MJ’s Raw Bar & Grille

I went for lunch & went for the «first mate». Dozen of oysters, clams, & shrimp, cooked to order. The oysters were cooked exactly how I had requested. It was busy when we went, yet the service was prompt and the food excellent. We will absolutely go back.
Note there was a problem with an order at a table near us. Not a big deal. Sounded like a simple server error on a busy day. Mistakes happen. I was so very impressed with how professionally, courteously, and quickly it was handled. I rarely see that.

First time here. Waited at the bar. Great ipa and house wine. Fast seating. Small restaurant but well thought out. Love the art on the wall. And actually very quiet. My Valentine and I were able to have a nice conversation. Had the crab pretzel. Fantastic. Sinful. Cheesy crab on a soft pretzel. Yummo. Then the lobster bisque. Very rich but no big hunks of lobster. Salad was ok. Mary the server was very attentive but was slow with the check. Base line I look forward to returning.

Simply legendary. Oysters, shrimp, salmon, couldn’t have been better. Waitress was hot, so I’ll be going back.

Look at the weekly specials-​you get a lot for your buck. You can’t go to Mc Donalds and get a burger this good for the Wednesday special-​the sweet potato fries with special tiger sauce is out of this world. Love all the fresh seafood specials and plates. Make reservations this place is usually packed.

We enjoyed our dinner immensely. For an appetizer, I had ½ dozen steamed oysters. I ordered raw, but I didn’t return them. They were delicious. I had the Bermuda Triangle. It’s was broiled shrimp (3) broiled scallops (3) and a crabcake. The crabcake really had no filling. It was delicious. The shrimp and scallops had great flavor. I was happy with my choice. My husband had the fish taco. The fish is fried catfish. The fish taco presents itself as a burrito, which is different from other fish tacos we’ve had in the past. He said it was delicious and liked the fact that everything stayed put!
We were just passing through. It was a pleasant stop.

Soooo I find this seafood place in New Bern-​and its awesome!!! I live on Long Island so I am pretty much a seafood snob. However, this place could not have been better. Shrimp, crabcakes (the best ever), the oysters, I could go on but you get the point. If your lucky, Chris will be bartending. Just the perfect amount of knowledge, accommodation, and smart ass you need!!!

MJ’s is pretty good, and is very similar to Captain Rattys which is like 2 doors down from MJ’s.
I honestly prefer Captain Rattys, but they are honestly equivalent in quality. I prefer Rattys because they do the roof-​top dining, which is BOSS. Other than that though, these 2 companies are very alike.

Lackluster food, average service, poor atmosphere. Both times I have eaten at MJ’s my table was sticky and flies joined me for my meal. When our waitress handed us the menus, old food was stuck to them as was a nice long black hair. I struggled to get my meal down and left grossed out and disappointed. My fiancé loved the Lobster Mac and Cheese our first visit so we decided to go back. The second time around, the lobster was chewy and her portion was almost half the size. Very inconsistent and dirty.

Service was good but food wasn’t great. Had the lobster ravioli and it was extremely fishy tasting. Also, the potato salad isn’t good.

For our last night before departing New Bern, we ended up again in downtown New Bern. The Mum Fest was winding down and parking was manageable. We ended up at MJ’s Raw Bar, which had been on my list. Seating was available immediately, although the place filled up quickly. We had had some good seafood, but this was the best so far.
I went for fried flounder. I don’t know if I have ever had better. It had a very light coating and was perfectly fried. It was simple, delicious, mild fried fish. I also had fried shrimp and they were as good as the flounder. It was very fresh with delicious mild shrimp flavor. They used Old Bay Seasoning on it which was a distraction that was not needed. It was over applied and made them a little on the salty side. The fish was so good, this really did not detract too much. The Old Bay is just not needed.
Aunt Annie had a crab cake appetizer as her meal. The lump crab used was of high quality. It was sweet and delicious, but again we felt they over-​applied the Old Bay. Andrew had the Tritan Tri Bake with crab meat and shrimp on top. This was rich and flavorful.
This was an excellent meal in a nice place. They serve very high quality fresh seafood and prepare it well. From one visit, I would simply advise them to tone down the use of Old Bay or whatever it is. I debated five stars, it is close for me.

I dont understand why it costs .75 cents more for a piece of cheese. I dont the undressed burger «med well» came out half rare very much pink and half done. Too much bread on the bun and a half a pickle on the bun? Bun was soggy from the pickle. Had to ask for mayo. The french fries were seasoned to the hilt and way to hot for my to eat. Unsweetened ice tea didnt taste good either. Almost like it wasn’t brewed long enough. This is my second time here. Lighting is dim and this place isnt really clean. Tables are sticky and not enough seating for a sat night. Had a 45 min way for a party of 3. Needless to say wasnt worth the wait and ill never be back unless this place steps up its game. Theres not alot of «good» restaurants in new bern.

Very nice place for a causal dinner.
My wife had the Lobster wrap and I had The Po Boy.
Both were very good.
Very pleasant pleasant place to eat.

This place is amazing! We stopped in for lunch on a Sunday and got $.50 Macdaddys and the easy peel shrimp. Everything was delicious and our server, Meredith was attentive and super sweet. Our orders were clam chowder and a shrimp sandwich, the lobster mac and cheese (unbelievable amounts of lobster), crabby melt sandwich and the fish taco wrap. We all loved our meals and enjoyed the late lunch!

Very, very good all around casual dining. Great seafood! I even enjoyed the soft shell crab that my dude ordered. I had. Crab stuffed flounder, and it was great. Well mixed drinks, too. A little loud, but to be expected on a busy Saturday night. Good service. Score!

We had a wonderful dinner here on a recent trip to North Carolina. It was the best food we had on the trip. I had a crab cassarole with shrimp and scallops in a thick, delicious cheesy sauce. Just thinking about it makes me wish I were back there.
They brought us fries instead of the sweet potato fries we had ordered, but as soon as we notified someone they brought us out big plates of the delicious crispy sweet potato fries.
We don’t usually eat dessert, but theirs were so tempting that I ordered the turtle cheesecake. It was supposed to be New York style, and by golly it was. There was a puddingy chocolate layer under the cheesecake that was rich and chocolaty and just the right amount of caramel. I took half of it to the hotel and enjoyed a little encore for my dinner later.
Highly recommended if you like unpretentious but delicious, well-​cooked food!

My crab cake sandwich was topped with a good amount of real crab, but somehow it didn’t have much flavor. :(The sweet potatoes fries were tasty.
The crab soup was just ok. The macdaddies – fried mac n cheese triangles – were good (obviously).
The best part of the meal was the bloody marys! We ordered them spicy and they were totally delicious.
The décor is average for a family restaurant, and our booth was felt sort of dark and closed-​off. Our food came out fast. There are TVs.

Was walking through downtown and I often pass this place, figured we would give it a go tonight. They were pretty busy so we sat outside. Really good menu selections. Prices looked really good. The service was amazing, any waitress that walked by checked on us, even the hostess. It wasn’t overkill it was nice to not have to wait for refills etc.
We started with the crab dip, it was ok there was a flavor that did not go with it. It tasted like it had sour cream and celery seed. The bread that was served with it was a frozen par baked roll that never was finished in the oven. We asked for chips to dip and that was better.
I ordered the Maryland steamer which had corn, potatoes, mussels, shrimp, and crab cluster. I was a little disappointed when it came as it was on this huge platter but had 3 shrimp, 4 mussels, 1 crab cluster, and kielbasa that was sliced, and a couple of potatoes. It actually did fill me up. the only flavor I tasted was old bay. (I love old bay but not in the heaping amounts my corn was sitting in) I brushed off quite a bit and it was pretty good. I would have loved a few more mussels and another shrimp or two, even if they had to charge more. That was 20 bucks so for the price it was ok. I needed to ask for crackers for the crab, they should have been served with them or partially cracked the crab
My friend ordered the crab cake sandwich and 6 clams from raw bar. Said they were good but again a bit heavy on the old bay!
I would give this place another try especially for the service!

MJ’s is right in the middle of New Bern on, uh, Middle Street. If you come here expecting a nice, quiet dining experience, you’ll be turned off, but if all you want is some reasonably priced fried seafood and maybe some raw oysters or steamed clams, and don’t mind the noise, it could be just up your alley.
We walked here from our riverfront hotel, the Doubletree. We started with a dozen oysters on the half shell, which were on sale for $ 8.95 — these days of $ 3 oysters, that’s a deal. My companion had a half pound of boiled crawfish, at $ 6.95 well-​priced, but they lacked seasoning (we used to live in New Orleans), and the waitress couldn’t tell us where they came from. As an entrée I had the combo fried shrimp and fried oyster, with fries and cole slaw for around $ 13 — again, a deal. My wife had the signature crab cake sandwich with hushpuppies ($ 13.95). It was a good crabcake, but nothing you’d come back for.
With two beers, two appetizers and two entrees, our bill came to $ 58 before tip.
Bottom line: Good fried seafood, reasonable prices, good service but noisy, no atmosphere, and you wouldn’t make a special trip to eat here. I also have the feeling that the restaurant looks for the best deal on buying seafood and doesn’t necessarily give local sourcing much priority. At least I didn’t see anything that suggested the seafood was all local or North Carolina sourced.
I debated giving MJ’s four stars for effort and reasonable prices, and I did enjoy the fried oysters and shrimp and loved the price on the oysters on the half shell, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to add that fourth star.