Spenger's Fish Grotto
2.7143/5 (33 reviews)
1919 4th St
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 845-7771
Category: Seafood
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| Updated: |
October 19, 1999 |
| Cuisine: |
Seafood |
| Reviewer: |
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Relation: |
Not Related |
| Attire: |
Anything |
Reservations: |
Accepted |
| Ave. Wait: |
45-60 minutes |
Payment: |
Mastercard, Visa, American Express |
| Facilities: |
Catering, Seated Bar |
Phone Orders: |
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| Smoking: |
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Meals Served: |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Late Night |
| Seating: |
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Alcohol Service: |
Full-Bar |
| Type: |
Banquet |
Entertainment: |
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| Crowd: |
College, Family, Locals |
Atmosphere: |
Loud |
| Uses: |
Bachelor/ette Parties , Birthday Parties , Business Meetings , Private Parties , Weddings , Conferences |
Nearby Places: |
College |
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33 Reviews
REVIEW #1
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Avg. Entree: $15-20
Rating:
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February 2, 2007
0 of
4 people found this review helpful
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Overrated, only the name and atmosphere still remain. Made reservation
one week in advance and still waited 1 hour for a table, additional 1/2
for anyone to stop by. It took 1/2 hour for the drinks and when the food
did arrive 3 hours into the night...I would have chosen to package the
food for use in the next earthquake. Calamari dry and overcooked, all
main dishes left me wishing I was somewhere else...enjoying my meal.
$130 later and I felt like I had just given away a days wages and had to
go somewhere else to eat. This is the second bad exerience, thought
I would give it one more chance...last time the lobster wasn't
even cooked. No recommendation other than to stay clear...no longer
the Spenger's from 10 years ago.
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REVIEW #3
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Avg. Entree: $15-20
Rating:
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April 4, 2006
0 of
7 people found this review helpful
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Spenger's is now owned by the McCormick & Schmicks restaurant
chain. It is consistently good. Good selection of appetizers that
range from the healthy portabello bruschetta to the not so healthy
but equally delicious calamari with 3 dipping sauces (the green is
the best). Oysters, rare tuna, salads, etc. provide for a wide range
of choice. Fresh fish prepared in a number of ways is always available for entrees.
They also have a few land lubber choices that include rib eye steak and
meat loaf. My only complaint is that the menu is not too adventurous. I look forward
to and strongly suggest the halibut cheeks when they are in season.
The bar staff is second to none in the bay area and has made many patrons
into regulars. If you only come in to sit at the bar and snack over a couple
of drinks, your time will be well spent. The best top shelf offerings
I have seen in the area. Good location, great atmosphere.
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REVIEW #9
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Dan B.
Avg. Entree: $10-15
Rating:
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November 4, 2001
0 of
8 people found this review helpful
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Ah, Spenger's Fish Grotto, an East Bay dining tradition for longer
than I've been on this planet. What's not to like about this place?
Here's a list: 20 minute waits for a table when the restaurant
is clearly not full; staff (once you manage to flag one down and
beg him/her to take your order) unknowledgable about the menu
items; roving bands of bus help that you sometimes need to fight
(figuratively, of course) in order to keep your plates, sliverware,
and glasses; dishes that bear no resemblance to what was actually
ordered -- not that it matters much because everything is either
inedible because it's been undercooked or burned to a crisp.
Sometimes, traditions aren't a good thing.
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REVIEW #10
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sharon D.
Avg. Entree: $10-15
Rating:
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February 21, 2001
0 of
6 people found this review helpful
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Had lunch here after running errands on 4th street. The $5 million
overhaul has really spruced the old boy up. Booths, nice chairs,
more soundproofing. Reasonable service. However, I don't go
for the view, I go for the food, and thats why I gave it a 2 stars rating.
I had sauteed snapper off their lunch daily special ($8.95) list
and was shocked when it showed up and it was fried fish with a clear
sauce. To me, there is _nothing_ fried in the word "Sauteed".
Didn't send it back because it was lunch and we needed to go on to
our next activity. My husband's crabcake sandwich ($10.95)
was not tasty. Everything was beautifully presented (garnished,
side dishes of lightly steamed veggies, garlic mashed potatoes, )
but the flavor of both dishes were very flat. Like they didn't
use enough salt or spices. We really couldn't figure out why the
food was so beautifully presented, yet had such little flavor.
I'll might give them another try but it was disappointing.
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REVIEW #11
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Tom T.
Avg. Entree: $10-15
Rating:
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November 25, 2000
0 of
6 people found this review helpful
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Today we sat for the lunch menu. It seems better than before the
remodel.
OVERALL: 3.25 stars.
SERVICE: = 3.0 stars.
The service was decent. Our server was courteous, and was diligent
and fairly attentive. She made no mistakes and gave service that
was expected. The usual requests as to the water and coffee refills
were handled in a timely fashion.
FOOD: = 3.0 stars.
The food (especially dessert) is still holds the key winning
quality of Spenger's. The starter salad was abundant, made of
a clean mixture of iceberg lettuce, carrot slivers, and red cabbage,
under a creamy herb dressing.
Pan-fried Sand Dabs: = 3.0 stars. The delicate, lightly-breaded
sand dab filets were mostly fresh, but with some fishy ends. The
filet ends held a faint stale fishy taint (the sign of almost FRESH
fish). The entree was paired with FRESH, whole crisp green beans
and red peppers, with light, rosemary new potatoes halves, in
a delicate vermouth caper butter sauce.
DESSERT: = 3.5 stars.
The flourless chocolate cake, comes a close second to the "Chocolate
Volcano" cake at Skates on the Bay (see review of 15 August 2000
). This was a thick, dense RICH
chocolate heart-stopper rested amidst a pool of raspberry sauce.
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REVIEW #12
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Rob
Avg. Entree: $15-20
Rating:
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September 15, 2000
0 of
7 people found this review helpful
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With the reopening of the restaurant only one thing seem to change...prices.
The entrees seem to cost more, but the quality of the food is still
the same. Even for the choices of entrees seem to be about the same.
As for the service...well...if you enjoy "true" dining, then
you might like the service. However, if you want to visit and eat
at a Berkeley landmark, this is a nice place to eat at least once.
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REVIEW #15
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Jon F.
Avg. Entree: $15-20
Rating:
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June 29, 2000
0 of
5 people found this review helpful
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Oh brother. Well, Mom, Dad and I decided to give Spengers another
whirl for Father's Day, hoping they'd learned SOMETHING after
8 months in business under the M&S brand. What a show. Let it be
known, it was Dad's idea. . .
Let's see, after arriving a few minutes early and being told--oh,
there are absolutely no tables available at the moment in the
"High Room" (the old Main dining room) which we had requested
for the light (some of us are getting a little hard of seeing in
our old age, dear), dad wandered over to peek in while mom and I
sat in the bar to wait. Of course, there were at least 4 tables open.
Bar service consisted of mom ordering her scotch and me my very
old fashioned "Dubonnet on the rocks with a twist." (I know, I'm
a heathen, what can I say? I grew up on it). Anyway, after the cocktail
waitress asked me a second time how to spell Dubonnet, the Maitre
D-ette came to escort us to our table. No, the drinks can't follow
you--you get to start over with your waiter. Yeah, right, I went
with a G&T--it's easier to spell.
Now, to the dinner. After about a 10 minute wait, with no bread,
no water, no alcoholic beverages, or anything else on the table,
we finally were visited by our little waitron. After the beverages
were dealt with, Dad ordered a soup and then an appetizer, which
he clearly asked to be served as a main course. Mom and I split an
appetizer and each ordered our own entrees.
Dad's appetizer, of course, arrived first (yes, before soup
or even French Bread . . .). He had ordered the fresh sardines,
allegedly served with crostini.They of course forgot the crostini
and when they went to get them. . . well, let's just say "stale,
chewy french bread" and not belabor the point, shall we? Sardines
were very good, though. The soup arrived (slopping around out
of the bowl onto the plate) at the same point as our shared appetizer
(a not-bad shrimp and cheese quesadilla). No, the waiter still
didn't get it when dad pointed out the problem here. . .
Mom was worried about the shrimp precipitating a gout attack
(known to happen to me). She needn't have worried, I didn't count
more than one or two in it. It WAS good though. Dad's review of the
soup (allegedly a beef and vegetable affair) was that it was unencumbered
by any meat products in solid form. . .and a little salty, but not
bad.
Main courses now arrived. Mom had ordered the sole. I had ordered
the halibut. They delivered something different. To each of
us. We're still not sure what mom got, but she liked it, so decided
it was a keeper, even though it didn't match (even remotely) her
selected fish of the evening. I definitely didn't get halibut
(the fish they delivered had something blue at one end--apparently
a sauce or something, and I make it a point of not combining anything
blue with fish products) and sent it back. The new and improved
version was delivered with an announcement that the kitchen
had "messed up." Duh. It *was* halibut the second time around,
and pretty good, too.
At about this point, and for no apparent reason, the waiter elected
to bus Dad's bread plate, on which his knife was resting. Yes,
the knife went along for the ride. A random act of tidiness, I guess.
Dad resisted asking the waiter to cut him a piece of fish (as in
the old--"waiter, taste the soup" joke), and instead just smiled
benignly (a sign I've learned to read as usually a good point in
time to take a large step backward--he has a wicked backhand)
and asked for another one. But the sudden cleanliness fetish
didn't end there! A few minutes later, one of the bus-boys decided
it would be a good time to run one of those little carpet sweepers
under an adjacent table. We were quite amused, since the folks
sitting at that table had to lift their feet for said bus-boy,
and appeared quite surprised at the sudden attack on their tootsies.
I guess cleanliness is king in that place!
Let's see. Oh yes, our little waitron-unit never managed to get
us a dessert menu. He asked if any of us wanted coffee while mom
was still eating, and promptly did deliver them, along with the
bill. When picking up the bill, after I signed the credit card
slip, he also proceeded to bus everything except the bread (yes,
ladies and gentlemen, INCLUDING the coffee cups. No, ladies
and gentlemen, we were not offered refills. . . guess our time
on the table was up or something).
I spoke with a maitre d'ette on the way out (I wasn't really pissed
at this point, just kinda amused an curious) and was informed,
"oh, that sounds quite unusual" when I described our experience.
I agreed--what else could I do at this point?!
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, we get to parking lot (yes, I had them
stamp my ticket) and the nice lady over there proceeds to say "one
dollar." I looked at her kinda funny, and she said--"you get 90
minutes with validation. You're 3 minutes over. One dollar."
So, what would YOU tip? Seriously, at $70-plus for the above mentioned
2-1/2 dinners (without drinks, or dessert), I DO expect a little
better than that. I will not be recommending Spengers at this
point, except possibly for someone to do a walk-through to see
the museum inside--certainly not to sit through a meal like this
one. I probably won't be trying it again either, except under
duress. In the glory days, on a Saturday night, the place would
be jumping. The night before Father's Day, there were empty tables,
and *not* a huge line at the door. The food IS good, but the service
is so bad (and this was my 3rd effort to give them a chance to redeem
themselves for prior awful service--don't even wind me UP about
the last time I ate there) that it just isn't worth it to me. You
can get as good food at other places in the Bay Area for the same
general price point, and sometimes less.
Really too bad. I used to love the place.
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REVIEW #16
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Paul L.
Avg. Entree: $20-30
Rating:
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April 21, 2000
0 of
7 people found this review helpful
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The staff are either racist or incompetent. All the bus boys were
minorities. We did not get any service for the first five minutes
- no water or I'll come back in x minutes. I'm lucky I did not bring
any clinets there or I would have been so embarassed. This in not
the type of service I'm going to pay for, especially when their
market is for middle class incomes and higher.....
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REVIEW #17
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Paul V.
Avg. Entree: $15-20
Rating:
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January 30, 2000
0 of
8 people found this review helpful
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Spenger's is BACK!!! and it's better than I can ever remember.
Our
family helped Frank senior start the business, so we've been
going
from the beginning. Granted, it had it's ups and DOWNS when it
came to food over the years, But, the new owners have corrected
that
nicely. While maintaining the same funky naughtical flavor,
and
the dark hide away bars that invite you in for a quite drink in a noisy bar - they have out done themselves with the food. The menu still has the same feel and look, but the execution is superb.
Our
recent visit was with a group of 7 adults and 2 children. Everyone tried something different and the consensus was the same, Excellent. Now you may not care for the Boston Clam Chowder, "a little thick
and
starchy", but to those of us that have dined at Spenger's for over forty years, it nice that it tastes/smells & feels the same.
The new booths that have been added throughout the restaurant
are
a very nice change. They add calm in what used to be a noisy atmosphere.
I say Hurray for the new Owners. I strongly urge you to put this
on
your not to be Missed list.
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