Water Street Oyster Bar

We've been coming here for years, and every visit is consistently delicious. My husband always orders the crawfish-stuffed chicken, which is superb, while I go for the grilled chicken wedge salad with their signature walnut dressing--it never disappoints. For appetizers, we love the edamame, cucumber salad, and oysters; everything is packed with flavor and always hits the mark. The staff is attentive, and it's clear they have a low turnover rate since we often see familiar faces, which adds a personal touch to our experience. The ambiance is always warm and inviting, making it the perfect spot for dinners, birthdays, and celebrating life's milestones.The only suggestion I'd offer is addressing the occasional issue with flies, particularly near the kitchen or patio-adjacent seating areas. Overall, dining here is always a treat, and we'll continue to come back for years to come!

I'm truly disappointed to be giving this restaurant only three stars. I arrived with high hopes based on glowing reviews, both online and from friends, but unfortunately, my experience fell short. Perhaps it was just an off day.First, I want to acknowledge the excellent service. Both of my servers (one in training) were attentive, and the manager quickly addressed most of my concerns. The restaurant was packed at lunchtime, offering a casual coastal vibe with great happy hour deals.Now, onto the food. I ordered the Oysters Rockefeller, a spring salad, the Water Street Roll, and a six-piece fried shrimp. Unfortunately, my oysters arrived with a hair on them, so they were sent back. I gave them another try, but the texture and smell seemed off, so they were removed from my order. The salad was standard but had a nice herby vinaigrette. The shrimp tasted pre-frozen rather than fresh. The sushi roll was the best dish--until I witnessed a serious sanitation issue.A server blew his nose within arm's length of the sushi bar, then wiped his nose with his hands and went right back to work--without washing his hands. I brought this concern up to my server when I received my bill, and she admitted she saw it too.While I appreciate the great service, the sanitation concerns make me hesitant to return.

The reason I'm giving them three stars is because the food itself was by and large anywhere from OK to solid and they did the right thing by taking care of my check. However, service was disastrous--if they hadn't done the right thing, the meal would have been a single star.I came around 5:40, slightly before the end of their happy hour. Accordingly, I ordered a pair of rolls (half price) and a margarita. While the drink arrived fairly quickly--as did some bread--I had to wait for the rolls. And wait some more. At one point the server thought it would be another 10 minutes. It wasn't. I think it was probably about 40-45 minutes from when I ordered them. The rolls themselves were fine. Not spectacular--I didn't get a ton of flavor--but fresh enough and decent. They were, not, however, worth waiting all that time for.Having waited that long, my appetite had waned a little--I was tired--but I was still a bit hungry, so I ordered the bacon-wrapped shrimp, which I was told was not a heavy dish. The server told me this would be out faster. It wasn't, though a salad appeared at one point. And then I waited for the shimp.Somewhere in the middle of this--I think before the shrimp arrived--another service miscue: a manager (I believe) came by, picked up my mostly finished but not empty margarita, asking if I wanted another--the answer was no--and whisking it off before I even knew what hit me. He did not ask me if I was finished with it. I wasn't quite.By the time the shrimp arrived, I'd been at the restaurant for an hour and a half. I ate a little, but having had the margarita as well as plenty of water, the inevitable happened: I had to go to the bathroom. I was clearly not finished, but when I came back, the check was sitting at my place next to my less-than-half-eaten shrimp platter. You just don't do that, especially when you've already had a conversation with the guest about dessert.Seeing my dismay, a female manager who seemed to be the person most in charge and with whom I had interacted a bit earlier, came over and checked on me, at which point I explained everything that had happened. She offered to have them refire the shrimp dish--I thanked her for the offer, but I didn't want to waste food--and she also made it clear that dinner would be on them, which was the right thing to do.The server came over and apologized after--which I appreciated. I definitely don't believe she intended to push me out the door, and ultimately I finished most of the rest of the shrimp and had a slice of their pumpkin cheesecake (which was tasty for not being in my wheelhouse), and the manager assured me that she'd looked at my ticket times and would be addressing the various issues with staff.So...Water Street, if you're reading this:1. I'm not sure if you were understaffed that night at the sushi bar or in the kitchen, but if that happens, I'd recommend being upfront with people about the potential wait. Having said that, if it takes 40 minutes to get two rolls out, something's wrong. Either there need to be more chefs or better chefs, or people need to be retrained.2. Don't remove someone's drink or plate without asking unless they're absolutely empty. It only takes a few seconds to ask, "May I clear that for you?" or "Are you all finished with that?" and it prevents any kind of misunderstanding.3. Standard protocol is to ask the guest if there's anything else you can get for them before you bring the check. You never just drop it on the table, especially if the guest may not even be finished their main course.In any case, I hope the restaurant gets things sorted out. I will likely be back in Corpus next year for the same conference, and I'd be happy to pay for a meal that makes me happy. Whether I would risk it here, we'll see...

Loved visiting this place!!! The food was amazing and the service was excellent. It was a great place to spend with my friends and celebrate! If I'm ever back in area, I will definitely check them out again and explore more menu options.

So we returned home with our leftovers, which were packed with utmost care by our server, Lauren! There were extra rolls, butter, and dressing for the leftover salad... And everything was labeled so we knew exactly what was in the containers and how to treat them... we don't want sauce falling, dripping out. It was like we were at the restaurant all over again but at home, so thank you Lauren for doubling our wonderful experience! Always great to enjoy the food the exact same way at home as you did at the restaurant.

Service: 5 stars Food: 3.5 stars Ambiance: 4 starsFirst meal in CP that was recommended by locals. Summary of ratings are above and the service really made the trip worth while. Call it the TX or southern hospitality because everyone is really kind here. We arrived a few hours before closing but did not feel rushed. I ordered the miso soup for starter but couldn't finish because of the high salt. The item was removed from our bill after I shared my review with the server. Both dishes were good, but hubby's dish had more flavor. The rice made the dish for me and the Black and Salmon meal that I ate was okay. The salmon was flaky and cooked perfectly I just wanted a bit more seasoning besides salt and pepper. I was hungry and it was late so very minimal options to be picky. We will give this location another try in the future. Again, the service made our time worth while and I want to try other dishes on the menu. See ya'll soon!

The last two times I visited Corpus Christi I stopped by here for dinner. Is it amazing? Not really, is it solid? Yes! Everything on their menu is decent, especially their oysters! It's near by the Selena monument so you can eat and check it out afterward to digest your food.

While on a work trip, I went here with a few coworkers and was very impressed by the ambience service and price point for the food. If I ever go back to corpus, I will definitely go back to this restaurant and take more advantage of their happy hour as we arrive last minute.

My wife and I were in Corpus this past weekend and staying downtown. We decided to walk to dinner and chose Water Street as it was close by. We happened upon happy hour with some great deals on sushi and drinks. We both ordered two rolls. Everything came out quickly and with generous portions. We really enjoyed all the food and the service was really well done, including for our little one. Would definitely recommend hitting them up for happy hour!

Drove in from a stop in New Braunfels, to spend a little time at by the water. Found this place on line, stopped in for late lunch. Had gulf oysters, peel & eat shrimp and seafood gumbo. All were excellent. Industrial inside, clean and modern. Friendly staff.SUGGESTION: Happy hour 3 - 6 on weekdays - half price oysters and shrimp.