Big Oyster Brewery — Restaurant in Delaware

We had a shocking experience at Big Oyster. Feel free to read to the end of this review for the full story. I was visiting my parents in Lewes and they suggested stopping here before dinner for drinks and appetizers. We stopped at the host station and they said there was space at the bar and to go ahead to seat ourselves. We proceeded to the bar and there were no barstools, but there was an open pre-set high top we decided to take. We waited for a few minutes (expecting the bartender) until a waitress came over. Since the host didn’t give us any menus, I had gone back to the host stand to grab a food menu. When the waitress started to take our drink order, she made an odd comment that she waits longer to serve people who seat them selves. We didn’t really notice why she said that until later. We ordered beers and a couple appetizers including a flat bread since it was flat bread night, as advertised as the daily special on the table stand which said “Wednesday-choose one our flat breads for $9.95”. At the end of our meal, we got the check and it had a full priced flat bread. I pointed this out to the waitress, and referred to the vague posting that clearly indicated it was $9.95 flat bread night. She said the crab flatbread was not included and that she wouldn’t do anything. She said there’s a menu up front that had more information, and if we hadn’t seated ourselves, we would’ve known what she knew. I kindly explained to her that we had no knowledge of the other menu and the posting on the table listed no exclusions so an ordinary customer wouldn’t know which options were not included. She stomped away in anger saying she was going to “get the manager to deal with me”. Our party was a little shooken by her attitude. The manager came over and figured out the situation, thankfully. He fixed the $3 discrepancy on our check and took payment. We were a little surprised about all the fuss we had to experience due to a menu error/complexity, that seemed to not be an isolated incident. Anyways, on our way out, the waitress was standing at the host stand and condescendingly said “I hope you enjoyed your flatbread!” to me and my parents. My jaw dropped. We were all shocked that someone, especially in this situation, would make such a rude and hurtful comment to paying customers (and yes, we even had left her a generous tip). We left because we didn’t feel it was worth further engaging her. We did call the restaurant manager to report the comment, and he again apologized for her behavior, and mentioned it would be addressed, which is the best we could expect. Overall, we were looking forward to a pleasant pre-dinner experience but we left with the most disgusting feelings from what we had seen in any restaurant, ever. I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else. And PS- the apps and beer were great. Afterwards, we went to dinner at Fish On and had the most wonderful meal...

I'm so happy to have been in the area or I would not have known about this gem. When my mother was living, she used to keep me updated on places in the beach area whenever I could visit. I miss that among many other things, of course. Now, I don't even know about various restaurants and shops which have been opened for a while. It is amazing to see the growth in the area. My husband and I happened to drive past the Big Oyster Brewery on our way towards the Cape May/ Lewes Ferry. It caught our eye, so we made a u-turn to go back. I'm glad we did!

We both admired the structure, it's an old barn... As soon as we stepped inside we were welcomed right away and I felt good about the vibe there. According to staff and from what I could see, in the summer there are outdoor spaces they use, including a stage and some play areas for children. I think the warm weather would be an excellent time to return for a visit. I must admit even on the cold January day we were there, it was warm and toasty inside with laughter, good brews, good music playing over the speaker and interesting decor!

The restaurant itself although a bit small inside is easy to navigate. There are spaces that are used even in winter. Although I did not notice any automatic door openers, which would be helpful for those in wheelchairs, I'm glad the restrooms were individual ones because it's roomy and private. The whole place was clean and again I must speak on the friendly and welcoming atmosphere because that is so important.

I enjoyed sampling some brews by choosing a flight with my order of fried oysters. Everything was good and I saw lots of yummy items on the menu I want to try when I come back. If only I had not eaten before seeing this place, lol, but it was still a good experience! Also, my husband enjoyed his burger with short rib on top. The shop sells shirts, hats—a variety of things, and you can pick up some of their beers. I...

This place seated our group at a table slightly too small, which left me sitting at the corner with the table leg between my legs for two hours. My chair was covered in weird sticky stuff which we had to wipe off. My chair was also positioned on the edge of a ledge so that if I scooted back even a little I would’ve fallen off and hit my head. Also they allow dogs which sucks if the people next to you have a dog that won’t stop high pitch barking causing everyone in the vicinity to jump every single time. They forgot to bring out one of our appetizers and we had to flag down one of the four people working to get it. They also completely forgot my order so everyone got an entree but me 😍 and there was no waiter to be found. We had to get up multiple times to flag down the waiter and beg for the check til we finally got it after like 45 minutes. Also no one apologized for forgetting my food which like it’s whatever but also??? Zero customer service skills. One of the employees was def high, he kept giggling asking if he could take our plates and when we asked for water, he said “ask your waiter” (we never actually got the water, unsurprisingly). They don’t split the check which was unfortunate for our group of 14 people. They also made sure to add a 20% gratuity onto the check despite forgetting multiple items. After we got the check, we had to again flag down an employee because no one ever came back to check on us. It literally took like an hour to leave this place it felt like purgatory 😭 Cant really speak to the food since I didn’t get any LOL but the seafood Mac and cheese I tried was eh — they said it was big and it wasn’t and it had like 4 shrimp 😭😭🤣. Anyway I would not come here if you want to have a good time (and be remembered. lol). Being at this place felt like being pranked; the lack of service of any kind was laughable....