The Half Shell SSI

I loved this place and will definitely be back! We split a crab encrusted flounder with a lemon butter sauce. It was amazing. And we had bacon wrapped green beans, never had these before..... also amazing! And Caesar salad. I just loved it! I really appreciated the creativity of the dishes offered. It was hard to decide what to order. Our waitress was very helpful. Great spot!

love this place! this was my second time going and both times have been great. they even have really nice heaters so you can still sit outside when it’s cold. highly recommend the oysters frederica (i think it’s called) and the bacon wrapped green beans!

Really good service and food. We got the crab cakes with the wrapped green beans and fried onion rings and the Cajun oysters with cheese grits with the crab bisque as an appetizer. All was really good, would definitely recommend and come back!

I had the oysters which were fantastic! My friend has had the catch of the day on two separate occasions and loved it both times. Great seafood near the pier surrounded by several lovely shops, great place to stop by.

Loved the food. Ate here several times. Highly recommend the shrimp and grits (you may want the BBQ sauce that comes with it on the side). Service was excellent.

I’m still thinking about this place almost a week later.. this restaurant is AMAZING. Our waitress was so sweet, helpful, and attentive. We were able to get a seat on the patio right away for two and our pup (they are dog friendly!!) The food? 10/10 not only is the presentation for each dish carefully/beautifully arranged but the flavors, taste, and temperature of every dish was perfection. I was swayed by the other reviews before dinning, to get dessert (usually we skip it too) but you cannot!! Get the butter cake you will NOT regret it!

I always order the same dish when I dine at The Half Shell: the crab bisque, the steamed oysters, and the steamed shrimp (cold). Their seafood is always fresh and so yummy! They (usually) have the best oyster shuckers of any oyster restaurant I’ve ever been to, serving the cleanest oysters ever! This time, my son ordered the calamari and the barbecued shrimp and grits, and he enjoyed both. But whatever you do, make sure you save room for a piece of their famous warm butter cake with vanilla ice cream! It’s so delicious, I always get two pieces!

The food was very good: crab cake, flounder, bacon wrapped green beans, and sweet potato fries. The server was also very good. Unfortunately, we were seated behind loud, obnoxious people that made our experience not so pleasant. That's not the restaurant's fault, but I think I'd sit outside next time.

5 stars!! Food, service, and ambiance were all phenomenal. We got the Caesar salad, so good and a huge portion, ceviche oysters, great flavor, pork chops with bacon wrapped green beans, so tender and so sweet, chef's special, amazing, and the butter cake was of course the best of all!! Selena was our server and was so sweet and attentive!!

I visited this restaurant for the first time with my daughter on Mother's Day. She had previously dined there and spoke highly of their seafood. We were initially told that there could be a 20 to 30 minute wait, but we are pleasantly surprised to be seated almost immediately. Rather than each of us ordering an entrée, we decided to share a couple of appetizers, a bowl of crab bisque, and a side of their french fries. The food was amazing. Everything tasted fresh and very flavorful. We shared peel and eat shrimp as well as the crabcake. The restaurant has a nautical themed vibe which is perfect for the area. I would definitely recommend and consider returning to this restaurant. Cheers

There is frequently a line to get a table so plan accordingly. The wait is worth it because the food is that good. Our server was very friendly and took good care of us. As we have posted in other reviews about restaurants on the island in general, the staff that work at the restaurants are legitimately friendly people interested in talking to tourists and making sure they have a pleasant experience. It's very much appreciated. It is a noticeable difference from other parts of the country. We enjoyed the shrimp, the blackened flounder, the Cajun pork chop, the cheddar cheese grits, and the sidewinder fries. We ate both the grilled and fried shrimp. Any of the shrimp dishes, which we have eaten on the island are noticeably fresh and not overcooked. It would not be an exaggeration to say this is some of the best shrimp we have eaten anywhere. The Cajun pork chop was so tender it almost melted in your mouth. The blackened flounder was tender and flaky. Like the pork chop, it was tasty without being heavy on spices. The manager came around to the tables to make sure that the customers were happy with their food and we were. It was an enjoyable experience, and we highly recommend it!

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

Hands down fantastic! Where do I begin? Our server Cassie was great! The food came out very quickly and boy was it amazing! We had oysters to start and they were perfect! Then, I had flounder with pasta and shrimp and my husband had ribeye, with lobster tail and Brussels sprouts - this food was beautiful and amazing!! We kept talking about it all night! What a great decision to leave the bar-food options at our hotel and come here instead! The cherry on top was desert! When she said butter cake was the only option we were like hmmm that's interesting - let's do it! Holy moly - deeeelicious! If we could go again tonight we would but we're just passing through and back on the road. This place did not disappoint whatsoever! 5 shining stars indeed!

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.

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!

My husband and I went here for an impromptu date night. While I was looking at the menu another customer was telling me how great the food was and to get the flounder. It was alittle busy and they told me the wait would be 20mins but we got a table in 5minutes. Crab Crusted Oysters: 8/10 I felt like the crab took away the oyster taste Caesar Salad: 10/10 How can you go wrong with a classic salad?! You can't! Whole Blackened Flounder w/Bacon Wrapped Green Beans: 1000/10 This plate was soooo good and fresh.

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.

The location was very fun, the service was awesome, and so was the food. I was obsessed with the bacon wrapped green beans! My mom liked her mule, and I liked my strawberry basil mule. The tequila oyster shooter was fun, and the oyster that went with it was enormous. I wish I could remember our server's name to give her a shoutout, because she was really, really great.

The half shell is are to dinning spot downtown St.Simmons. Friendly wait staff who aim to accommodate. Environment is cozy casual and welcoming. Don't let the bar-esq appearance fool you as the food here never disappoints. Oysters are plentiful, veggies are always fresh and tuna was perfectly cooked. Looking forward to my next visit already.

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

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.

This is an old-fashioned seafood shack but located on prime real estate near the pier and the main dining and shopping area in downtown St. Simons. There is indoor and limited outdoor seating. But the seafood is excellent. I had oysters on the half shell for an appetizer (they were small but tasty, and I think $11 for a half dozen, which these days counts as a bargain.) For my main dish I again went for oysters, in this case fried. Perfectly fried and a lot bigger than the half shell oysters. The restaurant wasn't full on a cool night in late November, but it was fairly busy. Service very good and friednly. Most drinks are reasonably priced. I think my gin and tonic was $11, and there's a small selection of local and regional craft draft beers. All in all, a popular place for well priced seafood. Would go back.

Sweet little restaurant by the pier in Saint Simons. My catch of the day with cheesy grits was so good! The cheesy grits were the best thing I ate that week. The waitress was very patient with our indecision and then quick when we let her know we had to catch a flight.

This was the first time going to the Half Shell restaurant in my time coming to St. Simon's (for the last 30 years.) My wife & I went for dinner on Tuesday, October 10th. We were told to arrive at least 20 minutes before they opened at 5pm. By 5:45 all the tables inside & outside were full and there was a line waiting to get in. First a BIG SHOUT OUT to our waiter Avery. His recommendations were all spot on. We started with a dozen raw oysters. Some were smaller than others but overall we will be ordering them again. I also ordered 2 Terrapin Los Bravo's beer on tap which were cold and delicious. My wife ordered the island mule (on Avery's recommendation) which my wife enjoyed. We followed up the raw oysters with GA shrimp ceviche (again Avery's recommendation.) It was large enough to split between us two. This ceviche was delicious and a must do for anyone else looking at our review. For dinner I ordered the fish sandwich blackened (Avery's recommendation) & my wife ordered the catch of the day (Avery's recommendation.) We both ordered the bacon wrapped green beans (a must ordered) as well as the sweet potato fries. Everything was cooked to perfection and delicious!!! For dessert we split the Butter Cake ( a must do for everyone) which was heaven on earth. I would recommend if you're thinking of going to this restaurant you arrive at 4:30 pm before it opens at 5pm. Well worth the wait!!

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!

Great stop! The drinks are tasty. There's a variety of oysters which hit the spot for me. Not much of a view but the outside area by the Main Street is quaint. The Bloody Mary is delicious. The calamari was decent. Maybe a little rubbery. We loved the fried cilantro in there. The raw oysters have incredible flavor and they even have their own hot sauce. You know you're in the south when you have hot sauce and Saltines with your oysters! The lemon garlic oysters are so good. The half shell shooter was intense. I'd get the Bloody Mary one instead.

Went here with my mom and husband and had a lovely meal. They have TONS of seafood options which was a positive for us girls, but not for my husband. Non-seafood options were rather limited. Our favorite item was the shrimp ceviche and I will go back here for that dish alone. Drinks were well priced and staff was extremely friendly and prompt. Overall nice spot on SSI for a casual meal out.

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.

Talk about hitting the spot; First time at Brunswick's mysterious Half Shell My &$@! V v v nice; beware the wait, it Always packed for good reason. Best seafood in Brunswick/St Simons .. .. .. .. top 3 fo sure. Haven't had fried oysters and cheez grits So fresh and flavourful in a long while, Madones. Ashley made everything feel convenient and welcoming; Managing the bar area so beautifully and effortlessly. Don't leave without getting few of their oyster shooters, & close out ur Brunswick / St Simons stay v respectably :) Will definitely be back..

Service was good and food was very good. Had a dozen oysters and they were served ice cold and only about 5 minutes after ordering! Nice spot in the Village to hang and enjoy a nice meal.

Great place on St Simons Island for lunch. A nice, casual seafood restaurant and bar. I enjoyed the Crab Cake BLT sandwich and my wife had the flounder tacos. Our server was very attentive.

We stopped here for lunch on a trip to St Simon! We sat at the bar with us cute with little oyster shells. The bartender was super nice. We got oysters which were great and then split the fish of the day with a side salad and green beans. The green beans were amazing! The fish was really small for one person. I was surprised by the size. It tasted good though!

Love this little restaurant off of Mallory Street, less than 100 yards from the fishing Pier on Saint Simons Island. Our server was attentive, and answered questions that we had question. She knew when to refill the drinks without hesitation. Although it was busy, it was good to see that they were a popular restaurant, offering delicious food, excellent service, and great drinks from behind the bar! When we come back, this is one of the places that we will be eating at.

I'm not sure why I haven't left a review yet. This is one of the few places I will eat at mulitple times when we visit. This time around we got the red neck shooter, PBR, lemon/lime, tobasco, rimmed with old bay, fresh fish of the day was flounder that tasted right off the boat fresh. I got mine crusted with crab meat and a lemon butter sauce. The cheese grits are to die for and the sautéed veg were awesome. The butter cake is the bomb dot com. We eat here every time we are visiting this area and I highly Recommend this place. Enjoy.

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

This place was amazing!!! We've been coming to SSI my whole life and this place has the BEST seafood the island has to offer! Delicious, fast service and friendly waitress! We normally have a large crowd with us when we come to the island so we've never been able to come because the wait would be too long for our party with a bunch of little children. but since it was just my family of four we were able to get in rather quickly. Highly recommend. 100/10

Yes yes yes. We ate a lot of place this trip and Half shell was all of our favorites! I tried their blueberry margarita and it was PERFECTION. Everything my party got was delicious, from the oysters to the shrimp and my husband even tried their steak special. It was so good that it was eaten up before I could snap any pictures. They have inside and outside seating, the inside was bigger than we anticipated! Our waiter was so very kind, I wish I remembered his name. Highly recommend this place!

This little restaurant was packed the evening we went so we opted for seats at the bar. We had a super nice and very attentive bartender who was happy to serve us. We had crab cakes and fried oysters, both with veggies on the side. The crab cakes were large and delicious. The fried oysters were plump and perfectly fried with the perfect amount of breading. The only negative was having to listen to a party wax nostalgic in tireless detail over the Alabama - Georgia game that was replaying on the bar tv as they waited for their table (but you know how Southern sports are!), but aside from that, it was a solid night out!

My absolute fav place, I don't want to share, but I must. The oysters, the burgers, the salads, the martinis, the margs. You can not go wrong. The service is impeccable. They leave your cups full, your stomach full of absolutely delicious surf and turf, and your heart full because you'll be right down by the beautiful pier where you can people watch or catch the game. It is my favorite, please treat the staff great and remember not to babysit the tables as we all love the half shell. Enjoy!

I hate that The Half Shell was a first come, first serve, but I guess it gives an opportunity for everyone to enjoy versus booked reservations. Georgia shrimp: The blackened version was tasty, and I'm not usually a huge fan of shrimp. The shrimp were fairly large and abundant. There seemed to be good flavors with these blackened shrimp without needing to be dipped in cocktail sauce. Beer battered onion rings: Good but a bit oily after eating so many. There's def flavor in them, and they weren't bad by any means. Onion rings are oily by nature, and these giant ones fit that description. Open face tuna tacos (3): Superbly delicious! They looked unique and was flavorful. There was a good amount of tuna chunks as well, not little itty bitty slices. The crispy wonton shell the tuna and sweet chili slaw sat upon was sooo good. The cilantro lime cream also added great flavors. I would most certainly get this again. Bacon wrapped green beans: Yummy. Anything with bacon will usually turn out okay. I really like how they shortened the beans a little bit by making it into 3 little bundles. But, is it so they could use less bacon? That's the question of the day... Butter cake: It was pretty tasty. The vanilla ice cream on top was a nice surprise introducing more flavors and texture to the cake. The cake itself was slightly sweet but rather a thin looking piece. Overall, the food were all really good. I'm sort of teetering near 4 to 4.5 for the food experience. The customer service was so so. I also get that they were super busy on a Saturday night. There was just an air of disingenuous, but I suppose the youngsters aren't highly super focused on that aspect of the dining experience.

Met friends on a busy Friday night and was promptly greeted and had our drink order in. Had the casesar salad, grits, and peel and eat shrimp. Others with our party had the fish special (grouper). Food was very good and service was fast and friendly. Would come back!

Dinner and a beer before leaving on a boat Crab BLT sandwich + fries for me and Fried Fish Sandwich for my dining partner Fast, attentive service Super fresh fish Amazing fries Great value No complaints from me

I recommend the food and ambience, but the wait time might be more than you bargained for, so chill out with a drink while you wait ... and wait....and wait....

Everything was good but.... My crab cakes where burnt and my veg medley was more onions. Very disappointed we are from Va beach Va .. not much more I can say. Have a good day The blonde brownie with ice cream was good. Who ever ran the food to the table should not have served them.atmosphere was nice

An amazing seafood restaurant around the Island! My husband and I were visiting sea island, and wanted to tour some of the other parts of the island, and landed at Half Shell. It looks like it gets pretty crowded so we got there a little before five and got seated right away. Our server was amazing! He provided good recommendations, answered all our questions, and checked in on us frequently. We ordered a dozen raw oysters, which were amazing! My parents were watching our son, and brought them home some oysters, and they loved them too. We also really enjoyed the clam chowder - not too creamy, and plentiful seafood. And we also shared the blue crab cake for a starter. For our main dishes, we shared a Caesar salad and catch of the day, which was the pompano. We had it plated with jasmine rice and tomato stew - both dishes were fantastic! The fish wasn't too fishy and tasted more like a steak. And of course, we got their famous dessert - butter cake! If there's anything you have to order, it's the butter cake. It's nice and warm, and is topped with ice cream. So delicious.. still thinking of that dessert today! Prices are reasonable as well. It has both inside and outdoor seating. Highly recommend for anyone visiting the island! Thank you for an amazing time!

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!

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.

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.

Love this place on SSI. I go down every so often to see my grandparents and we usually stop here if we want good food. The atmosphere here is dark and relaxing, nice to visit for a date night. Servers are nice. Only complaint is that the food has been hit or miss around SSI recently.

We were exceedingly disappointed in our lunch here. We sat inside. Service was okay. I started with a cup of very bland crab bisque -- without any crab flavor. After that, I had their baked/grilled oysters. The half dozen were tiny and a tad gritty. They were lukewarm in temperature and not cooked enough. After I sent them back to be heated up, the plate was re-served without any lemon or the crackers that I never got a chance to eat. When I pointed it out to the server, she didn't react as she should have. My husband's fried shrimp were quite small (especially compared to some he'd had at another restaurant nearby), and the cheese grits were not even as good as our hotel's version. The best item of the meal was an oyster shooter -- a raw oyster served on top of a tiny shot of beer. Not sure how this place has the high ratings that it does. We certainly wouldn't recommend it .

Yum yum yum! We shared the calamari & half frozen oysters for starters. Extremely delightful! I had the Blue Crab cakes w/ beer battered onion rings. The onion rings were lightly coated and perfectly done. The crab cakes, can never go wrong with them! Hubs had the Cajun pork chops. Boy, was it juicy! The bacon wrapped greens beans were just AS JUICY and perfectly done. Unfortunately the only thing we couldn't settle on was the " freshly squeezed " OJ and Grapefruit. The OJ tasted as if it was from a carton. The Grapefruit was bitter, extremely bitter, no underlying sweetness. Didn't sit right with us. Otherwise, the food was delightful and perfect!

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.

Low key ambiance. Good food cooked as ordered. Service was attentive but not overly so. Fresh seafood & burgers.

Crab encrusted flounder was absolutely amazing! The service was southern hospitality at its finest!

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.

The Island's only authentic seafood "shack". If one is an atmosphere dining snob looking for a real fish house that has seafood done right at a reasonable price with well trained servers on top of great food in a salt air environment then this is the joint for you.

Excellent find. Super cute atmosphere. We had the flavorful crab bisque, tuna nachos, and crab cakes. The crab cakes were some of the best I've ever had - crispy sear but pillowy inside. The only negative were the tuna nachos. Too tough to really bite through and the wonton is too big to pick up. Overall this was a great restaurant. Highly suggest.

My teen and I went went for dinner on a Thursday night. I had the open face tuna tacos with cheese grits. The tortillas were extra crispy. The slaw with the tuna was delicious. The grits were perfect. My teen had the chicken tenders and sidewinder fries. Both had great flavor. We shared the butter cake for dessert. The only problem is that I didn't order my own. Kelsie was our server, was attentive, and very nice. We recommended this place to others, who also enjoyed their meals.