8 Seafood Chains With The Worst Quality Fish, According To Reviews

It's no secret that independent restaurants offer better quality meals than chains, but chains are still deserving of a spot in our hearts and off our interstates. They offer consistency for travelers looking for something they know will be satisfying and affordable, and they tend to dish out a little more casual, lighthearted whimsy than independent restaurants.

Chain restaurants are known for keeping prices lower than those of your average mom-and-pop spot. They do this largely by focusing funds not on the highest quality food possible, but on ingredients that are good enough to keep customers happy yet affordable enough to generate maximum turnover. But when it comes to less-than-top-tier food quality, there are some ingredients that no amount of quirky fun and consistency can make up for. And if there's one type of food that's distinctly terrible when its quality is lower than average, it's seafood.

In this list, we've rounded up the top seafood-centric restaurants with fish that fall well below the standards of the average chain restaurant fan — except for those who are big fans of rubbery shrimp, foul-smelling fish, and mushy crab, that is. With reviews, polls, and longstanding negative press regarding food quality, these spots are all shining examples of the wrong way to do seafood. So plug your nose, stave off your appetite, and take a dive with us into a sea of fishy chains that should toss back their catches pronto.

Fast food and fish go together like orange juice and toothpaste — and Long John Silver's embodies this dastardly pairing like no other chain. In the 2020s, it feels like most fans of the fishy fast food joint appreciate it for nostalgia-related reasons and not much else. If you've never stepped foot in a Long John Silver's, you shouldn't be expecting a colorful array of seafood options. Here, the fish comes in one color: Beige. For the most part, everything here is covered in batter and fried, and that might be for the best.

Some say Long John Silver's doesn't deserve all the hate, but a loud majority dish out trash talk the way the restaurant slings grease and tartar sauce. In a Reddit thread, users recounted their childhood fondness for the brand, only to visit as adults and realize that their kiddie palates must have been less refined than they thought. The fried fish is overly greasy and bland, so much so that the restaurant's loyal fans usually come for the chicken instead.

The negative customer feedback the restaurant has been receiving in more modern times shouldn't come as a surprise; the rise and decline of Long John Silver's is a tale as old as time. Inflation, skyrocketing food costs, and the rising popularity of health foods make fried fish a tough market to make profitable, even for the spots with above-average seafood quality.

For those who can't stand Long John Silver's but still have a hankering for fast food fish, there's always Captain D's — just don't be surprised if your first visit proves just as bad, if not worse, than LJS. Captain D's has quintessential fried fish dishes, like Southern-style white fish and catfish, giving it a leg up against Long John Silver's limited fish offerings, which usually stop at just Alaskan pollock and cod.

When we pit 19 seafood chains against one another, Captain D's earned the last-place title for as many reasons as there are fish in the sea. The shrimp is one of its most egregious menu items, according to customers. The little shellfish are known to be astonishingly small, flavorless, and tough. In a review of a Captain D's meal, a Redditor was displeased (to put it mildly) with the shrimp, saying, "I would be embarrassed to serve these little turds." They also called Captain D's fish marginally better than LJS', although it tasted bland and incredibly greasy.

Longtime fans of the chain have noticed decreasing quality in recent years, claiming the fried fish filets are basically just long fish sticks with too-hard, stale-tasting batter. Generally, Captain D's fans show up for the fried chicken, which really says something about its seafood. Despite its lackluster reputation, it currently has over 530 restaurants in 23 U.S. states and is set to expand into the global market. What this means for the quality of its seafood remains to be seen, but from here, the only place to go is up.

Seafood restaurants are the only kind of eateries that can be called a "shack" without it being incredibly insulting. Perhaps Joe's Crab Shack set this precedent. Once fairly popular, the seafood chain used to have almost 150 locations around the U.S., but is now home to a measly 14 spots in just seven states at the time of writing. It serves a mix of American seafood and non-seafood classics, like crab cakes, crab and shrimp dip, crab and shrimp pasta, lobster tail dinners, burgers, and chicken in an ultra-casual setting, usually overlooking the ocean.

Joe's Crab Shack is considered a shell (pun intended) of its former self. It could just be more evidence that seafood restaurants struggle to stay afloat these days, but according to longtime fans, rapidly declining quality in recent years is the likely cause of Joe's decline. Poor reviews abound across multiple sites. Customers often complain of overcooked lobster and shrimp that's tough and chewy, and low-quality oysters, which any seafood fan knows is a cardinal sin. On a Reddit thread, a comment remarks on Joe's drop in quality, noting that the food is so heavily seasoned that it's clear the restaurant is trying to mask the lackluster ingredients.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. is a fictional business created by the titular book and film character Forrest Gump. In the movie, Forrest (Tom Hanks) creates the business in honor of his shrimp-obsessed war pal Bubba (Mykelti Williamson) after Bubba dies in battle. "Forrest Gump" is one of the most famous films of all time and was a huge success the year it was released. In fact, it was so impactful that restaurateur Anthony Zolezzi acquired the rights for the company name soon after watching the movie, turning the fictional shrimping business into a kitschy chain seafood restaurant.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. has a reputation for attracting fans of "Forrest Gump" (and, let's be real, that's everyone) with movie-inspired decor while skimping out on food quality. The chain is home to tasteless, mushy shrimp and prawn tempura that's all batter and minimal prawn. Even Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.'s fans aren't fond of the fried shrimp, which should be one of the restaurant's major draws. Fish filets here are said to be paper-thin, and fried calamari is hard. That's right — not rubbery. Hard.

Although there are some great ones if you look hard enough, themed restaurants have a reputation for serving low-quality food, and Bubba Gump is far from one of the best themed restaurants in the U.S. In the immortal words of Bubba: "Shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it ..." — just don't let Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. anywhere near it.

McCormick & Schmick's is in the upper echelon of chain restaurants, so it might seem like a surprising pick for this list. However, there's evidence to suggest that it isn't the bougie, classy seafood joint that it makes itself out to be.

With only a bit over a dozen restaurants around the U.S., the chain is dead-set on competing with locally owned seafood restaurants and steakhouses. But unlike a lot of the mom-and-pop spots out there, McCormick & Schmick's doesn't prioritize local seafood. Instead, it focuses on fish from all over the continent — and anyone who knows seafood knows that the more local it is, the better.

The word "overrated" gets brought up time and time again in reviews for McCormick & Schmick's. Expect to pay prices close to those of an elegant, independent restaurant for food that's far from the same quality served in a dated, stale setting. Customers frequently complain of bland seafood that's served cold, thanks to slow, inattentive service. One Yelp review compared McCormick & Schmick's fish to Gorton's infamous fish sticks from the freezer section, claiming the battered, frozen sticks were superior. That's got to sting.

Other reviews note that the restaurant tends to serve fish in a sea of melted butter, potentially to mask the less-than-ideal quality of the food. High-quality seafood will almost never be served with excessive oils, dressings, and sauces — it would be considered a waste of a fresh, pricey catch.

Of all the seafood chains in America, few are as famous — and contentious — as Red Lobster. The restaurant has been swimming in bad press for years, from its all-you-can-eat shrimp disaster that drove into bankruptcy to late-night host John Oliver's purchase of a shuttered upstate New York location for the sole purpose of poking fun at its bankruptcy. Ouch.

In recent years, customers' rapidly discerning tastes have forced them to come to terms with the fact that the food here is, indeed, pretty bad. We won't lie — those Cheddar Bay Biscuits alone might be worth a trip to the chain, but you should think twice about ordering anything else from Red Lobster. Fish filets are doused in off-putting seasoning, mussels taste like they were previously frozen, and the calamari is tough and chewy. In fact, a Mashed poll found that 25% of Red Lobster's customers agree that the calamari is the worst appetizer at the chain. Comments on Reddit dish about the chain's fare being barely a step above frozen seafood from the grocery store, with rapidly increasing prices to boot.

But what about the restaurant's namesake? Not only is it low quality, but the shellfish here is sometimes a lobster impostor. A study by Business Insider found that about 35% of lobster samples taken from 28 different restaurants around the country were actually not everyone's favorite ruby-red shellfish at all — and you better believe Red Lobster was a major offender. Some locations incorporated fake lobster into bisque by either cutting the real thing with langostino — a smaller, cheaper, lobster-like shellfish — or using 100% langostino in the soup. For shame, Red Lobster (or, should we say, Red Langostino).

Bonefish Grill is an all-American eatery with a slight Italian twist and focus on seafood dishes. It specializes in timeless classics like salmon over salad, filet mignon with potatoes and greens, shrimp and scallop pasta, and the like. The chain has locations from coast to coast, but Florida has the highest concentration of Bonefish Grills. Despite finding a home in a state that's surrounded on almost every side by bountiful Atlantic waters, Bonefish Grill doesn't serve Gulf-fresh seafood. Instead, it sources its fish and shellfish globally — a major red flag at any seafood restaurant.

Bonefish Grill customers complain of poor quality dishes like the grilled salmon and fish tacos, where low-effort sides that taste like they came from a can are constructed around fatty, skimpy cuts of fish. One customer noted that the fish they received in the Cod Imperial — a speciality dish at Bonefish, with shrimp and scallop-stuffed cod, parmesan, mozzarella, and lemon-caper butter — was so tough that it required slicing with a steak knife to eat. Patrons also express their disappointment in the shellfish options, pointing out that the shrimp and scallops are plentiful, but shriveled to barely the size of a dime and overly salted.

Following a steep decline in sales in 2024 (the likes of which have been seen by many American seafood chains) Bonefish Grill revamped its menu with new additions like sea bass and ahi tuna. The brand also decided to make its menu more cocktail-forward — we can't imagine why.

To the untrained eye, Landry's Seafood House looks like any polished casual spot with seasonal specials and fresh, daily catches. But looks can be deceiving. Most Landry's locations sit near the water, giving the illusion that fish is fresh from the Gulf. But customers doubt the catch is always fresh.

Landry's isn't just the name of a seafood restaurant chain; it's the name given to a hospitality group with Joe's Crab Shack, McCormick & Schmick's, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., and Landry's Seafood House all under its umbrella. And what do all these restaurants have in common? They're masters at proving that chain restaurants really do sacrifice quality in favor of maximizing profits. Since Landry's locations are often by the coast, they wind up competing with local, independent seafood shops. Locals always know to avoid Landry's, so the chain banks on the naïveté of tourists to secure its place in beachy communities.

Customers complain of dry fish dishes, shrivelled oysters, and tuna that tastes like it came from a can, all accompanied by sky-high prices and inattentive service. Whether it's regarding the low-quality food, bad service, or toxic workplace culture, it's hard for anyone to speak highly of Landry's Seafood House and the other restaurants under the Landry's corporate umbrella.