The Grilled Oyster

I cannot say enough good things about this place and the people who help run it. Kyle is an awesome bartender and the owner is just super sweet. The whole place is cute, and the food and drinks are delicious. My girlfriend and I went in for dinner last night and of course just our luck a man at the bar made us feel weird so we moved seats but Kyle and owner really had our backs and made us feel safe which is not just good customer service but just good people service, showing you care about your customers is huge. We got 3 of the happy hour apps, crab eggrolls, calamari, and baked oysters. All of them were so good!! We will definitely be back for brunch and just back in general. We love it here!

I ordered crab cake plate with potatoes and asparagus. It was not good. Potatoes were not good at all and only one small crab cake. Crab cake was not good either. Had too much gooey filling that tasted like raw dough kinda and burned on bottom. Music playing on the speakers was horrible, annoying Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond stuff. I also ordered 1/2 dozen oysters that were pretty good and fresh. I had a Caesar salad, meh. Waited about 30 minutes after finishing my food until finally getting someone to give me the electronic check. Pretty sure I won't be returning.

We missed the chance to try out The Grilled Oyster when they were located in Cabin John Mall in Potomac. We were excited to see them back in action and give them a try in Kentlands. Overall, we enjoyed the food very much. We are fans of hush puppies so we had to give the crab hush puppies a shot. Not what we expected but quite impressive. Five plum-sized hush puppies served as a sharing plate. The crab meat was generous and visible from the exterior of the crispy puppies. They were served with a maple butter. We ate three and took two home. They even made a delicious breakfast "muffin" the next morning. I really enjoyed the grilled oyster trio. All three preparations were delicious but my favorite was the Rockefeller. The oyster meat itself was barely touched by the heat and retained its soft slightly warmed bite. I also had the jumbo shrimp cocktail with four very jumbo (3 bites each) shrimp. My wife enjoyed the seared scallops over lobster risotto. Although they tasted fine, the scallops themselves were a bit "over seared." The portion was 3 scallops. This might have been fine if the scallops were larger, but they were quite small for sea scallops so this seemed a bit underwhelming. The risotto itself was very delicious. It had a really nice seafood flavor and chunks of lobster meat mixed in. The food definitely is what shines at The Grilled Oyster! I am happy to lead this review with their strength, but overall I was not impressed with our experience. One concern is this restaurant is tiny! Tables are packed in! It is an obvious challenge for serving staff to navigate. And getting up from your table to use the restroom is undertaking. There is not any sense of a front desk at all. We walked in and thought we had come in a side door as we came right up on two patrons at a table. Although we got there for an early dinner, it was still dark out. The interior was kept very dark during our entire experience. Dark to the point that we had real trouble even reading the menu. And at the risk of sounding like an Old Fart, the music was just too loud for this tiny space. It really created a challenge to speak to our server. By the time we left, a wait had formed. But there is really no place to wait. So parties were standing in the front bar area all around seated tables. It was challenging to work our way to the front door to exit. It was too chilly on this November night, but the additional outside seating would be welcomed come spring.

The grilled oyster is by far the best gem we have found since relocating to the DMV! This spot is hidden on a street corner disguised as a regular house almost! The ambiance is so cute! It gives the cutest coastal mom & pops kitchen vibes! The service was amazing, so personable and attentive! But let's get down to the star of the show!We tried 4 of their favorite dishes and we were not disappointed one bit!The oysters on the half were amazing! Featuring three different types of oysters, our favorites were actually the Maryland oysters! The salinity was perfect and not too briney.The calamari was so light and fluffy! Not even a little bit of grease which I was a huge fan of! You didn't feel heavy after eating them!The clams casino was also a big hit! Pretty much Rockefeller style clams, baked to perfection!The muscles were in my opinion the best! The white wine sauce was to DIE for! I mean so flavorful and light, it just paired so well with everything!This definitely getting added to our date night rotation, 10/10 recommend!!

Great food, cocktails and service! We also found the prices to be very reasonable. We sat at the bar area and there was a great vibe. Can't wait to come back to try more of the menu.

My wife and I arrived shortly after Saturday morning opening. A cheerful Giovanni promptly welcomed us. I informed him we would be a party of 5 or 6, the rest of our party would be there shortly. Giovanni welcomed us to wait at the bar, and handed us menus to get familiar with. He also offered to prepare any drinks we might be interested in and mentioned several. We do not drink, but hung out at the front. We mentioned we were celebrating my daughter's birthday. This was our first visit here.When the rest of our party arrived, Mark had our table ready. Giovanni brought us to the table. He took care of water and checking if we wanted any other beverages. After that, we ordered two starters. A dozen oysters on the half shell, and their smoked fish platter. Both were very well presented and very appetizing. We ordered our entrees sometime during the appetizers. Giovanni was continously smiling, joking around, and very happy in general. Our main course were served in a timely manner. Everyone ordered something different. Every dish was very well prepared and presented. The serving sizes were generous, from our point of view. We were full and satiated, but not stuffed. Everything was fresh looking and fresh tasking. The seasoning brought out the natural flavors of the proteins and sides. Everyone had a clean plate at the end.To our surprise, Giovanni brought over a desert with a candle in it. He led us in a happy birthday song. Obviously we were very happy with the entire experience and look forward to visiting again.

Cream of Crab Soup: 10/10Norwegian Halibut: 9/10 Grilled Chesapeake Oysters Trio: 6/10 This restaurant is a perfect place for an intimate outing/a place to go with someone you're close with! It's a tiny place with dim lightning & serene vibes. The service was prompt & the food came out quickly. The menu has a great selection of things that I feel would accommodate most people. My favorite part of this whole meal was the cream of crab soup ! Delicious doesn't even do it justice. It was so creamy, flavorful, & perfect if you want something warm and filling. My entree, the norwegian halibut was also delightful. The mashed potatoes the fish laid on were packed with flavor that complimented the fish so well. My least favorite dish was the Grilled Chesapeake Oyster Trio. The flavor profiles were almost overbearing and in my opinion, too much for a little oyster.Overall, I definitely plan to go back for the cream of crap soup and try some of their other entrees!

So, the place is very nice, service was very good, and the food was very good. And if you skip drinks and dessert it's not that expensive. Definitely get the crab hush puppies. I had the rockfish which was grilled or sautéed (so not breaded) and a nice size and cooked perfectly. My wife got the crab cake sandwich. She is a crab cake connoisseur and very picky and really liked it. Said that it's the best in the county. But it certainly was not the size as shown in the recent ad (included here). The crab cake in the ad looks huge, at least 8 oz, and my wife's was like half the size, maybe 4 oz. She didn't mind but I would have been disappointed if I had gotten it. Otherwise I would have given it 5 stars.

Well went here for my birthday dinner. The cream of crab didn't disappoint. Love it. The crab dip was very good as well. I ordered the tomato cream lobster pasta which was also good with a nice size portion for one. Now my boyfriend ordered the so called jumbo crab cake. The size was disappointing so they need to take the jumbo off because it was a normal size crab cake but it was good. Nice ambiance and great service. I would go back again.

I loved loved loved the lobster pasta here. the oysters were super fresh and delicious and a fair price! went for a lovely dinner date, he ordered the rock fish and was equally amazing. we cleared our plates! really recommended coming for a casual date night or just for drinks!