Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar

Always fantastic seafood here, I stop in any time I'm in town. Waitress Dawn is a f'ing badass, just treat her right and she won't roundhouse kick you in the face.

We went to Seattle for a wedding and a coworker of my husband recommended this place.
It's worth the wait!!!, make reservation as it's a small but amazing place.
Services was great, food amazing!!!

Came on none game day and found the place great, empty. Can't imagine trying to find parking here on a game day, LOL.

Service and food were great, especially the oysters of course!

I haven't tried fresh oysters on the West Coast before, and I thought that Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar would be a great introduction to the fresh seafood that Seattle has to offer! We went on a Friday around 6:30pm and were seated relatively fast.

The parking situation can be a bit tough as it is in the downtown area near the harbor - all completely streetside with occasional parking garage if you are looking to pay. We were lucky to find a spot just outside the restaurant.

We were seated near the front of the restaurant, which was initially nice as we had a street view seat. But this wasn't ideal at all as the server basically thoughtful us as invisible and didn't really provide consistent service. We had to wave her down to place our order, check the status of our food, and pay our check.

We definitely waited about 45 minutes just to receive our oysters - I just thought that it was a bit crazy that if your restaurant is known for fresh raw seafood that doesn't really require any cooking or prep, service should be faster than usual, right? Several tables of people that were seated after us in our vicinity that also ordered way after us got their huge trays of food before us. We had to wave down our server and was given a "no urgency" attitude after inquiring about food 30 minutes into the wait. This definitely left a bad taste in my mouth as it felt like we were being ignored in this restaurant.

We got some items after the long wait, which I'll review down below:

Geoduck Sashimi ($16): Recommended by our server, this dish was really indeed fresh. The geoduck itself has a pleasing slightly crunchy texture, and the fresh seafood flavor was enhanced by the lemon garnish. As other reviews have mentioned, the geoduck is sectioned off into the body and siphon sections (as seen in the lemon photo). If you are a big fan of geoduck, I would recommend. Don't let this plate fool you though, it is very tiny! The plate itself is about a teacup plate size, and this is pretty much a tiny sampler plate for $16!

Shucker's Dozen ($42): As refreshing as each oyster was on this plate, I have to comment on the service - This plate of 12 oysters took 45 minutes just to get to our table. I thought that this was a crazy amount of time to wait for some seafood where all you have to do is clean it, open the oyster, and put on ice. Only after we inquired about the order to our server (which we had to wave down twice) that we finally got after waiting so long. Maybe it was a bad day, but I was very disappointed this is entree.

I personally think that Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar should be more of a $$$ place rather than a $$ place as designated on Yelp. We pretty much got an amuse bouche for $70, which is a bit absurd in my book. The service was most definitely on the lower end in my book, as our server was not attentive at all and acted like we were 2nd priority to other customers in the restaurant. I know that most of the other reviewers praise this establishment, but I definitely would not recommend this restaurant if you are looking to try any seafood in Seattle, unless you know someone trustworthy that went earlier in the day raving about it.

I was downtown for a quick layover before heading to the airport and all the reviews were pointing here for the clam chowder. Oh my gosh-- so so delicious! Super fresh, savory and delightful.

It's super busy, but I was able to grab a seat at the bar. The hostess and the bartender were incredible. I will certainly be back if I'm ever in Seattle again!

Went for Dinner

Food - 5/5. Geoduck had two different textures for the body and the siphon. Siphon was harder with a chew that resembled cartilage and the body had a smoother texture reminiscent of clam. Both parts were mild and tasted similar to other bivalve sashimi. The dungeness crab was phenomenal. Meat was bouncy, having just the right amount of firmness and the flavor had the subtle sweetness characteristic of dungeness crab. What really distinguished this dish was the sauce, which was a cream base using the crab fat as the main flavor. It was rich from the crab fat, with just the right amount of acid for balance, and a perfect nappe consistency. The strong sauce was an excellent pairing with the delicate crab meat, and everything else for that matter. It was such a delicious sauce that I wished they would've provided some bread or pasta to soak it all up. Coleslaw was OK, not having enough flavor from the dressing to cover the harsh tastes of raw cabbage.

Service - 4/5. Friendly and professional service.

Value - 5/5. I was bracing myself for what the market price would be for the crab, but it came out to be a reasonable $62. While expensive, it felt like a fair price compared to the price of dungeness crab dishes in general. Geoduck was fun to try at least once, and was priced at a reasonable $16 in sashimi format. Excellent spot to experience local PNW seafood.

Parking - Street (Metered)

Everyone here was so kind and patient while we figured out what we wanted to order. I love when servers know their menu and give great suggestions. We ordered the oyster dip to start which was spicy and flavorful. I would go back next time I'm in Seattle.

This place was good. We had 8 people. We came to this location because Yelp pictures seemed to indicate they had an outdoor water view which was they did not have. Our server was very attentive. I had the Dungeness crab with the dipping sauce it was all cold, it was good but wouldn't order again I like my crab hot. Several people had huge salads, and the smoked dip was delicious. If I go back to this place it will be for that delicious dip!

I had a great experience here. The seafood was delicious and the service was top notch.

It was my first time trying smoked oysters and it was delicious. I'm happy to know I can buy them online to enjoy them at home. The fresh oysters were also delicious. They were fresh and there was a lot of variety to choose from. We also enjoyed the baked Oyster and used that xo sauce on everything. They definitely do a great job at oysters!

The lady who served our table was so friendly and added to us having a great time. She was very attentive and had a great sense of humor.

The ambiance was very nice, can be casual or dressy. Great for a date night.

My family and I decided to order a variety of oysters since we love them so much. We ended up forgetting which type was which, haha. The oysters here are absolutely amazing and delicious! Sometimes, oysters can have a strong ocean smell or fishy aroma, but that wasn't the case at Taylor's. Our waitress was also very sweet and provided excellent service, which made us really happy!

We're from Texas and highly recommend this place to anyone who loves oysters!