SILO Terrace Oyster Bar — Restaurant in San Antonio

Every time I've eaten there, with the exception of my last visit, things have gone well, hence the three stars.

I might add that I've eaten at the other two locations, which are different vibes/menu, but fine dining and good experiences nonetheless.

My most recent visit to the Dominion location though really turned me off.

I'll sum it up early. If you want details keep reading after the summary.

Summary: botched birthday cake surprise, slow service especially before tables filled, wrong table reservations, 20 minutes to get a single ingredient drink, sub-par food quality

My wife made reservations for her birthday during the week, in a Thursday to be specific. I called in advance to notify the hostess that I'd be dropping off a cake with sparkler candles for a later reservation. I didn't want them to be surprised or to have any reason why this shouldn't go smoothly.

I show up early, no tables are seated, I have the hostess's undivided attention. I explain that the cake needs to sit out somewhere in the kitchen for 1-1.5 hrs before serving. Drop off the cake and run to get ready.

My wife arrives before I did. As I walk in to join her, I see the cake sitting in the center of the table. I smile through it, wondering who presents a birthday cake prior to the meal when one, I had a specific request and two, given the coordinated effort, the surprise factor should have been evident...

Oh well, no biggie. Wifey is happy, let's move on.

Birthday girl informs me she requested a window table but instead was led to a table close to the restrooms, away from the windows. Experienced a fair delay finding the waitress to place the first drink order and see if she might check with the hostess about the table mix up.

Seeing her struggle to communicate between the hostess and passing manager, we offered to just get on it with and continue the dining experience. Note, the manager didn't bother to discuss or mention anything. Also note, that by the end of the meal two window tables remained open the entire time.

The appetizers took a while arriving. Calamari and the signature fried oysters with pork belly.

Calamari was small in portion but also rubbery. Unacceptable for such a common appetizer and for a restaurant of this caliber. The fried oysters were excellent but the pork belly was dry. That's hard to mess up.

Time to order a second drink while we wait on the main course. It took 20 minutes and a second request to get a scotch on the rocks. Just pour it in some ice, please.

The rest of the food came out. Meat temperatures were good, presentation beautiful as always. The blue cheese mashed potatoes however, were dry, like a rock. Just slid the whole tower over to make room for someone else's side because those were not tasty, to say the least.

By then, I had pretty much resolved to fact that the night's dining experience just wasn't going to make the cut.

Overall, the hostess wasn't bad, made a mistake. The waitress was sweet, worked hard and made the bad situation palatable. The manager seemed non-chalant, disengaged. The kitchen seemed to miss the mark. The communication to the bar or the efficiency of the bar was not at it's best.

Each one of those by itself, no biggie. Add it up to a several hundred dollar meal for a birthday, not so pleasant.

I waited a week to post, thinking my mindset might change. I purposely didn't make a stink of it that day because I power-smiled my way through it for the betterment of my wife's birthday evening.

I'll be back because I know what they are capable of. The problem is, how long will I wait before this bad...

We took my sister for her birthday and it was NOT a good experience. We were eating our salads and visiting and I heard my sister say "grasshopper". I turned to her to ask what she said and she is holding her partially eaten salad and on the side of her plate is a dead, full grown 2 inch grasshopper. Yes...that's correct...a dead grasshopper covered in dressing. Our server came over and was mortified and went to get the manager. (My sister has owned a restaurant and is also a chef and all of us other siblings have been in the business for years.)

So a young man comes over to the table, I think his name was Wes, and rambles on that the executive chef and the GM were there and he was going to find out how it could have happened. We were trying to make light of the situation because we understand that things can happen, especially in the restaurant business. Wes mentioned the chef and GM again and left the table.

The entrees came and were so-so...nothing to brag about, then we ordered a couple of desserts for the birthday celebration. They were okay, again, nothing special. At this time we were surprised that neither the GM or chef had come to the table. (Both should have come by).

So after all that, we get the bill and there is an extremely low comp on the bill and out beside the comp, it read "foreign object". We all laughed in disbelief because it was NOT a foreign object, it was a dead grasshopper. Needless to say, we won't be going back because the whole ordeal was handled poorly and very unprofessionally.

Think carefully before going here to eat. The food isn't great, it's pricey, and the last time I checked....grasshoppers were not a delicacy in...

Have a special occasion? Come to this establishment. Rough day at work? Come to this establishment. Day ends in a “Y?” Come to this establishment.

Wow! Got there early for our reservation and they accommodated us no problem. Cocktails were amazingly made with loads of flavor!

With all of the oyster options I couldn’t pick so I allowed the chef to pick and wow was it delicious. Husband had the oysters Rockefeller and the topping was insane! I went with the lobster ravioli and the filling was mostly lobster and I had two beautifully cooked pieces of lobster on top. The sauce was light and balanced well with the ravioli. Husband had the shrimp and grits and the shrimp were beautifully cooked and made his southern heart happy. We split some Parmesan fries and while they were a tad soggy, the flavor was amazing.

We got a complimentary glass of champagne for our anniversary and we both ordered dessert. While the key lime pie was tasty, the coconut pie is INTENSE! I loved the shortbread crust topped with chocolate. It just went with the coconut flavor so well!

Ask to sit in Keith’s section! He was the perfect guide to our evening! He knew the menu well, was able to recommend a delicious wine to go with my dinner, and he seemed to know when we needed him. We never had to flag him down. He was personable without being over the top.

All in all this was the perfect evening to celebrate our 16th anniversary. My only regret was being too full to do...