The food was terrific, the service was superb. Beautiful atmosphere. Treat yourself to a great experience.

We stopped by the Lobster Shop for Happy Hour/Early Dinner during our staycation on the Ruston Waterfront. I don't go to restaurants for views/ambiance, but I have to say both were fantastic here. I could not stop appreciating the design style of the interior, and admiring the gorgeous views of the water. We ordered the following for food: - Sweet & Spicy Crispy Shrimp (this is not on their website, but was in fact the only HH shrimp option we saw in person) - Ahi Tartare - Lobster Canape The shrimp was way too sweet for us, but the texture was nice. Ahi Tartare was enjoyable and refreshing on a 80-somethin day, but the star of the show was by far the Lobster Canape. They did not skimp on the lobster, and I appreciated that it wasn't downed in mayo. We were also given table bread which was a nice touch. The first loaf was a bit stale and tough, but the second was hot and delicious! Service was prompt, thorough, and friendly. We also enjoyed the Corpse Reviver and Old Cuban cocktails, along with a couple of pints. All in all, a very enjoyable experience!

One of my absolute favorite restaurants -- and absolutely my favorite place for seafood on the beautiful Tacoma waterfront. Everything there is always next level: the ambiance is absolutely lovely. It's always easy to park in their lot (some other waterfront restaurants have more crowded parking situations). Somehow you know, walking in, that you're going to have a 5 star experience. You feel the restaurant's long and lauded history in Tacoma in the bones of the place. Service: The host and hostess crew are top notch. My last visit, I had a blood sugar problem as we arrived at the restaurant and someone on staff immediately and discreetly provided assistance and a soda. I just love good service! Our servers have typically been very good as well. Venue: I thought the building was nice before and hadn't thought it looked dated, but now that I've been in since the remodel, I am very impressed with how it turned out! The new remodel shows off the elegance of the space and of course features breathtaking views of Commencement Bay, Mount Rainier, Vashon, etc -- even the tables near the bar have a nice view because of the terraced seating arrangement. The only place you don't get a view is the bar -- and even so, it's a nice looking bar! The real star of the show, of course, is the food! Where to start? It's all so good! So I'll start with my favorite appetizer: the crab cakes. The Manila clams and the prawn and crab cocktail are also very good. For the entree last time, we splurged on the Alaska king crab legs. I can't begin to tell you how good they were. Generous portion sizes-- I got the (delicious) Mac n cheese to go because I was so full of everything else -- with some leftover crab, I was in absolute heaven. I absolutely loved the scalloped potatoes -- oh it was all fabulous! This meal was far from budget... but I still say it was worth every penny. For dessert, I had the key lime cheesecake, and even my husband who hates cheesecake liked it. So I guess that wraps it up: Lobster Shop is the place on the Tacoma waterfront for that next level dining experience!

We made our way down to Tacoma to meet up with family. We went on a weekday for lunch and it was not too crowded. The Lobster Shop has amazing ocean views and the interior is just beautiful. The service was amazing and everyone was so friendly. We ordered the Crab Cakes, Oysters, Halibut, and the Soup and Half Sandwich of the Lobster Bisque and the Connecticut Lobster Roll. Everything was so delicious. The crab cakes were perfectly balanced and filled with amazing crab. I think my favorite was the Lobster Bisque and the Connecticut Lobster Roll. It was filled with tons of lobster that tasted super fresh. I highly recommend coming to Lobster Shop for a nicer lunch or dinner. Their views and food are just amazing.

Really great experience at this beautiful place on the water with some absolutely delicious food, great service and gorgeous ambience. We sat at a high-top in the bar, and even though we weren't close to the water, we still had a pretty nice and relatively unobstructed view. Our server, Sophia, was great at telling us all about the different oysters and flavor profiles of each one, as well as suggesting some drinks! I had a "gold fashioned", which was basically a variant of the old-fashioned, but with saffron bitters. It was delicious! My date enjoyed a gin martini, but with some drops of olive oil which perplexed and intrigued us both, but she absolutely loved it and had a second later on! when I saw crabcakes on the menu, I didn't even hesitate to order them and so those got started right away. They were some of the tastiest crabcakes I've ever had in my life! We weren't super hungry so she just had some oysters and I had a pork belly wedge salad, which tasted exactly as expected... Pork belly is a pretty incredible thing. I had to look at dessert and though I didn't really want any, all of the options listed looked pretty delicious... I figured we might as well share something even if we don't finish it. At the suggestion of Sophia we had a strawberry shortcake dessert, which was made fresh daily and absolutely incredible! One thing to make sure you know is the service charge... More and more restaurants are adding a 20% automatic service charge on the bill and though I don't think there's anything wrong with it, you just need to make sure you know that it's there. She was polite in informing us about it and we left a bit extra as well as we had such a great time. Definitely an expensive meal, but also worth it!

The space is gorgeous. Beautiful view. Wood beams, penny tile floors. Just stunning. We sat in the bar at a table. Bartender was casual but polite. Meal timing flowed well. Crab cakes were thick but fluffy and FULL of crab. I got side Cesar and French onion soup. I loved the fried capers on the salad and the soup was cheesy and silky. Hubs got half French dip and clam chowder. He said the soup was creamy and sandwich was beefy perfection. I want to come back just to try the rest of the menu!

If you're looking for waterfront dining with great seafood, then head over to the Lobster Shop on Ruston Way in Tacoma. If you plan to be seated in the dining room, a reservation is highly recommended. We arrived without reservations at 3pm on a Saturday, and even though the majority of the tables in the dining room were available, we were only offered a table in the bar. After drinks, appetizers, our main, and desserts in the bar, the tables in the main dining area, including the booths, were still available. I wonder if they would have turned us away if we didn't want to sit in the bar. Recommendations: (1) Try the scallops and pork belly. So good! (2) For dessert, the Bananas Foster was absolutely amazing!