I went to Monty’s Seafood Grill in Ballantyne Commons a few weeks back. It was my first visit to Monty’s. Upon arriving, I noticed that the restaurant was really slow for 6:30pm on a Thursday night. I would have expected it to be busier. We were the only people in the dining area, although there were several people in the bar area. They had a $4 tapas bar from 5pm to 6:30pm on Tuesday through Saturday, which is probably why there were people in the bar area.

It was strange to be that slow in the dining area because they do run an all you can eat crab legs special on Thursday nights ($24.95). The Carolina Wing & Rib House was always packed during its Thursday night all you can eat crab legs special, so I suspected Monty’s would be the same. Perhaps people just do not know about it as of yet. They better find out in a hurry because I don’t know how long a place can stay in business as slow as they were.

I started with the bacon wrapped scallops. I got three scallops on a skewer that was served over a bed of diced pineapple, red onions and red peppers. The scallops were not what I would call large, but were perhaps slightly larger than average. The bed of pineapple, red onions and red peppers was amazing. It was simply fantastic. It made the entire dish worth getting. On the downside, it was a bit overpriced at $10 - especially in comparison to the other items on the menu. For example, my entree was only $17.95. The scallops would have been more appropriately priced at $7.

For my entree, I got the Grilled Mahi Mahi with lemon butter. They have several varieties of fish to choose from as well as several seasonings to choose from. The fish has a really really (really!) strong grilled taste to it. I agree with Hank Hill that you are supposed to “taste the meat, not the heat.” I don’t mind a little grilled or smoke flavoring every now and then but it should complemint the meat - not the other way around. The fish was moist and appear to have been prepared good other than the overly grilled flavor.

I also got shrimp scami on the side with were great. My other sides included mushrooms and asparagus, both of which were good (not great, just good). My wife ordered a filet which she also thought was good, but not exceptional.

For desert, we had strawberry cheesecake. It was pretty good, but would have been better with strawberries. It wasn’t spectacular by any means. In my opinion, it is difficult to find bad cheesecake.

I will probably try to visit Monty’s again in the future, but will likely do it for the all you can eat crab legs special, primarily because there are not a lot of places that have the special anymore.