Reviews of Carolina Meat & Fish Co. (Fish Shop)

Leslie

I am going to rant bc this is worthy of a rant! We ordered 2 seafood bags last week at Carolina Meat & the Fish for our Feast of 7 Fishes Christmas Eve dinner. The woman specifically put away the remaining dungess crab legs for my bag bc the wouldn't be getting anymore. We were told to pickup before 3 today. My friend waited on a pickup only line for over half an hour only to be told they're not ready!! When we ordered there was NO mention of, "before 3 but not before___..." They recommend pre-ordering, which usually means pickup, not wait in line to wait even more for your pre-order to be put together. Noone has time to wait, go back & forth or cook individual fish meals on a major holiday without planning ahead. So, they kept taking orders before filling existing orders and I am told they did this last year, also!!! And instead of calling customers, they posted online that some orders may not be filled as ordered! Our Feast of the 7 Fishes got cancelled. After dozens of calls we were lucky to find a reservation at a nearby restaurant. So, my recommendation is to not depend on Carolina Meat & Fish for a holiday/special meal. RESPONSE: We didnt stiff you....a pre-order is a pickup...not come back in about 30 minutes on the busiest day of the year and we'll have it ready. What is the purpose of pre-ordering?! Pre-Orders should be ready before you open your doors. And my FRIEND (not boyfriend so don't make more assumptions!) is a very patient, professional person who was also shocked by your business practices. And to not call and apologize but bully me instead is a clear indication of their lack of professionalism! I have never seen a company react to a poor review like this! And the majority of the remarks agree it was wrong & other's poor experiences with this same issue! They conveniently left those out and attacked my character & bullied me instead of apologizing and reporting what steps they're going to make to resolve this ongoing problem! What kind of professional .... what company reacts by calling the customer names bc they got a poor review?!!!! SMH (See Harry Damare's account of what happened).

Travis Graham

Today was my first time here and it will not be the last. I purchased a ribeye and I must say it was the best steak that I have had in a very long time. If you are looking for an exceptional steak do yourself a favor and stop here.

Michelle Keough

Wide variety of fresh

Jack McHugh

Highest quality!!!

M. Mason

First time I came here. The signage states 'fresh' but the moment you walk in you are smacked in the face with the rotting smell of fish. The store was small and crowded with miscellaneous stuff. Not much of a selection of steak or fish either. Edit: the response from the 'owner' should be enough to not give any business but reviews are ment for improvement. I was not being rude and don't do the Carolina condescending "bless your heart' But thank you & I wish the best for your family and store.

Peter Yacavone

Extremely fresh fish and friendly staff

Benjamin Hodes

Always fun things to discover in this local market. Lot's of local products that you can't find anywhere else, except maybe a farmers market. The seafood and meats are second to none, always fresh and amazing. They make cooking so easy and make me look like a really good cook. Last wee I got some elk steaks from here, you'll find a lot you'll love here.

Kris O'Brien

This place is truly incredible. I just had the most amazing lobster roll I've ever had, and I'm a former lifelong Bostonian. Their cod is just like back home at Red's Best. It even smells like home, the ocean! I've tried some of their other local fresh fish and everything has been amazing. It's like I'm back in Boston again, but I'm in Charlotte, yeah!! Thanks Carolina Meat & Fish Co, you have made this transplanted seafood lover very happy. #FishMarket #Meatmarket #CharlotteNC

Monty Ownbey

Great service and fantastic meats!

Yalonda Hen

Seafood is fresh. Great selection and prices, however do not be fooled by the pics of the lobster roll. This is why I give it a 3. When you order it, they give you the roll separately and a container of the lobster salad for you to put it together yourself. Was not what I was expecting. Its tasty once you squeeze lemon on it and a pinch of seasoning, but VERY misleading if you go off the pics on the website. I'm sure it's a reason it's done that way, but it's something I would have liked to known ahead of time.

Joanna Tuck

My family and I care about local, grass fed beef. Which is why we're so glad we found the Carolina Meat & Fish Co in Ballantyne. Great selection of grass fed steaks, friendly staff and well informed of their products. We used to shop at the local butcher, but have stopped completely as the flavor and prices here are much better. They also have a huge selection of fresh seafood and good wine selections.

Harry Damare

I am the "supposed " boyfriend of Leslie from the Dec 24th post. I just attempted to digest both sides of this fiasco, and since the gentleman writing this did not serve me, allow me to speak for myself. Leslie and I placed our orders "3" days earlier. Spoke with the owner's wife. Said I would be picking up the orders Mon morning. I arrived around 11:00 on the 24th. There were two lines. One for preorders and one for walk-ins. Common sense should dictate that preorders would be ready when the customers arrange to pick them up. Figure 3-5 mins a customer to pull there order and ring them up. There were three people in front of me, and it took "45" mins for me to be waited on. When I finally made it to the counter, the lady looks at me and says "I remember you, your order is not ready." No apology, or estimation of when the order could be ready. I told her I have a full day and can not make it back. I will see how my friend wants to handle this. THATS IT for my part. As for the owner claiming "he stiffed me" defamation of character aside, why on Earth would I pay in advance on the "busiest day of the year" expecting my order to be filled when they couldn't fill it placing the order three days in advance.

Chelsea Wells

Carolina Meat & Fish Co is the best place in Charlotte, NC to get actual fresh fish, especially from the NC coast. I'm a fan of the wild caught Trigger fish and their local selection of steaks and meats, especially the Brasstown Beef meats. Friendly and very knowledgeable staff, always willing to help me with a recipe or recommendation. They have great wine selections too, not huge, but what they have is really good, priced right.

Anastasia D

I drove 40 miles just to pick this Charlotte-famous recipe Lobster roll up, sold for $18, pre-ordered online (they were out of stock last Friday!)! One of my friend even asked to pick her order up for her and her husband, as they were also curious about the hype. Well, even I, a sucker for lobsters and crabs, can't justify the price for this tiny sandwich with the basic hot-dog bun! So sad Corner Grind cafe in Pineville got closed, their lobster roll was superb! Another con - they don't answer phone calls and don't return your voicemails. The staff was quite nice when I picked the order up though

Rae'onna Storm

Where do I start?! The follow up on orders was beyond bad, but the reviews and website had me totally sold. I was to receive my order on a Friday and was told it hadn’t came in on Saturday afternoon. When I called on Monday, I was told that it had arrived. I live over 20 miles away. When I arrived the young man behind the counter was clueless. He had no idea where anything was and when he located my crawfish, they were dead in a net. They hadn’t been sprayed with water or properly stored. The young man was angry because I wouldn’t purchase the crawfish and expressed my concerns with the policies and procedures... while I was there he was communicating with the owner whom he stated had been out of town all week. As a small business owner I would be disappointed ☹️ 5 days later , no one has called me to rectify the situation. Several of the items weren’t properly refrigerated and the store had a very foul smell.

pat flat

Best fresh seafood in Charlotte! Also some unusual wines and other unique local items. I love to support a small hard-working professional business Way to go guys!!

Tracy Winborne

Excellent service...

Ethan Adams

Is it the cheapest around? Probably not. But what it is is the best quality seafood you'll find in the Charlotte area. It's also nice that you can actually get live crawfish from them in season for a price that won't kill you. Good options on local goods as well.

Matt Tepera

Great place.

John Howell

Nice selection, very friendly

Gary Gergal

Great flounder, shrimp and oysters we bought for our low country boil party last weekend. Yummy and fresh out of the NC water a day ago.

Chris Famous

One of the best seafood markets in Charlotte. Always fresh NC/SC caught fish and shrimp and the prices are pretty good too.

Allison Seidel

Best place in Charlotte for steaks and oysters, and don't forget to get a lobster roll on Friday, incredible.

Paula Moore

This is my first time ! Love the place! Just got 2 steaks! Would recommend! I am from Michigan moved due to my job and is fresh!

Morgan Bowling

The best fish market in Charlotte for fresh local seafood. Try their shrimp boils, or New England boils for sure. Local beef, just simply amazing meats and steaks. I get all my live lobsters, my fresh made pastas and local farm fresh brown eggs here too. A Ballantyne gem and family run business with fair prices for the products they carry.

Anthony Vella

I'd give it 4 stars but the prices are pretty high. A few times it's worth it, but not always

David Sabato

Dude. You might want to consider serious psychological help. Final Update 2/20: You already had a few chances to make this right. I stand by my review. I am no longer wasting my valuable time going back and forth. The owner refuses to respond to my valid questions. Some of us have actual careers that don't allow us to waste time during the workday. My review is to warn others of your lack of customer service and you really just proved my point. And you are right, David Sabato is my partial legal name. You won't even use your name here or on Yelp and you're the business owner! (end final update) I have a few questions for the owner who blasted me (below) after my initial review and the only way for me to respond is to edit my review. My original review is on Yelp. 1. Are you or are you not the same person/business who ran Crabtoberfest in October of 2016? My friends, partner and I attended and it was a complete failure. We received no crabs and waited hours! You promised refunds and went back on your word. A simple google search of the event will tell people we weren't alone. You lied. Your Better Business Bureau reviews will tell the same story. 2. On Yelp the owner of your store is listed as Toby. Who is Toby? On your store's social media accounts and a simple search on NC Secretary of State website lists the owner as James Seidel. 3. Why was my partner Michael told not to come back to your store after he called to tell you about our tainted fish purchased there? All he really wanted to do was make sure no one got sick but truly felt like he deserved a refund. The person he spoke with was so rude, and now coming back at me with an attack on here is proof enough this is how you run your business. 4. I experienced bad service in your store last August on my very first visit and instead of apologizing why did you attack me? I was ignored. Maybe your store has changed inside since I was there, but that was my experience. 5. Do you call all of your customers with a bad experience liars? Do you call anyone who might not like your establishment a bully? What a strange way to deal with unhappy customers. 6. Why is there a photo of a guy at a fish market in Iceland connected to this page? 7. I am very much from New York City and the immediate area, so is my partner. Why is that relevant to my complaint? To tell me I don't exist is not going to make my valid complaint go away. Your response makes absolutely no sense. I do not recognize any of the names you listed... except one and she is my 86 year old Aunt Diana who lives in Upstate New York and doesn't even know how to use a computer. You clearly have some issues that are not relevant to this particular review. I stand by my review of one star because zero is not an option.

Barbara Chue

Bought cod here last Saturday afternoon, 8/3/19. The young man who waited on me was extremely pleasant and polite. He did not, however, know anything about the products like if shrimp was farm raised or wild caught, how long to prepare the stuffed clams, etc. TO TOP IT OFF, THE COD WAS NASTY, SPOILED, TOTALLY SMELLED LIKE AMMONIA. IT WAS INEDIBLE AND HAD TO BE THROWN AWAY. Will not shop here again. So disappointed.

madeline

Friendly and knowledgeable staff, great selection of steaks and the only place in Charlotte to get actual fresh NC seafood. Ask if you don't see something, they can order it for you.

Erin Espinoza

Carolina Meat & Fish Co has an amazing selection of fresh seafood. The owner is a very pleasant man who took the time to explain the different species of fish and how to prepare them! He also paired the perfect bottle of wine with my fish. I will def be returning!!

Alex Williams

We absolutely love this place and wish we lived a bit closer so that we could go more often. The freshest seafood and meat you can find and some unusual items. Can't say enough about these folks.