Pearl's Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Oklahoma City

We just left from there and will more than likely will never go back. Before I start this review I’d like to thank the young man at the bar who did his absolute best to accommodate us and right the wrongs of his coworker and manager. Thank you for taking the time to listen to us and try to make the experience better.

We went this afternoon for a date and ordered drinks. The drinks we ordered were not good and one wasn’t even cold, so we politely sent it back. We are very courteous to wait staff as my partner is in the service industry and I used to wait tables myself. Our waiter was phenomenal and super sweet about it.

I suppose it’s their protocol when guests send things back to send a manager out - we didn’t ask for one, but that’s what happened. The manager who responded was extremely passive aggressive and loud - embarrassing us in front of the patio full of guests exclaiming why I didn’t like his drink in a “joking” way. I explained why and he essentially said there was nothing they could do about it. I told him that was fine and that I was fine with not ordering that drink again. We didn’t see our waiter come back after that and sat for about 15 minutes until the first dish came out.

It ended up getting chilly outside so we asked to go inside to sit at the bar because they were busy - again, not being picky. Immediately once we sat at bar the bartender was dismissive and rude, and wasn’t very courteous. She must have been upset that we sent drinks back? Not sure where the chip on her shoulder came from but it was very obvious that she was not happy to serve us.

Our food comes out and is not made well at all. I got a salad that had a mountain of cheese and olives thrown on top of it and my partner’s food was way too salty for him to even eat. We let the bartender know and she made a face and walked away - did absolutely nothing to try to help better our food or experience. The manager comes out (again - their protocol and not what we asked for) and is very nonchalant. He made condescending remarks to us and basically framed our experience as being picky and our concerns not valid. He also threw a shot at us saying “yeah you talked to another manager earlier” - insinuating that we were just being complainers. I immediately asked him why he brought that up and how is that relevant to the food. He backed away from that comment, but failed miserably. I asked for our ticket. He passive aggressively went to grab it and brought it back to us immediately as if he was happy to see us go.

After reviewing the ticket we noticed that they had the audacity to not comp one thing despite us barely drinking or drinks and barely touching our food. One of the other bartenders was clearly embarrassed of the manager’s behavior and felt bad about how we were being treated. He tried his best to make it right and was super sweet/accommodating to us. He deserves the 1 star this review is getting. We let the bartender know that we will pay for our barely touched drinks but won’t be paying for the service or food after how we had just been treated.

Manager comes back and essentially demands that we pay for the food and accuses us of being rude to him and his staff. Although we were not happy, we certainly weren’t rude to staff at all. I then addressed his unprofessionalism and how he made the comment earlier about us speaking with another manager and he straight up lied and said that all he was saying with that was that manager left and now he’s here to work with us. Lies. I was dumbfounded by his aggression and how he was literally arguing with us. My partner stepped in to confront him further and he basically kicked us out of the restaurant.

I cannot believe, absolutely cannot believe the experience we just had at this establishment. Incidents like this ruin a brand and a once enjoyable experience for a lifetime. I feel completely disrespected, embarrassed, and to be quite honest that this had theme of racism in it. Do I believe they would have treated a Caucasian couple like this? Not at...

BLUF: I have been here 4 times and the first 2 times were great, the last 2 were mediocre. I was able to bring my dog to the outside seating area. The male waiter did not know the wine bottle brand. The female waiter was rude when my parents came to visit and they are not family friendly (no changing stations in the bathrooms).

Details: I wouldn't call myself an oyster connoisseur, though having frequently eaten oysters from the English Channel while in France, as well as Gulf and Long Island sound oysters. After moving to Oklahoma, I needed my oyster fix, so I tried Pearl based on the high reviews. My wife ordered the Ahi Poke, and we tried a dozen oyster platter. Although smaller than the European counterparts, their oysters do rival in taste and the Ahi Poke was rather tasty. Fortunately, the hostess was able to accommodate and let us sit in the outdoor patio because we brought our fur child (as we always did in Europe).

The second time, a family friend came to visit and we took her and our fur child again to Pearl, eating outside in the patio. I ordered a Riesling, reminiscent of Germany, however when I asked the male wait staff what the name of the bottle was, he wrote down "Qualitätswein" (a wine classification for Quality Wine and not a brand).

The third instance, I brought my parents who were visiting from California. We ate inside for the first time, without the fur child, and my parents ordered jambalaya and soup. The female waiter was not attentive, but was rude to my dad, and left a negative impression on them. Sad to say, that would have been the last time.

Fast forward, now we have a baby boy. The fourth time we ordered the Ahi poke again and half dozen oysters with a seafood platter. We ate inside as we didn't have the fur child. Fortunately, it was early afternoon on a weekday and not crowded, but very hot outside. The front doors do not have an accessible/electronic entrance, but at least there was a curb to drive the stroller up. In both men and women's restrooms, there were no baby changing stations. Makayla was our wait staff and she was helpful and attentive to my wife and baby. When it came time to change the baby, we had to take him outside to the car, which was sitting in 105 F temp. Although the food is good, the wait staff is mediocre, I no longer see myself as a customer that would bring my...

My husband and I got married on May 20th. We and our wedding guests came here to celebrate after our wedding ceremony. Was going to give 5 stars, but I found out something from my mother a few days ago (who paid for dinner for around 20 people) that made me glad to have not written a review sooner.

I will start with the good: The restaurant is very lovely. Although part of the reason I chose this place for my wedding dinner was because the restaurant I was wanting to go to wasn't back open yet, I was still really happy to have finally been able to come here because I have a huge passion for seafood. The food was amazing! My husband and I got the blackened scallops for our appetizer, and we both got the surf and turf; he got a lobster tail with his, and I the king crab legs. Our servers were very nice, and did a wonderful job at working with a large party.

Now, why I'm giving only 2 stars: As mentioned, I found out something from my mother regarding our visit. My husband and I agreed that there would be no alcohol after the wedding, and my mother told the servers that no alcoholic beverages are to be served. Turns out that at least $100 worth of alcoholic beverages were on the bill, much to my mother's dismay. Not sure if the servers simply ignored my mother, or if they forgot as an honest mistake, but either way, serving alcohol after being told not to is a pretty huge thing to ignore or forget! The servers were lucky that my father-in-law took care of the tip, because I honestly don't know if my mother would have still left one, at least not one that was nearly as big as what was left.

Anyway, since everything else about the experience here was just fine, I'm not saying I'm not going to come here ever again, as I would love to when I get a chance (my husband and I live in Norman), but I might be keeping an eye out next time in regards to special requests...