Norfolk Seafood Company & Oyster Bar

Looked through yelp to find a new restaurant and came across this. I made a reservation because I wasn't sure how packed it would be since we went on a Friday night. I arrived right on time as my reservation was at 730 and i was seated immediately. Shortly after, the server came to ask if my seating was okay or i preferred to move. The restaurant is dimly lit, but not too dark and plenty of space. Very clean and cozy. Once we placed our order for the appetizers, they bought out warm cornbread with butter. The butter was sweet and melted perfectly on the bread. The calamari is good and also has peppers in them which paired well. They had a dipping sauce which tasted like it contained pesto, but it was good! My sister had the soup and sandwich special and she had no complaints. My crabcake was fried a little hard but the center was still soft and meaty. The vegetables and potatoes were good as well. I will probably be back!

The location of this place is what makes it niche in my opinion. We arrived probably an hour before closing and pretty much had the place to ourselves. The waitress seated us and brought water to the table promptly. The lighting was dim and set the tone for a nice evening out, it may be too dark for some. The food took about 15-20 minutes to arrive but that's pretty typical. The calamari was light and fried just right. My steak was overcooked, i ordered it medium but due to the thickness that tends to happens with NY strips, nonetheless, it was palatable. The fries were good but definitely could use some salt which I added. As for my beverage, I wanted a midori sour but settle for an amaretto sour instead. There isn't a lot of space at least in the downstairs area where we were seated, but you'll definitely enjoy yourself and the food if you're looking for a nice place to eat out.

We sat downstairs at the bar. The seafood jambalaya was amazing. The shrimp and scallops melted in your mouth. The shrimp and grits was delicious. They used some type of pineapple gravy that have it an flavor profile is never tasted before. It was very good. The service was awesome. The staff was very helpful and welcoming even though they were close to closing on me years eve. The ambiance was very intimate. Just have to get used to the occasional floor creeking when people walk around above you.

Great ambiance. We were seated immediately and the staff was attentive. Our food was served quickly and hot. Our wine was amazing. Will definitely be back!

Norfolk Seafood Company has aged like a fine wine. I've been a patron intermittently for several years and have never had a bad experience. I've come for dinner but mostly happy hour. This review is long overdue and it's time to show this business some love.My visits in the past year have been exceptional especially this past Friday night(10/27/2023) w/ a friend. Their menu and happy hours specials are forever evolving, but oysters for happy hour are consistent! Service is friendly, professional, and accommodating.We were pleasantly greeted by Shae and Sammy who presented us with the specials and took our drink orders. I ordered a classic martini and my friend, a margarita. They were delicious. Then, we were given three mini corn muffins that were cake like and melted in our mouths!! That was the very first time I was offered an amuse bouche here and was pleasantly surprised. Not sure if it happens often but loved that it occurred during my friend's first visit. We started with a dozen oysters, which happened to be our favorite, Laughing Kings. Ernest cleaned & shucked them perfectly with minimal to no traces of shell crumbs, sand, or dirt. They were fresh with juices in tact!! The oysters are served with cocktail sauce, horseradish, and a mignonette. The Laughing Kings were so delicious, we ordered another dozen!! There are other varietals but we stuck w/ the happy hour chef's choice, Laughing Kings.Next we tried the Tuna Tacos, buffalo, shrimp, oyster rockefeller, and crab roll! While we loved them all and our favorite were the Tuna Tacos & Crab Roll!! The shell of the tacos were thin, light, and charred/grilled!! The fish and veggies in the tacos complemented each other well!! The bun for the crab roll was warm, buttery, & crab plentiful. The crab was served cold and think if they were warm, it would have taken this already outstanding dish to another level. The tacos and crab roll were so good we ordered more!! Buffalo shrimp were HUGE & scrumptious. Although for me, they were heavy on breading and Buffalo kick was strong. With as much breading as there was, I would have liked more crunch but still happy hour prices, delicious, & worth trying!! Oyster Rockefeller were also delectable and tasted fresh. Norfolk Seafood Co. & Oyster Bar has always delivered during every visit I've encountered and seems to be excelling. Not sure if it's new ownership but noticed the sign has changed too. Kudos to Norfolk Seafood Co. & Oyster Bar! My friend and I throughly enjoyed our Friday night Happy Hour in Norfolk! An extra special "THANK UO" to Sammy, Shae, & Ernest for providing outstanding service!!

Second time here and both times were very enjoyable. I'm a foodie and I appreciate a good food/drink menu and a nice ambiance and Norfolk Seafood Company fits that! The service was top tier..our server was also the bartender and he even made us a drink that wasn't on the menu that came out sooo good (lemon and lavender margarita with a sugar rim, you're welcome ) You get cornbread with butter brought to your table (so good) I didn't get a chance to snap pictures of our appetizers but we did order a few different oysters, baked brie and the calamari and all did not disappoint one bit!! For my entree I ordered the blackened salmon Oscar and my friend had the ravioli special and both were very good! This place is low key and not very busy (not sure why) but I highly recommend you try it!! Don't let the current star rating fool you.

My husband and I had the most amazing meal here. I had been leery of trying this restaurant since the reviews were a little low but also interested at the same time. Our first restaurant choice was closed so we decided to give Norfolk Seafood Company a try. The food was amazing. We had the baked oysters, shrimp and grits and the bacon wrapped scallops. We also splurged on the bread pudding. Everything was wonderful. The ambience was perfect. We'll be back for sure. Highly recommend this place.

So let's start with the good. The service was wonderful with a very attentive waitstaff. The acoustics are some of the best in the area. I could clearly hear my partner, even though we were talking in pretty quiet tones, Basically the place has awesome acoustics for a good dinner conversation with friends. The cocktails were creative and tasty. ( Highly recommend the Borealis ) The food though was just okay. It wasn't bad it just wasn't great. For instance, the she crab soup was a little spicy. I like spicy but I wasn't expecting a kick in a she crab soup. The oysters were okay but they were not well shucked or scrubbed so there was quite a bit of grit and shell. The rest of the meal was okay. I will give props to the sorbet. It was excellent. All that to say, go for cocktails and sorbet with a side of good conversation. You can't go wrong with that.

This review is specifically for the great happy hour! Even on weekends they have a happy hour from 4-6 with great app prices and great drink prices. We got the happy hour oysters and they were clean and fresh. We also got the buffalo shrimp and oyster Rockefeller also really great. We didn't get dinner but the food menu looked good. The service was friendly. We sat downstairs at the bar and the downstairs is cozy with all dark paneling and a couple TVs which gives it a more casual vibe. We didn't get to sit upstairs so I'm not sure what the vibe was but I really enjoyed the downstairs and would be back for happy hour!

I haven't been to Norfolk Seafood company in a long time. Possibly summer '24. It's always been soooo delicious. Never a miss. However, this visit missed horribly. I ordered butter pasta and green beans for my 3 year old and I got the catfish dinner (collards and grits were just ok) with the Brussels appetizer. My daughter hated the pasta. It was very plain and bland. My catfish tasted like the bottom of the ocean with not a lick of seasoning. The Brussels appetizer and the green beans were the only good dishes of the night. Not sure if they changed the recipe but they need to change it back... PLEASE!