S & D Oyster Company — Restaurant in Dallas

I came into this restaurant after searching for a seafood place in the local vicinity to the Reunion Tower and the Ross Perot Museum. This place is close to both. There is parking along the side of the street and two parking lots less than a block away specifically for S&D. I went during lunch time in the middle of the week during the summer, and the restaurant was very quiet, and slow. I saw there was seating outside, a nice size dining area, a separate bar with seating and a 10X10 lounge equip with a sofa, in addition to the TWO separate parking lots made me VERY confident that this place is JUMPING during a nice evening or a weekend. The inside was very well lit and decorated in a quaint way. There were ships along the wall and ceiling and the tables were adorned in red and white plastic picnic style table clothes. They do sell seafood and they are called S&D OYSTER Company, so there may be a little messiness in the eating involved. I came in and there was one other couple there and I was asked if I wanted to sit in the bar area, I agreed, which was a little silly to me cause there was NOBODY there, but whatever. I took a few pictures, (Perfect since no one else was there) and I was very happy with being able to take shots on the inside. Once in the "Bar" area, I was seated next to a window that also let out to more seating on a patio. There as lights strung along the trees, so I know that it’s very relaxing at night but it had been raining the day before so sitting out there was out of the question. There was seating at the bar, tables near the bar and then there was a separate dining area (within the bar space) that had tables & chairs, along with a sofa. Also giving all a VERY VERY welcoming and relaxing vibe. This was my first time coming here so I had to carefully look at the menu and decide what would be the best thing for me to experience in Texas. The waiter (who had NOTHING ELSE to do) seemed to rush me a little bit and that made me a little uncomfortable. But I’m a little slow…and that’s life. I just took my time and let him know when I was REALLY ready, because he asked me more than 5 times if I was ready. Eventually I settled on the Oysters on Half-Shell Half-Dozen (DUH) which BTW were THE BOMB! The same waiter, redeemed his earlier haste by making the S&D specialty oyster sauce that was not what I’m use too but VERY delicious! Freshly made at the table a combination of Horseradish, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, Heinz ketchup, McIlhenny Co. Tabasco hot Sauce yet I even ate the some of the sauce with the crackers that they have at the table. I also settled on the Crabmeat Maison which was Jumbo Lump Crab in Creamy Maison Sauce on a bed of Lettuce, I got the lunch portion and it was very small, yet perfect for me. I also got a chance to taste the Gumbo, it was in a dark rouge and didn’t have enough seafood in it for me but overall it was delicious. Because I am not a local and there is so much more of Dallas to discover I will probably not come here again but it was a nice experience. Hope you enjoyed reading this review, if you did…it the thumbs up! Or...

We ordered LOTS of food since there were a lot of people in our party but I will have to say that the only thing that I enjoyed here were their fresh oysters and french fries. We got mixed platters, fried oysters, fresh oysters, cheeseburgers, and a couple of their "loafs" which are basically po'boys. The cheeseburger patties were not made in house, the seafood platter was not enough food for the price, their fried oysters were teeny tiny and a bit disappointing, and their fresh oysters were ok. Our server was an older gentleman and he was quite rude. When we asked for something he would be very sarcastic and condescending. When my sister asked him for the check so that she could take care of the tab for everyone(because she wanted to buy the family dinner in discretion) he told her to "go have a seat." There was no "oh, ok I will have it right to your table", or "I'll have it right out" .. Moving on .. the pricing is not cheap for and the service was just slow ... even when it came to the timeliness of the food being brought out to our table. The restaurant was not even 1/2 full so that was a bit surprising. They serve you little pieces of butter in the beginning so I asked if there was some kind of bread and he said "no" so then I asked what the butter was for. Our server pointed at the saltine crackers on the table and said "crackers." phew~ What a way to make your customer feel like a dumby!! Anyways .. we got some kind of spicy shrimp spread that was on the appetizer menu and that also did not come with bread so don't ask or else you will be made to look very very silly! Parking is limited and their restroom was not super clean. They do accept major credit cards and if you really crave some raw oysters then this is your place to go if you don't mind all of the stated...

Very disappointed with my food here today. I'd love to go in depth, but I'll just give the bullet points:

Iced tea is excellent Coleslaw is excellent French bread is excellent

The "bbq" shrimp is essentially a roux made entirely of black pepper and butter, and is so spicy it's unpleasant -and with 5 small shrimp, it's quite a pricey dish for $14.50.

The gumbo - MAN, I wanted to like it - is just poorly seasoned. The base of the gumbo is tasty, but the seafood inside is gummy and bland - except for the overpowering "fishy" taste that lingers on the palate.

The hush puppies, which are my favorite staple of southern creole cooking, here were just grease-soaked sponges. There was a hint of good flavor, and I could tell that if the frying had been executed just slightly better, they would have been delicious.

My sandwiches - 3 mini portions of the fried shrimp, fried oysters, and crab - left very much to be desired. These sample portions of the larger plates, were more bread than substance, and I'm talking the straight-out-of-the-package, slightly chilled mini hamburger buns you use for an impromptu kid's birthday party.

Overall, I think this place has a quaint and friendly atmosphere, but desperately needs an update to some outdated menu items. Give it a try, support this local business, and decide...