Grand Central Oyster Bar

Review summary

1. A

   Abbie

   VIP

   Philadelphia

   20 reviews

   1.0

   20 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Our favorite restaurants were booked, so we were excited to try this place for our annual holiday trip to the city. Big mistake. We started with drinks in the bar, they brought the wrong wine (Chardonnay, not Sauv Blanc). We were seated a little earlier than our reservation since we were there early, great! However, after 25 minutes of no service we had to approach the host. He immediately sent a waiter over who said, “so sorry, I’ll take your food order now.” 25 more minutes before drinks came. The She Crab soup was good. The Oysters Rockefeller had a great sauce, but weren’t baked. The oysters inside were raw and the shells cool. They had been broiled for a minimal amount of time-enough to form a skin on top of the sauce. Entrees were ok. Chicken strips and fries for the kid were good, bronzino and swordfish were fine, the friend oysters were good. The lobster roll didn’t taste fresh and I sent it back. The manager was very nice and did not charge us for the returned roll and she deducted a glass of wine from the bill. The men’s bathroom only had one functional urinal. Anyhow, don’t go here for a special night out. It’s loud, the service is very slow, and the food is mediocre.
   

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2. A

   Andrew

   New York City

   8 reviews

   3.0

   8 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 2

   The food was pretty good but the waiter took our soup dishes too soon as they brought the entrees out while my companion for lunch was still eating it. He made a comment to me that they must be looking to turn the tables. Also the room is too loud and was very hard to hear. I chose the restaurant for its convenience as he was coming in from Westchester. We both said that we would look for someplace else the next time he comes in.
   

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3. L

   Lucy

   Queensland

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Despite being seated as soon as the restaurant opened, we didn’t get our mains until an hour and a half later. Asked multiple times as we had a show to get to and were always told “it’s 2 minutes away” but left still waiting 15 minutes later. Waiter and manager insisted they were just “busy”, however we saw multiple tables arrive after us, be served and leave while we were still waiting for natural oysters. Cooked oysters were clearly rushed, small and very poor quality, natural were lovely. Avoid. Extremely disappointing experience considering we were visiting from Australia and had booked weeks in advance.
   

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4. J

   James

   VIP

   New York City

   161 reviews

   5.0

   161 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The place for fish in NYC. Bar none. A real gem. Brazino cooked perfectly. Calamari was excellent b
   

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5. K

   Kate

   New York City

   2 reviews

   3.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 2

   I think this place is a tourist trap. For people who live near good, reasonably-priced seafood, this was too expensive, too loud, poorly served, and underwhelming. I don’t think there was any vodka in my very mediocre oyster shooter. 8 oysters, 1 oyster shooter, and 1 NA beer came to $70. Most of the bivalves came from Washington State, and all of the fish was farmed. If you know great seafood at home and are not independently wealthy, skip it.
   

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6. L

   Lauren

   London

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   Terrible service. Waited over an hour just for appetiser (Oysters). Decided to cancel mains and left. Very disappointing experience.
   

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7. J

   Jen

   VIP

   Atlanta Metro

   2 reviews

   2.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   Awful service (apart from the lovely gentleman who filled waters, offered bread, and bussed tables); reservation was at 7:30 and we may have eaten at 9pm). So overly disappointed with the entire experience that we were told was a NYC must-do.
   

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8. D

   Dolores

   VIP

   New Orleans

   7 reviews

   2.0

   7 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   We have been here several times and last night was not good, kitchen was backed up, not enough servers. Oysters are amazing but no condiments with other food after we asked.
   

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9. S

   Susan

   Greater Boston

   16 reviews

   4.0

   16 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   Definitely a place to order oysters or chowder. We had both! Fun evening with lots of nearby tables celebrating the season.
   

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10. L

    Lance

    VIP

    Las Vegas

    32 reviews

    3.0

    32 reviews

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 4

    They were out of the special I wanted, as well as the stone crab appetizer. First time eating here and didn’t realize they are closed Saturday and Sunday so likely why they were out of things at 6:30 on a Friday night. Prices are reasonable for NYC so I would try it again earlier in the week. We had the calamari (nothing special), linguini and clams (huge clams but not a ton of minced clams that I could find) which was good, and clam chowder which was ok. Lively place and completely full when we left around 8:15. This is a LARGE space with interesting architecture. Worth doing once for the experience.
    

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