Big Fish Grill
Big Fish Rehoboth Beach has been serving coastal seafood in a cavernous restaurant on Rt. 1 since the mid-1990s, and at its Ocean View sister since the aughts. Part of the Big Fish Restaurant Group, the company counts 18 restaurants, markets, and catering companies, all importing what corporate refers to as the ‘Big Fish Culture’ and experience, starting with excellent service and fresh seafood added to a typical Delmarva coastal cuisine. The Big Fish menus are predictable cafeteria-style large-scale restaurant style, focusing on various fish specials such as salmon, cod, and tuna, rounded out by various shrimp and crab dishes, and numerous sides and apps, most from the coastal family. Big Fish does not exclude land lovers, offering steaks, several chicken dishes, and burgers at all its restaurants. Best to stay with fish at Big Fish, however, which offerings are specially priced at its well-known happy hours, where bountiful and plentiful drinks join a chorus of regulars enjoying one of Delmarva’s most consistent kitchens in terms of food, but inconsistent in terms of timing of delivery (patrons typically either wait long periods for uneven food delivery or need to speed-eat to devour appetizers before arrival of the entrees). The restaurants in the Big Fish environment are typically consistent in mass-feeding approach, but In the food industry, consistency is not always a good thing, as Big Fish salads consistently appear and taste like they were arranged off a catering hall production line, and the spreads and dips tend to be bland. Big Fish is an attractive family and large group draw across its various helmed locations, welcoming all no matter the party size or appetite, because the menu is expansive enough to accommodate every diner, even if you are there just to enjoy apps with one of its famous crushes. Big Fish restaurants operate efficiently in a mass-market style of approach, in a chain restaurant kind of way, remaining consistently crowded and predictable, as long as you don’t stray from seafood. The generic experience is sometime punctuated by surprising specials, but more often defaults to the ordinary. Big Fish is not fast (sea)food, but not gourmet dining either. And that’s no Big surprise because Big Fish cares about Big masses of people matriculating through its Big restaurants, which results in Big turnover, leaving you with a Big decision whether to return.
