Half Shell — Restaurant in Seattle

Just moved to Seattle and was looking for a place to eat oysters.Was surprised to find out how pricey it is here so was excited to learn about their 2$ happy hour. I ordered 12 oysters.The waiter just slammed it on my table when they were ready and left without saying anything.He seemed rushed,which was surprising as there weren’t many costumers.I decided to ignore it as I was really excited about the oysters.As soon as I tried the first one I realized something was off,the waiter was nowhere to be found and he didn’t check on me until much later after my prolonged staring so I ended up asking someone else where the oysters where from.Was told it was either Vancouver or Oregon.I decided to blame the odd taste on the fact that I normally ate the East Coast oysters so it’s understandable that these were different. I kept eating thinking that I need to start getting used to the taste as I now live here but it was really bad. I did briefly mention to the waiter that they weren’t great too which he was surprised to hear.I never tried to get out of paying so after paying my bill I decided to leave and take my disappointment home.I wasn’t gonna write a review but a few hours later I started having the worst imaginable diarrhea,which is an extremely rare occurrence for me.I only had a fresh croissant in the morning prior to the oysters meal so I’m sure they are to blame.I am now convinced the oysters didn’t taste weird because they were from west coast,they tasted bad because there weren’t fresh and clearly there was something wrong with them. I will not be returning to this place even though they have the best happy hour deal in Seattle.Such a disappointment. P.S. I also tried their scallops and those were pretty good,plus they waiter was a little more attentive after my evil look so I added...

Sadly, this was not the experience that I hoped for. I made a 5 pm reservation a day in advance and when I arrived, the greeter had to go find someone else to tell here where to seat us. We got a cozy spot by the window on the end of the restaurant which was fine, except our server ended up taking care of people on the other side of the restaurant as well. I don't know if they were short staffed tonight or what but it was 5 pm on a Saturday night. The server did get to us fairly soon but had a hard time answering basic questions about the very limited menu options. After about 10 minutes, she came back to take our order. We got the Steak Frites, Coho Salmon, and a roasted oyster appetizer plus drinks. The drinks were good but we only got one oyster. Apparently I didn't hear her ask if we just wanted one... she said she asked me so I'll give her a pass but I still think she should have made it clear that the appetizer comes in singles. The entrees were average at best. The steak Frites was a little over cooked, more medium well than medium but the flavor was decent. The fries were actually pretty good. The salmon was a little fishy and not well seasoned, we've definitely had better. I wanted to try dessert and the special Lemoncello but our server didn't come to our table for 15 minutes after we were done eating. In fact, she only came once after we got our food and never looked at us again. If you want a good seafood experience, I do not recommend this place as there are much better options elsewhere that are close by that have better service and more...

My husband and I, who live in the area, visited Half Shell yesterday after noticing many available dining reservations on OpenTable. Upon entering the restaurant, we noticed numerous open tables both inside and outside so we anticipated getting seated with no issue.

While waiting at the front we encountered a server, a middle aged woman with long gray hair and a black shirt, whose name we unfortunately did not catch. She gave us an unwelcoming vibe, almost as if we didn't belong there. When my husband inquired about seating outside for a party of two, she informed us that there would be a 30-minute wait, despite the abundance of empty tables around us.

We decided to observe the situation from outside and witnessed another couple being promptly seated after walking in and a few other families. Who knows if they had reservations or not but It's disheartening to experience such unwelcoming behavior in the customer service industry. We are strong advocates for supporting local businesses in Seattle as we also run one ourselves. However in order for businesses to improve, constructive feedback is essential.

I believe that as consumers, we sometimes overlook such instances in Seattle and it's time for us to demand better standards especially at such a beautiful new spot like this we were looking forward to enjoying. Let's strive for a community where businesses like this can thrive by providing exceptional service. Change begins with us, the customers sharing honest feedback on hopes change...