Water Street Seafood

Came here because we wanted to do some exploring upstate and saw the Yelp reviews. We were not disappointed! Called for a reservation and were seated so I could see the water. Told them my husband's birthday is in a week and we were greeted with a card and an oyster shell ornament!Service was great. Food was tasty. Oyster stew in particular was fabulous. In the summer it looks like they have a great outdoor space. We may come back upstate just to eat here!

Edit: Thanks to the owner for your response. To be clear, however, your server did not ask how I wanted the food to come out, that is absolutely not true. And if she had asked, I would never have said it doesn't matter. It doesn't make sense - why would I have said that and subsequently complain about it? It seems obvious to me that it would go without saying that someone ordering 3 items would not want them delivered all at once, unless it was explicitly requested. I think she is engaging in a bit of CYA.Original review:I visited this restaurant as a solo diner on Wednesday, February 19th, 2025. I ordered oyster stew, the fried oyster appetizer, and the steamed trio. To my surprise, the server showed up about 15 minutes after I ordered with all three dishes. I remarked, "so you're going to drop all three of these at once, huh?". She nonchalantly replied "yeah, they all came up at once". So, she essentially served me as one would a dog, not as a human dining alone, who ostensibly came to this place to enjoy a reasonably paced meal. As to the food, the fried oysters were over breaded and over cooked - i would not recommend. Next, I had the oyster stew because I didn't want it to get cold. It was was reasonably tasty, but not many oysters. Lastly, I had the steamed trio, which was cold by the time I got to it. I finished around half of it. This bad experience was mostly a failure of service. I had hoped to enjoy this place, but the experience was ruined by a careless server.

Came here for a quick oyster shooters and oyster stew!The stew was delicious, creamery and had a great contrast with the brine of the oyster. The shooters did wake me up with the tart bloody mary and house mix with the local Chesapeake Bay oysters. Ordered cream of crab which I'm looking forward to having through the week. The location has outdoor overlooking the bay while the inside is tight so plan ahead especially during the summer months.

I came into this location with my family of 7 on a Wednesday night about 5 PM. We had a reservation and was seated right away. The food was amazing. All of the food was hot and fresh. It even had a beautiful aesthetic. Staff was also very friendly and helpful. We would definitely recommend and return in the future.

While running errands in the city I decided to stop for lunch. This location has a great view of the water and you can see the occasional boat driving by. They have a great outdoor seating area that I'm sure gets a lot of action when it's warmer out and a nice size parking lot on the side of the building. I got a Caesar salad that was a good size portion very ROUGHLY chopped. At most places, the croutons are super hard, but that's not the case with these. I like that they held together and had a butter taste about three of every type of oyster they had to offer there wasn't much flavor, but they definitely tasted fresh. They do $1dollar oysters on Tuesdays. if you're looking for a place that serves seafood this is the place to be. My serve Joeli was very nice and checked in to make sure I had everything I needed. I look forward to my return

Even on a cold, rainy winter day, this was a perfect lunch spot. Welcoming service, ample servings of delicious seafood, tempting desserts that do not disappoint, and cheery interior made for a perfect outing. Can't wait to return.

We recently went to this restaurant. It's TRULY remarkable. We had a large party and were accommodated easily. The owner of the restaurant is present within the building. We all ordered appetizers. Things to note... calamari had both rings and tentacles. They did not bother me, but my mother in law isn't a big fan of the tentacles. If they bother you, I'd stick with the crab hush puppies. They were phenomenal. My husband is on a keto diet and he typically struggles at restaurants but was SO excited that they had palmini noodles. He said his meal was delicious. He ate all of it. My father in law got some sort of bread bowl filled with seafood. We all got cream of crab soup and it was delicious!!! I got the pear blackberry salad with a crab cake on top. It was very good. The crab cake didn't have much filling like some restaurants. It was so much crab. I loved it. The sweetness of the blackberry vinaigrette was phenomenal. Truly an amazing restaurant.

Really love this gem. The seafood is fresh and delicious. Their clam soup is absolutely delicious. The food is excellent but what is even better is their service. We've visited twice now for my daughter's birthday and if you let them know ahead of time they make a bday card and small gift which makes her day! We are from out of town, but the place gives off a very homey feel and the servers are extremely friendly and attentive. Looking forward to our next annual visit.My star rating legend:5: A+ Worth a special journey (ie. I would go out of my way, maybe even take a flight somewhere just for this; exceptionally amazing)4: A excellent, a must try, solid place3: B good; nothing extraordinary, but would definitely go again2: C personally would never go again (unless invited by someone and I didn't get to pick the place), but I can see how others might find something appealing1: Fail. I would never return and recommend no on else goes either.

We went today for the first time. Family business, which is always a plus in my book. Any family business that survived covid and the subsequent economy are a testament to the quality of their wares. People go out less than they did before, and they've had to become a lot more discerning as far as who they give their hard earned money to, when they do go out. I know we certainly had to. If restaurants weren't good enough, they would've had to fold. This theory proved absolutely correct in this instance. The food was excellent. I rest my case. But more on that, later. Granted, it's off season, but we had no problem parking. Decor inside is really cool, with different cities in Maryland highlighted on the walls. It's much bigger than it appears from the outside, with 2 different dining rooms. Table and menus were squeaky clean, too, which in all fairness, should be the norm everywhere, but sadly isn't. There is also a really cool outdoor area, which obviously we didn't try, since it's freezing and in January. I hear they do whole pit hog in the summer. We'll definitely be back for that! On to the most important part: the food. We started with a cream of crab. Every restaurant in Maryland has one. I've tried as many as the restaurants I've visited. This is clearly the best one I've had. Bar none. Plenty of crab, creamy but not to the point you lose the crab flavor, just enough old bay to showcase the crab, without becoming overpowering. Very nice portion, too. Plentiful for an appetizer.We also ordered the fried Rockfish fingers, which are a guilty pleasure of mine. They were excellent. Again, very nice portion for an appetizer, or a light entrée if you add some fries or a side salad.A side note on the fries, which were excellent and deserve a mention. They were thick and perfectly battered and seasoned. Not greasy at all, a good crisp on the outside, and perfectly fluffy inside.My husband had the Swamp wrap, (Shrimp, blackened chicken, Andouille sausage, rice, served on a cheddar wrap), which was excellent. He's not really a wrap guy, but it was different enough to intrigue him. He didn't regret it. Very generous portion, and served with fries and a pickle.I had the fish and chips. Pretty classic, not much to say about it, but it was good, not greasy, good color, served with plenty of fries, cole slaw, and an excellent tartar sauce.We were there with a friend, who ordered the oyster stew. I didn't try it, but it looked really good, with plenty of oysters, in what looked like a cream base, and had aromas of garlic and, if I had to guess based on my nose alone, shallots as well. Again, I didn't try it, but I will definitely when I return. He also had the shrimp and crab linguine, which were tossed with plenty of big lumps of crab and shrimp, with diced tomatoes, in what smelled like a garlic and wine sauce. It wasn't watery either (just because I didn't eat it doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention ), which leads me to believe they probably seeded their tomatoes before they diced them. Another indication of a formal higher culinary training - another dish to add to the growing list of the ones I want to try. They had a nice selection of cakes for dessert, but we were pretty full, so all we could manage was to share a chocolate mousse. Godiva. Enough said.The price tag wasn't terrible. It's not the cheapest lunch in town, but it IS seafood, we had 2 appetizers and a dessert, the portions were very generous (none of that Covid portion shrink crap) and I thought it was very reasonable for what we had, at that quality level. This is definitely high quality fair, top shelf seafood for sure, much higher than you would expect at that price tag. I've looked at their dinner menu, and I've perused quite a few pictures of their food, online. They obviously have an actual Chef in the kitchen, not just a glorified cook, and it shows. And it's higher quality without being pretentious, which is very refreshing.They don't unnecessarily pile on 3 extra ingredients the dish doesn't need just to pretend to be fancy and upcharge you 20 pct on the bill, like (too) many restaurants do in the area. You know who you are. We will definitely be back, after 4pm next time, so we can delve into their dinner menu. Their "Salt Life Pasta (Jumbo Shrimp, lump crab, scallops, tossed in a creamy Old Bay Alfredo), Chicken Chesapeake (Chicken breast, lump crab meat, Mornay sauce), and Maple Bourbon Glazed Pork Shank (they had me at make bourbon glaze) to name a few, are already on my "to order" list. Add the shrimp and crab linguine I saw for lunch. I also hear from our friend, who's a regular, that they have top shelf oysters. My advice if you're in the area? Give them a try. Very nice people, great food, great view of the bay. We had a really nice time.Note: The photos aren't mine, because I didn't plan on writing a review. But this place definitely deserves a review, so there we are.

A small restaurant that did not disappoint!! I got the seafood cheesesteak, which contained scallops, crab, and shrimp and was fantastic. I also had the lobster bisque, and we shared some appetizers (crab cheese fondue and alligator bites). Brought leftovers home, and even even the picky eaters in my family commented on how fresh and tasty the seafood cheesesteak was. There is not a ton of seating so there may be a wait if you go during busy times. Our servers were great, but the lady at the front when we first walked in was honestly pretty rude. Her own staff kept telling us we could sit outside if we wanted, but then she yelled at us when we mentioned potentially sitting there if it was open (it was not and we were fine sitting anywhere but no need for the negative interaction).