The Oyster Company — Restaurant in Dennis

I don't write many reviews and the ones I write are usually short. And I usually only write positive reviews, but I'm making an exception because this was one of the worst meals I've had. I honestly don't understand how this place has such great reviews. I went with my siblings because my sister and I both like oysters. My sister had been here when they first opened and hadn't had the best experience, but she assumed it was just because it had been so new. If you decide to go here, get a reservation. We went right as it opened for dinner and it was already a little crowded and the hostess seemed really annoyed we didn't have a reservation. That said, we were able to be seated, so I can't complain too much about that. Our server was very nice and doing her best, I have no complaints. The oysters, taste-wise, were fine. However, they were not shucked properly. I don't feel like it's that much to ask for a place called 'The Oyster Company' to know how to shuck an oyster. Alas, out of a dozen oysters, nearly all of them had pieces of shell in them. For dinner, I decided to get their poke bowl, which was one of the specials. It didn't have a description, so I wasn't sure what it would be, but I doubted it could be that awful. I should've gone with my gut, though, because it was the worst thing I've ever had. I should've taken a picture of it to post here. Given that I've gotten better poke bowls as chain restaurant further inland, I was shocked a pricier place on Cape Cod would be at least passable. First, the rice. I'm a bit of a rice snob, I know that, but I couldn't believe the rice. It was room temperature and hard. Even my sister - who is not picky about rice like I am - was shocked by how bad it was. It was nearly inedible. Second, the avocado.... Normally, it would be sliced avocado, but when it came I saw it was a mash, but, fine, I get it, avocado is hard to keep. But then I tasted it and realized, it was guacamole. And I'm wouldn't be surprised if they bought it from the supermarket. Last, the fish. I would love to tell you if the raw fish was good or not, but it was so heavily sauced, that I couldn't taste it. Truly disappointing. The only good part of the poke bowl was the seaweed salad and I'm pretty sure that was also store bought. Which isn't a problem, but the were charging a decent amount for this. And at least my brother could dip his french fries in the guacamole. I can't speak too much on the drinks since I didn't get one, but both my siblings did and they were both pretty disappointed. I just got a coke and it tasted a little odd, but it was still fine. Given all the other reviews, I wonder if it was a bad night. I hope so. But, regardless, I won't be going back...

We have been coming here yearly during our annual Cape Cod summer vacation and sadly this was our first bad experience. It started with the waitress. I am gluten free and since the menu said the Linguine with White Clam sauce GF = sub pasta I assumed they had gluten free pasta now. I asked the waitress if this was true and she said “I don’t know” and stood there. So I said “can you check?” She left and checked and the answer was no but poor service already. My 9 year old son ordered grilled shrimp for his garden salad as an entree and the waitress brought his salad with no shrimp. He waited for an additional 10 minutes with the salad in front of him for his shrimp to be delivered on the side (it was supposed to be on the salad). He’s 9. For him to sit 10 minutes with his food in front of him waiting was a miracle. No apologies, just a half understood, maybe she said “the chef was using the computer”. I have no idea. I could barely understand what the waitress said. I ordered the lazy man lobster which was delivered while I sat watching my kids eat. The sauce was congealed (clear it had been sitting a while). My husband’s tuna which he orders every year rare, came out medium at best. The waitress never came to check on us so he went up to the mater’d to complain and she wasn’t really much help. We sat back down and he ate his food because we weren’t really about to wait with our kids for the waitress to come around again. She never came to ask how our meals were, she never asked if we needed drink refills for our empty drinks. We were so disappointed. The next time we saw her she just gave us our check. No asking if we wanted desserts. Awful awful awful service. I really hope someone who works there sees this because this is not what we have been used to for the past 15 years. We once again complained to mater’d on the way out and she said the waitress was supposed to have talked to us. She did not. Honestly, my husband should not have had to pay for his meal and really we should not have been charged at all for any of our meals. This was a night wasted out of our 7 night stay once a year. We will try again next year on a Wednesday when Judy is working but if it is terrible again we will not be back. So sad to see this gem go...

My husband and I have gone to the Oyster Company every summer for years—however, our last two experiences have been so poor that we won’t be returning.

Our waitress this time was great! She was attentive and quick, checked on us multiple times, and was nothing but friendly and helpful.

We ordered 2.5 dozen oysters. They were tasty, but most were not shucked properly, leaving a lot of shell fragments. I didn’t mind personally, but I think it’s worth noting—especially considering the name of the restaurant, right?

I had the paella, which was flavorful. My husband ordered the NY steak medium rare, but it came out well done. The waitress encouraged us to send it back.

None of this would have been an issue if the manager hadn’t come over to our table. I’m honestly appalled by her conduct. She told us the cook laughed at the waitress for taking the steak back because it was "perfect," with pink and red spots. She insisted it was cooked correctly and shouldn’t have been returned—but said they would remake it anyway. She blamed the appearance on the lighting and dismissed everything we said.

They did recook it—but by her logic, shouldn’t the second steak have looked the same? We wouldn’t know, because my husband was served a steak that was barely seared on both sides and cold in the middle. He didn’t want to deal with more conflict, so he asked for a to-go box so we could cook it at home.

This wasn’t our first disappointing experience. On a previous visit, we ordered the ahi tuna, which should be served rare. It came out well done. When we mentioned this, the same manager argued that ahi tuna is supposed to be cooked all the way through. She was so insistent that we didn’t bother sending it back.

Also, while we were waiting for dessert (the bread pudding was great), my husband shifted in his seat and was poked by a rusty screw sticking through the chair cushion. We waited until after paying our bill to mention it, just to avoid another unpleasant interaction with...