive. Views of river excellent.

After training, a few coworkers and I swing by to this blue house with a red door on the left side of Rt. 301, just before the bridge. It looks small from the front but as you walk around, it gets bigger with a gazebo and a pier to the river. As we walk in, it was spacious, there were 3 other tables and a large window that wrapped around with a spectacular view of the river. When we got sat, there was one female that exit out of the kitchen and before taking our drink order. She explains her situation and asked to be a little patient because it was just three people in the kitchen including herself. No other employees including servers has arrive yet which we arrive 30 minutes after the restaurant open. We didn't mind the wait, as she was promptly taking care of all of the guests. We order 8 items: 1) Warm crab dip 2) Firecracker shrimp 3) Half pound cheeseburger 4) Shrimp Po'boy 5) Alligator Po'boy 6) Strawberry shortcake 7) Coconut cake 8) Chocolate mousse cake. One of coworker never had alligator before so he was excited about ordering it. Unfortunately both the alligator and shrimp Po'boy fell flat. It wasn't your typical Po'boy as the inside of the sandwich was dry and not smothered with a creamy sauce. The sauce was only smear on the corner wedge and the fried meat in it. The cheeseburger was asked to be cooked medium rare but received medium well. The burger arrived to the table with only the bun, cheese, hush puppies and fries. There wasn't any condiments accompanying the burger such as lettuce, tomato, onions or pickle if any. We all order a side of mac and cheese which came in a ramekin. The first bite was unique and had an odd taste to it. The highlight of our trip were the appetizers. The warm crab dip was amazingly good, we all couldn't get enough of it. Gladly we all three order the firecracker shrimp which was full of flavor. It tastes almost like bang bang shrimp from Bonefish Grill. They also offer 14 homemade cakes which three wasn't available so we order the strawberry shortcake, coconut cake and chocolate mousse cake. They were all delicious. Though they were short staff, I would make another visit to try other items on the menu. read more

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The food was great and a lot of it. Came out of kitchen piping hot and plentiful presentation looked like something from a very elegant high priced place you would find in New York. read more

Went here for a date for the first time last week. Clean spacious and cheery interior. The menu is what I would consider southern seafood. It was all delicious and the sweet lady serving us was amazing. Definitely will return! read more

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It was fine. Good stuff: - food - view I had the broiled crab cake platter. Pretty good. Wife had the rockfish sandwich. Also good. Both presented well. Stuff needing work: - acknowledgement. Like a lot of places as of late, we stood there for 5 minutes while several employees noticed us and walked on by. Busy for sure, but at least acknowledge us and let us know you'll be right with us. - cleanup tables. Several large parties were there today. After they left, tables were left dirty for 20+ minutes. Folks don't want to sit in mess. Atmosphere matters. Overall fine. Worth a stop while in Port Royal. read more

Randolph's On The River - Seafood Near Me - Port Royal, Virginia

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A convenient stop on the trip south but they really need more and better waitresses. Several mistakes were made on ours and other tables, took a ridiculous amount of time to pay the bill, other tables walked out in frustration. The food was just OK, nothing special. The salad was wilted and had multiple brown pieces that needed to be picked out. Won't be back. read more

The seafood is great if that's your thing, I always end up with the fisherman's platter with a side salad and the jalapeño ranch is a must!! Service is great here, the ladies are very tentative and are always willing to help you decide what to order. Very clean establishment and it's right on the river which makes it that much better. read more

Randolph's On The River - Fisherman's platter - Seafood Near Me - Port Royal, Virginia

About a 2-2.5: Randolph's on the River is right off the Rappahannock and the 301, which has some great views, especially if you're planning on sitting out on their dock. I came here to meet a dear friend for lunch, and I ordered: +the Fisherman's Platter - this came with a 5 oz crabcake, sea scallops, gulf shrimp, fish filet, and hushpuppies; you have the option to have your items fried or broiled, which I opted for the latter. I was disappointed that they didn't have rockfish, so I chose the flounder instead; the crabcake was mostly filler, and the gulf shrimp was way overcooked to the point of rubbery-ness; the fish filet had a very strong 'fishy' smell to it, which was quite off-putting; sea scallops were seared a little too long, but they were okay; the hushpuppies were forgettable, as they just seemed like the frozen kinds that were re-fried up +a Kid's Shark Attack - Sierra Mist with a shark toy, filled with grenadine; I knew I had to get this drink because it looked so cute in the pictures, and I really wanted that shark toy - AHAHAHA My entree also came with 2 sides of choice - I went for the mac & cheese and the twice-baked potato; both were forgettable, as the mac & cheese, while coming out piping out, was super thin with the cheese and bland; the twice-baked potato was served lukewarm, so you know this was just rarely re-heated through. My friend had the boiled steamed shrimp with some spice, and she enjoyed them. Note that they serve Pepsi products. I may be curious in trying out their steamed shrimp or their sandwiches the next time. Service was very friendly, welcoming, and we were checked-in throughout our meal often. They open at 11, but we had to wait a few minutes until they unlocked the door. Not sure if the price reflected in the quality of the food we received, but, there aren't many options in the area! Plenty of parking in their private lot. +Kid's Shark Attack drink :D +friendly service! +plenty of parking in private lot read more

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Service was horrible - no refills Took over a hour to get the food once it was placed Food was bland Got the rockfish Reuben and the crabby burger read more

I REALLY wanted this place to be good!!! What a waste of a beautiful location. Located right on the Rappahannock River, Randolph's has a stunning view overlooking the river. This is why we were so excited to stop here for a late lunch. I thought since they have a dock, they might actually catch their own fish or at least have it dropped off fresh. This was NOT the case! The crab soup had more seasoning and crab shells bits than actual crab. If you have to add so much seasoning, that means the crab you're getting isn't good. As soon as we had this soup, we knew right away the rest of the food was going to be bad. DO NOT get the catfish. They said it was fresh but it had an awful smell and taste to it. It was under seasoned and clearly not fresh by the way it tasted. It tasted like frozen meals you get at the store. The chicken tenders and Shrimp Po boy were OK. This place REALLY underperformed in the kitchen. Our waitress was really great however, she was very kind, attentive and respectful. The manager also was very nice and accommodating by taking the catfish sandwich off the check when she saw I couldn't eat it. If you see this place, keep on driving, the view is great, but will not compensate for the horrid meal you'll have here. read more

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We stumbled upon this restaurant on our drive from Williamsburg to Crofton MD. At first we didn't think it was open but we were early for the lunch crowd. They have a great covered deck outback that looks over the river. It was such a pleasant day. Our server was great! So friendly. She brought our drinks and answered menu questions. Husband had a bowl of the oyster stew, a salad and fried oyster entree. All entrees came with 3 hush puppies. I had the crab cake sandwich with macaroni salad and marinated cucumber tomato and onion salad. This was all so good. We ordered a piece of hummingbird cake to go. We weren't disappointed. If you are driving the back roads in Virginia stop in for lunch or dinner. read more

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Insanely long wait time, took ten minutes for our drinks, and a hour and a half for our food to come, we ate for 40 minutes. You know it's bad when you wait longer than you eat. On the other hand food was fine, it was nice inside the decor was pretty good in my opinion. I only give it 3 stars because the food if that was bad it would've got a 1 star. read more

We arrived today approximately 1:30 pm for lunch. This restaurant was very well recommended. The wait staff was quick to see if we wanted anything. As this was our first time here we need to review the menu. Skipped the appetizer. I ordered the soft shell crab (2 soft shell crabs on 1 bun) sandwich & my companion ordered one of the fried platers. I had ordered a soft shell crab sandwich at a different restaurant the day before, and I couldn't tell which one was better. This soft shell crab sandwich didn't need anything added to it, it was delicious and moist and cooked to perfection. The fried plater was also very good. I did sample several items. (The Scallops & the shrimp were Wow!) We also had a window seat with a great view of the Rappahannock river. This restaurant is a 45 min drive (one way), worthwhile. Next time we are traveling on Rt. 301, we will be stopping by again. read more

Randolph's On The River - Rappahannock river from our table. - Seafood Near Me - Port Royal, Virginia

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Not what it used to be. Menu smaller and quality of food nowhere near as good. Certainly acceptable but no longer worth the drive.

BEST seafood & service I have had in a long time. Vallery was SO helpful, attentive & kind. The food was off the chain and well worth the wait (due to high volume of customers) it is totally understandable!! I will be back! Thank you for the amazing views, food & memories read more

We live in MD and try to hit Randolph's whenever we're passing through- they've got really generous portions at reasonable prices, and the servers are always really nice and do a good job. I really like that they put a unique spin on classic items, like the rockfish reuben, crab dip that comes with house-made pork rinds, etc. The host (manager or owner maybe?) even gave us a bag of the pork rinds to take with us last time we were there. I always love a good old-school seafood house, and it's a great spot- just wish it were closer to home for us! read more

Randolph's On The River - Crab dip with pork rinds (and bread) - Seafood Near Me - Port Royal, Virginia

Enjoyed a great lunch on the deck. The peel and ear boiled shrimp were delicious. The salad cold and crisp. Great overall.

Great find! Delicious seafood, enjoyed the crab cakes, soup, raw oysters. Friendly servers with a view of the river.

Absolutely the best seafood in Virginia. The fried Gulf shrimp is cooked PERFECTLY, lightly breaded, butterflied and HUGE!! Great beer selection and DELICIOUS desserts. My husband had the oyster stew and the oysters were large- creamy deliciousness!!! The service is always STELLAR and we make our trip to Randolf's once a week. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!! The location is right on the RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER - right over the 301 bridge! read more

Randolph's On The River - Seafood Near Me - Port Royal, Virginia

The Fisherman's platter is magnificent, especially the scallops! It is plenty of food for two, if paired with a small salad!

I've been wanting to try this place for years, and today, we finally stopped. We walked in, and there was no host. They other staff just looked at us and kept servicing other patrons. About 3 mins go by, and the host comes from the side office and seats us. We ordered the fried catfish fingers for starters, which was the best thing we had. They were fresh. Also, we ordered the shrimp po' boy and the broiled fisherman's platter. While all the food was hot and made to order if we ever visit again, we'd stick with the catfish nuggets and po'boy as they were the only things we found enjoyable. The waterfront views were nice, and we saw a lot of boaters dropping in the water; so this place checks the convenience box. read more

Another lovely place on the water, peaceful, with great service, and fresh food. As usual I get the crab cakes but it all looks delish. I love these independently owned places and they deserve support or we will end up with nothing but chain restaurant food. read more

I think the cook had to go catch our fish, we ordered at 1:47 finished our salads and waited for an hour to get our food @3:10 for a simple sandwich. Stupid on my part for waiting that long but I was hungry. Onto the food, the sandwich left something to be desired but the Mac and cheese is awesome. read more

Seen the reviews so decided to check the place out on our way to Maryland last Saturday. Got there right when it opened up so was able to sit at a booth by the window. Great view, excellent customer service and the food was outstanding. I had the Rockfish Reuben and my kid had the burger. Hush puppies that came with each meal were excellent as well. This is definitely a place I will come back and visit. Keep up the good work. read more

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only 5 people in dining room (our table), all orders were wrong, ordered 1 grilled cheese w/ bacon received a non cheesy lump of microwaved stale bread. and was charged for more expensive cheeseburger because waitress couldn't get order correct. Took over an hour to get food. Was great when first opened, however new owners don't know how to cook or serve but are eager to charge for the "experience". read more

Went here because we have gone here prior and had a good experience. It has definitely gone down hill. Our waitress was horrible, ordered an appetizer that we never got, table next to us got there way after us and got their appetizer which was the same as ours. Waited forever for drinks, silverware, food, check everything! Food was good once we got it, but we ended up being there for over 2 hours for just 3 4 of us. read more

We stopped in one evening on our way to Maryland. Food was so delicious the scallops were cooked to perfection and had a sweet succulent flavor shrimp was lightly battered and delectable hush puppies wonderfully crisp. The service was very friendly and attentive. Wish it were closer as we would go there often! read more

We had a wonderful dinner at Randolph's on the River on 5/23/25. The owner was so gracious and made sure everything was to our liking . The food was excellent. We will make sure we will stop again next time we are in Port Royal, VA. read more

No host, not great service and lukewarm twice baked potato. The tomato salad, hush puppies and broiled crab cakes were terrific so if you have time to kill I do recommend those items. read more

We were left without service for nearly 40 minutes with no drink refills, no updates, and guests who arrived after us received their food before we did. After sitting for about an hour with only one round of drinks, we asked to pay for them and leave. Instead, staff insisted our food had "just finished" and wouldn't let us leave without waiting even longer while they boxed it up. We didn't ask for free food we just wanted to leave and eat elsewhere. They offered a discount instead, which we accepted just to be able to leave, but they didn't even include everything we ordered. The "discount" was practically like covering what we were missing. This experience was incredibly disappointing. We won't be returning. read more

Great food, great service, great location. Went in before our bow fishing trip to eat and had a great experience. Would 100% recommend! read more

Randolph's On The River - From of restaurant - Seafood Near Me - Port Royal, Virginia