Phillips Seafood

Had a crab cake and egg breakfast. It was good. Very expensive and very few choices on the menu.

This rating is relative to restaurant selection at Newark’s airport. Which is to say, there ain’t sh! t worth eating there and the fried seafood these guys serve up ain’t half bad in comparison. A bit pricy, but pretty tasty and a good place to kill off an hour of your wait. They are very slow though, so be warned of you are in a rush and don’t hesitate to shout for your check otherwise they probably won’t bring it.

The staff is great. Super friendly and helpful. The food is only okay and over priced but what can you expect at an airport? I do hope the airport would step up their food quality soon which would make for a better travel experience

Fish tacos were not bad (considering I’m in an airport) but surprisingly the Lavazza espresso was so much better than the one I had at a trendy «coffee shop» in Evanston, Il this morning. And that says a lot.

Located past the TSA checkpoint in Terminal A, traditionally Phillips Seafood is known for their crab cakes, but you can order a full breakfast with coffee at the bar and sit with other travelers and the drinkers all before 10AM.
Breakfast includes two eggs made your way and either bacon or sausage. I ordered mine over easy and found them to be fresh and perfectly made. The red potatoes were evenly browned. The texas toast was dry like I like it. The wafer thin bacon was artistically piled in the middle of the plate and the dish was garnished with a thick orange slice that was actually edible. They proudly serve Lavazza coffee. Understand, it tastes like it’s made with half espresso, but it’s not acidic.
This place is immaculate and you get prompt service, but I had to ask for a clean knife. Too bad they don’t offer soy lattes. And too bad this one traveler sitting near me keeps growling as he eats his breakfast louder than the NYC radio that plays throughout. But, hey — that’s people in an airport. A solid 4 star breakfast experience…

Phillips is one of the few worthwhile choices if you’re stuck at the A30 — A39 gates. I’ve given up hope on Ruby Tuesday and Java Moon between the service or the food. The service at this Phillips is very friendly. There is a host waiting right up front to greet you with a smile and take you to a table. The menu lists mostly seafood-​based comfort food which might be dicey at 34k feet for 5 hours so I picked the chicken breast sandwich. I marked them down a star because I was waiting for so long I almost picked up my bag and left. As I scanned the crowd for my waitress to tell her, along she came holding my sandwich aloft. My sandwich was ok. I asked for steamed vegetables as side which tasted like Birds Eye broccoli and carrots to me but still saves you a few calories whether you eat them or push them aside. Nothing to shout about, my sandwich. The bun is very glossy from an egg white wash and impressive, but the avocado was mushy (how do you do that?), the tomato was kind of mushy too, the marinated chicken was nothing special and the bacon looked awfully… dry and was kind of like jerky. Anyway, it kept me full for most of my flight for about $ 15. People like this place so maybe next time I’m in EWR I’ll try something with seafood in it. This airport sure is missing it’s Legal Seafoods.

Needed some pre-​flight food and really wanted seafood. Found this place, passed it the first time, and headed back when Ruby Tuesdays didn’t have what I wanted. Crowded but SUPER QUICK service. I got the crab Cobb salad and lime cheesecake. LOVE. Really nice service. Great place. Not sure if I’ll be back at Newark but if I am I will come back :)

Bad food– like really bad– as in I would not feed it to my dog bad. Slow service. Was asked to move seats. Was hit by another customers bag. Staff was sassy. Had to ask twice for water.

I came to the airport straight after school with my dad and we didn’t get a chance to have lunch yet so we decided to eat in the airport. We were so hungry and this was the first restaurant we saw after passing security.
The menu looked really good and the pictures of the food was so appealing. I had the crab cake sliders and they were absolutely disgusting. I’m sure everything was frozen and just heated up. I had a bite of my dads burger and it was the most bland thing I have ever eaten. We both had the «sweet potato bites» as a side which I thought was a really cute concept. However, you can clearly tell they didn’t make them theirselves and just came out of the freezer. Disgusting. I even got sick after eating the food and didn’t feel well the entire flight, which was a 6 hour flight.

Fine, but not life changing. Crab omelet did the trick and they made a nice paleo-​friendly substitution for me. I’d go back, but won’t dream about it.

The grill was closed when I got here and I wasn’t notified before I was seated and ordered a drink. That by itself isn’t bad but a little annoying. In fact, it was sort of nice since there was much more seating which is at a premium when you have baggage.
I ended up ordering the chowder and chicken strips. The service was quick and courteous, and they didn’t check up too often. After spending a lot of time in airports, this is very appreciated. It gives me time to do work and write Unilocal reviews :)
The food itself was alright. The soup was creamy and not too hot when served. The chicken strips were crispy and had an ok sauce. I do wish they offered the sauce on the side though.
I would say the value is pretty bad. Like any airport food, its expensive and smaller portions. It can’t be helped but I would suggest grabbing some food at chipotle or shake shack if you are coming from NYC.
Ewr doesnt have the best selection and a lot of the options are at the other terminals and before security which sucks, but this place will tide you over.

Me and Phillips Seafood go way back. I remember when they were just starting to expand beyond Baltimore and now here they are… It’s even greater to see that in the midst of this crap airport terminal, they stand out amongst all the other terrible options.
This particular Phillips is the perfect dining option should you be cursed with flying out of Terminal A at Newark Airport. The food is delicious, it’s clean, and has plenty of seating both inside the restaurant and along the walkway of the airport terminal.
There is also a takeout counter where you can order their seafood goodness to go. They give you an exact time of how long the food will take so you can plan accordingly. And since they only serve their crab cakes fresh, it’s worth the wait.
Oh and in case you’re not familiar with Phillips, their crab cakes are crack. Delicious from the first bite to the last and are always freshly cooked. You can also get them with a variety of sides.
It’s hard to find good airport food, so if you’re looking for a tasty meal to take on your plane ride, or simply enjoy while in the airport, this is definitely the place to go. Delicious food of good quality, with great service.

Not a bad place to grab a quick bite while you’re waiting for your flight
Sat a the bar friendly attentive service
I ordered the crab and shrimp sandwich with a side of coleslaw and a Coke came out to roughly $ 20 or so. The have a good selection on the menu and a full bar, tv and wifi !

Unexpected treasure. Usually airport food is — well — gross. I emoted the clam chowder which was too notch.
I had the fish and chips that didn’t rate a 5 but was a solid 4.
Service was prompt, courteous and very nice attitude wise.
Next time I fly through EWR I will eat here again.

Good selections, adequate food, which is fine for an airport.
I had cream of crab soup, fried shrimp with cold «waffle» fries. Soup was very good, shrimp were standard fast food fried shrimp, large but overly breaded, fries were both cold and boring.
Service was terrible. I finally went and got my own silverware well after food arrived. Completely indifferent, no doubt working on finding a real job instead of waiting tables here.

First time here and it was really good. I had the crab cake with two eggs sunny side up. The service was quick the food quality was good as well. I was impressed with the crab cake. Loads of lump crab meat and a nice blend of seasonings.
I will definitely return if I fly out of the A terminal

Man! Where do I start? Let me first say that my expectations for any airport food establishment (regardless the company) are far below minimal.
Service (initially a 4 now a 3; let me explain): While the server was extremely polite and courteous, I found it rather rude and unprofessional that «tip» was circled on the receipt. Tips are not mandatory, rather a consideration and a result of the service provided. No bueno Carlos! No bueno.
Food (2): Food is frozen and you can tell. While the menu appears tasty on the surface, don’t set your hopes too high for the end result. I ordered the grilled fish sandwich. The ciabatta bun was extremely larger than my fish portion and, it was far from fresh. The waffle fries were overcooked and the coleslaw was watery.
Cleanliness (3): There were several tables around me with food crumbs; the restaurant was empty. This leads me to believe that the servers standing around had too much time on their hands and lacked guidance on their responsibilities.
Unfortunately, this was the only sit down restaurant once you passed security in this particular terminal. What a shame.

I’ve found that you can’t have high expectations for airport food, but sometimes you have to give in to mediocrity; especially when you find yourself hungry at EWR with an hour before your 5+ hour flight ahead.
Truth be told, the Crab Cobb Salad I had wasn’t horrible, but the frozen avocado just didn’t do it for me… neither did the almost flavorless bacon. I admit, it looked pretty (see my pic), and the service was decent, and there aren’t a ton of other options — especially if you’re wanting to sit down at a table.
The people around me all seemed to be going for the seasoned french fries. That is probably the way to go. My advice is that if you find yourself heading toward taking a seat at this Phillips Seafood location, just make sure you don’t have high expectations. It’s sustenance, but not much more than that.

Okay, let’s be honest here. Most airport restaurants suck. It just goes with the territory and it’s something we take for granted. If we need to eat while waiting for a flight, it’s going to be expensive, service terrible and food bad. After all, we’re a captive audience. It’s not like we’re going to become regulars unless of course, we’re regular flyers doing so out of the same terminal every time.
That is what I expected last week when I ordered breakfast at Phillips. The first indication I was wrong was our server. He was beyond helpful, polite, attentive and all around excellent. I just wish I could remember his name. Something Arabic, I think. I ordered a Bloody Mary and was again taken aback. It was delicious. I’ll go so far as to say it was one of the best I’ve ever had. Ordered the crab cakes and eggs and hit the trifecta! Blown away. Delicious, fresh and light; just the way they should be.
I will actually go so far as to say that I will try and book flights out of terminal A in Newark whenever I can just to hit up Phillips again. You should too. Beyond impressed. If this place was any place but the airport I would be a regular.

Located at Terminal A inside security by the USAirways and American gates. I was so happy to see this location open since I have visited Phillips at other mid-​Atlantic airports and liked it.
Today I began with the Lobster Bisque (instead of the NE Clam chowder or Crab soup). A great choice on my part, if I do say so myself! Great, creamy soup with lots of crab.
Next I had the lump crab cake sandwich with hush puppies and salad. Unfortunately, they were out of cole slaw. All was tasty.
I recommend getting to the airport early and having a nice meal at Phillips before your flight.