Everything was good but.... My crab cakes where burnt and my veg medley was more onions. Very disappointed we are from Va beach Va .. not much more I can say. Have a good day The blonde brownie with ice cream was good. Who ever ran the food to the table should not have served them.atmosphere was nice read more

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Great seafood and oysters too, plus fantastic service! The prices are good, the dessert is good, and the Hot Sauce is out this world.

This little restaurant was packed the evening we went so we opted for seats at the bar. We had a super nice and very attentive bartender who was happy to serve us. We had crab cakes and fried oysters, both with veggies on the side. The crab cakes were large and delicious. The fried oysters were plump and perfectly fried with the perfect amount of breading. The only negative was having to listen to a party wax nostalgic in tireless detail over the Alabama - Georgia game that was replaying on the bar tv as they waited for their table (but you know how Southern sports are!), but aside from that, it was a solid night out! read more

The Half Shell - Porch Lemonade - yum! - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

Best grilled mahi mahi ever! Oysters were amazing, raw, lemoned and frederico. No reservations. Wait can be long after 7 pm. Parking is tough- be prepared to park a block or more away. Food and experience are worth the wait! read more

Sweet little restaurant by the pier in Saint Simons. My catch of the day with cheesy grits was so good! The cheesy grits were the best thing I ate that week. The waitress was very patient with our indecision and then quick when we let her know we had to catch a flight. read more

The Half Shell - Fried catch of the day and cheesy grits. Stewed green beans were just okay. - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

Best seafood on the golden isles. Hands down. Great staff and wonderful dining room. read more

There is frequently a line to get a table so plan accordingly. The wait is worth it because the food is that good. Our server was very friendly and took good care of us. As we have posted in other reviews about restaurants on the island in general, the staff that work at the restaurants are legitimately friendly people interested in talking to tourists and making sure they have a pleasant experience. It's very much appreciated. It is a noticeable difference from other parts of the country. We enjoyed the shrimp, the blackened flounder, the Cajun pork chop, the cheddar cheese grits, and the sidewinder fries. We ate both the grilled and fried shrimp. Any of the shrimp dishes, which we have eaten on the island are noticeably fresh and not overcooked. It would not be an exaggeration to say this is some of the best shrimp we have eaten anywhere. The Cajun pork chop was so tender it almost melted in your mouth. The blackened flounder was tender and flaky. Like the pork chop, it was tasty without being heavy on spices. The manager came around to the tables to make sure that the customers were happy with their food and we were. It was an enjoyable experience, and we highly recommend it! read more

I'm not sure why I haven't left a review yet. This is one of the few places I will eat at mulitple times when we visit. This time around we got the red neck shooter, PBR, lemon/lime, tobasco, rimmed with old bay, fresh fish of the day was flounder that tasted right off the boat fresh. I got mine crusted with crab meat and a lemon butter sauce. The cheese grits are to die for and the sautéed veg were awesome. The butter cake is the bomb dot com. We eat here every time we are visiting this area and I highly Recommend this place. Enjoy. read more

The Half Shell - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

This is one our favorite "go to" restaurants. The food is spectacular and service as well. I typically order whatever the special of the day is, and I've yet to be disappointed. They have bacon wrapped green beans and don't forget to leave room for dessert... the butter cake is phenomenal! The only downside is that they don't take reservations. On a busy night, a 30 minute wait is typical. read more

This is a staple everytime we come to St Simons! The food is fresh and delicious! The service is amazing! Leave room for the butter cake with ice cream! read more

We found this place on Yelp and decided to go with it. We had the flounder with grits and sweet fries. We also had the strawberry salad and vegetables. For dessert we got the butter cake.. Oh my Heavens!! All around deliciousness!! So so good!! And the service was excellent! (I cannot remember the name of our server but she was amazing!- look for the petite dark haired firecracker with the big smile :-) read more

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The location of this restaurant is definitely prime and the service was great however for the price point I expected more in terms of flavor. For starters we ordered the calamari which was okay the sauce was really the best part. The cajun baked oysters I was really excited for however it was so salty that my family struggled to eat it. If they omitted less salt in this I feel it could be much better. For entrees I ordered the fish special and received two filets, broccoli and grits. The portion sizes were good but unfortunately in terms of taste I don't think it was worth the price. However ambiance wise it's a nice location and most likely why prices are higher than average. read more

Enjoyed everything we ordered at The Half Shell. Because the tables are distanced, our table was actually outside and in front of the store next door but our waiter checked in on us frequently. Our hosts and staff were wearing masks too. The fav of the table was the butter cake but everything we ordered was delicious: Blue Crab BLT | seared lump & claw blue crab cake with bacon crisps, lettuce, tomato, creole remoulade, brioche roll. Oyster Cesar Salad | I never thought to put oysters on a salad but hey why not? Fried Calamari | rings only, fried cilantro, lime, wasabi-orange marmalade. Fried cilantro? Yes, you read that right! Location | Since it's located near the corner of Mallery and Beachview, you should be able to easily find parking in front of the library, visitor center, along Mallery or the parking lot by the pier & Neptune Park. I can't tell you about the inside of the restaurant since we dined outside but make sure to order the butter cake before you leave! Enjoy! read more

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Outstanding food! Best oysters, best Bloody Mary ever!!! Husband loved the flounder! Green beans with bacon! Crab bisque wonderful! read more

Service was excellent. The oysters were very fresh. Be prepared to wait! The atmosphere is very relaxed and it seemed like there were a lot of locals there. read more

Usually I have trouble ordering at seafood restaurants as I have a shellfish allergy. Not so here! Plenty of options for everyone. Atmosphere was great and service was over the top! Added to Our list of restaurants we will visit if we come back to SS! read more

The Half Shell - Oyster Lovers! - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

Wife and I came here with some friends on Sunday night July 19th, 2020. Our server was Duncan i believe but our receipt says "Eric D", his service was par, he seemed tired or in a bad mood. Food came out We ordered and i got the crab cakes, grits and green bean wrapped bacon and a drink called a "sweet rickshaw" - some kind of rum drink with strawberries and something else; wife had pork chops, steamed vegetables and bacon wrapped green beans. The other couple I don't remember what they had but we all agreed the food was subpar and extremely salty. My crab cakes were pasty and tasted like fake crab, very blackened and the bacon wrappdd green beans were greasy, salty and wilted/soggy tasting. I loved the grits, though! Food prices were moderate to high. Many other eateries around with much better fare/service/quality of food. 1. Location is great 5 stars 2. Seating is ok 3 stars 3. Food is minimal quality 1 star 4. Service is average 2 star 5. Prices not in line with quality 1 star Total 2 stars (Edit: Manager or owner Jason did reach out to me about our concerns. O am going to bump review up to 4 stars because I feel this extra step merits appreciation.) read more

The Half Shell - Pork chops, bacon wrapped green beans, steamed vegetables - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

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The locals seem to love this place but I have to give it an average score. I travel all the time so I'm no stranger to tourist areas. The service was great, atmosphere OK but the food was mediocre and selections were minimal. Had the crab cakes which had a lot of breading. Salad was OK but not impressive. Oysters were very good. I thought pricing was out of line with the atmosphere and food choices thus, a poor value score. read more

The cutest place with the best food! We walked in at noon on a Sunday and was pleasantly surprised there was an open table on the patio. Ceiling fans make it nice & cool and there are TV's to watch. We ordered lemon & garlic oysters and they were amazing! Next we ordered the peel & eat shrimp and the fried shrimp for our meals, everything was fresh & yummy! And the service was very good! read more

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Started with raw oysters-on-the-half-shell, delish (hint-ask for their house hot sauce). Wasn't very hungry after the oysters, so I went with an appetizer of a single crab cake, and a side of their sweet chili slaw. I'm a HUGE seafood guy, but for some reason the crab cake wasn't very tasty to me, but the sweet chili slaw was a brand new experience for me, and it was OVER-THE-TOP delish! Our waiter (Walter) was top notch, friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. Great place for great seafood. read more

The Half Shell is always amazing. Their oysters are always shucked to perfection - they are so cold and delicious. I have never been disappointed in my entree either. read more

What can I say. In a four night stay we ate here twice. I had tuna tacos. Very tasty with the slaw and creamy horseradish sauce. Our bar tender Ashley makes a super old fashioned! She also told us we absolutely had to eat the butter cake for dessert. This is a show stopper! Cinnamon, sweet, and creamy topped with vanilla ice cream. We sat at the bar both night so Ashley was spot on with above the top service. The place itself has a kind of typical touristy sea side seafood joint atmosphere. Nothing wrong with that. read more

The Half Shell - Tuna tacos - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

Very good lunch. I had the open face tuna tacos. Another had the shrimp ceviche and mahi. And other had the crab cake BLT. We had sweet potato fries and onion rings. Bloddy Mary was great too! read more

The Half Shell - Open face tuna tacos - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

This place never disappoints! Always delicious with great service! Tonight I had the strawberry salad with poppyseed dressing and the flounder special. The flounder was grilled and served on a bed of rice with crabmeat and topped with spinach with a creamy sauce. Totally delicious. Will most definitely be back. read more

The Half Shell - Strawberry salad with poppyseed dressing. Very yummy! - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

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My lovely wife and I were in Jekyll Island for the weekend and decided that we wanted to have some oysters for dinner. We plugged oysters into the Yelp Fantastical Food Finder Machine and out popped The Half Shell. Thank you Yelp Food machine! I will admit that I was a bit nervous driving into St Simon Island on a Saturday night. Visions of circling endlessly trying to find a parking spot danced in my head. Fortunately my eagle eyed wife spotted a prime spot just a block and a half from the restaurant. So, the Half Shell is not a huge place. Thus, a wait. We were told about 40 minutes for a table. If we wanted to sit outside we could have had a table immediately. But it was only about 50 degrees out. So we waited. Which isn't so bad in St. Simons. We walked and window shopped. I even found a kitschy pineapple shirt. Bonus! We eventually sat at a high top. Not a huge table but big enough! Started with a dozen oysters. Had 6 of the local and 6 from. . . uh, somewhere else. Look, I'm no oyster expert. I eat them. Good enough. The local one were a bit smaller and a bit saltier. Both were excellent. Look, if you like oysters you will like the ones here. For main courses we got the open faced tuna tacos and the fried shrimp. Some sweet potato fries, the green beans wrapped in bacon and the cheese grits. The tuna was fresh and the sauce was really tasty. The shrimp were plump and the breading was not overpowering. The star of the sides weeds the green beans. The smoky bacon worked really well with it. For dessert we split the butter cake. Trust me on this. . . get the freakin' butter cake. Warm. . . topped with vanilla ice cream. . . It was awesome! So yeah, the Yelp Food Machine got us here for oysters. But we will be back for lots of other fantastic dishes! read more

The Half Shell - Oysters! - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

Food just OK. It's bar food, and it's not elevated. They do offer fresh fish, but everything else is so-so.

Crab cakes did not disappoint. The shrimp and grits were delicious as well. The green beans with shiitake mushrooms and onion rings were amazing, too. Service was efficient, kind, and quick for a popular restaurant spot on the island. read more

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Food was good, service was good. All 6 of us were happy with our plates. Busy place, good for families.

I would drive 5 hours just to come eat here. This place is unbelievable. Stumbled upon this place on my 1st visit to the island and couldn't wait to bring my boyfriend. My boyfriend ordered the blue crab BLT and just raved about how good it was. I had the special flounder tacos that were out of this world good. But let me just tell you about the sides at this place. The grits are heavenly and I'm not a grits fan but i could definitely eat a couple bowls of these grits. Then the bacon wrapped green beans, there's honestly no words to describe how amazing they were. My boyfriend couldn't resist and ordered the dessert which was like a pound cake with ice cream. Love love love this place. read more

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Stopped by the half shell for dinner and were seated right away outside on the patio. Ordered some drinks and some oysters and ceviche. The oysters were very small and quite pricey for what you got. They were good but wouldn't get them again. The ceviche was very good and the wontons served with it were a nice combo. I had the shrimp and grits for dinner which was good. The rest of the group had the fish special which was also tasty. The waitress was nice and made sure we had everything we needed. Overall a good place to eat and drink on the island. read more

Absolutely loved this place! The food and service were outstanding. We had the peel and ear shrimp for an app. Then we had the blackened scallops that were so delicious. We also had the ahi tuna tacos which were fresh and very tasty. We sat on the patio which was a little warm but not too bad. Would highly recommend this place for a nice dinner! read more

Small place, nice menu, fresh and flavourful. We had cold, delicious oysters to start. Crab crusted Flounder was the daily catch and delicious. Bacon wrapped green beans as a regular side dish, who does that? They were terrific. The onion rings were hand breaded and so good. Cocktails were a good pour and the Staff is friendly. read more

The Half Shell - Crab crusted flounder, bacon wrapped green beans - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

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Great little coastal area to go for a day trip and I'm so glad we stopped here for lunch. The Grits...the grits... I wanted 4 more bowls of them!!! I had fried shrimp and the side of the grits and a beverage. Perfect lunch. My husband had the flounder taco but can't remember the side~~~apparently it wasn't grits. Anyways, I've googled all different kinds of ways to make super creamy stone ground grits, since being from Charleston SC this is my jam. But nothing comes close. I NEED this recipe!!!! Great atmosphere, service was perfect. Loved everything about this day, my sweet date with my man, the beach and a surprise new favorite place to eat next time we are near The Half Shell. We will be back!!! I have pictures but not able to post for some reason. Thank you for the great experience! read more

The Half Shell - Flounder tacos and French fries. - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

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Arrived around 5:30pm to a 25 min wait. Our waitress' name was Michaela and she was incredibly attentive and made some awesome suggestions regarding our food. The first 2 drinks we got were a form of Moscow mules and I didn't care for either of them. Sorry Started with 1/2 dozen Cajun Oysters and 1/2 dozen local fresh oysters. The Cajun oysters were ok, but the local oysters were off the chain delicious. Ordered the catch of the day, which was flounder crusted with crab and Georgia fried shrimp. OMG. It was delicious. Perfectly cooked and the sides which were cheese grits, and beer battered onion rings were so yummy. I've never had such juicy perfectly cooked onion rings before. And trust me we eat out all over all the time. If at all possible I would give this place more than 5 stars and Michaela deserves more than 5 stars as well. This is a MUST stop. Oh yeah you should totally ask for Michaela as well. read more

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It's a dark atmosphere but know that you are about to enjoy a great meal. We had ceviche (lettuce filler was odd but the flavors were delicious). We also loved the oysters, fried shrimp, and flounder. The French fries are corkscrew shaped were fabulous. read more

Of all the places on St. Simons and Jekyll Islands that I have tried, this is my absolute favorite place! On this trip, I have eaten crab soup or Crab Bisque at 6 different places and The Half Shell's Crab Bisque was my absolute favorite. It had the best consistency and flavor. There were pieces of crab in every spoonful and they season their oyster crackers with Cajun dust. Delicious!! The homemade Caesar dressing didn't have eggs or anchovies which really disappointed me. It had a strong vinegar taste, which wasn't my favorite but I ate all of it anyway. I have had a lot of crab cakes this week and theirs was the most unique of all of them. It was seasoned very well and I enjoyed it. My wife was not a fan and she loves crab cakes most places. The ambiance at atmosphere was my favorite part of the experience. The tables outside on the patio were all full, so we sat inside but it was very cool inside as well. In summary, if you like bland, unseasoned, boring food, then don't come here but it's my favorite place here for sure. read more

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I was disappointed in the food on this visit. Every dish we got seemed to be overcooked. I ordered the crab cake sandwich and the bun was burned and also the edges of the crab cake. I would recommend obtaining someone who can actually cook. And the cost is outrageous compared to the quality of the food. We will probably not be back. Our server was good but this seemed to be the only positive. read more

We come here every year for oysters and cheap drinks. The service is always pretty darn good. The ambiance is what should be expected from a beach shack town. Perfect for families and oyster shucking. Our server William was amazing and we'll be sure to come back when he's working. read more

Went to half shell while we were visiting Jekyll Island, got the raw and steamed oyster they were delicious! Also got the blackened yellow tail and crab cakes. All the food was very good! Our waiter was very attentive, will go back when we are in the area again! read more

Decided to check this based on the Yelp reviews and no regrets! The fried shrimp and fried oysters are as good as I've had anywhere! The shrimp tacos are good but not great and I can really recommend the Asian slaw. You can write home about the grits! Also decided to get the apple spiced hot toddies and they were amazing. Quaint atmosphere and just a great overall experience! read more

The Half Shell - Apple spiced hot toddy - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

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