J.R.’s Seafood Shack
Brought to you by the Fins Group of restaurants, J.R.’s Seafood Shack is a relative newcomer to the Fenwick Island food scene, and a welcome addition. Specializing in southern coastal cuisine, J.R.s offers a unique spin on classic seafood with a distinctively southern flare. The menu is coastal-themed, and many guests trend toward J.R.’s excellent po-boys, which may provoke memories of your south of the Mason-Dixon Line dining youth. Its seafood classics are good too, but unfortunately present as, well, a bit boring. Maybe that is not fair, because not unlike the other Fins Group of restaurants in the area, the restaurant is also, well, a bit boring. Not much of an investment was made in the physical strip mall location other than some stock ship and coastal ornaments probably bulk ordered from Amazon and disbursed among other Fins Group restaurants, so perhaps the food doesn’t have a fair chance – seeing may not be believing when it comes to restaurants, but studies prove it can influence your dining experience. J.R.’s is fairly priced, and would possibly standout more if there was not so much competition in the same space offered by the SoDel Group of restaurants and others. That may not be a reasonable comparison, after all, restaurants stand on their own, not as compared to their neighbors, but even the tastiest of meals often suffer from the ambiance and setting in which they are presented. Nationally, 65% of all restaurants fail within one year of opening, and 80% fail after five years; J.R.’s will need to pick-up its game to survive in the finicky and competitive Delmarva restaurant market, starting with an investment in how it is presented. Its service is always friendly and efficient, and the food more than adequate, but you just don’t get the feeling you’re dining at a 'seafood shack.'‘ when visiting J.R.’s.; it instead has more of a diner look and feel, the appearance stale, boring, and vanilla. Sometimes in the restaurant business, boring atmosphere = boring food. Oh, we understand that by the time you’ve read this far, you may also be bored of our writing . . .
1500 Coastal Highway
Fenwick Island, DE 19944
302-550-3474
