Elliott's Oyster House

07/10/2008 Posted by 4FoodCritics

7/2/08 for lunch & 7/7/08 for dinner. Years ago traveled to Seattle and really enjoyed this place. Love the food, location, views and atmosphere. Boy were we disappointed in their management. On 7/2/08 for lunch it took us 3 hours to eat--waiting for service, waiting for order, waiting for appetizers, waiting for soup, waiting for lunch--took FOREVER. We gave them a 2nd try for dinner 7/7/08. We lost count of empty tables at 15 or 16 and those were just INSIDE the restaurant, there were a bunch of empty tables outside AND we had to wait 30 minutes to get one of those empty table. Rediculous. The waiters were literally standing around and regularly checking with the hostess for customers to be seated at their empty tables. After checking with the hostess a couple times, we grabbed a waiter and he was able to get us a table--made no sense. Once we were seated, the service and food was great. The management clearly doesn't have it together. Having customers standing for 30 minutes with dozens of tables empty is just bad management--had to mark them down for that. Would I eat there again probably, but if I walk in and there is empty tables and have to wait more then minutes, I'm out of there! My time is valuable too and there are plenty of excellent restaurants in the neighborhood!

Pros: Great location, views, food

Cons: Lack of management, inconsistent service

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

11/24/2007 Posted by shortymag

This was a great place for my dad and I. He loves oysters, and I dislike them. There were plenty of oysters for him to eat, and a great seafood selection for me. We called ahead for a reservation, and were told about free valet parking after 6pm. The free valet was a mix-up from last year, and the policy had changed. The hostess was generous enough to understand and make sure that our parking was free. Once we were seated, our waiter quickly stopped by and gave a brief explanation. Since it was a Friday night, the place was hopping, and often there was a lag in service, but understandable because the place was so busy. My dad was very satisfied with all of his oysters. The waiter explained which oyster was which, and the general taste of them. I had the copper river sockeye salmon, and it was amazing. A smoky and slightly salty flavor with a pear and nut chutney was perfect. It lived up to all reviews, and I will go back as soon as I can.

11/12/2007 Posted by sonoraca4me

Had a great meal and a great table. Everyone I encountered at Elliot's was courteous, prompt and knowledgeable. I'm a J&W grad, and I don't go out "just to eat", I pay attention to the details. If you know your going to Seattle make a reservation early so you get a good table. My boss took me to Seattle for a coffee show (imagine that!), and knew he wanted to return to Elliot's for a massive cauldron of their ciappino. We started off with a dozen oysters on the half-shell $29, 6x2, shucker's choice. They ranged small to large and sweet to briny, all fresh and moist, served with a champagne sorbet. I had the ciappino $31 too because I often suffer from "plate envy", a horrible ailment. It had crab legs and body quarters, plump mussels, small manilla clams and chunks of wild salmon all in a piping hot and delicious tomato broth. I tried to finish, I could not (I'm 6'7" and 300lb), I sat there sated with broth running down my forearms. I had met my match! That said I was attentive of all dish placed on table around us and all looked outrageously delicious, I actually was sad I hadn't ordered one of the three salmons being offered that night or the FRESH Alaskan King crab legs, reportedly a "chance of a lifetime" $51. We finished it of with a shared portion of fried chocolate truffles ~$12. The Pelligrino was cold and fresh! I would eat here again, "tourist trap" (A lot of locals there and I was a tourist) or not.

07/12/2007 Posted by ramador

We went for dinner at this tourist trap, last night. It was five of us. Trouble started from the very beginning. We were directed to a terrible table next to the restrooms. We noticed that there were other tables that were more to our liking. We requested that we allowed to sit at one of those tables. The young lady sitting us then became argumentative and said that those tables were for customers that had made reservations. We reminded her that WE had made reservations. Then she argued that we had requested to be seated inside and those tables were outside. I made the reservation, so I informed her that we had made no such request. I then asked to speak to the manager. The manager arrived after about a 15 minute wait. While he was talking to us, we saw other people, who arrived after us, being seated at one of the available tables. In the meantime, he was full of excuses and reasons why he could not accommodate us. Tired of this, we walked out and took our business elsewhere. Years ago this used to be an ok place, but no longer. They have gotten too big for their breaches. Customer care is no way to be found at this place. My recommendation: Stay away!!

Pros: None

Cons: Overall poor customer care from wait staff to management.

04/12/2007 Posted by reelbigfish73

I had a great night there, had read about the Oyster Olympics, and how it was "banned" to use the term Olympics, and so on etc.... But, an old compadre was winner (again), so I checked it out to see if he was around. I went in last week, and the place was a little more busy than I remembered. We did go straight to our table, and had a great seafood experience, and I stalked the oyster bar to do some name dropping, but to no avail, they were busy. Fine, I'll see Dave some other time. I shucked against these guys for three years in a row at the Oyster "Games", and it's wicked amazing to see! But the cool part is that they keep it real and are a part of what I know as the waterfront to be.

Pros: oyster presentation

03/29/2007 Posted by frrj71

I created an account on City Search just so I could write this review. Perhaps it was just our waitress or perhaps it was an off day but my fiancé & I received horrible service from the get go and the oysters we ordered were very ordinary and very expensive. 6 oysters cost us about $50. We went to Elliot's earlier this month because of the impressive reviews I read on City Search and I will NEVER go there again. There were several booths next to the large windows by the waterfront open and we were asked to sit in the front area with hardly any view. We asked to be re-seated to an OPEN booth by the water and then promptly were ignored for roughly 10 minutes while the wait-staff served everyone around us. I had to ask to be recognized and to get a drink order. Our waitress was decidedly unenthusiastic, even after I told her we traveled across the country to eat there. Needless to say, I was in a terrible mood at that point and we decided to cut our meal short. The waitress responded with a "thats all your going to order?" comment that enraged me because of the annoyed attitude in her voice. I had just spent $50 on 6 oysters and that was quite enough of the robbery. Like I said, perhaps it was just a bad day but I didn't travel 2000 miles for that kind of service, pricing and average food. The Crab-Pot restaurant at the next building provided a much more friendly and affordable experience, not too mention a much better tasting experience. Elliot's. You failed miserably on the one time I choose to eat at your establishment. Good job.

11/24/2006 Posted by danic81

Period. They have so many varities, even when other restaurants are in short supply, Elliott's has good connections and will still have something in stock. It is the best place to fulfill your oyster cravings. And they are so delicious! I was introduced to them last summer when my oyster-loving boyfriend took me for the first time. I shook with nerves when I slurped my first one, but now I love that salty, crisp flavor. And the champange miognette tops them off perfectly. Yum.

11/15/2006 Posted by smooph

I am planning a trip to Seattle for the small (non-gooey) tasty (not fishy) wonderful oysters on the half-shell with champagne granita. They alone are worth the trip!

Pros: Oysters, the waterfront, great drinks