GOOD PEARL GONE BAD... Our experience could have & should have been so much better. Last night, our party of 4 was seated by friendly staff & greeted within a reasonable amount of time by our server Luke Andrew. We decided to start with 2 bottles of rosé champagne (one sweet one brut) & the seafood tower. It should not have gone so bad so fast, but that was where our experience went wrong. Prior to ordering 2 bottles of champagne, I asked our server if they had bucket stands & he said yes. They do NOT have them. If I go again, knowing they can not provide the space to order more, I will not order more. Easy solution. Next, our server brought 4 glasses, opened 2 bottles, served 2 people, set both buckets on our small square 4 person table ... & left. He brought 4 glasses, but only served 2 people. After he served two people & walked away, we all looked at each other like "I guess that's it" & laughed while I served champagne to the two gentlemen at the table. I urge The Pearl to invest in champagne bucket stands & train serving staff to, you know, serve. The seafood tower arrived (12 oysters on level 1, split lobster in tail, chilled crab, unpeeled shrimp on top) and it was impressive. However, other than how crowded we were at that moment, a few additional things could be improved on with our experience here: First: Don't skimp on accessories. There were 4 cracker packets for 12 oysters. Our server didn't ask who wanted crackers, but naturally since he brought so few, everyone wanted crackers. There was ONE single bowl for discarding shell parts that we were expected to pass around and ONE single small butter dish floating above a candle in a metal dish for 4 people to share. Which means that not only is it inconvenient to share, it's also a burn hazard. Summary: At some point it begins to hit you that you just spent $200 for them to bring a pretty seafood tower centerpiece. It felt like we were expected to just look at it, not to actually eat it. I would suggest they improve the guest consumption experience by not skimping on the items the guests need to actually consume the tower. This brings me to the LAST bad part, which to me was the worst: The BAD OYSTER. Yes bad things happen. According to our server, it is common. Suggestion: Handle it better. After observing the cracker/ condiment shortage, I decided to be unshellfish (see what I did there?) and just pop the closest oyster directly into my mouth... IT. WAS. BAD. I don't mean it just tasted bad so I spit it out (it was, I did) it SMELLED so bad that the two guests sitting to my right and left could smell it the second I spit it out. It actually started stinking up the table. Fortunately there's mouthwash in the bathrooms (although the sink in my bathroom was stopped up with water floating in it so that was unfortunate) so I spent, not exaggerating, the next TEN or so minutes gargling & spitting it into the toilet. The smell clung to my fingers & I washed them four times in the bathroom. After sitting down again, I realized I could still smell the putrid oyster on my fingers so I went back for another round of washing my hands. I think not being able to rinse them well the first time because of the clogged sink added to the difficulty in getting my hands clean the first time. When I went back to the table, I was told by my fellow guests what happened when they told the server that I got a bad oyster. He reportedly said "Yeah, it happens like 1 in every 1,000 oysters... " (they swear he didn't apologize) then he removed the bad oyster in our one and only shell discard dish... and that was it. He didn't offer to replace the bad oyster. We had to ASK him to bring another shell discard dish. A manager never came over to check on us... crickets... Conclusion: Our entrees that followed were fabulous. The Pearl might have the best adult grilled cheese sandwich in town. Overall, this place has potential. It could have should have been so much better... SUMMARY: Just stick to the fried pickles, grilled cheese sandwich & clam chowder until this guppy becomes a whale.