What has Stella’s Fish Café become? It’s definitely not the same restaurant that it used to be. This could be considered bad or good (nice to keep things fresh, right?), but I’m not sure if I like the ‘new’ Stella’s. Back in its heyday Stella’s served up an awesome amount of seafood and was loved for their open rooftop patio. One of their specials even included free seafood (!!!) during certain happy hour evenings. The disappearance of this amazing deal may be due to the hard economic times, but Stella’s definitely drew a following from this deal and now that it’s gone maybe some of their customers have gone as well.

Personally, Stella’s has been hit or miss for me. When they first opened a few friends and I did an afternoon on the rooftop. We did some oysters on the half shell and cocktails and everything was great! Maybe it had something to do with the energy and the gorgeous weather, but our oysters were fresh, our drinks were refreshing and the service was great. Although the roof top was busy it was still fun and enjoyable. There are no happy hour specials on the roof top, but to take in some sun with some oysters makes the whole deal worth it. The inside is also fun and decorated like a classy sea shanty. There are two levels of tables with twisting metal staircases connecting the two. One negative is the bathroom is on the second level, but there is an elevator, so problem solved.

More recently our visits have become less enjoyable. I went once with my family for lunch. We all really liked the jalapeno skillet corn bread with honey and butter as well as the cheese curds and frickles (deep fried breaded pickles). The rest of the meal wasn’t too memorable. Our server was pleasant enough during this visit, but nothing was spectacular.

On another visit for happy hour beers and apps (see, we gave Stella’s tons of chances), my friends and I experienced awful service and poor food. The place was dead, but it still took us forever to get drinks. Our table was right next to the bar and we watched as the bartender completely ignored our ticket. We did a few apps (mini burgers and cheese curds) which did not impress. The whole restaurant also smelled usually fishy. And yes, I get it, we’re in a fish café, but fresh seafood should never smell fishy in a bad way. Overall the experience was mediocre and we haven’t been compelled to return.

My almost father-in-law is a huge oyster/seafood fan (like me) and I probably wouldn’t take him to Stella’s just on the off chance that we had another poor-smelly-fish experience. Overall, I really do like Stella’s for its ambiance and style, but their making it hard for me to fall in love with their seafood.

PS. I do enjoy that their phone number is 824-TUNA and their fax is 824-CLAM. Oh, the simple joys I find in life.

Excellent jalapeno cornbread and shrimp baskets. The sandwiches tend to be too squishy, though.