The Oyster Bar — Restaurant in South Lake Tahoe

What do you look for when you go to a great reviewed restaurant?

The food was not something to DIE for despite all the hype surrounding this restaurant. Nor is the service out of this world, warranting it’s number one status in Tahoe according to Yelp. That said let me start from the beginning. I arrived early at the restaurant so I could wait in the long line to prevent my elderly parents from having to do since they have severe arthritis and can’t stand for long periods of time. I was finally seated and decided to order while waiting for them. I ordered a dozen of oysters with a glass of Rose to go with my Raw oysters, followed by their famous "seafood boil" and the Gumbo, which I've been craving since I went to a southern state. It took them a while to get those two "famous dishes" out, but it all worked out since my parents arrived and I was ready to give them my seat so they could enjoy the food. Out of nowhere Kyle bee lines straight for us and berates me for giving my seat to them. Despite explaining their medical issues to Kyle and later the floor manager Sean, I was informed that the best they could do is to have my parents stand over my shoulder while I ate the food since sitting them went against protocol and takeout was not allowed on the weekends?! My dad was so embarrassed he left hungry, leaving my mom and I to try to make the best out of a awful situation. Bottom line: If you're looking for mediocre seafood, a long line, and no compassion in the serving staff, then this is a place for you. In all honesty, we could all show a little compassion in this world because we all need it,...

Last weekend we went to Tahoe for skiing and stayed at the Golden Nugget. On the casino floor there's a voted best seafood restaurant in Tahoe, so we went down to try it out. It's actually a bar where you sit on the bar LOL. No table seating. The bar is extremely clean and the servers are extremely pleasant and attentive. My son was craving for New England Clam Chowder and it's so good that he finished it in a heart beat. He also wanted to try the Jambalaya dish that he used to have a long time ago in the long gone Elephant Bar many years ago. I also wanted to try the Jambalaya. They cooked the food right in front of us which is quite an eye feast and a nice experience. Very different from other restaurants. The Jambalaya is very delicious and full flavor with plenty of shrimps, chicken and sausages, although it's not too spicy as some other places. My wife wanted to try the Bouillabaisse (french seafood stew) because it looked so good. There are all types of seafood in it, and the soup was so tasty, she loved it. Especially with the hot sourdough rolls to dip in the soup as a meal in itself. The price is amazingly affordable, the stew even has a lobster tail, plenty of crab legs, clams, mussels and fishes. The amber draft beer was great, we had a taste of both dark beer, we ended up with one and a bottle of Sapporo beer. They both went great with our foods. My daughter was busy with her homework so we got the clams chowder to go and some sourdough rolls and she loved them. It's nice to try something different and it came out great....

The Oyster bar and grill is a seafood bar serving restaurant quality fresh seafood dishes! Consisting of attentive and friendly staff ( Thank you Zack and Mack!), that provide you accurate descriptions of the dish. I tried the Bouillabaisse French Seafood Stew, Pan Roast Lobster, and Chicken Linguine which were all exquisite. The Bouillabaisse has a unique combination of oil, sauces, seasoning added on top of the fresh seafood taste. It's almost impossible to describe the otherworldly taste but imagine if you went to the cleanest beach and took that water, used it as a soup base stewing it with many different seafood and fragrant oils that is what I believe it could taste like. It was super generous with seafood having a one of a kind seafood stew taste. The Pan Roast Lobster was a creamy tomato bisque with 6 large pieces of lobster, the tomato bisque having every molecule of its creaminess gripping onto your taste buds and the fresh lobster tasting like the heart of the sea with every bite, slightly salty, really meaty and tender. The Chicken Linguine was also amazing, being really generous with the Parmesan and Chicken and having aldente linguine noodles, with a herby white wine broth gripping onto each strand of the noodles. Overall, The Oyster Bar being located in the Golden Nugget casino amazed me with its food and if I ever come back I will definitely be trying some of their other dishes. Also this review was written on Christmas soo.. Merry...