The Shuckery — Restaurant in Petaluma

I do not leave reviews very often. In my experience at this establishment, I feel I am not in the majority of patrons. My wife, two children and I dined here tonight. The atmosphere was fine, we made it towards the end of happy hour. The assistant manager seated us outside and the waitress was prompt. We got some waters right away as we were all parched from the beach and I even was served a bottle of soda water, and I only asked for a glass. Very thoughtful.

The waitress made sure we got our order in before the happy hour ended, so we selected some appetizers. The oysters were good, the bread and garlic fine. We however did not get the calamari we ordered at all throughout the meal. It was a misunderstanding, no harm but I would have liked to try them.

The oysters were nice, I liked the vinegar sauce accouterment. My daughter enjoyed the oyster Rockefeller.

My wife and daughter ordered clam chowder, but they were out of bread bowls. A disappointment, but the waitress offered more bread to make up for it. My son and I selected the rock cod meal for two with the salad, rice pilaf and asparagus.

My wife and daughter, being conisuers of clam chowders, found it bland, and the clams very chewy. The bread they offered was nice but did not have the same effect as sourdough.

The salad they served was very nice. I must say it was my favorite part of the meal. Not too dressed, it was very balanced. Both my son and I enjoyed it. Note, the asparagus was a little heavy with the salt and could have been cooked longer. The rice pilaf was mildly seasoned, pleasant to the taste, but overcooked. The rice was mushy. Now in some preparations this is intended. If this is so, it was not related to us. Normally I like my rice to be less broken down and more individual body with a toothaomeness in it, but this could be just preference.

The fish that was served was presented nicely. The blood orange and grapefruit along with watercress and the chimichiri sauce all smelled great. The fish still had crispness to the skin and my son and I dove right in. The fish was moist. The citrus was a nice touch. We very much liked the chimichuri and oil. It was this perfume background note that made it difficult to eat. I couldn't put my finger on it. When the waitress came by to check on us in I asked if there was some lavender used in the dish, or some floral herb that would cause this taste. She was not aware. Asked if she would inquire.

I figured it might be some infused salt used in the preparation of the fish before frying. Soon the assistant manager came to speak with me. Now I am in no way someone who makes any scene at an establishment and therefore did not wish to discuss too much my misgivings with the dish. I hoped that she would simply confirm there was some some explanation for this taste and I could move on. I tasted each component separately and determined it was found in the skin of the fish. She told me that there was no floral ingredients added to the dish and that I was most likely tasting the chimichuri sauce as it was strongly flavored with cilantro. Now I love cilantro and eat it quite regularly and am not one of those who find that it tastes like soap so I know that was not it and I had tasted it separately and it was fine.

If I could best explain it, it tasted like a floral scented soap or lotion or hand sanitizer that was transferred to the skin of the fish accidentally. I was assured that all fish preparation was completed with rubber gloves and so I ended the back and forth and thanked the assistant manager. She offered to get me something else but at this point, I no longer wanted to eat anything else.

We asked the waitress for the check and she provided us some complementary quenelle of chocolate mouse,which was decadent and very nice.

Over all, not the best dinning experience I have had. For want we paid and what we received, I've had much better for even half. But all that aside, the wait staff was amazing and they went above and beyond to accommodate us and make us feel...

We had really looked forward to dinning here as we enjoy shellfish, oysters, and seafood. They also have a nice happy hour that goes till 6 Pm. There is inside dinning and then also and outdoor courtyard area in FRONT of the Hotel. The outdoor ambience and courtyard with fountain in front of the Petaluma Hotel is nice (other than patrons wheeling their baggage in and out of the entry lobby to the hotel). We had a reservation and after being promptly seated, it took 25 minutes for ANYONE to come over to our table, greet us or to even to provide water, etc.- When the waitress FINALLY arrived we promptly put in our order. She was very pleasant but you can see OVERWHELMED as it turns out she was apparently one of two servers who were juggling to handle all of the dinning guests in the outside area. We ordered some baked and fried oysters and they were good. We also ordered the Calamari Mixto where all the ingredients were rice battered - but it was really FLAVORELESS as the batter seems to have needed some more punch or seasonings, etc. - We also ordered A Street Taco which was done nicely but would benefit if the tortilla was a little LARGER, and then the Soft Shell Crab sandwich which came with small dressed greens (way over salted) . I'm a big Soft Shell crab fan having had Maryland crabs many times over the years. This Sandwich was VERY GOOD but also very dainty and for $27 for a very small size Sandwich - C'Mon Man! We Loved the Ambience, some of the items were hit and miss and for these PRICES they need to be better executed and include...

The location is just beautiful; that alone is worth getting a table. The food is okay but it's over priced and the drinks are even more over priced. I liked the service a lot.

So, here's why absolutely I won't go here again: I've known people who have worked here, and the owner, Jazmine, is awful. I've heard that she expects wayyy too much of her staff whilst being lazy herself, as well as being late or even missing shifts in order to accommodate her own plans. Her social life and wants come before anyone else's and the wellbeing of the restaurant. She has a very "rules for thee but not for me" attitude and knows she can get away with being a bad boss because she's not accountable to anyone. There are rumors that the only reason she has a restaurant is because she comes from a wealthy family and it was just something she felt like doing. She clearly doesn't have any actual passion as a restaurateur.

She also makes more experienced wait staff share their tips with less experienced/poorer performing employees. If one waiter made $400 in tips and another made $100, they would both leave with $250 which is ridiculously unfair. One of the people I talked to was almost in tears over how miserable they were there.

In good conscience, I cannot patronize a business known to treat their employees poorly or encourage others to...