Gambrinus Seafood Bar & Restaurant

Had a 10 person get together here on a Friday night for my dad’s birthday. We had the private room when you first come in on the right. It was nice and quiet which was great. We preordered salads and appetizers for the table and then ordered our own stuff. The salads were good especially the skirt steak salad. The potatoes and mushroom dish was delicious. The calamari was pretty good too. I wasn’t really hungry after all those appetizers so I only ordered a soup for my main course. I ordered the lobster bisque, it’s not on the menu so it was a special that day. I liked that the soup had pieces of lobster in it BUT it was very watery. I’m very disappointed because lobster bisque is my favorite soup. The waitress was also extremely nosy she kept standing next to our table and joining our conversation. The food gets a 4 from me except the soup which gets a 3. The service gets a 3 also.

Decent seafood but waiters get upset if you pay by credit card (which is how normal people pay for everything all the time for years now) and they include a service charge and then insist that you must tip them again on top… WTF???

Had a man who appeared to be the manager not know what gluten was and insisted they didnt even have the DOH allergen poster. The hostess replied «everything is gluten» and then said she didnt know what gluten was when I told her ‘that makes no sense’. I explained it was in wheat, barley, malt, spelt, rye and hops. Their answer was «no.» As if I’d somehow managed to ask them what it was instead of tellin them.
Morons.

While their food is good, I really hate how they treat their customers. They refused to order a $ 35 delivery order for quote «two items are too little this is busy time now. You can pick it up.» They make a written promise to deliver a $ 15 minimum on their menu and refused to deliver an order double their minimum! Talk about violating a promise to their customers! On another occasion they mixed up my order. Upon my insistence that I ordered Tiger Shrimp not Calamari the waitor/​bus boy began yelling at me and blaming me for the mix up, «What am I supposed to do with this? This is your fault. You ordered Calamari!» Who yells at a customer? Has anyone ever seen that before? The only reason I stand to give them a two star review is for the quality of their food and ambience; however, the pompous additude quickly ruins any chance of a nice dinner. My advice is take caution.

Good food, but the service is terrible. The appetizers came right out, but the main course took sometime.
Service wasn’t good: they didn’t serve water, so we had to ask for it. We paid by credit card and they told us to pay cash next time. Really???

I have very mixed feelings about Gambrinus. It’s a Brighton Beach fixture that has been around forever. I’ve been coming here on and off for at least 15 years. The last 10 years it’s been mostly off as the food has gotten pretty bad. This weekend we were invited to a family dinner. Our waitress was what one would expect for a place like Gambrinus — she was pushy, a bit aggressive and impatient with us taking the time to chose our food. Feeling rushed, we could not place a cohesive appetizer order and had to add to it a couple of times. When we were choosing the main course she refused to give us menus telling us there was nothing to see as she can tell us what we need to know «meat, fish or seafood — choose one». I guess she wanted to spend time with her friends who were seating at a neighboring table where most of the waitresses flocked and stayed ignoring our efforts to get their attention. To my surprise, the food was really delicious and her recommendations were on point. Calamari were perfectly crispy, potatoes were masterfully fried, salads finely dressed, meats and fish done beautifully. My rating is low purely because of bad service. Once we got done with the main course we asked for coffee and desert. We got no desert plates or clean silverware; main course leftovers were not removed, neither were the dirty plates. At some point as we were finishing up and I was desperately trying to get to our waitress, a manager (or maybe the owner — Ismail or something similar sounding) said to the bus boy «start taking everything away, I can’t wait for them to get the heck out». Well, I told him, my sentiments exactly. I’ve been trying to get a check for 20 min. Finally, the check came and we should be ready to leave shortly. But here comes a big surprise: our waitress begins quite lengthy monologue about how she did not charge us 10% service fee and cash for tips between 18% and 25% because of it would be appreciated. I paid the bill by card and gave her exactly 18% tip wowing not to come back for another 10 years as my faint psychic cannot take such eclectic experience too often.

I’m not an avid Unilocaler and I hate giving bad reviews, but this place is horrible!
Very rude staff with attitude waitresses, mediocre food and ridiculous prices.
Never come back!

Ewww!!! Ate outside. Saw waiters smoking, drinking beer and eating leftovers off customer plates. Completely disgusting. One emplyee was walking around smoking, cleaning tables. Unhygenic. Dont want to think about kitchen conditions.
Food was not fresh either. Salad was brown and cold fish plater discolored.

We love this place much. They have delicious food and seafood, especially tiger shrimp and calamary. But price is too high. service is very nice and friendly. A++++++

If I could rate less, I would. The most horrific service I’ve received in a restaurant for the many years I’ve been eating out in New York. I usually don’t dine in Brooklyn, and more clearly now for good reasons.
We came here for my mothers birthday/Women’s Day. The waiter seemed he was doing us a favor coming to our table everytime he happened to appear.
The food was not exciting at all. Not worthy of the money.
I ended paying with a credit card and was asked for my ID to prove my identity. They wrote down the identification Number on the receipt to confirm that it was actually me. I called my credit card companies to make sure my identity will not be compromised in the future. Tons of great restaurants in New York, make sure you skip out on this one.

Very nice place good food for monday afternoon good service all my friends was happy and enjoying their lunch

let me tell you all about this classy establishment
right by the water on brighton beach, stands gambrinus, which resembles a hangout spot for sailors
as soon as you walk in there are two dining rooms, one could be for private events, the other is for regular diners
the manager is very friendly, he got us a table right away, spoke perfect English which is a shock in this area known as little Russia
when we were seated, we were given unlimited refills of bread and butter, and the waitress was so patient after it took us almost 25 minutes to make up our minds
majority of the menu is seafood, lots of flounder dishes, salmon, and seabass, shrimp cocktails and dishes, oysters, mussels
the prices for the hot entrees range from 14 – 28 dollars, but the portions are huge and all come with a side, whether it is salad or mashed potatoes
they also offer meat dishes too, like chicken marsala, chicken cutlets, veal too
our group was drooling at the salads, they had greek salads, avocado salads, kani salad, skirt steak salads, it was really hard to make a choice I would of ordered them all!
we decided to go with the skirt salad [cost 19 dollars] despite the hefty price, the amount of meat offered was generous, and the portion was definitely large enough for 4people, it had tomatoes, crispy onions, and honey mustard dressing, it was delicious, the meat wasn’t too tender or too well done
they also had a really good chicken with fries dish, those fries were seriously addicting, they were cut and seasoned perfectly with 0 oil, major plus, definitely not frozen
there was also a baked dish with mushrooms and cheese, it was so so so good, there was a generous amount of mushrooms and thick soft cheese, the combination goes perfect together, its a no brainer, also a large enough portion for four people
this place is a BYOB, but they have liquor here too, they also do deliver through seamless
the staff were dressed up as sailors, it is so cute you really see they take their jobs seriously and enjoy it, they were friendly and willing to go over the entire menu with us, unlike other people who don’t even know what half the stuff contains
in this place you will end up spending a bit more than other American establishments, but with the service and quality to the portions, it is worth every single dollar
this place is a little bit fancier compared to other establishments, so dress to impress!
for a group of four we ended up spending 60 bucks since we only got three items, I cant wait to come back here again to try more dishes!

Best seafood in brooklyn. The fried shrimp in garlic are to die for. If you eat too many you might have a heart attack. But if you don’t have a heart attack than you have enjoyed yourself,
Place is a bit pricey though.

Sincerely we have taken just beers in this place but I saw a list and it is really impressive — so many fish specialities and delicatessens. Definitely it is not a economic place, but who knows where else you can find all these strange Russian dishes

As an American, eating out in the über Russian section of Brighton Beach has its bright spots and unfortunately a portion of low points. More specifically the communication is more often than not a bit of a sticking point, which is remedied easily enough when in a food establishment. «How»? you ask. Well its a matter of pointing to the selection and throwing up a few fingers for quantities. Fortunately my lady friend speaks three languages thereby solving many breakdowns or misuse of finger features. But I would be remiss in not mentioning the hardened approaches to non comrades, it needs to be said.
When Eel is on the menu, I’m buying it, period, paragraph. So when the Eel Salad was placed infront of me, while sitting outside with the smell of salt water in the air, for that moment I was in edible euphoria.
Soft shelled crabs were a touch over cooked and smaller than I have previously had in other restaurants, but the plate held three as poopsed too two, so the portion was on par.
Beer selections varied quite well from pilsners to ales and their country of origins were quite diverse as well.

This restaurant really changed. Yes the prices doubled but the food became clean and tasty. The atmosphere is like no other, Its pretty much amazing to be able to sit just feet from the ocean and get that breeze while drinking a nice, cool shot of Vodka. Its tough for non-​russian guests because all the good stuff is off the menu. If you want experience some good food, come on in!

Some friends and I were walking down the boards around Coney Island, and we didn’t know what to get for dinner. We saw that this place had live jazz and we were sold. $ 35 for skirt steak and a glass of Merlot and it’s well worth the money. Food is VERY flavorful and the staff is friendly. Absolutely worth the price if you’re looking for something a little fancy.

This is the best place to come after the beach for some beer and krivetki!
I have had many family and friends events here and it never fails, the food is delicious, the waiters are funny. i love how their salad menu constantly changes and they come up with new inventive salads. i loved having my bday dinner in their private room that makes you feel like you are under the sea. the huge table is awesome and makes you feel like a king feasting with friends. All around i seriously come here way too much and always bring old friends and new friends for the delicious time.
the awesome selection of beers de

Nothing like some cold beer and hot food after the beach. This is the perfect place! Great selection of seafood and meat (meatlovers, try the cowboy steak!)
Also a great place to go to for an evening meal and some drinks.
Very authentic, has a really cool private room where you feel like you are in an actual submarine. Nice decorations and waiters in cool uniforms.

Have only eaten here banquet style, so I don’t know what individual service would be like, but it was great the couple times I’ve been with a large group.
Food is standard banquet quality; fresh, flavorful, and in abundance.
The seafood and meat entrees were yummy, but I think this place shines with their salad selection.