Midtown Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Newport

We visited Midtown Oyster Bar for the first time since the Pandemic Lock down, and were absolutely so glad we choose this restaurant, we had so missed it! Yesterday evening we were greeted with the greatest customer service welcoming that we could have hoped for, by Jessica at the downstairs bar. We were happily able to grab two empty bar seats, because they were unbelievable busy. We were greeted by a huge smile, warm personality, gracious, funny, friendly and welcoming personality of our bartender Jessica. While she was unbelievably crazy busy, tending to more than a overflowing bar, covering what looked like more than her share of customers, all while being attentive, efficient, knowledgeable, and accommodating. She quickly made our first drinks, that were just outstanding and perfect! She made several suggestions on food items, describing each one with details that made them sound so delicious it was hard to choose. Jess took our order quickly and served it immediately hot from the kitchen. The Quahog Stuffies were delicious and made it a great first choice, we were thrilled with Jessica’s recommendation, she was not wrong explaining how good they were. She attentively checked up on us frequently, offering drinks, more food, and just being the epitome of professionalism with outstanding customer service, all while tending effortlessly to the obviously packed bar and restaurant, never missing a beat, never loosing her smile, and hospitable attitude while non stop juggling of customers, orders, drinks, food and frequent interruptions. Honestly, she was pulled in a million different directions but we never felt rush, ignored, and never waited for anything. Thank you Jess for making our first trip to Newport and Midtown in forever perfect. Thank you Midtown for the unparalleled customer service we received by Jess our bartender, and thank you for the delicious food! We will definitely be back soon, every thing was just so amazing, we are already planning another...

I am very disappointed to write this review. My family, friends, and I recently visited Newport, a lovely city with an amazing atmosphere. Unfortunately, our experience at Midtown Oyster Place by the end of our trip was quite upsetting.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we stood by the hostess's stand, but she was too busy talking to her friend to acknowledge us. After about five minutes, she finally looked at us and told us we would have to wait. Once seated, we ordered oysters, but the waitress didn't finish taking our order. When we asked the hostess for help, she responded with an attitude, saying she was a hostess, not a waitress.

We eventually received our order, but without any utensils. Since it was just oysters, we managed without them. However, when we received another portion of food that required utensils, my husband, who was holding our 3-year-old on his lap, asked the hostess if we could get some. The only reason why we asked hostess for help because she was near our table and kindly asked if she can call the waitress. She rolled her eyes at us, turned around, and said something to her friend, clearly about how annoying we were.

Trying to maintain my good mood, I grabbed two forks from a nearby table. The hostess quickly ran up to us and told us we were not allowed to take utensils from other tables and that we have to wait. I was left wondering what my 3-year-old daughter was supposed to do—wait indefinitely for them to notice us? As expected, her instinct was to eat with her hands. Our party of six ended up staring at our food instead of enjoying it.

No matter how popular a place is, it should maintain good service and, at the very least, not be rude to its customers. I've never encountered such poor service and disrespectful behavior from restaurant staff before. The hostess's attitude completely ruined an otherwise...

DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU HAVE ALLERGIES TO ANYTHING!

To give a back story, I am allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, and coconut. While yes this is an oyster bar, I typically have never had issues finding at least one thing on the menu that I could eat at any given restaurant. When my sister wanted to pick this restaurant for her welcome dinner for her wedding weekend, I told her not to worry about my allergies and that I would find something on the menu.

Wow was I wrong. This restaurant landed me in the hospital due to anaphylactic shock from cross contamination. If you know anything about allergies you would know that this is pretty rare for restaurants to be this careless with cross contaminating food that it would land someone in the hospital.

The next few days I tried to get to the bottom of what happened. I spoke with the chef who was incredibly combative and asked me if “I was sure my allergic reaction happened at the restaurant” and when I said yes he further said “well did the ambulance come to the restaurant”. Additionally he couldn’t even take the time to find out what the soup was made from (since it actually came from a box) and said that the soup was made from chicken stock which turned out to be incorrect and the next day I found out it was actually made from fish stock. I also found out that the waitress never even wrote down my allergies when placing my order to alert the kitchen.

This restaurant is not equipt to handle food allergies and is simply reckless. I have provided the manager with suggestions and best practices on how to handle food allergies. While the manager seemed to commit to doing better, the chef seems to not believe anything wrong was done. I would avoid this place at all costs until a new chef takes over. This place could put your life or your loved ones...