661 days ago by Rob
Coming from the East Coast we were very excited to see a dedicated seafood restaurant in Erie other than That Red one by the mall. The exterior decor and location were very nice - it made us feel right at home and had our appetites going before we even got through the door. Inside it was quaint, clean and well set-up. I liked the fact that it lacked the pretense of Long Island or Mass seafood houses but it did send up a little warning flare. We got to sit right near the fireplace - it was wet out so this was most appreciated - and our waitress promptly came over. Let's get one little tidbit out of the way... Does ANYONE like it when menus have "No substitutions" all over the place? I mean Burger King has made MILLION$ on "Have it your way" so why does Smuggler's not allow you to switch away from Mustard Potato salad without charging for a whole new side? It's not the $3 it's the principle. Mind you that potato salad was VERY GOOD. But we didn't really want it with our crab cake sandwich. Also very good was the she-crab soup. Just chunky enough, nice, hot and delicious. Letting my son try it was a mistake because I soon lost it to him. My wife had beef tips on bowtie pasta. Fair. My daughter had chicken fingers that were quite good and my son had the aforementioned crab cake sandwich. Again, the potato salad was delish, but sadly the cake itself was extremely disappointing. I'd bet on frozen - bad frozen at that. Fried a little too much - really though, who fries them any more? I'm biased I like my crab cakes to be seared, baked, etc. Not fried. My choice was the prime rib on the waitresses suggestion. I'd wanted fresh fish but the specials that night calling me and I do love a good steak. Big mistake on my part. I can't blame the chef though. I always tell people to eat the right stuff in the right place. That means steak at steak houses and seafood, well you know... I'll go back and try the fresh fish next time, which my table neighbors raved about, and steer my boy away from anything deep fried. Thank you.
