Rappahannock Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Washington

Service: We came here on a Saturday night excited for seafood. We arrived at 9:20pm and the more experienced hostess informed us that there would be a 20 minute wait or less and would text as soon as a table opened. My boyfriend asked if she would prefer us wait nearby or if we were able to walk around the waterfront. She reassuringly told us that walking around wouldn't be a problem. 30 minutes in, we came back to check if something opened up thinking that a table would be opened soon. We stood across from the restaurant waiting and saw a couple arrive and immediately get seated. Confused, my boyfriend asked the hostess if something was mixed up or if they arrived before us since its been well past 20 mins. She looked up with an annoyed look and asked "Are you sure you were on the waiting list? Because I don't see anything". My boyfriend pulled out his phone and showed her the wait list confirmation that was sent at 9:20pm. She rolled her eyes and told us that "According to her list, our confirmation was canceled by us at 9:39pm" When we showed her the screen, she saw that clearly that did not happen. With a clear look on her face she then said, "Well i can look and see".

Food: When we finally got seated, we decided to order one of each of the oysters and clams, the scallop carpaccio, the fry oyster basket, and the grilled squid. The oysters and clams were delicious and the scallop carpaccio was one of the best. The fry oyster basket was decent and the grilled squid was fine. For dessert we had the banana pudding, which was excellent.

Overall the food was pretty good, but not amazing enough to justify waiting unnecessarily long, rolled eyes, and undeserved attitude when we were more than happy to understand that...

Visiting DC and was craving some oysters and a crab cake. They had 3 different choices for raw oysters, but they seemed kind of small and 2 still had shell in it (not enough to have a problem with it, just a small inconvenience). The crab cake was definitely pretty solid and tasty, I did like it (but if I were to make a request, I wish the sauce was a plate design on the side of the crab cake and veg or something because the dish was kind of drowning in it making it a bit soggy?).

My lackluster experience was mostly because of the lack of staff attention to be honest. We sat there for a while before even being acknowledged and we sat right at the middle of the bar. When we did, it was from one of the bar backs who asked if we had been helped and then it still took a while for someone to look at us. The restaurant wasn't at capacity and there were staff standing around waiting, but we didn't make a fuss just in case the kitchen was behind or something. They weren't rude or anything, just kind of felt we could've walked out without being noticed for being a bit invisible. Mind you, I'm usually kind of loud and hard to miss usually, but I did make some fun new friends with other customers while waiting!

For the price point, I guess I was just expecting more. It's not a bad rating, but I think maybe we should've started somewhere else.

FYI gratuity of 18% is automatically included, I usually tip more, but I always feel a bit weird when they don't say anything about it except for a line on the menu and I guess it doesn't matter how service is. I really hope it was just an...

I was visiting DC with my daughter and her three boys aged 8-12. We had visited the Spy Museum. The Oyster Bar was a short walk away - and we like oysters. So, this is our experience: We hit the place about 4:30pm, a little ahead of the supper rush. We got a decent table next to an open window panel. Our server, Patrick, was older than the usual server. Very pleasant, attentive and good at dealing with the boys, particularly one who was being snotty. The food: We ordered their 'Fry Basket' with oysters and their oyster po' boy. For the kids it was a hamburger and the kids' shrimp and fries dinner. The hamburger was very good: a thick patty and quality bun. The fries were nicely done and the po' boy was fairly generous. Quantity of oysters was actually almost satisfactory, but one would always want more. They came with a tasty remoulade. We did order oysters on the half shell, 3 each per adult, in 3 varieties. So, the food was pretty much as we expected - generally well-prepared, a bit short of generous and a bit overpriced. The venue: a nice building with huge open glass wall panels which were open to the breeze. The noise level was just about enough so that we could hear. For us, the atmosphere was off-putting: Very much a DC office worker bee/hipster place. So, if you're one of the above class, have a pocketful of money and a taste for oysters (or shrimp) in a kinda nifty area, it's for you. It's not really a...