City Island Lobster House, Bronx

Lobster House is definitely my favorite spot on City Island. It's all about seafood and pasta here, although you can basically order whatever you want. Portions are very generous, ranging to massive and thanks to great complimentary breads and appetizers, you may end up full before your entree ever makes it to the table. Prices, to be expected, are high. Expect to spend roughly $20 per person and $10 per mixed alcoholic drink. Sodas are $2.50 and don't have free refills. The decor is very nice and the ambience is levels beyond seafood joints like Red Lobster. Indoor and outdoor seating are available for people who want to enjoy the view of the water. This is definitely a must go if you are in NYC for a short time.

We went to the Lobster House for the first time last night. Upon approach it looks very unassuming. Don't be deceived! It is enormous inside with a great choice of areas to sit, including inside or outside. Terrific service (thank you Rob) added to the experience of excellent seafood. Opt for the feast for two if you want to sample everything from scallops, scungilli, calamari, shrimp, mussels and clams with a lobster each to boot! Served for two, there is plenty for three. Nice beer, wine and drink menu as well.

Food is great, freshest seafood anywhere. Service was very good and our experience here was one that I will recommend to anyone who loves seafood. From start to finish the City Island Lobster House was a very enjoyable place to have dinner and delicious drinks. By the way, when you arrive try not to eat too much of their complimentary garlic bread and olive and mushroom dish - you won't have any room for the generous portions they serve.

First off, I give compliments to the pictures they have posted on their website. Unfortunately, its not what you get. The chairs are plastic and the deck does not look as nice as in the photos. Next, the service is lousy. We waited more than 30 minutes for drinks when we first arrived, and actually had to ask twice for the waitres to be sent over. After ordering a simple bottle of wine - Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay - it took another 15 mins for the waitress to come back and say it wasn't available. She offerred another selection which wasn't on the wine list and when asked how much it cost she didn't know. It took her another 10 mins to tell us it was double the price. We were a party of six and the patio was not busy. Repeatedly, one member in our party kept not getting his drink/food at the same time as everyone else. I asked for stuffed lobster with shrimp and got it stuffed with crabmeat. We didn't even get an apology when we said something, even the manager just gave an excuse rather than a simple sorry and offer to make good. Except for the lobster, the food is mediocre at best. Everything is very salty and all the other seafood was breaded - no choice and nothing mentionned in the menu. You can definitely do better elsewhere on City Island. $400 for six with mediocre food and lousy service is not worth it.

In theory the place is great but definitely not worth the hype. It was beyond load and the service was terrible. Nothing could be altered or changed even a little. I don't think I have ever been to a place so rigid about it. The seafood was not bad, but I can easily get better and fresher tasting seafood in Denver, let alone NY. It wasn't bad, but not worth anything near what they were charging. Overall, a place where the prophit far outweighs any interest in pleasing the customer