oyster bar & grille

interesting place that's a bit schizophrenic. the name would imply a seafood place, it is, sort of. they also feature grilled items. if it stopped there i might see the vision but throw in tex-mex and you kinda loose me. the tex-mex side could go away and i'd raise my vote, the last thing the area needs is more mediocre mexican food. the grilled food showed a lot of potential but everything i've ordered has been over-cooked and dry. the seafood again is on the right path but needs tweaking. the exception being the mesquite grilled oysters, they are perfect the way they are and the main reason i return.
service has been just ok, good enough i wouldn't complain, not good enough to commend.
not my favorite atmosphere, very bar-like, loud and crowded.
with so many good places nearby i would tend to write of the oysterbarbut those mesquite grilled oysters won't let me.

we used to eat here at least once a week.   then we slowed down to a couple times a month as the food was either tasteless or laden with oil.  seems  they had no grill pans to saute veggies so if you got them they were laden with oil so as to grill them on whatever.  finally we dropped to every few months because the food just went down and down except for a couple or three items.

well we did go recently.  seems (said our server) the owner upped the drink prices to almost double.  why?  because we were told, he felt they were in a high end dining district and he knew they were getting higher prices for their drinks and he wanted to "meet" his competition.  ah so--.

got news for him, he is not fine dining though all his prices have gone way up.  that i expect as they do that everywhere.  but to double mixed drink prices without white linens and napkins and proper glassware.  well, that did it.  if we ever go again to get one of the two or three items that are good, we will not have drinks.  this is a dive.  old, dirty, looks nasty.  tables jammed together, tv blaring all the time.  no, not fine dining.  like an old, dirty cornerbarwhere the servers do the cooking.  no chef!  unreal.  we are pretty well done and his business will do the drop and it will show soon.

the man needs to wake up and get his head out of the sand.  he serves crown and coke out of root beer mugs for gosh sakes.  and no martini glasses or large or decent olives.  just because the fine dining is all around you does not mean you are that.    well good luck, but i think it is downhill from here.  take heed folks, ask how much a drink is before you order anything, but water   a shame, but the place had been going down for years and i would say this will be the nail on the coffin.  again, good luck because you will need it.  you got nothing else.

not impressed.. the place was packed on saturday night and we thought that was a good sign. the oysters were very small. we ordered the champagne oysters and the bbq oysters. the champagne oysters were bland. the bbq oysters were bland tasteless oysters with bbq sauce on top. shrimp poboy was nothing special. puffy tacos were edible but also nothing special. the four of us were seated at a table in thebararea. the tables are tiny. we are average size people and felt like sardines packed into a tin can. this might be a fun place to grab a drink if you can handle the noise and being elbow to elbow with strangers. i will not be back for the food. i expected the oysters to be decent considering oyster is in the name of the business....

regular customers. funbararea. great drinks. definitely don't make the trip solely for the food though.

so, i decided to give the oysterbaranother try. this time it was a winner!! my advice is to stay away from the gumbo. but the fried shrimp were some of the best i've ever had! and i used to work in the french quarter. huge shrimp! but not over battered or seasoned. the frozen margaritas are every bit as good as superior grill. but at half the price.. i must give props where props are due. my first visit was not entirely satisfying. i still don't get mexican rice in a watered-down gumbo. but the oysterbarredeemed themselves with their fried shrimp and margaritas. cheers!


-----05 sep, 2012-----

i was very disappointed. the gumbo was not good, even for north louisiana. the roux was too light it was served with undercooked mexican rice instead of steamed white rice. the shrimp & oyster poboy is served with shredded cheddar cheese. and the poboy bread was not toasted. but the oysters themselves weren't bad. the waiter made us wait wait too long for the check. but at least the abita amber was cold.

rude newman and nate supervisor. my husband and i went there for an evening out. i ordered the combination po-boy with shrimp and oysters, which tasted very fishy. i toldthe waiter newman about it so he picked my plate up and sniffed it and then tasted my shrimp and stated it does not taste fishy to me. and i told him my tastbuds and your tastebuds are totally different. so i ordered the grilled pork chop which was burnt and that's when nate the supervisor on duty came to the table and stated it was not burnt and that is was just the grill marks. and i stated i know the difference between grilled and burnt food. he then told me im not making another plate of food because you have already messed up two and i said i didn't mess up anything your cook did. called the next day spoke with allen which i wasn't to satisfied with his response stating they both been there for 10 years and nothing like this has ever happen. i've been there to the oysterbarseveral times and never have i had an experience like this before in no restaurant. they were very rude and unprofessional to the third power. at this point i wouldn't recommend anyone to go there especially if you have to deal with them because him eating off my plate was way to much for anyone to stand!!!!!

i have not been back to the oysterbarfor some time but i would not recommend it to anyone. i have tried many items and none of them have ever impressed me. everything is greasy. very disappointing.

i was with a full car heading to atlanta, ga and we happened to stop by this town looking for food. the oysterbarcaught our eye on foodspotter, so we decided to stop by. the restaurant itself is a little hidden if you don't enter through the right plaza entrance, you might miss it; it's next to the mcdonalds. once we entered, the decor definitely made me feel like i was in an oyster bar. we were seated promptly and served tortilla chips and homemade? salsa to start off with. i ended up ordering a cup of the seafood gumbo and a new orleans french bread po boy sandwich with catfish meat. simply: it was delicious! the gumbo was dark and full of fresh oysters, accompanied by a cup of rice. the po boy came with homemade fries and the sandwich itself was huge! i definitely was stuffed and had to box the fries. i would definitely recommend the po boy if you've never had one. and if you like oysters, the seafood gumbo should be on your order list too. the sandwich meal and the cup of gumbo came out to $15, so the prices aren't bad (though not dirt cheap fast food prices, of course). definitely recommend.

top shelf restaurant. fun clientele. excellent drinks. attentive staff. as you would expect, the oysters - half-shell and fried - are excellent. (though i do stay away from the grilled ones.) the carne asada is without doubt the best in town. as are the chips (fresh and crisp) and salsa (just the right amount of heat.) next time i'll try the impressive looking po-boy.

sure beats the place nearby where the masses congregate for tequlia and comida mexicana. what more can you ask for? you'll find me here at thebarfrequently.