Oceano Coastal Restaurant — Restaurant in Virginia

One of THE best meals/Valentine’s Day dinners I’ve had! I have driven past Oceano countless times and when searching for options for Valentine’s Day dinner earlier this year I wanted to find something that was relatively convenient due to my late work schedule. We were able to secure a reservation for Valentine’s Day at 8:15 PM and they also had reservations that started even after that.

Upon arriving, the restaurant was packed as was the bar area it seemed very lively, which is always a good sign. Once we were seated, I was a little bit nervous though because no one came to acknowledge us as our server for the first ~ 5 to 10 minutes. And it just so happened that there were two other servers in the area one of which that I stopped and asked if he was our server and his reply was “I can be”. So starting this review off with a huge s/o to Jamell (sp) because he was the best! He gave us great feedback on the menu items and made sure that our drinks tasted amazing and he was so so so personable. Also, there was a woman who was walking around the dining area (I assumed that maybe she was a manager or something) But I know she had on a cap and a maybe a denim apron. But she checked on us once as well and I did appreciate that.

I loved my red sangria and I was told that it’s a special house blend/mix and I had two of those. My fiancé ended up not liking his because he said it was too fruity for him (he only got it to match me lol) so he switched to a jack and Coke I think and it was perfect. If you like a nice strong drink like us it’s perfect.

Now for the food… I was blown away. I will absolutely say that the website for this restaurant does not do the food any justice in my opinion. Because when we were researching my fiancé and I were a little bit nervous as to whether or not we would leave the restaurant full, especially with their primary focus being on seafood. However, they fooled us and I am so glad and I cannot wait to return. My legit only complaint about the food was about one of our appetizers. We ordered the Fritto misto and it was supposed to be a mix of calamari and fried shrimp and we only had one fried shrimp on our plate. I love seafood, I love fried shrimp but I also love calamari so it really was not a huge deal to me . But that is literally the only “complaint”that I have but it was fried to perfection and the sauce that they provided took it over the top! We even used the sauce for the Colombian empanadas that we ordered and chef’s kiss. The lamb sliders were another hit. The slaw with the lamb was a perfect combination. It tasted so fresh like honestly the kitchen staff, the chefs, perfection no complaints, no notes, perfection!

The entrees! So my fiancé was trying to step out of his box and order something different because 9 times out of 10 he’s ordering steak. He decided to go for the salmon. and again he was worried that it wasn’t going to be enough food, but we were clearly fooled. It was a nice hearty piece of fish. Now that plantain mash was sooooo good, we love plantains we love Mofongo like it was perfect. The salsa on top of the salmon literally set off the whole entire dish. As soon as I looked at the menu and Jamell confirmed I knew I was ordering the paella and I have no regrets. The paella could easily be split between two people to share as an entrée. However, I enjoy food. I am a foodie and I eat a lot, so I just shared a couple of spoonfuls lol. However, I did take a little bit home and Jamell was right… the leftovers tasted just as good as they did when I ate it in person. It was like an explosion or a flavor party in every bite. The chicken breast was moist. The shrimp were good. The chorizo was good. The scallops were cooked to perfection. I don’t even know how you cook all the things that have to be cooked at different temperatures and they all taste so good but they did it and I was amazed. I can’t wait to go back to Oceano. Because apparently they also have a good brunch….10/10 experience...

We ate the Friday night. Made reservations 2 weeks ahead and told them we had never been there before and it was our 3rd wedding anniversary. Lovely lady on the phone said they were honored that we had chosen to celebrate there and she would be sure to note it on the reservation and we should be confident that it would be special. All I can say is a big NOT. We were seated immediately at a table to the left of the hostess station against a wall. There is no wall decor, no rug, no tablecloths - nothing to absorb sound and the noise level was very high. When our waitress came over to take our drink order she could not hear us and we could not hear her. She actually sat at our table so that we could converse. She goes to get drinks and we actually decide to leave - its super loud and we have to really raise our voices to communicate with each other. Not romantic. She comes back a few minutes later - no drinks - and says something that we couldn't hear. Then she says its really loud here - let's seat you in another section. She takes us to the bar area to a 4 top. It is quieter there - except for the female bartender who is carrying on a loud and animated conversation with 4 guests at the bar who are roaring laughter. Not classy at all. It was more like Cheers. Male bartender takes our drink order - 2nd time - and brings menues. We order and wait 40 minutes for the crab mac and cheese and the salmon. Salmon was great - mac and cheese bland. I had seen him put fresh cracked pepper on a patrons fish, so I asked for it. He brought me two glass diner style salt and pepper shakers. Oh, forgot - we cut the bottom off the herb bread as it was obviously close to burned on the bottom and was bitter charred. Top half was fine. No one asked if we needed anything else, or refilled our water. We would have ordered more bourbon and ginger, but we were never asked. We ate, and the bartender came and took our plates and brought the check. No offer of coffee or dessert, no mention of our anniversary. We paid, and when the hostess asked if we enjoyed our dinner, we stopped at her hostess stand and we told her no, we hadn't expected to spend 150$ on our anniversary in a loud bar. We expected a table in a nice restaurant where we could converse and have coffee and dessert and a second drink or a bottle of wine, that would have been nice. it was our anniversary which we had told them, and essentially we ended up eating in a bar listening to the bartenders as they were given drink orders and made drinks and carried them back and forth by as they passed by our table. The hostess looked down and said I don't see on here that it is your anniversary / and I said that I had discussed it with them when the reservation was made and I was pretty sure it was out anniversary. And she and another guy just stood there and looked clueless. We left. After we left, someone else in the parking, who wasn't happy with their service either, said that the bald guy in the white shirt standing next to the hostess was the owner/manager. He heard the entire conversation with her, made eye contact with us but said not a word. They get two stars for having a nice selection of bourbon and a good piece of salmon. The noise level is obnoxious and we were very disappointed in the entire experience. We mistakenly believed it was upscale ambiance with great service and it isn't - we will...

If you want to visit a restaurant that instantly makes you feel like you are visiting family, then please come to Oceano. Owner Maria and Manager Josue, along with the rest of the staff are absolutely amazing. My husband and I went for dinner last night for our anniversary. It was our second time visiting the restaurant, but our first time sitting down for dinner. The wait staff asks everyone before their meal if they have any allergies so they can assist you in that department if needed. We started with their homemade focaccia bread with oil and balsamic for dipping. We then moved on to their amazing meatballs and the Gambas al Ajillo (Shrimp). My husband loves seafood but I do not care for it myself, however, I would drink the sauce that comes in this dish and in fact asked for extra bread just so I could have more of the sauce. I would absolutely love to have it over some pasta. You cannot go wrong with either of these small plates before your meal. For our entrees, my husband had the Chicken Alfredo and added shrimp, and I ordered the Mafaldine. It's almost impossible to go to a restaurant anymore that takes the time and care to make EVERYTHING from scratch, even the pasta. Both of our dishes were amazing. Upon the first bite, my husband said "That's what Alfredo is supposed to taste like!" He said the chicken had amazing flavor and was really fresh and loved the addition of the shrimp. I saved most of my entree to enjoy for dinner tonight, but every bite I took was delicious. This isn't your everyday pasta with meat sauce. Chef Maria takes the time to combine three meats into the sauce to give it an amazing flavor with the homemade pasta. We finished our meal with the out of this world Tres Leches Cake. I have never had a version of this I enjoyed, but I would eat this over and over, and the addition of the raspberry sauce only enhances it's flavor even more. We even went a little crazy and took home the chocolate mousse to try. I snuck a bite late last night and wanted to eat the whole container, and probably would have had it not been so late. The staff really took the time to make our Anniversary dinner extra special, even writing "Happy Anniversary" on our dessert plate with our Tres Leches Cake. This was the only thing I got a photo of as we were so busy enjoying our food and time together I forgot to take photos of the rest of the beautiful dishes we had. If you have not visited this establishment yet, you are missing out, and I would encourage you to visit as soon as possible! We are hoping to visit for brunch on our next visit!

As a side note: If it's a nice night out, I would opt to sit in the front courtyard as the lights make it a very...