The Pearl

Etta's/The Pearl has metamorphosized yet again, and not for the better. It feels like they've given up on the elevated seafood take I experienced last time and leaned heavier into being a (loud, noisy) bar. The decor could do with some sound dampening acoustic panels or any textiles whatsoever to turn down the volume. Enclosing what used to be the screened-in deck area has only amplified (literally) the problem.The drinks are...fine. My aperol spritz was on point but my husband's crush lacked the characteristic crushed ice, and others at our table felt that their mojitos were missing an ingredient. Service was the slowest we experienced anywhere on the island. With a 6:45 reservation we didn't receive our entrees until about 7:45. Our server was great and pleasant and made the best of the situation. However if the wait times are that long on a weeknight it would behoove the Pearl to reinstitute the free bread and hush puppies. They'd have fewer complaints about slowness if people had something to keep them occupied, and the prices are high enough surely to put $1 worth of bread on the table. Onto the good news: The food remains delicious. Like I said, they've abandoned the fussier presentation of the crab cakes which I enjoyed last time, but the cakes are still generously sized and well-prepared. The fries were crisp, hot and well-seasoned. And the green beans are perfectly salted and blistered. Other members of my party enjoyed the rock fish sandwich and chicken Caesar wrap. Will we be back? Uncertain, but I'll aim for an earlier reservation next time.

3.5 stars for sure. If you get a window seat, you can drift away watching the water fowl dip under water in search of food.in the off season, there was minimum staff, so be patient. I had a pretty darn good Bloody Mary and my friend had their signature drink "The Pearl" which, while sweet, was good. We were in the mood for fried food, so a side of the hush puppies and better and the crab balls were both bangers!!!The bar area was half full of locals having late lunch drinks and catching up.No frills, but solid! What more can you ask for during winter in a beach town! Happy Hour starts at 3pm. Get on it.

We decided to try the Pearl on recommendations from a facebook group on the crab dip. It was lunch time on a Sunday. Only a few tables had people so we thought it would be somewhat quick. Wrong. It took us a good 20 minutes to even get our drink order taken at which time we also gave them our food order. It took another 10 minutes, just to get our drinks,, 3 cokes and a water. Cokes were absolutely awful. Apparently the soda machine was broken. I don't know if we were getting soda out of a 2 L bottle, but it was flat and watered down tasting. Maybe an hour in food finally came out. Chicken tenders with fries, crab dip with fries, crabby grilled cheese with fries, and a kids grilled cheese with mandarin oranges. The only thing that was edible was the mandarin oranges, french fries, and a few chicken tenders that all of the breading fell off of. Both grilled cheeses came out cold with unmelted cheese. The crab dip smelled like straight fish, had zero seasonings to it. Was watery and tasted absolutely horrendous. I asked for old bay and tried mixing that in. It did not cover the fish flavor. I would like to add two people asked for ranch, the waitress came back to tell us that they were out of ranch, but we overheard an (assuming)manager, stating that he didn't feel like making it. I complained about my crab dip. It was taken off of the bill, but it was still a $70 waste as all of the food was left on the table.While there another table in the same room seated after us that actually got into an argument over how bad the food was, they got up and left.The only highlight was another man eating there who was a magician, and came over and did a magic trick for my granddaughter.The place seemed clean had a nice view, but the slow service and the horrendous food. Don't even waste your time.

Unfortunately I was under whelmed with almost everything. We were a party of 7 with a reservation so we were seated pretty quickly. Everything took very long. There was a problem with their C02 for the drinks and they kept making loud noises trying to fix it which I understand they had to fix. Then the other guy came back cursing asking what was going on. It took so long for our food to come out. We spent over 2 hours in the restaurant, most of the time waiting. Also we were not told that gratuity was already included so our waitress was tipped twice. The oysters I ordered were barely edible, they were not cleaned and poorly shucked so they had all kinds of shell fragments in the oyster itself. The crab cakes that I had were ok. My entire party kind of felt the same way about the restaurant.

I am surprised about the bad reviews but I am also a 1st timer here so I am not comparing it to anything else. You definitely have to know that it is on Chincoteague because it was more of a drive there then anywhere else. Beautiful views. Looks like an outside bar. Inside is a restaurant side and a bar side. They did have live music on Saturday night. Gena was our server and she was AMAZING and deserves 10 stars. Why? She came to our table of 5 and was upfront and honest and said she was the only one working the floor AND bar. She was bartending AND waitressing!! I don't know who made the decision to allow that but it wasn't the best decision....even if it wasn't busy. And we were there early....maybe 6:30 pm. But like I said she was awesome. Service was slow but friendly. I believe I got the Mahi handheld. It was very good. My friend has a gluten allergy and Gena was very helpful and accommodating. I would definitely come back to this restaurant when I return.

We used to come to Etta's and this was my first time here since it switched to the Pearl - we came for breakfast and were super disappointed. We were the only group in the restaurant and they seemed to be out of everything. They forgot an order and it was messed up when it was finally brought out. The eggs and potatoes were not great. Definitely needs some improvement!

Fantastic food the crab dip amazing the green beans delicious scallops oysters the server was super sweet and the view breathtaking

We finally visited on the day of Pony Swim and were so pleasantly surprised! Same beautiful view and sweet service as the old Etta's, but the new owners have elevated everything else!It was so nice to eat a good salad with fresh tuna on a hot day. All of our appetizers were delicious and my husband loved the grilled Rockfish. Our server Raquel was attentive and delightful. They have the best view on the Island too!For visiting foodies, this is Chincoteague, not Rehoboth Beach, so understand that traditional food is what restaurants serve. The Pearl is sticking to that, but pushing the envelope with a few modern twists and more fresh vegetables, but everything is well-prepared and delicious. We will be back regularly.

This was my first time going to this place and was a little worried about the reviews. Place was pretty empty because it's January the week of a snow storm. We got there and we were able to pick our seat. We got our drinks fast and put in our appetizer orders. Appetizers came out pretty fast and pretty good serving size! BBQ wings, crab dip and hush puppies were very large. So prepare to eat heavy lol! We ordered our main course! Jumbo fried shrimp, Crab cakes, chicken tenders and Flounder. The French fries were decent. Just a little too crispy than I expected but good. Everything tasted great! DJ street performed around 9pm and that was awesome! Be prepared to know when there will be music playing. We were prepared and enjoyed it!

WOW! The Pearl has probably the BEST crab cake around!For lunch today, my husband and I shared a broiled seafood combination platter, featuring a large piece of flounder, Jumbo shrimp, oysters, clams, scallops, and, of course, the delicious crab cake! Everything was done to perfection! As well as the most amazing view around!(To top it off, we have leftovers for dinner!)