Blue Marlin, Columbia

Went here for lunch: ordered fried large gulf shrimp. The tortila slaw was awesome! Wait staff were nice and on point. Would definitely check out again.

This is a beautiful restaurant, well appointed, comfortable. The staff is terrific, the service was great. We both started with a very good ceasar salad. The bread they brought wasn't great but the salad was. I had the fried oysters with slaw and grits. The slaw had a hint of apple and was fresh and crisp. Some of the best I have ever had. Same goes for both the grits (local mill) and the fried Apalachicola oysters. Even the cocktail sauce with horseradish was wonderful. Miriam had the bienville shrimp and oyster dish. It was served in a cast iron skillet with toasted rounds of bread and a bowl of grits. It was a bit rich and in digging around she found only 2 whole oysters. A word to our waitperson and just minutes later they brought a generous side of fried oysters. The dish was very tasty, they used a very good tasso. I think they could have backed off on the cream or the cheese but it was still very good. We can't wait to go back to try some more of this beautiful menu.

The Blue Marlin is not a fine dining restaurant. Kinda like Harpers in Five points. They both have some nicer items but in reality are burger and steak joints. Anyway....I worked there for a couple years and they are horrible about not fixing refridgeration equipment in an appropriate manner, using old food from their catering service in the actual restaurant and actaully buying premade food from the local Publix, right up the road, and serving it.That isnt fine dining, nor are they traits of any place I want to eat. There are alot better places in Columbia

Not a favorite but the Grits are good or the Grits is good depending on your southern grammar education

I had been reading the reviews of the Blue Marlin for months and noticed a few recent ones started to rate the place lower. I went on Dec. 1st and didn't notice that at all! The place was excellent! The food was amazing, but more importantly the wine list was full of good options. I planned on asking my girlfriend here to marry me, so I stopped by beforehand and arranged everything. The staff was very helpful with this. Thank you to the staff of the Blue Marlin. My fiancée and I will be attending here often to relive the memories.

Not worth the wait....food is just okay and a little overpriced. Needs more local seafood and less frozen. Not what we expected.

A great location with outdoor tables, good menu selections and prices, and attentive service. I tried the candied walnut and blue cheese salad which was excellent, and the shrimp and grits for the main course. I'm not the one to rate the shrimp and grits since it was my first time trying them and turns out not a huge fan of grits, but the shrimp and sausage on top was delicious. Ask for the lunch size portion if you're planning to have salad or appetizers - it was plenty unless you want leftovers.

First the food is great, I had the shrimp and grits. The inside is nice and the servers are nice aswell. It is not all that fancy, some people were wearing khakis and button ups but most were just casual, I wore jeans and a tshirt, so did most of the people in my group. We did not feel out of place. The food is a liitle expensive but, I think my shrimp n grits was about ?18? dollars but you get a lot. NOW, I must say that the parking is terrible and the reason I would not go back again. We made reservations for 6:30 and we arrivewd there around 6:30, by the time we FOUND and GOT the parking space it was already after 7:00. It is basically a circle that you have to make aroiund and around the parking area, and if someone is behind you , which there was at all times, then they would get any spots that came available behind you, there was no backing up. We eventually pulled off to the side and sat there for 10 mins. Food-good, service-good, Parking- absolutly horrible.

Blue Marlin offers a nice atmosphere and well prepared seafood dishes in the Vista. (They have steaks, too, but that's not what I go for.) While it's true that it's not high end, I really can't complain about this quite pleasant little restaurant. I like that I can check their specials ahead of time on line before I go.

To my surprise The seafood here is pretty good! Columbia doesnt have that many places where seafood is decent but this is one of the few. The flounder is good and the soups are good as well. If you want seafood downtown then try the Blue Marlin you might be surprised. Also, there is seating outside during the spring and summer months.