The Hard Shell - Bellgrade

Review summary

1. C

   Cathrine

   Washington DC

   98 reviews

   4.0

   98 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   Everything was good, just not quite 5 star worthy. That said, we were there between shifts (2pm) which may have had an impact, so we will likely give them another shot!
   

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2. l

   louise

   VIP

   Washington DC

   85 reviews

   4.0

   85 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 5

   Food was great - waited 5 min before we saw a server (not busy) and 10 to get a drink before we even placed an order
   

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3. E

   Edward

   Richmond

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Our favorite restaurant! Great food, great service and great environment!
   

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4. B

   Betsy

   VIP

   Richmond

   54 reviews

   5.0

   54 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We had a fabulous Valentine’s Day dinner at Hard Shell. Everything was perfect!
   

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5. T

   Timothy

   Richmond

   49 reviews

   3.0

   49 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 2

   we arrived for our reservation to a very empty restaurant . The hostess decided to seat us directly across from a noisy family when there were dozens of other seating options. The waiter was kind of clueless on customer service. The drinks were quite good. I ordered the tuna tartar tacos which were very good yet my shrimp and crab linguine main was too heavy with butter and the bread i needed to soak up the excessive sauce was extra money and store bought (😡). My partner had the crab soup appetizer which was cold and needed microwaved. His main course was fried oysters and the only saving grace on the dish were the oysters which were good yet the mashed potatoes had suffered a drought. Overall a very average dining experience and little customer facing awareness. Dr. Timothy Willox
   

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6. D

   Daryl

   VIP

   Richmond

   152 reviews

   5.0

   152 reviews

   Dined on January 31, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   We were a little late due to unexpected traffic, but were greeted in a very warm manner and immediately escorted to our table. Frank G was our server, he has served us before. Very relaxed manner and checked on us often! My wife liked her "Tiki So You Love Me" drink, along with her fish tacos. The lobster roll was very good as well. Their calamari is among the best in the Richmond area. Always enjoy coming here!
   

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7. J

   Jackie

   VIP

   Richmond

   85 reviews

   4.0

   85 reviews

   Dined on January 29, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   Good food and lovely service. Very attractive restaurant.
   

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8. J

   Jo

   San Francisco

   4 reviews

   5.0

   4 reviews

   Dined on January 27, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   This is is such a wonderful restaurant to go with friends. It is clean, the servers and hostess are friendly, and the food is delicious. The menu has a wide variety of entrees and the key lime pie excellent.
   

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9. R

   Ryan

   Washington DC

   14 reviews

   5.0

   14 reviews

   Dined on January 25, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Always great! We need to frequent Hard Shell Bellgrade much more often. Food is wonderful, cocktails are tasty and prices are reasonable.
   

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10. j

    ja

    Richmond

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on January 25, 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 3

    Wife and I have eaten here several times. Food is excellent. Surprisingly not difficult to get table at 7pm on short notice. The crab cakes are spectacular, I especially like the pickled red onion. Now, Hard Shell is NOT an expensive restaurant, but it is not a cheap one either. Total bill w one glass of wine, two entrees, and an app was around $100.00 pre gratuity. Service was dreadfully slow. I don't even blame server entirely for this as the whole place was weeded the whole time we were there. We are not in a rush, it's a date not worried. Now, typically when we have eaten here in the past bread is brought to the table. This is such a petty small thing but when I have rez for 7pm and it's 7:40pm and apps have not come out yet I find that frustrating. I see other tables with bread so I ask the server if we could have some. She said yes and then informed me that "it's like $1.00". I found this infuriating. My question is this, did every other table that had bread also ask, and get told that the bread is $1.00? why would you have bread as a accompaniment/offering, if you don't want guests to have it? The price is immaterial as I did not see bread basket on the menu so why would the server not offer it. Again, it seems awfully tacky to charge guests one dollar for a "baguette" especially when we've been seated for 40 minutes without apps even having come out, and in light of the fact we are dropping around $120 on this meal after tip. Again, it is not about the charge. It feels gross that I have to ask and that the restaurant is charging one dollar. Again, my entre was $30 and well worth it!. not most expensive thing on menu but not cheapest. My wife had a glass of wine with her meal.. I don't drink. The app was scallops which were excellent, but I would expect that if I'm paying $16 for 3 scallops. Just thought I'd share this experience.
    

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