Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood and Crab — Restaurant in Austin

Truluck’s gives the underwhelming façade of high quality seafood and service. You’d do better to cook this food at home on your own and it would taste better. Very disappointing my server tried his best. They firstly sat us at the 6 top bar upstairs, thought it was nice at first but they sat us right where the servers have their POS system. It was very annoying hearing the servers continuously slam books as I tried to have a conversation with my date, the servers then began to speak and laugh very loudly and obnoxiously with no regard for the fact that customers were having dinner. Not a huge problem because I quickly asked for a different seating arrangement, I refused to compete with their vulgarity to hear my partner and for my partner to hear me speak. They moved us to a table and we finally began ordering. My date ordered a cocktail and the glass had a disgusting smell, she didn’t end up finishing her drink or ordering another as she was put off. They brought me the wrong salad and took about 10 mins to bring out what I actually ordered, leaving me feeling rushed to complete it. The appetizers were honestly better than the entrees. The pan seared Chilean sea bass looked very sad and mediocre on my plate, beer battered fish would have looked better and tasted better and my fish was not seasoned in the slightest, I fought through my entree. My partner got the blue crab stuffed lobster tails and she said it was very underwhelming and dry. For dessert I ordered the crème brûlée which I was very excited for as my dinner was so disappointing and for the price point I wanted to enjoy SOMETHING here… nope they burned the sugar on the crème brûlée so bad to the point where there was an overly bitter after taste left in my mouth hours after I left the restaurant. They did take that off of my bill though as I just didn’t eat it after one bite. As someone who has worked in finer dining and has experience in the kitchen and in front of the house operations, I can honestly say this is a very mediocre restaurant, as someone who has experience with prideful chefs, a lot of the items that I was served would not have even left the kitchen, if they cared, the managers would have also been very apologetic. You’ll do better spending your time and money elsewhere because at the very least you will probably enjoy your meal somewhere else. We ended up being in that restaurant for over 3 hours, solely because of service time… no one wants to sit in a restaurant for more than 3 hours, just waiting on your mediocre meals. There are so many good restaurants in Austin and I truly WISH I went to one of those instead...

A Complete Disaster – RUINED Our 10-Year Anniversary

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. This restaurant has been a special place for us over the years, but after how we were treated last night, we will NEVER be back.

We made a reservation well in advance and clearly noted that it was for our 10-year anniversary—a big milestone that took a lot of planning. We even arranged a babysitter so we could enjoy a rare evening out. Everything was set for a memorable night.

Unfortunately, as soon as we arrived in the city, we hit massive SXSW traffic. Anticipating delays, we called multiple times to inform the restaurant, but no one ever answered. We kept trying, knowing we might be just a few minutes late. Then, when we were eight minutes away, the restaurant finally called us—only to have the hostess give us an attitude about our delay. We explained we were minutes away, but her tone was already dismissive.

Navigating through the chaotic traffic and even getting to valet was a nightmare, but we finally made it—only to be greeted with pure hostility from the hostess. Instead of any understanding, she rudely informed us that our reservation had been canceled. No apologies. No effort to accommodate us. Just a smug attitude that made it clear she had no interest in helping or even acknowledging that we had tried to communicate with them beforehand.

We explained the situation, reminded them that it was our 10-year anniversary, and hoped for at least a little empathy. Instead, the hostess seemed to take pleasure in turning us away as if she was enjoying ruining our night. It was shocking. Not only did they refuse to seat us, but they made no attempt to rectify the situation.

After all the planning, the traffic, and the effort we put into this night, we were forced to turn around and drive home, our anniversary completely ruined. No dinner. No celebration. Just frustration and disappointment.

We have always loved this place, but the way we were treated was beyond unacceptable. We will never return, and we will make sure everyone we know hears about how they treat their guests. A reservation, a special occasion, and a loyal customer clearly mean nothing to them.

If you’re looking for a place that values customer service, compassion, or even basic professionalism—this is NOT it. Avoid...

Predatory waitstaff that gave non-service - as if their only job is to get you to spend as much money as possible and not about enriching your experience.

Went for a birthday dinner and stayed for 3 hours and not because we planned to. Service was painfully slow and the complete lack of clear communication was appalling. I asked for the medium stone crab claw platter at $64 but was told they were “out of the smaller portions” but somehow still had the bigger portions (make that make sense). I told the waiter that I didn’t want to spend $80 for the large portion and that I would take the prime king crab instead at $65. He then told me that it’s not enough for the entree (which is odd because it’s in a section on the menu for entrees) and that I should get the “full size” instead - I said sure. Turns out he meant 1lb of the market priced crab legs - nearly twice the cost of the $80 large stone crab platter at $130. But I had absolutely no idea until we got the bill. I couldn’t even question him about it or ask about price, since he grabbed my menu and walked away and I didn’t see him until our food was already brought out. I’m aware that I’m obviously in the wrong tax bracket to be dining at Truluck’s but I didn’t realize how predatory the upselling would be. We also sat and waited for 30 minutes after our dessert course for our check and no one came to check on us in that entire time. Someone from our table had to get up to bother our waiter who told us the bill had been closed out and we could go. But we wanted an itemized receipt so we waited even longer for this be to arranged. Not to mentioned the trash scattered around the bathroom and lack of toilet paper in one of the two stalls. If the standard for Truluck’s is mediocre food at extortionate prices, predatory upselling practices, slow and ghostly service - it’s a wonder how they’ve been around for so long.

Reply to GM response: I appreciate your response and your apology. This was a birthday reservation under the name “Jacob” on May 18th at 6pm. I agree that this would be an excellent teaching moment for your staff and I hope things will change...