Blue Stingray Seafood Restaurant

Wow, wow, wow - they get our "seafood snob" seals of approval! - 99 SANITATION GRADE (and we'd tried to look it up before driving all the way to Downtown Durham to eat). - Fish was cooked to perfection, and seasoned lightly and well. Scallops and oysters cooked so perfectly, they almost melted in your mouth. - Cute younger cashier was sooo sweet, helpful, and offered to let us taste the mac and cheese (yum!) before ordering. - Macaroni was quite good. I almost *never* order this out, because it's disappointing compared to homemade. Theirs was hot, sufficiently cheesy (cheese strings from forkfuls), and seasoned pleasantly. - Cook was pleasant, smiling and greeting us when we walked in, being very communicative, and thanked us for coming in, just as the cashier did. - Cajun sauce for the corn was GOOD. Used it to dip my seafood in, instead of tartar, etc! Great, great flavor complements. Everyone was well groomed and clean. Food was so, so good. If you check my other reviews, you'll see I've been searching for good seafood for a while. Wish this place was closer. Liked the a la carte ordering options, so you could build (or increase portions on) your own platter, and pricing is then comparable to other seafood spots and combo platters. I like that you get REAL sides here, that are seasoned and not boxed. And the seafood had a good, fresh flavor - not bland at all! This was our first visit. Only things I didn't like were the collards were very bitter, the green beans were bland, and one stall in the ladies' bathroom had it smelling all wrong in there. Everything else was perfect.

The food was superb the young waitress was helpful and patient with customers and very creative in her handling of situations that could have gotten out of hand. Finding this old favorite of Durham's and new for my family made me the hero of my house. The children enjoy the the muscles so much they struggle through the Heat I didn't inadvertently ask for. The expensive menu was ready in minutes and my expectations were set for the wait which wasn't as long as expected. One customer even had a sample offer to help him decide he knew he liked it when he took the second bite and we all laughed as he ordered more I must for a trip to Durham.

Seafood prepared simply, with a cajun flair. If you want it spicy you can get it spicy, but there are tamer options as well. The greens were great, and talking to the owners it comes from the homemade stock they use to simmer them down. I've tried lots of stuff made from that stock, and it all has a really nice depth of flavor - the effort they put into it is obvious.

Not from the area, looked up a seafood place & ended up here because of the ratings. It was awful. Customer service was bad, got an attitude when I asked nicely to change my sides from the bland potato salad and the canned glory greens to mac & cheese that was not cheesy and overly seasoned and green beans that were overly seasoned as well. I'm multiracial I love seasoned food, but too much is too much. Simply said I did not like my sides and would rather have the other two and got attitude "well have you tried the other two sides" (my first and last time going here) when I've worked in the restaurant business for 8+ years, all you had to do was dip the two items they were premade not like I asked for fries that had to be made fresh. The popcorn shrimp was over cooked, the fish (not done at all) & hush puppies (doughy in the middle) were undercooked but at that point I didn't even want to complain, or ask for my money back. I'm a foodie, an easy customer to please, and a great tipper but this place should not have the rating it has. If you love seafood this is not the spot for you. Should've went to Penn Station or Jersey Mike's instead smh