Out of the Blue Crabs & Seafood

Came to this restaurant on a Tuesday. Out of the Blue had some great specials and strong drinks! Our server was a very kind and patient person. He went above and beyond to help get clarity on the ingredients that were listed in the food (my son has an egg allergy and we were invited to come out and eat with family members). I highly recommend this restaurant as the food was great and seating was perfect. My favorite was the clam chowder. Please be aware the clam chowder is thick and not as soup as some people prefer. I love my chowder thick, to me this was perfect!

I love it. The food is amazing and bring a blue crab lover, I love when you make a reservation they put your crabs on reserve. You don't have to worry about them selling out what you requested, they will be waiting on you and you can have them cooked and brought out the way you want. We originally reserved 1 1/2 dozens of their large, but when we arrived they actually had colossal on hand so we switched with no problem. We requested to have 6 cooked and served at a time. I tell you we were not able to order the third set of six, they were just that meaty and big. Great place to go if you are a true seafood lover. 😋 👍This is one of my colossal and it wasn't the biggest one.

First, we have to give a shout-out to our server, Arianna. Who also is the bartender. Not only covered the bar but also gave great service to her tables. Mad skills, young lady. Now, to the food, we had calamari, deviled eggs, dozen oysters on half shells, and Mussels as appetizers. Calamari is awesome, Deviled Eggs. Hubby enjoyed it. I am not a fan of Ole Bay, so it was just okay with me. Mussels was outstanding. The main course hubby had stuffed flounder was really good his exact words; "Was fricken good, lol. I had the Crab Trap combo of blue crab, crab legs, and shrimp, and I asked for fried clams instead of the listed steamed. Again, I'm not a fan of obay. But was totally thrilled with everything, one cripe, a little too much cook on the shrimp. Otherwise, it's totally awesome and worth the visit. If you're in the mood for seafood, you will not go wrong. Price was very reasonable and worth the money. The atmosphere and decor is very pleasant and suitable for a seafood restaurant. A big thumbs up for the dual sink outside the restroom to wash up hands. Thanks again Arianna you rock.

Nice location and friendly service! I oder 1/2 lb lobster combo and it’s delicious, plus the price is also acceptable. The atmosphere in the restaurant is perfect. Good for gathering with friends and dating. I may come again when I visit Boston next time!

If you like fried seafood, as I do, you'll love this place. I had a fried platter including fried oysters, scallops, hush puppies, and onion rings. They were delicious. The downside was that the ice tea was not good - pretty sure it came out of a soda fountain. The crabs looked great but we're very expensive. We might try them next time, but might need to take out a home equity loan first ;). Service was good. Music was excellent per my tastes. They played lots of Dave Matthews when we were there.

Food was delicious! Jill was our server & was very attentive. There were 4 of us but it was my 1st visit. Our table tried the deviled eggs & the crab dip. Both were great, especially the crab dip on warm bread. I tried the grilled scallops with mashed potatoes & hush puppies. The hush puppies with honey butter were amazing. We all had a great time & can't wait to visit again. Wish we lived closer.

We like to go there for some appetizers and drinks and getting some crabs for taking home. Crabs were good, fresh and full with meat. Overall the price, service, and quality are worth it.

We ordered 1 pound of steamed spiced shrimp and 1 dozen colossal crabs. Both were excellent! We thought Ryan (sp) the owner/manager was awesome and so was the staff. We will definitely go again.

I really wanted to like this place. I was looking for a local place to get some oysters, without having to venture to Main Street Oyster Bar, but this is not the place, for sure. Tried this place out and ordered a half dozen oysters, but after confirming a half dozen with the bartender, I received a dozen, unsatisfactory oysters. Inedibly gritty, not fully shucked, and spoiled-tasting, I couldn't eat them. When I brought these issues up, I was told that they are what they are because of the high volume of customers they serve, and anything better would be too complicated. This is comical considering I was 1 of 4 parties dining at the time. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere that puts out quality food to match the service, and enjoy your night.

The ratings on this place does it no justice! Easily a hidden gem in Gainesville. Service was excellent! Food was fresh and came out right away. Ambiance outside was refreshing... Inside could use brighter lights. As a foodie... I'm here for the food .

Everytime we visit MD this is a Must go to place for MD blue crabs! Service was on point too!

Our party of 7 enjoyed a festive celebration at Out of the Blue this Saturday afternoon. The "colossal" blue crabs were as advertised. They were huge, heavy and full of meat. No paper weights in this bunch. The hush puppies and honey butter were a delicious complement to the crabs Alice, our server, was attentive and spot on with service from start to finish. Our experience was a 12 out of 10! Thank you for an unforgettable meal. We'll return soon.

Walked in around 3pm only person who was running around was bar tender. He seated 2 of us. He seemed tasked and uninterested. Took the order dropped tray of crab off, walked by us many times as we were seated right by the bar and NEVER checked on us. Ordered blue crabs was disappointed this time as they looked and tasted reheated. Customer service was lacking on this visit. It's uncomfortable when one feels like they're unwanted at a restaurant!!

If I could give Zero stars I would. Absolutely terrible. I came here for a conference and ordered the Grilled Chicken Sandwhich, and it was disgusting . The chicken wasn't grilled also its was the smallest amount of chicken on a Big Bun, the chicken and the bun with cheese were definitely just microwaved. The Hush Puppies were old and not fresh. I asked 3 times for ketchup, finally came after 10 plus minutes. My drink was never asked to be refreshed. This place is over priced with disgusting food. Will never return. By the way wet floors and weird smell. Also, watered down soda. This is a No Go

Attentive staff! Fat oysters, colossal steamed shrimp!! We love the fresh seafood, garlic mashed potatoes and perfectly crisp on the outside soft inside hush puppies!! I'm making myself so hungry again writing this review

Great food at a great price. Blue crabs and shrimp and more to enjoy. No need to go to Maryland when the flavors of the ocean are near in Gainesville. The slaw was fresh, and delicious. The amount of food is worth every penny. Did not disappoint in freshness category a 8/10. Presentation was 10/10. Service was a 7/10could have use more interaction with the server. Recommendation of the crab dip right on the money. Plenty of crab meat and fast service. The manager did not touch tables and did not see no one who was in charge. Could use more management presence. Location is down to earth crab restaurant. Clean restroom, clean tables, the bussing of tables took a whole for the servers to clean but they took them a while. Overall enjoy it 8/10 will recommend to friends and family 4 stars

We made a reservation, when we arrived we were told the only table was in the bar. We have 2 children, and the bar was crowded with people shouting profanity and carrying on. While I completely understand this is typical for a bar, we prepared, made a reservation and were stuck with this for our evening. Food and service were very good despite the seating situation.

First time trying and won't go back! Food was subpar and overpriced! Maybe they are known for their steamed crabs, but we were interested in other seafood options. We saw trays of them go by and looked good but we didn't try any. We ordered the calamari and sweet potato fries basket as appetizer- tasted great and came out hot. We tried the Land and Sea entree and NOT worth the price- we paid $40! It came to the table cold and the filet mignon was thin, small, and was tasteless- my husband told the waitstaff it tasted like it was old and reheated. He replied back saying he saw it cooking on the grill. Ok but that doesn't mean it's fresh! The portions of scallops and shrimp were small and the side of coleslaw was horrible and tasted off. We did not substitute the side and didn't want to wait around any further, since our server took the steak back and bring a new one. He brought a much better steak that was bigger and better tasting- should have been the original one! We also tried the create your own combo-choose 3 items. Again, not worth the price of $40 and arrived cold as well. Didn't want to send back and wait around longer. Ready to leave at this point. The one piece of fried flounder was tasteless, but fried crunchy, few steamed shrimp were not deveined and slightly overcooked as they were alittle tough, but the scallops were good and tasty. Coleslaw didn't taste right and didn't trust eating it and didn't want to substitute and wait around any longer. Mac n cheese side was ok. The reason why we didn't want to wait around any longer is because of the narrow, metal chairs are very uncomfortable to enjoy your meal. Not sure how a bigger person would be able to fit in those chairs and if there are any other seating options as there are no booths in the dining room we were in. The decor and paint could use some updating. Also, one major issue is the lack of handicap accessibility for the restaurant. There are a limited amount of handicapped spots in the parking lot (sharing with Outback) anywhere close to the front of the restaurant. We had an elderly family member using a walker had to be dropped off as close as possible between the 2 restaurants and forced to walk a long distance in the pouring rain to the front door over some uneven pavers posing a tripping hazard. Was a disappointed experience and overpriced meal! Good luck!

Today we had the sweetest, most succulent crab legs - steamed to perfection. The best we've ever had ANYWHERE! The sides were also fantastic, and the service was sublime. You just can't beat the atmosphere! If you haven't been, you need to give them a whirl!

$3 blue crabs (On Tuesdays!) and lobster&shrimp roll. We also ordered Rockfish & crab-stuffed flounder! Clean environment, very friendly staff, yummy cocktails, lovely outdoor patio, truely out of the blue experience that you wanna check out! Just a suggestion...you have a nice patio, why not include a lovely small dance live band (like those playing 70s, 80s, 90s, etc) too make the place more entertaining?

We have eaten here as a family several times now. Seafood is excellent each and every time. Service has been outstanding with no need for complaint. Atmosphere is clean and pleasant biting that if you want to talk with your family it is best to not eat in the bar. Many specials and all of them help to minimize the bill. We now call ourselves "regulars."

Great seafood, I got a dozen crabs and they were mediums, But they were more like larges. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying, They were heavy and very tasty.

Place was torch. Never seen colossal blue crabs before and man they were huge, $150 for a dozen and you can really get full off 2. Came with two kiddos and were taken care of well. Will be back.

This popular seafood restaurant is near my son's house so we eat here several times a year. Just about always order crabs, expensive, but worth it, especially when they have colossals. Other favorites are raw oysters, steamed and fried shrimp, mussels, and calamari. But this review is to brag about their crab BLT sandwich. First of all, they are huge. The half sandwich, on toasted whole grain bread, fed me for two meals. It comes with two sides. I tried the hush puppies (very good hush puppies, made with corn) and broccoli which was actually cooked. I don't like broccoli that is almost raw so I usually ask them to "cook" the broccoli. Others at my table enjoyed corn on the cob and french fries. Oh -- the mushrooms are tasty too. It was a side. The steamed shrimp were a good size and were sweet as could be. I will definitely order the crab BLT again!

Not really sure what to say. I've had better seafood but I've had way worse. Service is on or off. Sometimes you sit for a while before being waited on. Other times it's faster then what you want. If you want some seafood I'd pick this place over others.

It was fine. The food was really good at the service was great. The only thing that really ruined it for me and the rest of my party was the smell. The entire place smelt like the bathroom. And the bathroom smelt like sulfur and chemicals and the air was so thick I nearly puked while washing my hands. You could smell the bathroom while eating and we were a decent ways away from the bathroom, we weren't even sitting next to it. It was honestly really grossing me out. It's kind of hard to understand unless you experience it. It was really weird :/ ruined the experience.

Finally visited recently for the first time for dinner. Sat at the bar and ordered a dozen raw oysters on the half shell and a Pint of Devil's Backbone Eight-Point IPA. For dinner, I ordered the Crab Cake platter with hush puppies and Cole Slaw, plus a side order of Snow Crab legs. The oysters on the half shell were wonderful. Fresh and properly chilled - served with horseradish, cocktail sauce, and lemon, plus I pulled in some hot sauce. The oysters paired nicely with the Eight-Point IPA. The crab cake was large and meaty, and the Snow Crab claws were succulent. The heated butter dish for dipping the Snow Crab claws in made the crab meat divine. Service was good. The only thing that detracted from the experience was having to listen to an older married couple go on and on and loudly spew out a variety of myths and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine and how they won't get vaccinated. Morons. Look forward to coming back and trying out some of the other seafood dishes! #OutOfTheBlueCrabsAndSeafood

Salmon okay 3 of 4 Crabs good Took one crab home, put in fridge, ate the next day, got severely sick. Tasted slightly off, right I should not have eaten it.

The food was great. The atmosphere was wonderful and the waitress. She was amazing. Very polite. Her name is Angelina if you go there out of the blues seafood place get Angelina for waitress.

I love this place. Food is amazing. Colossal crabs here is a win win. Shrimp quesadilla is great. The servers are all so sweet. Waitresses are all friendly. Great atmosphere, and I love the fact that you can choose to sit outside to eat. Good for a big crowd for meeting and just a nice relaxing time for dinner.

Great crabs, and wonderful service! Colossal's are fabulous, super big and delicious!!

A definite miss, from the mediocre service to the military chow hall style dishes. The crab dip is served in what looks like a dollar store cereal bowl with a messy presentation. It is truly obvious there is no love or care in food presentation or food seasoning. I gave it 2 stars because at least they have military and first responders discount On Fridays.

Food is mediocre. Service is terrible. Pricey. Ambiance is meh. Don't waste your money. You will be wasting your time because service is so poor.

I absolutely adored my food here, it was magniscrumptious. Hush puppies so fresh, floor smelled great, my water and sherley temple were ALWAYS refreshed, one of the girls did a great job at working, she stood and walked a lot (gotta get those steps in ;) I thought I was supposed to be eating, but that the girl was eating. I would 10/10 reccomend, best place ever but the kitchen had a lil stank stank.

First Visit - 8/9/23. Restaurant is dark & design is beach/bar oriented. The chairs are extremely uncomfortable (metal, hard, & more suited to children - close to the floor & seat is small). Powder room was out of toilet paper. Crab cake was very good as was the white dipping sauce. Fried shrimp were plump, breading was crisp but flaking off & cocktail sauce was very mild. Cole slaw was tasty: my personal preference would have it chilled versus room temperature. Our Server was inattentive (we had to keep trying to get her attention for drinks/refills etc) and she seemed more interested in chatting with other patrons. Although the young man who delivered our food was polite/efficient/helpful, overall Service was less than stellar.

A last minute reservation for 9 on a Friday night. Super friendly staff from front desk to wait staff. Our waiter was attentive but not "in your face" attentive. Every person in r party of 9 had a great meal and will absolutely be back again.

Just wow. First time, last time. How do you run out of forks and utensils? Only 5 out of 8 ever received any. How do you run out of crabs? How do you take 30 minutes to refill drinks? I almost walked to the bar to order a coke because I was so thirsty. We asked 3x for refills and waited over 20 minutes. Some lady in the bathroom remarked, they ran out of crab. How? Maybe saving it for Father's Day. How do you run out of paper towels in the bathroom? Customers found a basket while I waited in line and opened up a pack. Party of 8 cost almost $400 with tip included?! I would not recommend this place at all. For that kind of money, my husband said we should have ate somewhere else.

The food was amazing 10/10. The service was great as well. The food came out on time and hot. We did have a party of 8 so we made a reservation earlier in the day and was seated as soon as we arrived.

Omg when I say I absolutely love this place m, it's genuine. Great service, staff is friendly and welcoming! The food is delicious and fresh. It's my second time and it's been consistent clean! I didn't capture the crab legs or flounder because it was devoured.

I was really surprised to see they only have three stars . I have been coming here for crabs for the last three years and I have never had any complaints . This restaurant is not super crowded which is great but I think that's in part because it's sort of further out from other more popular areas . The service has always been great and it is clean inside . The quality of their crabs is awesome which has kept us coming back every year . I don't think there's a better indoor dining for crabs anywhere else in the northern va area .

Been here twice from Woodbridge in two weeks and love it. The first time we went on a Friday and it was half off oysters and shrimp. They also had all you can eat crabs so my friends and I went crazy. Everything we had (oysters, crabs, shrimp, mussels, hush puppies) were delicious and fresh. The second time they didn't have all you can eats so we all got the steam pot combo, oysters, and mussels. Again everything was fresh and yummy. Hush puppies are the best as they are sweet with corn!!

Given our schedules of late, we have found ourselves trying to find restaurants where we could eat a meal in the mid-afternoon (i.e,. between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM) during the work week. Out of the Blue was open and had servers who were attentive. One of our orders was shrimp and the other the fish sandwich. Both were OK. I would have been just as happy with only the fish and no bun. The biggest complaint would be that the place is noisy. This seems to be due to the concrete floor with no covering and no noise abatement in the bar or restaurant.

Obviously, this restaurant does not want my business. I called the restaurant and order 6 colossal blue crabs. They had 24. When I got there, they claimed it wasn't ready. That was 7:30pm. I paid $88 for my colossal crabs. While I was waiting for my colossal crabs, they gave my order to someone else. At 8:00pm, the manager says to me they have no more colossal crabs and offered me 24 medium crabs. Medium crabs are like the leftover crabs, that's what you get when you don't care about quality. She didn't offer me X-Large blue crabs which she should have offered. What she did was disrespect me as a customer and offered me the worst crabs of the bunch. They essentially gave my order to someone else. I gave them the benefit of the doubt but they have lost me as a customer. I think if they can't treat their customers right, then they should shut their doors.

I've eaten here a few times. It's just not very good. The service is good, though. Last time I ate here, I ordered the seared Ahi Tuna. It was supposed to be served on a bed of Asian slaw. Asian style slaw is slightly sweet and vinegar based. Not this slaw. What I got was a HEAPING plate of coleslaw drowning in heavy, Mayo based sauce with a few slivers of not so fresh tuna on top. Not good. They need a new cook or to update their menus. Other than that, it's fine.

There is no better way to Sunday Funday than a feast of seafood and Out of the Blue delivered just that!! Our large party assembled here and had the time of our lives!! Plenty of seafood for all to enjoy!! We had everything from the medium whole crabs which were seasoned perfectly and ready to be destroyed for our eating pleasure. Not feeling like a whole crab, they do have legs as well which were just as tasty. The jumbo fried shrimp were amazing!!! More shrimp than breading is always the best because you get the whole shrimp!!! Meaty and minimal breading they were a hit! The calamari was along the same lines serving up generous rings with the bare minimal in breading. The salads were amazing with the wedge salad being my favorite of them all! yet they do have others to chose from. If fish is your thing, check out the Rainbow Trout as the entire fish is fried and served. The oysters were super fresh and had an amazing brine. So good you can eat them naked and they still taste amazing!! If you have a non seafood eater in your group them the wings are a sure thing as they are flavorful and will satisfy any wing craving for sure. As if the amazing taste and quality of the food is not enough, our drink of choice was the Blueberry Cosmo and umm whoa it as the yummiest!! Special thanks to Andrea and Ryan for making sure our party was taken care of and had everything we needed from start to finish!!! If you are looking for fresh, quality seafood, look no further. Out of the Blue is the only way to sea food!!!

Great seafood; good service, fair prices. What's not to like? Seriously. Easy to recommend

I survived. That's the only positive thing to say. A friend chose this place to meet up. I was worried when I saw it was only 3 stars and that worry only increased inside. It's kind of dirty inside and has a weird smell. It also has lots of gambling machines in the front and bar area. There was a big group of guys there playing them and drinking while we were there. They were pretty loud and had some colorful language.

I'd honestly give it 3.5, but that's not possible, so the 20% first responder discount on Friday bumps it to 4. We had a crab bomb, with Brussel sprouts and lobster bisque along with a serving or fried shrimp and oysters with onion rings and hush puppies. My wife enjoyed her raspberry bramble, the drink special. The bisque was good, but a little heavy on the sherry. Crab bomb was a basic crab cake, but good. The jumbo shrimp were very good, as were the oysters, though the latter were a little greasy. The hushpuppies were excellent with the supplied honey butter. The onion rings were soggy and greasy. The Brussel sprouts were heavily steamed, soggy, and flavorless. Overall, the seafood, which is why we came, was worth it, but the side were lacking. We will likely return, but only when the discount is available to even the score.

Went for birthday. Had great crab legs. Service was ok. He seemed very distracted. Great meal with family.

6:45 on a Friday night and no male crabs?? Not to mention the foulest stench coming from the ongoing sewer issue which has apparently been known for quite some time according to staff when questioned. This was our third time eating here and definitely the least enjoyable. The beer was cold which helped slightly. Hope they can get things together quickly.

We stopped in for Mother's Day dinner and were immediately seated, granted we did make reservations about a week prior. Their menu is pretty decent, loaded with lots of fish, crab, shrimp, etc entrées with cooking styles from fried to simply steamed to more elaborate. Service was decent, our server was friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. The food was decent, not the best we've had, but it was good. Their hush puppies were amazing! The stuffed flounder dish is a MASSIVE amount of food and really interesting, as it's a crab cake in between two flounder fillets. The sauce was great, but there wasn't hardly enough of it. So, I asked for some cocktail sauce to dip it in, and their cocktail sauce was amazing! Nice & Spicy, just how I like it. The coleslaw was horrible... It was bland, a little on the dry side and warm, as if it wasn't kept in a fridge, rather its kept out in the kitchen to serve when it was ordered. Their twin lobster tails looked awesome and tasted great... They're just rather pricey. Calamari was really good... Would've been excellent if it weren't so greasy. Batter was tasty and light and the marinara was tasty. Cocktail list was nice, they even feature MurLarkey whiskey! Overall, it was nice, but far from great. But, we'll definitely return to try something different.

The food was very enjoyable. Everyone in our party of 4 enjoyed their meal. The service was prompt, friendly, and attentive. The ambiance? Ugh. The seating is on metal chairs. I cannot begin to convey how uncomfortable it was. No booths, no cushioned seats, just cold, hard, unyielding metal seats. It was almost as if they wanted to make you uncomfortable so that you didn't linger. The floor was concrete, and the walls had corrugated metal sheets. It was like eating in a loud echo chamber. If Vladimir Putin was an interior designer, this would be his masterpiece. I liked my food. I did not enjoy the experience.

TRY THE CRAB DIP!!! Everything on the menu here is amazing. From the crab cakes to the hush puppies, you just can't go wrong. The peel and shrimp and blue crabs are fresh and meaty. They will even work with you on your technique. They have a dedicated hand washing station and Carry out shelf too. Could not be more impressed with the service here! Despite a VERY crowded event, everyone here was kind and calm. I'll be back with my family and my appetite!

Came out Friday night for dinner and had a really nice evening. Our server was on top of things and the food was really good. Steamed mussels, clams, fried oysters, fried shrimp, clam chowder and a crab salad. Everything was really tasty. The lone complaint is that their ice tea is not very good and not made fresh, comes from the soda machine.

Ordered and picked up carryout today, but will be back soon to sit outside and enjoy seafood in a comfortable and casual environment. Today I ordered a 1/2 pound of steamed shrimp and a soft shell crab platter with sweet potato fries and hush puppies. I rarely have hush puppies, so these were certainly a treat. They were cooked just right and had just the right amount of flavor to make them delicious. The sweet potato fries were good. The soft shell crabs, two of them, were in a light batter and fried. They were a good size and seasoned just enough to bring out the full flavor of the crabs. Delicious food! The steamed shrimp had just a light spice, and was tasty. Not sure why I've never thought about coming here in the past, but this place is a keeper and I will most definitely be back soon and look forward to outside dining. Highly recommend!!!

My husband loved the unlimited crab option! My food was good. Loved the Mac and cheese. It was a very clean restaurant.

Shame on me for not posting this sooner! This was my 3rd visit here and the food is fantastic! The fried oysters and calamari were as good as it gets. The crab dip and clam chowder were likewise awesome! Super friendly people too. Go there, go now! Thank me later!