Timeless Seafood Delights at Marietta Fish Market

It's easy to overlook established hometown restaurants, especially with all the noise that goes along with new openings. But there are reasons that icons last over time while most of the newbies last two years or less.

After a one-year absence, we returned to one of our favorite local seafood restaurants to be reminded why we love it so much.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

So after enjoying great meals in the past at Marietta Fish Market then staying away for more than a year, it was time for a return trip. And what we found reminded us why we've always enjoyed this long-time local favorite.

We usually visit popular and crowded restaurants during weekend lunch periods or mid-week dinners to avoid the largest crowds. But, given the huge kitchen and seating areas at Marietta Fish Market combined with very efficient service, we've never had a long wait regardless of our visit time.

For an appetizer, we chose the Bang Bang shrimp and calamari. The fried items were well-coated with a spicy, and yummy sauce.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

There's always a large selection of fresh fish to choose from, plus an expansive menu of fan favorites that includes virtually anything that swims. As active 60-somethings, we often will share an appetizer and one platter, always leaving stuffed like a fresh flounder and carrying home a to-go box for a second meal.

On this lunch trip, we started with a Bang Bang shrimp and calamari appetizer, then added a small grilled shrimp platter plus the honey-citrus glazed salmon and jumbo shrimp special.

As it turned out, that was WAAAAAYYYYYYY too much food for two of us, and we left with a huge to-go container good for more than one more at-home meal. And that was after we did our best to demolish the fresh, tasty dishes that were served to our table by the friendly staff.

Our Bang Bang shrimp and calamari included generous portions of both seafoods, fried to perfection and then tossed in a spicy and lucious mayo-based sauce that clung to the items with every tasty bite.

The grilled shrimp and salmon platter was moist and bright with a light baste of seasoned butter.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

Our grilled items came to us at the right temperature, moist and bright with a light baste of seasoned butter. And despite having both salmon and shrimp. neither was overcooked and rubbery, a common problem in big kitchens with under-trained staff.

The side portions were generous, but honestly only the tasty hush puppies are worth noting here. The others were good, but not spectacular. But hey, who goes to a seafood market for the sides?

As mentioned, we've enjoyed this local icon many times over our eight years in Georgia. On other visits, we've selected and always been delighted by dishes like Shrimp and Cheese Grits, the Seashore Combo, the seafood pastas and the original-recipe salmon croquettes.

We didn't plan well, so skipped dessert. But we snapped a picture of the dessert case as a reminder for our next visit.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

Our only disappointment here was that we didn't plan well enough to enjoy the fresh-baked desserts. So we took a picture of the dessert case as a reminder to plan ahead for our next visit.

You'll find Marrietta Fish Market at 3185 Canton Rd, Marietta, GA.