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The Hard Shell Bellgrade

3.4 (225 reviews)
Closed • 11:30 am - 10:00 pm
Updated 3 weeks ago

The Hard Shell Bellgrade Photos

Business Info

THE HARD SHELL BELLGRADE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating
Happy hour specials
Good for groups

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Recommended Reviews - The Hard Shell Bellgrade

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Reviews With Photos

Kathleen D.

I'd always been curious about the Hard Shell, so I was hyped to visit for Easter dinner in April with my mom. The restaurant is very pretty and comfortable, and everyone from the host to our server was welcoming and kind. We started with their truffle parm fries and glasses of wine. For my meal, I had their rockfish entree, which was huuuuge and required a to-go box. It was super tasty though. For dessert, I had their bread pudding. There was some confusion on what fruit was included, but my mom ended up taking mine and enjoyed it. She had ordered key lime pie but wasn't a fan. They kindly took her dessert off the bill, which was really nice of them. Overall, the bill was reasonable for the experience, and I'd definitely go back sometime.

Lobster and shrimp, with pasta. Pasta was delicious.
Dennis D.

It was our first time at the Hardshell in just over a year. The place is always clean and friendly. This is a Midlothian hard restaurant. My wife had the lobster and shrimp dish, while I had the grilled shrimp and scallops dish. Both were extremely delicious. For appetizers, we had the crab dip and crispy Brussels sprouts. The Brussels sprouts were even better than I remembered. We both had an expresso martini and will probably pass on the next go around. It was on the sweeter side of things. The waitress was busy, as she was serving probably 35 or 40 people. It took a little while to get the appetizers to the table, but they were very good. We will certainly return to this place.

16 ounce ribeye with asparagus, potatoes, shrimp, and Gorgonzola cream sauce.
George V.

Good service. I ordered the 16oz ribeye with the shrimp, asparagus, and potatoes. If you look at the photos, it looks as though the steak was overdone, but it wasn't. The inside was perfectly medium rare. The outside was kind of charred and I was OK with that. The shrimp was excellent as were the potatoes and asparagus. I also had a draft beer which was an excellent value at eight dollars. The steak was not described as 'prime beef'' on the menu so I wasn't expecting prime. I'm OK with that. A high-end choice cut or Angus suits me just fine. There were some little details I would've liked to have with the dinner: it would've been nice to have some bread and butter. And the Gorgonzola cream sauce was a little bit more powerful than I expected. I love Gorgonzola cheese. But I'm afraid in this case the sauce completely overwhelmed all of the other flavors. Perhaps just sprinkling a little bit of Gorgonzola cheese crumbles over the steak would've been enough. Just my two cents. The ambience was nice. It's kind of a compromise between fine dining and adult casual dining. I guess the big question in these reviews is 'would I come back for another meal?' Yes, definitely. I think I took a little bit of a risk ordering steak in a seafood restaurant, but it turned out OK. Next time I'll order the seafood and see how it goes.

Stephanie A.

My family and I went last night to celebrate a birthday and start to finish, the experience was below average. It's Richmond restaurant week, and I was really happy to see that they were offering so many options for this, as most restaurants only offer 3 maybe 4 options per category for this. It was disappointing because we have been coming here for years and it just feels like the service and the quality of the food have gone downhill tremendously. It wasn't busy in the restaurant at all either. I wish I had taken pictures of the food...and while the presentation of the food wasn't bad, the taste was just average. I ordered the she crab soup to start, and it came out cold. Sent it back, server had an attitude. I ordered the sea scallops and shrimp (which I have many times) and it also was cold and it was drowning in sauce. The highlight was the mango sorbet that I ordered, but I am convinced this was either Talenti or Häagen-Dazs, because I swear I have tried this exact same sorbet before. My niece ordered chicken fingers, and that probably was the tastiest thing we had all evening. The hard shell downtown is overall better and would go there instead if I give them another try.

Rose T.

I am not sure the name of the waiter but he has grayish hair in a ponytail. From the time my husband and I sat down the vibes were off. He didn't even introduce himself, he was very standoffish with us, which was weird because he was very nice and even joking with the other tables he had. This used to be one of my favorite restaurant but same I don't think I will ever be back. I don't see any point in patronizing a place like

CHESAPEAKE OYSTERS*
Oscar E.

Seafood prepared with care, nice amenities, kind and attentive servers. This is a reliable and very tasty restaurant and I do recommend, though I wasn't aware of its shared management with some other Richmond seafood spots, namely East Coast (and West Coast) Provisions. The menu between these restaurants is nearly identical, and being familiar with the other locations I likely would've chosen otherwise had I realized before we sat down. But I won't be unfair to Hard Shell, which gets the short end of the stick since I visited its cousin restaurant first. So it gets 4 stars. I will say that the lobster roll, a new order for me, was a bit underwhelming. Small and not much in the way of garnish or nuance. I would have been happier with a pasta dish, or a fish dish, and I wouldn't recommend it. Oysters wonderful as always. This location is also a lot calmer than the sister Hard Shell in Shockoe Bottom, being a bit suburban. Maybe a bit more intimate as a result. I had a good time, though I would be truly impressed if management made more significant changes to the menu between restaurants for a little bit of a changed experience.

Blackened Mahi Mahi Lobster Roll
Kaitlyn P.

Coming in we were excited thinking we may have found a great new seafood destination but we soon knocked that idea. We started off with the Maine lobster platter and Caesar salad. The Caesar salad lacked flavor (theme of the night), the platter was okay nothing noteworthy as the meat was all pretty bland. We then got the lobster roll, a lb of crab, and the blackened mahi. Again we found all of the meat, except the lobster, to be extremely bland, using the sauces to try and give the mains flavor. We both got two drinks in which only one was good enough to finish. The service was incredible and the athletic was very clean and modern.

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2 years ago

Excellent and attentive service. Food was well prepared and delicious, well flavored.

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2 years ago

Matt , a great bartender, he is so hilarious, kind of sarcastic in cool way , I come back when he bartends, excellent with humor

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10 years ago

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2 years ago

Great ambiance, great food, but service was really the best part~ the manager Amanda really made the experience top notch. Highly recommend.

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The server was nice and very accomodating, the food came out quick and fresh. The overall ambience of restaurant was nice!!

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3 years ago

Fantastic. Great food and even better service. Highly recommend. Lobster and Crab Cake was excellent and very good in portions.

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9 years ago

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Ask the Community - The Hard Shell Bellgrade

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ML Steak - Deli Club

ML Steak

3.5(36 reviews)
1.2 mi

I've been here twice and the two visits were sooo different. The place is very cute inside. First…read moretime was great! The waitress was nice, knowledgeable and attentive. The food was good. The margarita was amazing. I talked about coming back for weeks-especially for that margarita. Around Mother's Day, I brought my mom and grandma here cause I thought they'd love it. Wrong. Despite not being busy, the service was practically non existent. The chicken bao buns were hard, flavorless and dry. So was the chicken my husband ordered.My drink wasn't good. The food took a while to come out. Burgers didn't come out at the temperature requested. Burgers and fries were also pretty salty. Super unfortunate this was such a bad time the second time around. I was planning on adding them to my rotation since I'm near by all the time.

I was invited here for a birthday dinner with 4 other people. It was our first time here. I like…read morethe location, it is easy to get to and lots of parking space. We thought this was a steakhouse and we were under the impression that it was going to be fancy/upscale, business attire type of restaurant. The menu was on a sheet of paper, looks kinda cheap. I do like how bright it looks inside, the decor is nice. I got steak, filet, it was okay, it was $40 with one side. I should have gotten the bone in NY strip. Their mash potatoes and Mac and cheese was the best. Collard green too also very good. Everyone was pretty much happy with their food. I tried the smoked half chicken, it was pretty flavorful. Our waiter was nice and attentive. He explained the menu very well to us and helped us make our choices. I would like to go back and try other things on the menu.

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ML Steak
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Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille - Richmond - Front view of Perry's Steakhouse & Grille

Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille - Richmond

3.8(189 reviews)
9.0 mi
•$$$$

A little birthday celebration and a good time was had!…read more Dimly lit, Perry's has the ambiance of your typical steakhouse. During the evening of our visit, it was super busy! You can call me an almost Valentine's Day baby, so it's always busy when I want to hang out for my birthday. Meh. We sat at the bar and our waiter took our orders. The wait for our food was über long. While we weren't in a rush and didn't complain, it was a pleasant surprise when the manager personally came over to apologize for the unexpected long wait. Now, on to the food. If you've followed me long enough on Yelp, you know I'm a big lover of pork chops. Perry's!? Hello, Perry's?! Come thruuuuu! Perry's has one of the best pork chops I've ever experienced. Yes, "experienced," because it certainly was an experience. The chop is gigantic and certainly big enough for two people to share. I did not share lol. I definitely had leftovers. It was seasoned perfectly, it was juicy, it was just amazing. I'd go back in a heartbeat for the pork chop alone. We also indulged in a seafood tower. Now, that's your standard fare. Good, but nothing special. Go for the pork chop. Just go. A huge shoutout to my friend for putting me on. Cheers!

We dined, with a reservation, on a recent Saturday night. We were seated with 10 min of our…read morereserved time. The restaurant was quite busy (and loud). Once seated, we waited longer than normal to be greeted or get water. Bread was served before drinks ever arrived. The entrees and sides were very good (but def not straight from the grill/oven piping hot), but the service is where they lost a star. At the price point, exceptional service should be a given. Having been to other locations, I expected more. We had a nice meal, but will seek other options next time we go out. Valet parking was nice ($5).

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Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille - Richmond - Perry's Famous Pork Chop

Perry's Famous Pork Chop

Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille - Richmond - Beautiful outdoor patio with fireplaces

Beautiful outdoor patio with fireplaces

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The Hard Shell Bellgrade - seafood - Updated May 2026

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