Pop’s Seafood Shack & Grill

Nice atmosphere in the summer with the beach chairs, sand, view of the water, and live entertainment… especially on Sundays. However, way overpriced and very touristy. Food is good, but nothing spectacular… typical seafood. Frozen drinks are good, but very expensive.

Awesome simulated beach experience. location on the water. Can smoke cigars. Can’t take shirt off. Great summer spot. Music. Long waits for food get there early for a seat. Lobster bisque pot of mussels 2.5 pounds… Best taste I’ve ever experienced worth any wait time.

I’m giving it three stars because the nightlife is great. However, the food is not so good. I frequent the place for the nightlife. It’s a pretty cool setup sand and beach chairs. The music is never too loud. It does get very crowded.
The food was not good, I went twice to give it a second chance. However both times the food was really bad. The buffalo wings were soggy and tough to bite through. After I left both times my stomach was upset. I figured the first time was a coincidence however it happen the second time as well.
I won’t be returning for meals but I will show up to party.

We were very excited to try out Pop’s after hearing great things about it. We (7 people) took a 2 hour ride from Sandy Hook, NJ earlier today (9÷19÷15) and were extremely disappointed to find out that it was closed. According to Unilocal and Google you were open today from 12:00pm –10:00pm. We called but it just kept ringing. There was no recording indicating you were closed. We assumed maybe you were busy considering it was a gorgeous day. According to your website you are open 7 days a week from May until October. Clearly, this was not the case today. Please update your website to avoid this from happening again. Thank you.

It is a fun place to hang out with friends if you guys are big beach lovers. The sand and wooden benches make it a chill place to hang with the music playing from the DJ. However do not expect bomb food from this joint. The tacos are disappointing especially the carnitas and the burgers were cooked well done when asked medium rare. The only «decent» item was the mussels but even those were mediocre as well.

I have never experienced a place like this before here on LI. It’s so close, to home but not a place I would ever consider going to because I wrongly assumed it was lame like Paddy’s circa 2003. I was pleasantly surprised when we decided to take our boat here last weekend. There are plenty of boat slips that are wide enough for easy docking. You walk in and it’s like being on a tropical vacation. Palm trees, sand under your feet and outdoor concessions. There’s indoor seating also, but I didn’t explore that. We grabbed some bar food and drinks at the outdoor bar and then sat at a long table with a fire pit. The prices were reasonable, staff was friendly and check this out… the music was actually GOOD. After being here for a few hours, I forgot I was only 10 minutes from home. I didn’t come here for a fancy meal, but to have a good time and hang out with friends. A fabulous place to spend your summer nights on the South Shore whether you’re young or old, there’s something for everyone.

Should’ve avoided this place when my friend advised me to, but the Unilocaler in me just had to try it for myself.
First of all, there is valet parking. I guess to give the place an elite feel. But it’s a chill place on the beach so it doesn’t really «go» with the ambiance. I guess it’s just to rack up some extra dollar bills.
The service here is comically disgusting. The hostess (green-​eyed blond girl) needs a serious attitude adjustment. No smile, no greeting, doesn’t even look up when you approach her. Strike 1. She told her it was a 30 minute wait, but it ended up being 45. Strike 2. When we were finally seated, we ordered fish and chips, fish tacos, sweet potato fries, and half a dozen oysters. I recommend the fish and chips if you do come here, but avoid the fish tacos and the fries. And to add to my disappointment, the oysters were the worst I’ve ever had. Small, not fresh, gross, and not even shucked. No way worth 9 whole dollars. Strike 3.
To top it all off, the valet parking guy filled my car with sand and didn’t clean it out or apologize when I brought it to his attention.

Gathered up a group of friends, headed out to pops for a fun night. First the hostess who was assigning cabanas VERY RUDE! Second we made a simple request to not be seated in the sun during our dinner. Strangely she keep referring to reservations that she had but failed to realize that we too had reservations as well. Then came time to order, went smoothly. Our waitress Gina was cool except when she added extra shoots per her choice *which we didn’t complain* until we realized later when the bill came that it wasn’t complementary. We didn’t ask for extra so that was strange. Food that we didn’t order made its way to our table, yet food we did took a while A WHILE to come.
Still and all the people I was with made the night great.
My suggestions are to go for drinks and music. Not food and excellent customer.

Beautiful scenery, great atmosphere but the food was simply ok! Nothing to really brag about, I ordered the surf and turf which consisted of a beef burger topped with a shrimp salad, lettuce, white onions and tomatoes on a brioche bun. I ordered my burger medium well and it came BBQ charred yikes! To add to this, it lacked necessary taste so I really wasn’t pleased. Would visit again just to take in the ambiance and South Beach feel in NYC but I won’t be ordering any food here may give dessert a try but definitely something simple so they cannot mess up that taste

Came here on a Sunday with my boyfriend and some friends. The bar atmosphere is great, very laid back. There was plenty of seating in the outside area and when it started to get dark they fire pit tables which is a great touch. The negative… 2 hour wait for a table to sit and eat. We ordered the wings, calamari, lobster salad, steak sandwich, shrimp cocktail, clams and oysters on the half shell, fish tacos, Brussel sprouts, and corn. The corn and Brussel sprouts were awesome. The clams and oysters were gritty, steak was chewy. The fish tacos and lobster salad did not taste fresh. The wings and calamari were bland and soggy. I would definitely recommend eating before coming. Overall a great place to drink.

I can see why it has such mix reviews. The place would get a 4 for the beachy, chill theme. Where you can lounge around on the man made beach section. There’s live music at times and a fire pit. It reminded me of the old place in l.i.c. but bigger and with a restaurant.
As for food. Nothing worth coming back to. We got a bunch of stuff from the baked clams, to the lobster grilled cheese, wings, etc. Tons of fried stuff. But their seasoning, sauces, meat didn’t impress anyone.

So Pops was always the place my friends and I wanted to check out, but never have because it is so far from us. Well I finally got to see what the hype was about on Friday night.
Walk up, show the bouncer your id and walk into a little paradise. (There was no cover charge to get in) this place was very busy around 9 pm. The wait time for a table was 2.5 hrs and the girl said last weekend was 4 hrs. So I suggest getting here early if you want to sit down and eat or eat before you come. The place is surrounded by Palm trees, and i loved the bar right on the sand. Ladies forget your heels for this place wear flip flops or sandals with a sundress/​shorts and a top. You can really wear what ever makes you feel comfortable. (Just not sloppy)
Started off with a rocket fuel ($ 13) you could compare it to a piña colada but mainly just coconut with a ton of booze. All the bars were easy to get drinks at, barely any wait. Margaritas were good as well ($ 10) bud lights were around $ 5 – 6 from what I heard, I didn’t drink any. The DJ played a mixture of music, house, 90’s dance, rap, rock you name it. It was really great for dancing with friends.
There was never a wait for a bathroom in the women’s room (this seriously never happens). It was kept clean and had toilet paper stocked the entire time. Sounds weird to put in a review but some bars are awful at maintaining their rest rooms.
Pops has fire pits with chairs surrounding them on the sand if you’re looking for a more chill night with friends and no dancing.
Got a table and ordered the lobster grilled cheese with sweet potato fries ($ 21) came with a small side of lobster bisque to dunk in. I thought the price was a touch on the pricey side. Yes it has lobster but it is also grilled cheese. I would order this again the sandwich definitely had a good amount of lobster chunks and the bread had a delicious golden brown buttery exterior. (Are those enough adjectives for ya?) lobster bisque (didnt have lobster meat) had loads of lobster flavor, seriously dunk away! Our waitress was very friendly, got all of our orders correct and checked up on us multiple times. FYI the lobster grilled cheese is a perfect dish to split with a friend, if you’re not super hungry/​want to save some money.
After eating my girlfriends and I danced the night away. Pops was a great night out and I can’t wait to come back.

Awesome place to chill with friends or coworkers. The palm trees and sand kind of make you forget you’re in NY. Other than that, I don’t have much else to say.
Don’t come here just for food. Everything is pretty much fried and insanely overpriced. I saw a steak on the menu going for $ 30. They have mussel pots, but the mussels were the smallest ones I have ever seen. Also, drinks are weak and overpriced. A pitcher of watery sangria was $ 35… what a rip off.
The tables and benches/​chairs on the patio were all kind of sticky… The cabanas out back (reserved for parties of 10 or more) weren’t as bad though.

Havent been here since before super storm sandy until today. Still 5 stars, still super cuute esp the décor & the lobster rolls are amazing. Def a great scene day or night.

Yo, bro. Ya gotta hit up Pop ‘cuz it’s friggin’ awwww-​sum.
It’s usually the recommendation I get for Pop’s. In your mind, you are picturing this person, and they are the exact person you believe they are. Frankly, I should have known to set my bar low. This person wouldn’t know the difference between calamari and fried clams, and has their mind set on getting boozed up, waving their hands in the air, and taking their shirt off. Despite it all, I’m a sucker for outdoor eateries who think this is Tampa, so we headed out to Pop’s.
I guess, given my description of the suggestions I received for trying this place out, I was asking for it. We get to Pop’s just after 12 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. There are two tables seated, and the rest of the place is a ghost town, understandable for early in the day in the middle of the week. We are sat quickly by a very nice hostess. We are immediately greeted by a very nice waitress who was extremely attentive and friendly. I will say that much, the staff was very nice. I ordered a cheeseburger with all of the trimmings and then some: cheese, bacon, a fried egg, and crispy onions. My fiancé ordered the lobster grilled cheese sandwich.
Given the fact that there were so few people there, you would have thought it would have been a fairly fast turnaround. Over a half an hour later, our food comes out, my burger missing the bacon. Off to a good start, or at least the start I figured we’d be off to. The waitress actually noticed it and said she’d be right back. Which she was (about 20 seconds later), with cooked, cold bacon (at least toss it on the grill for 30 seconds to warm it up). The burger looked HUGE, and I was actually quite excited. Then I dissected it. The brioche bun was huge, and my assortment of toppings obviously piled it up, but I assumed I’d find a nice, hot juicy huge burger… no.
What I found was a burger that was maybe a third of an inch thick, and was clearly frozen. How do I know it was frozen? I ordered it medium, it came out well done. Could the guy in the kitchen have overcooked it? Perhaps, but this is generally not a good sign. The texture. You know what you get a fresh burger, and it’s juicy, and at times, it sort of «crumbles» apart (you know what I’m taking about. But when you get a frozen burger, it is spongy and pretty much stays in once piece, and takes a little pull on your end to get a bite out of it. Well, I had the latter when it came to this burger. Also, it had a smoky, flame broiled taste to it… but no grill marks. An artificial flavor.
In fact, I turned to by fiancé as I pulled the bun and toppings away and I showed her the size of the burger, and described the taste and it hit me: Burger King. This thing was IDENTICAL to a Burger King patty. The overcooked meat, the phony flavor, the spongy texture. It was as if someone bought a Whopper from Burger King and put fresh toppings on it and sold it at Pop’s. My fiancé’s grilled cheese looked hardly grilled at all. Hardly toasted really. She said the lobster was rubbery and flavorless (frozen again I’d expect). We both had the sweet potato fries, which were ICE COLD when they came out. I could understand mine cooling down after bacon-​gate, but my fiancé’s plate never left the table and she tried one right away because they looked good.
She also said the bottom bread of her sandwich was soggy, while the top piece was rock hard. Here’s what I believed happened: The place was dead slow and this food shouldn’t have taken more than 15 minutes to get to the table. The food runners were probably taking it easy since it was slow, no one noticed our food in the window, where it continued to die until someone noticed it and had it run out to us, ice cold. The drink menu was average in price I suppose, most drinks were at least $ 12. Seeing as I have a long drive back, I didn’t indulge, but it was a nice selection so I see why people would want to drink there.
It is what I figured it would be: an over-​hyped place that looks cool and sounds cool, but could care less about food quality because they know the Nassau Frat Association is going to spend money there regardless, so go cheap and maximize your profits. Can’t say I don’t see the draw in it, but for $ 16 for the burger and fries, I don’t agree with it. For me, this was over an hour in the car which I would have gladly spent en route to a much better spot for food on the water (Whales Tale in Northport, Claudio’s in Greenport, and Harbor Crab Company in Patchogue come to mind immediately).
You wanna hang by the water and look at an industrial area and look at a dirt mount? You wanna spend a lot of money on bad food while getting a load on? Then this is the place for you! You want to enjoy a decent meal along with your cocktails and seat by the water? Avoid this place at all costs.

So i finally hit this spot to party… not dine.
Free valet… no cover… 2 bars… one inside & the other one on the beach. They also have 2 restrooms.
Dj was pump’in…until about 2am when they lowered the music to a whisper… oh well… thats kind of late anyway… otherwise go stand under a speaker.
**Drinks…were 12 bucks… served in a nice size plastic cup & super weak! We went to the outside bar… bartender was so sassy. My honeys drink tasted like pure juice…&&& i don’t like strong drinks or dark liquor! So you already know! My honey told the bartender & she started saying «I’m not about that» very defensively. Not about what? Making a drink properly? The same drink i just paid & tipped you for… really…your «not about that?» She throw a few more drops in the drink, spilled most of her pour on the bar & looked so annoyed! In my world the customer is always right. …loose the attitude… make the drink stronger & smile.
A girl just wants to have fun… cant stand bad service …“IM NOT ABOUT THAT!”

First time here todayyyyyy! So… PROS… Awesome set up of Adirondack chairs on the sand (yes ladies, no heels here) overlooking the water decorated with boats it’s a pretty sweet view. There’s a good sized outdoor bar and there are also waitresses circulating ready to take your order which is nice also. Fire pits were also amazing to have as the night grows deeper it def became chilly so the fire pit came in clutch…
On to the good stuff… Ordered the lobster Cobb salad, mussels chefs pot special, a turkey burger, and oysters… The salad had some real nice chunks of lobster meat on it I was pretty impressed. Especially after reading some of the negative reviews I was hesitant… The mussel chefs pot was awesome. It was like mussels in this huge steamer pot with a nice light lemony wine sauce (very thin not thick but good) melted mozzarella and I wanna say bruschetta… It was enough to share between at least 3 people and the portions were generous. I’m weird with oysters bc once you have them somewhere totally amazing, nothing tops it, however, I wasn’t the one eating them and my buddy that was said they were good so let’s take his word. Turkey burger was also good!
CONS– the 2.5 hour wait to actually eat and sit down, thank god for the outdoor bar… Which is by the way CASH ONLY OUTSIDE BAR.
We liked it here and would likely come back although it is a little far from where I’m coming from. I also forgot to state in my pro that there is a small food hut that sells quick burgers, hot dogs, and fries oh and FRIED OREOS mmmmmm! Get your crew and have a blast with some mojitos in the sand overlooking the water and bring a light sweatshirt !

What a lovely spot for drinks after a nice day at the beach. I never ever heard of this place until today.
Make sure you Gps this location bc it’s kind of hidden. There is valet parking so make sure you have some cash to tip.
If anyone has ever visited Ocean city’s famous beach bar Seacrest, well, it’s what it reminded me off. Plenty of space to party, sit and drink. They have a couple of fire pits in case you get cold. It’s an awesome time with great music & drinks. I had to walk inside to get my drinks since the bar outside is Cash only. They have plenty of waitress walking around to refill your cup. I had a hamburger & FF from the food truck they have outside. If you wish, you can also sit inside and have some grub.
I had a great time sipping on my drink and resting my feet in sand.

I came here with a friend since he was coming for a graduation party. We didn’t make it to the dinner part but for drinks.
They didn’t have a cover and I love the whole concept of this place. The outside (the only part I saw) makes you feel like you are away.
They have fire pits if you get cold and I really loved the whole beach party concept.
The drinks were big and let me tell you pretty strong, I was a very happy camper :)
There was a DJ playing todays hits and some people on the dance floor.
I will be coming back for sure.

We came to Pop’s this past Saturday for lunch before heading to the beach. We checked in and were seated immediately but the speedy service pretty much ended there. There were waiters and waitresses walking by our table every minute or so but not a single one stopped by our table. No one acknowledged us for a good 20 minutes. When someone finally came over, there was no apology or anything of the sort. Ugh, I was so cranky and annoyed but too hungry to leave and find another spot so we stayed.
We decided to split the «Big Gus» as an appetizer and I ordered the crab cake blt for my main. The Big Gus comes with baked clams and oysters (oreganata style), shrimp and scallops. This appetizer was definitely big but just passable. The shrimp was plentiful and the oysters and clams were big and meaty so that was nice, but the oreganata stuffing was so bland and added absolutely no flavor — just a slight crunch from the breadcrumbs. Oh, there were no scallops on the plate either. They substituted them with lobster meat without telling us or acknowledging it. It was cooked too long and no good either. Disappointing.
15 minutes later, the waitress comes out and tells us that they ran out of lobster for my friend’s entrée. What?! How did you not know that when we ordered? How does a seafood shack run out of seafood at lunch hr?? Maybe if our app wasn’t messed up, there would have been enough lobster!? GRRR.
My crab cake blt came out soon after and was also just ok. The crab cake was thick and had a nice crisp but was mostly filler and way too creamy. The bacon was crispy but not hot. The blt also came with a ton of guac instead of aioli. I enjoyed it but it was another random substitution! On the side, the sweet potato fries were actually quite good so I ate most of those.
Water was never refilled unless asked. Also had to flag the waitress down for the check. Blah! The ambiance was beachy and chill and the food wasn’t awful so 2 stars. I can’t stress enough how awful the service was though. I will not be returning.