pearlz oyster bar

outstanding charleston seafood restaurant - well done. first time visiting charleston and wish we had started with pearlz after having more than one strikeout. pearlz delivered, worthy of falling into the quality you'd find in new orleans' french quarter that can be described only by the word 'magic'. asked for umami oysters on the half shell (in lieu of blue points) and the shucker discovered a bag of bp that had arrived before the hostess could add them as available to the wall daily catch menu. nice touch. sampled the warm crab dip, oysters rockefeller, crab bisque, crab cake sandwich andfish'n chips. everything including seating and waiter service from beginning to end was top notch. this restaurant is very well run in my opinion, and they must pay buyers top dollar to get the great fresh produce and seafood. don't come here expecting to have the world's best steak or hamburger: this is a local seafood specialty restaurant and they do it very well. i would absolutely recommend this to anyone who appreciates a fabulous mix of southern creole / cajun / low country cuisine.

pearlz is a wonderful place to eat oysters in charleston.  there are many options in charleston (i am a local) for fabulous seafood and pearlz is right up there.  the restaurant is usually busy and the crowd is made up of many locals.  you will likely wait for a table in the evening. i've tried many menu items and everything so far has been great.  pearlz offers a great selection of oysters plus many other (fresh) seafood selections.  i love to start off with an oyster shooter followed by an assortment of oysters on the half shell.  they are served with cocktail sauce (of course) and mignonette.  they are always great! usually we just order a few rounds of oysters and cocktails until we are full so i haven't tried many other menu items.  it's hard not to repeat the shooter, half shell combo each time to try other items.  i'm sure everything is great.  i have ordered thefishtacos and they are great too.

no regrets. went to pearlz when they opened (4pm) for happy hour. tried their house beers which were good and cheap at only $2.50 fro 4 to 7. the oysters were dee-lish, as were their soups (new england clam chowder, seafood gumbo) and the tuna and swordfish tacos. there is plenty offishin thefishtacos - the meat comes out as one big slice in the taco which was a nice surprise. the atmosphere was good; agree with another persons comments about getting there early for happy hour because it does indeed fill up quickly. i would absolutely recommend this place for good food and a relaxed place to enjoy a few drinks.

died and went to oyster heaven. went to pearlz for the oysters (many varieties to choose from) stayed for much more. i had 3 different kinds of oysters,fishtacos, peel 'n' eat shrimp and monk fish. everything was delicious and fresh! wine list rocked too, many options and reasonably priced. although the place was packed on a thursday night, the staff was attentive and the food was served in an acceptable time.
if you love fresh seafood, go here as soon as you arrive in charleston and order everything!

pearlz's was a delicious dinner in downtown charleston! we had no idea that you had to shuck your own oysters, but it turned into a great learning experience and alot of fun! my husband had the grilled tuna and i had the fried shrimp dinner; both were fabulous! we also loved the happy hour menu and ordered fried oysters from that to go with out steamed ones as appetizers. both oysters were delicious with sauces we had never tried on oysters before. even though it's a bar, i was happy to know that they do offer a kids menu, even though one of our kids ordered thefishand chips from the regular menu. this is certainly a place you must experience while in charleston!

very very good and very reasonable prices. casual dining in a bar atmosphere but not "bar food."fishtacos were awesome and the homemade chips added an excellent crunch. service was great. hubs had the raw and streamed oysters and was quite pleased. we would go back.

not impressed. three of us tried the pearlz tonight for dinner. one had a combo fried shrimp/oyster dinner, while the other two tried a special consisting of 3fishvarieties offishplus scallops, on a bed of grits. the single dinner was ok, but the two specials were very bland. one of thefishwas very thin, and it appeared that all of them cooked for the same amount of time, therefore it was way overcooked since it was 1/3 the thickness. the grits were topped with a baked beans and sauce, and the the grits had a very strong lemon flavor. the lemon was overpowering for the grits, and it lacked flavor and seasoning as well. having grown up with seafood all my life, i was definitely disappointed with the meal.

we had pei oysters and the mixed grill. both were wonderful. everything was fresh, the preparation was spot on, not one piece offishwas under or overdone, they didn't try to cover up the taste of the food with unnecessary sauces or spices, and each piece was different. our plate included sea scallops (which were enormous), triggerfish, red snapper (my favorite), and swordfish. even the asparagus risotto was just about perfect.

the restaurant features about 8 different types of freshfishthat change each day. i chose grilled swordfish for my main dish which came with grilled asparagus and red rice. thefishwas thick and tender; however i found the rice to be a bit overpowering and spicy. when eaten with thefishor asparagus, it was really the only thing i tasted. overall, i would recommend pearlz if you like seafood as you can find most types offishand other sea foods on the menu.

best oysters in charleston & the best price. awesomefishtacos! you can't go wrong here.

altough i am not a fan of raw seafood pearlz has much more to offer then just a raw bar.fish& chips hit the spot, corn fritters are an absolute must, and the n.e. clam chowder was yum-o.