12/30/08

Humiliating Experience

by lilyetscooter

I've been going to the Oyster Bar for 10+ years and have never had an experience so bad or humiliating as the one I had today at lunch. After waiting 45 minutes for our food, we got 1 of the 2 dozen oysters we ordered and were missing the panroast. The oysters we did get were an incorrect order and looked as if they had been sitting out open for quite a while. When I complained I was met with a resounding "Aaawwww" from the entire bar staff. Upon complaining to the management they nitpicked our check and were inept at resolving or addressing the problem. Sadly I feel as though this is a NY Classic in name only anymore and in all my years of eating in NY have never had an entire waitstaff humiliate me in such a way. This ranks in the top two worst dining experiences I've ever had in NY. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

11/08/08

Just Great

by rogertaste

a ny classic - you'll never go wrong here. a bit more on the formal side but very very tasty. i've had several seafood dishes here, all of which were top notch. will have to revisit to provide more specific commentary.

• Pros: food,service

10/14/08

Excellent...

by lfelixx

I am in love with this place! We came last week and mixed green salag with beefsteak tomato- - SUPER GOOD! You have to get it when you go! I had the broiled Florida red grouper filet with

peekytoe crabm and pancetta eat wine sauce, 5 grain rice and tiramisu and it was AMAZING! My friend had the lobster and it was just as good (but mine was better). I cannot wait to come back!

• Pros: food,staff,business dinning

08/11/08

yUMMYYY

by tomrady75

moderately hung over on a sunday? Well go somewhere else, can't help you. I want the window seat at Grand Central ! You can't have it. Sitting here with the friendly staff, yummy crab, and wine just made my day.

06/30/08

Worst dining experience ever.

by pwhynot

Dreadful experience. One appetizer did not appear. Mains arrived cold with accompanying dishes (spinach, french fries). We all had ordered fillets of various fish. told the waiter they were cold. He took them away and left the spinach and french fries on the table, presumably to get as cold as the fish was. Back came the main courses. Same pieces of fish that were now hot but so over-cooked they where inedible. Accompanying dishes were by now stone cold. Sent them back to the kitchen.

We decided then to complain to the management who it turned out basically couldn't care. Called for the bill which came up with all charges included. Couldn't believe this. Couldn't wait to get out of the place.

NYC has sooooo much better to offer than this sad place

• Pros: Being able to leave the place
• Cons: The food, the price, the service

06/17/08

THIS PLACE SHOULD BE SWIMMING WITH THE FISHES

by wise1too

In NY fresh fish is nothing special. What this place does with it is a crime. The Oyster Bar is a NY institution but sadly its reputation is all based on the past. Today the place is an over-rated, over priced tourist trap. Poor service on top of the poor quality of the food adds insult on top of injury. Hopefully the place will shape up one day and become the treasure it once was. For now though leave it as buried treasure.

• Cons: poor chefs and even poorer service

06/14/08

NEVER GO THERE....HORRIBLE SERVICE...DISGUSTING FOOD....UNION STAFF MISTREATING YOU

by didiecou

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE - HORRIBLE STAFF - DISGUSTING FOOD OTHER THAN THE OYSTERS......

STAFF: the staff is part of the union and believe they are untouchable - and it shows..

1/ after ordering some wine by the glass the waiter didn't return within 10 minutes...we tried to ask the other waiter who at first pretended he did not hear us

we then waived our arms to see how far this idiot will go to ignore us

he then could not get away, we asked him about our drinks he didn't even answer but point out with his finger that the other guy was the waiter

2/ as those idiots were rushing everyone to go home - they dumped our main courses while we were finishing up the oysters

3/ sole!!!!!!!!!!!! badly prepared - vegetables - lol - disgusting

4/ the wine - besides the fact that we had to serve ourselves our own $200 wine bottle....the busboy another idiot came and took the bottle from our table while 10% of the wine still remained....i had to yelled at him to bring it back....he look at me like he was ready to start a fight...idiot

5/ then the desserts....we had to ask twice to see the desserts...waiters told us he will see if we can still order (it was 10 pm)...pecan pie,chocolate mousse cake....lol....we passed

6/ waiter rushes and bring the check...we leave $20 on a $400 check.....wanted to leave $0....waiter came to ask why?....idiot

Manager....was half asleep...never walk in the dining room....we didn't bother to complain to him...dude is close to retirement and just like all of them does not give a dam

• Pros: the worst

03/11/08

Horrible...

by wai_hung

My wife and I decided to pop in on a Friday night a couple of weeks ago since we were in Grand Central Station and had nothing planned for the evening. We strolled in and were seated immediately, but unfortunately the dining experience went downhill from there. We sat there for who knew how long before someone even bothered to offer to get us some water. While we sat waiting for service we went through the menu and it looked promising enough with probably the biggest selection of oysters I have ever seen. We ended up order probably three dozen oysters from the raw bar as well as an appetizer and a fish entree from the kitchen. My wife LOVES oysters, so I was shocked when I saw her gag on a couple of pieces. I can't remember exactly which ones they were, but they were terrible and she had to actually sp*t them out. The cooked entree was edible, but the fish was totally void of any flavor. We quickly finished up and asked for the check, paid and made a promise to ourselves to never dine there again ever.

If not for the prime location attracting the tourists (and the bored locals), this restaurant would have closed up shop ages ago.

• Pros: Location
• Cons: Food... need I say more?

02/04/08

Nice location, Ho-Hum everything else

by king_rat

Imagine this: A tourist trap that also has a loyal local following. That's how I'd size up this place. For the money, I'd really rate this place one star.

• Pros: Location, Ambience
• Cons: Poor service, ho-hum food, expensive

01/08/08

LOUD & Average Food

by qtgurljny

I know this place is somewhat of a New York favorite but, honestly I thought it was average. I had the fried oysters, fried clam strips and chowder. The chowder was good but, have had comparable and the oysters nd clam strips were a bit..."overfried" for me. The arching, cavernous space would have been beautiful and it was something I was excited about, except for the fact that it becomes a giant tuning fork, echoing sound after sound through it's underground cavernous space. Some might like it but the food and the fact that it's just too loud in there, don't do it for me.