Pearl and Mary Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Where to begin... Had a reservation for three in the Oyster Bar. After someone finally came to host stand, she couldn't find our reservation. Showed her the confirmation email. Finally found it. Then said the system should never have allowed us to reserve three in the bar, so she seated us outside on the side street. Should have left then and there. It was warm and muggy, the street was loud with vehicles and a heavy stream of pedestrians on the sidewalk. Also a heavy stream of panhandlers trying to approach the tables.

Server came to the table, and just as we were about to order, she stated we had to put a card on file to open a tab. I get it. Maybe they've had a bunch of walkouts, who knows. But the perception of requiring a card before ordering is that the customer can't afford the meal or won't pay for the food and drink at the end of the meal. Not a great feeling.

Drinks came out, and the cheap outdoor table which was already rocking a bit on the unstable Philadelphia sidewalk, had plenty of dents and dings in it, so the glasses sloshed and wobbled, spilling through the open metal grate of the tabletop onto our legs below.

We ordered a few items from the raw bar to start, oysters, crab legs, and shrimp. The seafood was good, sauces were good. Okay then- rough start but lets get back on track. We also ordered Parker House Rolls and Crab Dip. The crab dip was good, no issues and tasty. The Parker House Rolls were oversalted, quite dry on the inside, and were not served with butter or any other condiments.

Dear God, let's hope the entrees can be the savior. My entree arrived alone from the kitchen- Roast Cod with Leek and Truffle. The other two plates didn't arrive. After ten minutes, I asked one of the runners to please take my plate back to the kitchen to stay warm while the remaining items finished cooking. Why the hell would you bring just one of three entrees to a table?

Once the entrees were delivered simultaneously to the table, reviews were heavily mixed. My cod had a very small 4-5oz code filet on top of a small bed of leeks, with a butter and vinegar sauce. The vinegar in the sauce completely overpowered the flavor of the fish, making for a very one- dimensional flavor.

My son had the shrimp and grits with a bacon sauce. The shrimp was a well-presented head-on shrimp, but the cast iron skillet they were served in was so small he couldn't cut his shrimp without making a big mess. We offered him a side plate to help make some room to remove the head and tail, and he said the shrimp had a good flavor. The grits on the other hand were an abomination. Shrimp and grits is a standard classic. There is a realistic expectation of what the dish would be prepared and presented as. The grits on this dish were overwhelmingly sweet, with an oily background taste that could only be described as breakfast griddle. They were exceptionally soft and sloppy, more like a severely overcooked risotto than creamy hearty grits.

My wife had the fish and chips, and the fish was well prepared and the batter was crispy and light. She had asked for the Malt Vinegar that was in the dish to be on the side, but it was omitted entirely. The fries that came with the fish were plain and boring, any more basic and you may as well have served Krinkle Fries.

Our meal was bad, our seating was bad, the environment and atmosphere outside was horrendous. The service was mostly fine aside from being delivered just one the three entrees and then waiting. No second round of drinks was offered, but our water glasses were refilled regularly.

Other reviews were good for this place, but I can't get past the cascading red flags throughout our time here. Give it a chance if you are feeling lucky or just want raw bar and drinks. Otherwise, head to one of the dozens of other restaurants in this...

Wow! That about sums it up.

Pearl and Mary is a new restaurant, but it operates like the kind of well oiled machine that's been around for decades. And honestly, I hope they become a Philadelphia staple.

Food quality: outstanding. We came for happy hour, but also ordered a handful of things from the regular menu. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, the happy hour oysters were the best HH oysters I've ever had. Juicy, plump, voluminous, salty, a bit tangy, and perfectly shucked. When you're eating oysters obviously you'll always get a little shell with each oyster. But, this place had the CLEANEST shucked oysters I've had in a philly restaurant. A lot better shucking than most brunch places in Philly (ahem Louis Louis ahem). Even my spouse who doesn't like oysters ate a dozen.

Beyond the oysters, everything else was great too. The chicken sando was perfect. No notes. Don't change it. Clams casino you ask? They've got em! And hot damn, they're as good as clams casino get. We also had the shrimp, which is my only negative point here (and it's still not a big deal). They're too pricey, and don't come with any special accoutrements, and a bit overcooked. I'd say skip the shrimp. We also tried the crudo. Is it the best salmon crudo in the city? No. You can get something better at parc or Barclay prime for like 8x the price. But is it the best salmon crudo for only $7? HELL YEAH BUD. Get it.

Drinks: the happy hour drinks are a limited selection, but each choice is really good. Idk what they did with their bees knees drink, but it's unlike any bees knees I've had in the best way possible. If you don't want to be limited by the 2 or 3 happy hour choices, the full drink menu is very reasonable, and very good. I have no doubts that with time, this place will become a Philadelphia cocktail staple (in addition to their excellent food).

Service: when you're living in a coastal city, and visiting a new hot restaurant, you usually need to temper your expectations about the speed and quality of service. But apparently not here! It seemed like we arrived at the busiest hour during a holiday season, and yet our waiter treated us like we were the only patrons. He was extremely attendant (but not overbearing), accommodated our minor requests, and the kitchen quickly pumped out our delicious food. And despite how busy the restaurant was and how much time we spent, nobody ever made us feel rushed.

Price: the happy hour is great. It really reminds me of the happy hours that were available before COVID. I never thought we'd see prices like this again. It's still more than most happy hours before COVID, but it's recognizable compared to that time. Even their regular menu seems reasonable.

Visit this place and you'll lack...

Pearl and Mary has hits and it has misses. TLDR I still think much of the food quality is good (small plates and entrees) but I used to really like their key lime tart dessert and it's so disappointing now! It wasn't tangy and the crust was a little mushy/mealy and felt like it was probably frozen poorly.

They werent prepared for our reservation and it also was changed online to "outside" for a large group when I specifically requested inside, but luckily when we got there they rearranged some tables to keep us inside. I'm not sure why resy didn't send a notification when the seating location changed, although it did when our party size was more accurately reflected.

The key lime tart is no longer as good as before, and feels like it might've come from the freezer. It was a little mealy in the crust and had weak lime flavor, like it was edible but not how I remember it in its first year. I can handle the price increase of the dessert but it's just sad to find out the good dessert I dreamt of from two years ago has been replaced. It seems like the pecan upside down cake is still good tho based on my friend's review so I recommend that over the key lime tart.

Their small plates are good still and entrees are a hit but there are so many things on the menu that seem to be priced unreasonably. One of my friends ordered the shrimp cocktail and we came to find out that it's cost is by the shrimp... At 5$ per shrimp. Luckily my friend only ordered two but still $10 for two shrimp is crazy. Technically I guess you could infer it but damn that's crazy because they tried to get enough shrimp so it was a shrimp per person and I think we would've been pretty upset if we had done that based on their rec.

Their drinks are aesthetic and tasty. For non drinkers I recommend the Pearl's Punch (I think that's the name), it tastes refreshing and sweet.

The manager did come around to ask how things are but I'm not really one to complain about things I ordered unless there's something terribly wrong and it's fixable... So it's fine but please note that it's just kind of a mixed bag I think. If you order the right things you'll have a good experience but if you don't study the menu and RECENT pictures you might be...