So I’ve been hearing some buzz about a new spot that opened up fairly recently in Town Square (which is an outdoor shopping center with dining and other stuff to do, in case you’re not a local). It’s a short drive from the “strip” section of Las Vegas Blvd. and a fairly cheap taxi or Uber. The place is called Killer Shrimp and it features seafood dishes but offers quite a bit of other stuff too. After doing some research I discovered this place originally had one location in Cali, Marina Del Rey to be exact, which opened in the late 80’s and was family run. The place must be good if they decided to expand right? I say yes, and no.
I brought my friend along with me to dinner. He’s not picky, and he’s always happy to eat for the sake of my research. We walked inside and it was a little stuffy, cold, and dead (except for one loud group in the back). We wanted to sit outside anyways so we weren’t too concerned with the indoor vibe or lack of it in this case. We told the hostess we preferred patio seating, and she went on to say that the patio was full, and we would have to wait. The patio clearly wasn’t full? There were at least 4 or 5 vacant tables out there, but I assumed it was just confusion of the staff. I was right (as usual) wink*. It took about 3 whole minutes for another girl to come over and show us to an empty table outside. That first seating issue was the only thing that stood out to me as being unorganized as far as the service went. Other than that the wait staff did a good job overall. Moving on to the food and drink, the drink selection was run of the mill with $8-11 dollar glasses of wine, and beers costing $6 and up. The food menu was broken down into 2 sections. One menu was a list of the restaurants original dishes that they must have gained their notoriety from.
Killer Shrimp’s signature dish (as seen in the pictures 1 & 2) is whole shrimp seasoned with a special seasoning, and served in a special broth that’s supposedly been simmering to develop the flavor for some crazy amount of hours I can’t recall. The other few items on this short menu all feature the same spicy shrimp being used in other dishes. If $19 for a bowl of cooked shrimp sitting in broth seemed a little pricey you can shell the shrimp yourself and save yourself a whole $2. Uh, who wants to pick through a bowl of watery soup and pull shells off of your dinner while the liquid splashes everywhere? Come on. On top of it the shrimp were nothing amazing, and the plain bread that went with it was even more surprising?! The waitress told us that the spiciness in the traditional shrimp dish was rated by many as “level 7” almost as a warning. I’m not sure who they were getting these so called ratings from? It must have been a panel of toddlers. I would never use the word spicy to describe those shrimp, and I don’t know why they’re bothering to simmer this “miracle broth” for hours on end? I found it lacking in depth of flavor, and spice to be honest. The shrimp were fresh, and cooked well.
We decided to share 2 fish tacos, and an order of lobster mac & cheese (which is considered an appetizer portion). The fish tacos were completely basic with a flavorless sauce drizzled on top. I was bored to say the least. The highlight of the meal was by far the mac & cheese, which was amazing, and most certainly the only thing I found to be “killer” that I ate that evening.
Maybe I chose the wrong dishes to sample, or I was just expecting too much flavor from this place? I assumed I would be impressed by their signature shrimp in broth if nothing else? I sadly was not. I’m not saying I wouldn’t give it another shot at some point, or telling you not to give the place a fair chance, but I’m just not sure the excitement of the flagship location translated along with the food when they decided to expand Killer Shrimp.