Rodney's Oyster House Calgary — Restaurant in Calgary

Food was excellent, but and I mean BUT, service was very poor. My wife and I booked a reservation and although the place was only 40% full they put us at the back of the restaurant where the chairs are cheap and ambience minimal. It took at least 10 minutes to even get our drinks ordered as we didn’t really have a server . Some other customers came in and sat at a table behind us and ordered almost right away. They came in 15 minutes after us and were finished appetizers and main meal before we had gotten our appetizers. I stopped a server and asked why this was and they said that my oysters that I ordered took time to schuck and also the crab we ordered takes a lot longer. When I pointed out that that table had oysters also they kind of didn’t know what to say. My wife’s main dish came out before her salad and they apologized for that. Our server went home half way through our meal and we had no one serving us. I flagged down a man behind the bar and he told us that there are not exactly any designated servers per table but that they all chip in for each table. As we sat there during our stay there were three other tables that someone literally got up from to find a server to either get the bill or some other item. I have never seen that many tables have problems with service. There was plenty of staff around but they seemed to look busy behind the bar area but definitely not serving tables. Some stood around and talked to each other when they could have been serving all these tables. I found the staff here friendly when you did get a chance to see them but by no means was there anyone in charge as it seemed to be a very loose and nonchalant staff. We have been here four times with the two last times having similar service. Will we be coming back to Rodney’s , no I think not. Our bill for just my wife and I was over $300.00 so it’s not like we were eating on the cheap. I usually tip 30% but today I tipped 15% and I am not sure why I tipped at all. All I know is I’m done with this place. The supposed server we had was inexperienced and really did not have any clue about serving. Tomorrow I will call this place and ask to speak to the owner as this is totally unacceptable, although I suspect the owner is probably absent most of the time. For a Saturday night and having 40% occupancy might be some kind of indication. I see the AGM has responded below so I will add a couple of more things here. I noticed that there was definitely profiling going on this evening, not something I really wanted to put on here but it needs to be addressed. Every table in this back section was there for a reason and it didn’t fit the target audience that I think they are looking for. I absolutely want nothing or need any compensation as that is not why I wrote this review. We eat out a lot and expect a certain level of service. Like I said, Rodney’s was only 40% capacity and there were plenty of servers, the fact that all the tables in our section had to seek a server out to pay their bill or get service is unacceptable. Or that an observable demographic was seated in this section, each it seems for different but identifiable reasons makes me wonder if it is systemic or just very poor judgement and service last night. Now if the AGM wants to talk to me they can look at my name on the bill that ordered the 2.25 lb crab, a dozen oysters, house salad and the Scallops and Shrimp pasta dish. It is not a common name as there are only three people in Canada with this name and I am easy to track down. But I truly do not want any compensation, that is not what...

This was on my list of restaurants to try and we went last weekend. The service was top tier, and was the most positive part of our dining experience. It was a dinner for three adults. Total cost was $460 with tip. Here is what we had:

Two orders of shrimp cocktail - It was shrimp cocktail nothing groundbreaking. Cocktail sauce was excellent. I noticed online all the advertised shrimp cocktails come with 6 shrimp, both of our orders came with only 4, so for $48 we got 8 total shrimp.

One order of calamari - Everyone enjoyed this and the sauce. It was excellent and looked as advertised.

13 Oysters - A place known for being an oyster house, I was a little shocked at the oysters and how they were served and presented. They were NOT cleaned properly, some were not even shucked off of the shell. When my husband went to apply lemon to his dirty oysters, the lemons given were rotten, they were literally brown and so dried up no juice came out at all. Our lovely server provided the table with fresh lemons.

Clam Pasta - Excellent

Two orders of lobster rolls - Online they looks really good and being from Nova Scotia I'm used to cold lobster rolls so I was excited to try them warm. We were told it was 3 OZ. of meat EACH roll and the ones we were served, we would be lucky if there was 3 OZ of meat between both rolls. The taste was good but again, not that I had a scale in my purse, but there is no way there was 3 OZ of meat. I weigh a lot of my food for meal prepping and I know what 3 OZ looks like so just keep in mind when you're paying $48 per plate that you're maybe getting 1.5 OZ.

Two orders of crème brûlée - The candied lemon wheel, it was advertised with DID NOT come on either of ours. Despite again not being as advertised, everyone enjoyed this.

2X Lighthouse lemonade - My husband LOVED this drink 2X 8oz rose wine - Good

The interior was clean, well decorated and spacious. Music was WAY too loud and we had to shout and yell over it to hold a conversation. Based off of the food we received I'm not sure if I would recommend this place, probably not, and I doubt I will return. I feel like we were underserved or shrinkflation has hit this place so hard they are not able to afford to serve as advertised. I expect what I order to come as advertised...

My girlfriend and I had dinner together Saturday night. Our experience was really great and I wanted to make sure I give credit to the people who took care of us.

A couple months ago I made a TikTok about how my girlfriend had a bad experience as a server. I promoted her Etsy store because I was hoping she could focus on that instead. The video went viral, and we both ended up having to grind every day for over a month to get all her orders done. To keep our sprits up, we talked about going to Rodney’s for a nice meal when we finally finished.

Our server’s name was Amethyst. After she introduced herself we actually said to each other that Amethyst was the kind of name you remember, which is great cause I can include her name in the review. She was friendly, attentive and knowledgeable, and we definitely felt like she cared about us as customers.

The food came out quickly, and I definitely want to praise everyone in the kitchen for doing such quality work. The oysters were shucked really well. Sometimes at seafood restaurants, oysters on the half shell don’t come off easily, or have shell in them, but we didn’t have any problems like that. The quality of the shellfish was also great. Super fresh and delicious. Mussels and fries were great as always. We also got the lobster roll and subbed chowder for the fries so we could have a bit of everything. We didn’t realize that the roll came with salad, but it was a nice surprise and had a nice minty dressing. The attention to detail was even there in the salad because the cucumber had been cored and there were no bad pieces of lettuce or anything like that. Just great food top to bottom.

In terms of drinks, the Caesar’s were top notch, so shoutout to the bar too!

After bringing us our bill, Amethyst actually offered us a complimentary dessert AND on the way out gave us some treats for the “full Rodney’s experience.” Our journey to the restaurant started in part to my girlfriend having a bad experience as a server, so it was really touching to have such a great experience as a customer at Rodney’s.

We will definitely be back!

-Alex...