It was a Saturday evening, and I decided I would try something new... To me! So, here I am, at the Clyde's Tower Oaks Lodge in Rockville, MD. But first, a little bit of history for context. The restaurant is part of the Clyde's restaurant Group, owners of the other Clyde"s iterations in Georgetown (DC) , Mark Center(Alexandria) , Columbia MD, and of the storied Old Ebbitt Grill, among others. According to their website, Tower Oaks Lodge in Rockville opened in 2002. The restaurant was built overlooking a 21-acre nature preserve, in a 200-year-old, two-story timber barn brought from Vermont. The restaurant's decor inside and outside, with lots of exposed wood and timber frames, equestrian mementos, saddles and paintings evokes the feeling of those grand steak houses of yore. It has two bars, which allow self-seating if at the bar itself. Since I eyed the waiting customers, and it is my custom anyway to sit at the bar I proceeded to the bigger one. Once I was sitting at the bar, I was brought water and a menu without asking, which I felt was a show of bartending efficiency. I noticed that the menu stated an Oyster Happy Hour from 3:00pm-6:00pm every day ($1.00 oysters and "special price" on shell platters (oysters, clams and mussels combos). I was exactly 6pm, so I decided to order a dozen oysters (I did assume that the Happy Hour was still in effect.. More on that later). The oysters were excellent; I was happy that they were served with mignonnette sauce (I don't fancy the cocktail sauce option). I followed with their steak and frittes, which arrived perfectly medium rare and with a peppercorn sauce which was very good; the fries (the "frites" part of the equation) were served hot. The steak was also served with a generous portion of dressed watercress, which made me very happy, since I love watercress, and it is a typically underutilized salad green in US restaurants. Unfortunately, both the steak and the fries were overly salted. I also ordered a side of fried brussel sprouts, which were served with candied pecans. The sprouts were crispy and delicious, but again, heavily salted. I finished the meal with one of their desserts, an apple crisp served with vainilla ice cream. The fruit was cooked well and felt like fresh apples, not canned, and it was not overly sweet. However, the dessert had too much crisp to fruit ratio, but I will not fault it since some people like it that way. The service was efficient and fast, but not too friendly (I understand it was a Saturday evening, and the bar was full, so there may be an emphasis to turn seats). When I got the bill, I noticed that I had been charged full price for the oysters. When I inquired with the bartender, he told me that the oyster special was only until 6pm and they were very strict with that policy. I pointed out to him that my ticket had been stamped with the time of the order (6:04pm), which meant that I had placed my order with him at 6pm. He just shrugged. I proceeded to pay, but I feel that, as a customer, I would have benefitted from some flexibility in the policy. I do admit I did not ask about the oyster's price, but neither the bartender informed me, nor did he clarify that the happy hour pricing was no longer in effect. I felt a little bamboozled by the technicality that caused me being charged full price. I am subtracting a star for (a) the over-salting of the food and (b) the service I received, which in my opinion could had been improved.