The Port Oysteria & Brewery — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

We went to Port Oysteria for the first time last night. The location is very convenient, within walking distance of the public parking lot. The restaurant itself is beautifully done - unique lighting, one side is an oyster bar and the other side was the bar backing to a more private room. They had various styles of seating from regular tables to booths. We were seated by the windows, which was very cold where we wore our jackets. My kids ordered the orange, pineapple and coconut drink- it was mainly just OJ and started to turn as the ice melted. My husband had a mojito and I had the Coastal Sprintzer- both really good. For apps, we had the calamari- it was the best we have had. Then we order 1/2 dozen oysters as part of my son's meal for restaurant week. The waitress asked what kind, and since there was no menus to read about the types, she rattled off about 15 different types with no explanation as to flavor, size, location, etc. So we asked for her recommendations to which she suggested the Rappahannock, which are sourced by the Friends of the Rappahannock and were probbaly the freshest. They were large, tasted fresh and flavorful. They gave cocktail sauce with horseradish, lemon, red wine vinegar and tarter as well.

The pricing, flavoring and portions of our main course was little to be desired. My one son ordered the restaurant week special of the lobster thermidor. There was one small piece of lobster (quarter sized) accompanied by scalloped potatoes that had so much black pepper, it was inedible and simple steamed broccoli. The waitress was kind enough to bring a generous size of fries so he had something to eat. My youngest had the king crab legs for $48 which didn't come with anything else, but they were good flavored and had a good amount of meat. I had the scallops where 2 of them were not cooked at all and the risotto was very sour and tasted off. We didnt say anything to the waitress since my son already compained about the scalloped potatoes. My husband had the clams and linguini and it tasted fine. We ordered another round - my husband ordered first and then I added on mine, a full 15 minutes later and he didn't receive his drink, we asked again. I ordered the same drink and it didn't taste anything like the first.

Overall, if we were just going for drinks and appetizers/oysters, great place. But dinner left little...

I’ve never walked out of a restaurant before ordering entrées, but Port Oysteria was the first, and for good reason. Our experience was, without exaggeration, the worst service I’ve ever had at a restaurant.

We arrived at 5:35, right behind a couple with a VIP room reservation that had been double-booked. This should have been a clear warning sign. We were seated at 5:40, but for half an hour no one acknowledged us. Multiple servers, busboys, and even the man who appeared to be the manager walked past our empty table without a glance, while other nearby tables were also clearly frustrated with slow service but were at least acknowledged.

At 6:06 our waitress finally appeared at our table despite being the same waitress for the 3 tables around us. We finally got our waters, and ordered a Diet Coke, a beer, and a happy hour appetizer as well as a regular menu appetizer. She hesitated, pointing out it was after 6:00, but after a strange back and forth about how we'd been waiting since 5:40, she put the order in. Drinks were further delayed because the restaurant had “run out of clean glasses" and she didn't want to serve my soda in a plastic cup.

Our pretzels with beer cheese arrived at 6:25, lukewarm and obviously sitting too long under a heat lamp, with the top layer simultaneously congealing and separating and was a completely different color from the cheese underneath. The shrimp followed ten minutes later, making it a full hour before we had any food. By 6:45, we’d had enough and asked for the check rather than risk another endless wait for entrées. The waitress nearly spilled the pretzel cheese on my husband while clearing plates, and we left to find entrees elsewhere.

For a restaurant calling itself a scratch kitchen, which lends itself to very specific expectations of quality, this was inexcusable. The food was mediocre, but the real problem was the service: disorganized, inattentive, and clearly not a one-off given how many other reviews say the same. My soda was comped, but that was the bare minimum they could have done.

We had hoped to find a new seafood spot worth returning to as part of our regular downtown dinner rotation, Instead, we left hungry and disappointed. I won’t be back and I sincerely hope that management sees these reviews as a way to address their weakest link - the incredibly inexperienced, too...

Wife and I visited Friday, 06 Sept. Thouroughly impressed with the interior. Warm, welcoming, friendly. We are bar people, however, there were numerous tables available, so we took our seats.

Our server was a very nice young lady. She took our drink order and gave us a rundown on the oysters. The drinks took a while to arrive. We started with a dozen Blue Point. Somewhat on the small side, but tasty. We also ordered the Rockfish Bites, served with a tangy aioli (a nice sized portion) and copius amounts of crab atop 5 asparagus. There was 3x as much crab as vegetable, which was somewhat perplexing.

Wife ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna Salad. Perfection.

I ordered the New Orleans Shrimp and Grits.

This is where it gets extremely disappointing. 9 nice sized medium shrimp, clearly just steamed and lightly sprinkled with some type of seasoning. 8 slices of overcooked/crispy Andouille on a bed of white pasty grits with some offensive, pre-packaged, semi melted shredded cheddar cheese sprinkled on top.

Guys...if you DON'T know how to make authentic Shrimp and Cheese Grits...TAKE. IT. OFF. THE. MENU! Your shrimp were no where near "cajun style," the Andouille, as stated above, overcooked, nary any eveidence of tomato to be found and you DON'T sprinkle prepackaged shredded cheese over white grits and call them cheese grits. You shred/mix the cheese directly it INTO the grits while they cook, so...wait for it....the cheese MELTS. And please, for the love of all that is holy....do not use shredded pre-packaged cheese. They all contain cornstarch, which, here's the kicker...prevents caking. If you're randomly sprinkling it over semi-warm grits on a plate, how do you expect it to melt? /r

My goto Shrimp and Cheese Grits recipes: A. https://www.southernliving.com/new-orleans-shrimp-and-grits-8600763 B. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/10718-shrimp-and-grits

None of the above will prevent us from returning. It's early and there are growing pains to be overcome, lessons to be learned. Point Oysteria spent a long time prepping for this launch and we will give them the time, repeat business and opportunities necessary to smooth out and refine the operation. Good...