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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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

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

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

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

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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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

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

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

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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I got a dozen of Oysters and they were big and clean. They were great. The Tuna tacos were interesting. The Tuna was phenomenal but be prepared to get a little messy. The bacon wrapped green beans are a must for the side option. read more

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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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

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

Great oysters. Crab and clam chowder soup is also noteworthy. Great service. Go early...gets crowded.

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

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

My friend and I recently spent a long weekend at St. Simon's island and had lunch at The Half Shell on a Friday afternoon. We sat out on the patio. My friend had: French 75 cocktail Open faced tuna tacos (appetizer) Fried calamari (appetizer) I had: Island mule cocktail 1 dozen local oysters Small garden salad We thoroughly enjoyed everything! My friend is a bit of a picky eater and she devoured everything she ordered. She said the tuna was especially good - fresh and seared rare. My oysters were local - fresh and crisp and briney. I could have easily had another dozen! The calamari was fried in a peppery, crunchy coating that was perfect. The cocktails were well made and not too weak or too strong. Our server was friendly and responsive and had great advice when we asked about the various menu items. We will definitely go back when we return to SSI. read more

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We didnt even get to sit down, as soon as we asked for a table she rolled her eyes and said that it will take an hour and a half, then we asked for other resturants that were good, and she said we could go to waffle house or mcdonalds, the service wad awfal, never eat here unless you want a "dicks last resort" experience for more money and worse service, but even when we were going away we saw her seat a table of two even though it was two of us. read more

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

Always love seeing Ashely who makes the best Old Fashions. Service was excellent and food was great.

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

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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Was looking for a place for oysters and found Half Shell. Looked at reviews and decided this was a place we were going to. The raw oysters we were served were perfect. They were shucked clean. The crab cake was delicious and the fresh catch was delicious. The stuffed crab flounder was very good. Our server, Selena, was very attentive and personable. The only negative was the Moscow Mull. Too much ginger beer. Ginger was all I could taste. read more

Always good service. Tuna tacos and bacon green beans are tasty. Butter cake is a must!!! Delicious.

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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I have eaten here twice in the last few weeks, and I got the same dish twice!! We sat outside, but it is covered and climate controlled. I ordered the "special" which is always in the menu! It's a good-sized piece of panko crusted flounder that's baked with a layer of crab on it! IT IS AWESOME!! I am literally getting hungry thinking about it now! For my sides I had the BACON wrapped green beans which are delicious and a side of sautéed zucchini. The server Jennifer V. was very pleasant, attentive, and she is a great server! In fact, she actually came over to the table to serve us the 2nd time recently because she could see the other server, they originally gave us was ignoring us and we sat there for a good 6-8 minutes, and the other server never came to the table or asked us if we wanted drinks. If she would have served us this would have been a different review. read more

The Half Shell - Panko Encrusted Flounder with a Layer of Crab - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

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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Maybe the best oysters I've ever had! They came from the Saint James River boy they were really good. read more

The Half Shell - Big, fat, daddy oysters! - Seafood Near Me - Saint Simons Island, Georgia

Omg the best meal we had! The food and cocktails were amazing! The oyster shots are a must! The cocktails were AMAZING read more

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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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The food was decent but very overpriced. The night we went they had a fish pasta special that was $40 alone. However, the service was excellent. 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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Delicious seafood, can't go wrong. The sides are also delicious- perfectly crispy fries and I would recommend the bacon wrapped green beans. Make sure you save room for dessert! The butter cake is to die for. read more

Great dog friendly restaurant. Good food, friendly and attentive service , very busy restaurant but worth the wait