Elliott's Oyster House

04/15/2008 Posted by 2forlunch

My husband and I ate at Elliot’s a couple of weeks ago. Two words: over-priced and over-rated. The waitress was very friendly and chatty as a distraction to try to get you to order things you didn’t really want. For example, I ordered a bottle of wine and she made a remark walking way, mid chatter, something about a wine with another name other than the one I had ordered. I quickly looked at the menu and noticed that the one she named was $43 a bottle and the one I wanted was $27 a bottle. When I called her back to make the correction she was a tad snobbish about it, like I didn’t know what I wanted. The same thing happened later when we ordered raw oysters. We ordered the $23 selection and she brought and charged us for the $30 selection, twice, because we ordered two orders. We expected the raw oysters first, and indeed did see the oyster guy set our order out for pickup rather quickly. But the waitress walked by it several times and didn’t notice. All of a sudden she appeared with our salad and entrée’s at the same time. The oysters were still sitting on the bar. A few minutes later she appeared with the oysters and made some comment about them finally being ready, when we had been sitting there eying them for 30 minutes or more. Now to the food. In addition to the raw oysters, which were the best thing we got but certainly not worth $30 a dozen, we shared one shrimp salad and one order of pan fried oysters. The shrimp salad consisted of two romaine lettuce leaves with a small mound of chopped fresh tomatoes on one end, half of a chopped boiled egg in the middle, and crumbled blue cheese on the other with frozen tiny salad shrimp sprinkled on top, topped lightly with a bland dressing of some sort. The 6 pan fried oysters were overcooked to the point of tasting burned. All this to the tune of $150 for the meal and we left still hungry.

02/17/2008 Posted by y2kcockroach

I would not recommend this place; if you are looking for good seafood there are a bazzillion places in and around Seattle, and many that do better (particularly in the "service" department). My wife and I went there last night, and we were seated at the worst table in the place (you will know it if you see it. It is the one at the back, by the emergency exit, and which comes with a commanding view of the kitchen and (dirty) server's station, and with the sound of the dishwasher drowning out all else). For us it was a special occasion, and I asked the (very) young girl at the front desk if we could move; I indicated that we would even wait for the opportunity to get a better table (which meant by definition any other table in the restaurant). She just stared at me blankly, and flatly declared "I have no other tables". That was patently false, as many couples arrived after us and were readily seated at other tables. The service and the food were sub-par (I had the wild mushroom and dungenness crab ravioli, and it was too salty to enjoy), although my wife's seafood chop was fine. Memo to server: do not take ten minutes to take the first drink order, do not reach across the table while the guests are speaking, and do not bring the bill at the "end" of the meal until the guests ask for it (instead, take the time to first ask if the guests might like a coffee to end the evening). Yeesh. Our two meals, with two drinks each, and one dessert cost $125, with tip (not bad). My wife is a good sport, and we still managed to have fun, but honestly, we would have probably had a better experience at the Red Robin on pier 55. If you want good seafood, and service that isn't forced then consider Palisade, or Canlis, or Daniel's Broiler. It is the little things that make for a great evening, and it is the cumulative effect of little things that can ruin an evening as well. If you agree, then don't take a chance on this restaurant.

Pros: The valet parker was nice

Cons: The sixteen year old girls who are the seaters/greeters know nothing of customer service, nor do they seem to care to learn