Good oysters here, especially the 3 way sampler. On another note, the crawfish étouffée is probably the worse we've ever had. Dark grey tail meat and piss poor service. Telling me crawfish is supposed to look that color when its cooked is an insult to my intelligence. Own up to it and offer to replace the dish! There's much better seafood spots out there. Good thing we had LA kings ice cream to make up for this place.
Review Source:This was a yelp find - and we were NOT disappointed. Â This is just great food at a great price - period. Â We are not typical "foodies". Â But the baked oysters (Rockefeller) were tremendous. Â We also tried the Oyster Bisque, which was delicious. Â Despite our efforts to try new places, we are there TWICE. Â Convenient to our hotel and the Art Walk.
Review Source:Street parking after 6 is free! this place was really what we needed! Â it had great food, small, and fast! Â I loved that it was away from all the loud stuff by the strand, and yet within walking distance from it. Â the only thing that tourist may not like is that it is not on, or really near the beach. Â The sea wall is more touristy i think though, and we again didnt want to wait. Â i had the fish tacos and they were very good! Â They are served with i think french frys, but i substituted those for some rice. Â yummy! Â my husband and daughter both had the oysters and they said they were great!! Â they also ordered the shrimp po boy and my husband being from Baton Rouge is a bit picky when it comes to those, and he said it was top notch! Â He told the waiter that the bread was perfect and they said they make their own bread there on site! Â nice!!! Â it wasnt that expensive either, so that was nice! Â the night before we had spent about $70 at red lobster and this night here, we only spent maybe $50 with tip! Â and my husband ordered beer. Â so great place that we will deffinately keep on our radar!
Review Source:We arrived late in Galveston on a Wednesday and did not venture out for dinner until around 9. We were in the Strand area and on foot. We ran into this little café and found it to be a nice surprise. I thought it might be just a oyster bar but it is more than that. We went light with red beans and rice, (the small bowl is HUGE!) and I had the fish tacos. The fish was cod, so not local, but it was fresh and the breading was the lightest breading ever. It was just enough. I had read the reviews and really wanted a po-boy but I wasn't that hungry. We saw some amazing po-boys and oyster dishes coming by us. The couple next to us had the most gorgeous grilled/ My husband did go back for lunch the next day and reported back the oyster po-boy was served open face and piled with oysters. I am not an oyster fan but that's sounds pretty amazing to me - especially if they served it the same way with shrimp. We try to avoid chains and support local establishments - I recommend others to give this one a try. It's not fine dining, but it is very, very good. I see other reviews complained about the service, but we had great service and our food came very fast. Our server was training another new server who had over 20 years of experience and both were on the mark!
Review Source:The 2 stars is ONLY because of the service! I hated waiting 5 minutes on my water and 10 minutes for our one order of oysters. Not to mention it took FOREVER to refill my water! Water! Â Oysters were amazing. And we heard a lot of complements on the food, but I would definitely not come back here for the service.
Review Source:I got a dozen oysters and the fish tacos. Meh. I've experienced better on both counts. Maybe I paid more? I don't know. I'm won't go into a lot of snarkish detail here about what I liked or didn't like. All aspects of my visit missed the mark in some way. This is a local establishment and if I thought my 2 star rating would hurt their business I wouldn't even post it. The main point is this: Black Pearl you can do better. You should do better.
Review Source:Three stars because the food was great and priced well.
They were out of oysters though, and that's pretty ridiculous from a place advertising themselves as an oyster bar. The service was also horrible. One very awkwardly angry man took our order. Five minutes later, someone else demanded to take our order again. We had a total of five waiters over the course of our 45 minute meal. It's like they were fighting over us.
When the salad came out with the wrong dressing, the waitress implied the mistake was ours and looked back at her orders, as if she was going to force thousand island dressing on us if she caught us in some elaborate lie to screw with her head.
The stuffed jalepenos and fish tacos were excellent though and came out of the kitchen quickly. I just wish someone there knew how to run a restaurant.
We were in town for the half ironman and they were the only ones without an hour long wait. Â
We ordered the special. It was the pecan encrusted red snapper with lemon butter sauce. Â This dish was delicious! Â The fish was flakey. And how can anyone not like butter? Â
So why 3 stars? Â Well, that's because it took an hour and a half to get the food out. Â It was almost to the point of us cancelling the order and just going to McDonald's.
Summary: good food, good service, bad drink selection. Â Had the fish tacos and loved that you could get them grilled, fried or blackened. Â Tasty and spicy. Â Their onion rings were also top notch. Â Their drink selection sucks - I'm thinking that most places on the island have the same distributor. Â Not bad, but it didn't blow my skirt up either.
Review Source:I teach an online class at night during the week, and we usually aren't done until 9pm. I was wary about being a "late hit" and being treated iffily or blown off, but we had a great time at this small bar/corner restaurant. Our waiter/bartender was Josh and he was very friendly, laid back, and attentive. Really patient and pointed out good things to get from the menu, even though we arrived around 9 and they closed at 10.
M had a shrimp poboy and I had the Oysters Rockefeller as our main meals. I am used to OR coming with 6 or so oysters, and theirs had a dozen of the richest OR I have ever had. It was almost like saag paneer over broiled oysters (two of my favorite things). However, I could only eat half of the dozen before my warning light came on to slow down. I wish Rockefellers traveled better, because I would have eaten them later in the night! If I ordered them again, I would have them in their intended purpose (as an appetizer, shared with 2 others) due to their richness, but my eyes are always bigger than my stomach.
We also had half a pound of cold boiled shrimp, which were excellent and huge (10/16?s) that were a great start to the meal. Add a Shiner and I was all set. Best part was our bill was only $38ish for all of those items. I will definitely be back next time I am on the island!
Black Pearl had the potential to be so much better than what it was the night I visited this establishment. I went on a Saturday night around 8pm, so it was late enough to have no problem getting a table, but early enough that they should have not been running out of essentials like raw oysters. After all, the Oyster Bar is listed in the name of the business, so to run out of raw oysters before the night's end is pretty unacceptable for any Oyster Bar.
I sat at the bar with a friend after attending the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens. We didn't make reservations anywhere because we assumed the last Saturday night of the year wouldn't be packed on Galveston island. We were so wrong. Almost every restaurant around The Strand was packed and had a waiting list. We drove down the street looking for anything open that would be able to seat us right away and we found that with Black Pearl.
The bar staff was helpful, but not overly friendly. The bartender didn't have some of the necessary items available to make an Old Fashion for my friend, but she had everything on hand to make me a hand mixed Hurricane. Oh my, was that a fantastic handmade Hurricane! By far, this was one of the best I've ever had. This gave me high hopes that this would be a fantastic dining spot.
I was here to eat oysters, but unfortunately, they told me they had sold the last of their raw oysters to the table behind us. I was in the mood for them, but I wasn't getting them. I settled for ordering the fried oysters because I had a need to have an oyster fix. The oysters were ok, but half of them were over fried and the other half were fried perfectly. Not exactly what I would call a stellar preparation of something simple. They were good, but I wouldn't order them again because of the uncertainty of getting half of them over cooked.
We decided to split a couple entree's in order to enjoy the menu. We ordered the Crab Poppers and Barbecue Shrimp. The Crab Poppers had the same problem as the oysters, they were good, but half of them were over cooked. Either they have a problem with their deep fryer, or the person deep frying has a problem. I would skip the fried food at this place and stick with anything raw, boiled, or blackened. The Barbecue Shrimp was an excellent choice. The shrimp was boiled perfectly and the butter sauce it was served in was yummy; so good that I was using the additional bread to soak up the sauce.
Black Pearl is definitely a dive bar type of place, and I think it's worth trying again, but I won't be going out of my way to come back here anytime soon. I think this would have been a higher rating if I would have been able to try the raw oysters, but at this point, there are plenty of other restaurants in Galveston that don't run out of raw oysters on a Saturday night. If you go, be sure to sit at the bar as you will get more interaction from the staff and the place is small enough that this will be more enjoyable.
The place is really dark. Creepy. Service was a little awkward. I couldn't tell if the guy approaching us at the entrance was a random stranger or a waiter. He proceeded to put together two tables which were much too large for our party. And the tables were crooked...and right in front of the door.
Anyways, the food:
-Oysters were delicious. Got a mix of all the hot oysters. You can also choose 2 out of the 3 (which is what I would do--I'm not a big fan of the spicy Diablo).
-Crab cakes are yummy, but didn't blow my mind. Not enough to fill you up, contrary to what our waitress had claimed. Or maybe I just eat a lot...
-Gumbo is a huge bowl. Comes with bread, too. Okra slimyness a little overwhelming, but okay if you like that kind of stuff.
A little pricey, but I guess that's normal for a seafood place ($10-$20 per dish).
Bottom line: Reasonable seafood, reasonable price for the tourist area of Galveston.
The food was pretty tasty but the one thing I came for, oysters, were just meh.
Being so close to the water, I was disappointed to find they were charging $12.95/dozen. The oysters were medium size and fresh however the shucker did a horrible job. Cracked shells and some oysters were still attached. Without having the proper utensils most of the oyster remained on the shell.
We also ordered:
Shimp Po-Boy with fried okra - huge portions but the okra was undercooked despite my request to cook it crispy.
Crab cakes - amazing
Fish tacos - spicy deliciousness
Service was good but a little pushy since it was around 8:45pm when we arrived and they closed at 10pm.
Casual, local-style place right in the heart of Galveston.
Our waitress was a delightful international student from Maldova. She took great care of us and was full of smiles.
Bloody Mary includes horseradish which I believe to be a key ingredient. Oysters on the half shell were cold, salty and tasty; again with wonderful horseradish.
What we ate: Â
Oyster Bisque - as good as it can be -- plump oysters, cream stock and nice chunks of seasoning (onions, green onions, celery)
Crab Cakes - Fresh crab meat formed with seasoning and only a light dusting of breadcrumbs on exterior to hold it together. Served with a delicious butter sauce and also with a house made remoulade.
Fried Okra - crunchy outer shell, no greasiness, flavorful with light sprinkle or Parmesan. Highly recommend you dip in the butter sauce from the crab cakes or into the Oyster Bisque.
3.5
Came just for beer and raw oysters. Horseradish was awesome- great spice level and oysters were clean and a good size. They have Cajun Chef hot sauce (which is one of my favorites) rather than Tabasco which is a plus for me. Unfortunately service was pretty slow - especially considering what we were ordering. We may have ordered more had it been faster, we ended up leaving .
Maybe I was just being crabby, but I thought this place was kinda a let down. Â Don't get me wrong, I ate my crayfish po-boy and fried okra, but every other restaurant on this island has the same food! Â
They were super busy when I went there on a Friday night, but the service was HORRIBLE, maybe our server was having a crabby day too.
Horrible service and very sub-par food.
Walked in at 830 pm ish on a Friday night. Â Waited about 10 min for a table, no big deal. Â However, bar was pretty empty and once we sat, 2 more tables opened up and weren't filled.....so it wasn't crazy busy. Â However, it took forever to get service. Â Had to go to bar to get drinks. Â I think the waitress probably only stopped by us 2 or 3 times........first time to take order, second time to drop check, 3rd time to return receipt.
And the food, ouch! Â I had the first po boy listed on the menu. Â It was so unappetizing that I barely ate half. Â Whatever goop they put on the top remined me off some salty gravy you might find in a TV dinner. Â
In short, it was a bad experience all around.
I am giving this place 5 stars because I've found the food delicious, great happy hour specials and the staff was very attentive. The oysters were great especially during happy hour, some of the best crab cakes I've ever had ( way more crab than breading) and the pirates booty was awesome. Â I don't review a restaurant unless I've been there a couple of times to make sure they are consistent, good or bad. And this place was great! Â A must stop if you are heading to Galveston for a delicious, affordable, and casual dinner.
Review Source:Food is good and made with fresh ingredients. Service was friendly and attentive. However, halfway through dinner a giant roach appeared on the door by the bathroom, which was near our table. I understand it's Texas and they sometimes sneak in and appreciated that the waitresses tried to catch it (but got too freaked out and screamed). What gets me is that they got the dishwasher from the kitchen to come kill the roach. He goes into the bathroom, and comes our 2 minutes later HOLDING THE DEAD ROACH IN HIS FINGERS!!!!!! Sickening! A huge number of patrons were very freaked out, especially when the guy TOOK IT IN THE KITCHEN and tossed it in the trash!!! Disgusting, revolting, unpleasant to say the least. Grosssss!!!
Oh and their fish tacos are NOT that good. I am surprised at how many people rave about them. Have they ever been to Chuy's or Berryhill? Their fish tacos are a million times better than these. Fish was fishy tasting, but perfectly fried. The remoulade tasted like pureed bacon, which is not a familiar flavor for remoulade sauce and it kind of threw my tastebuds off. Onion rings and fried okra were totally bland and needed tons of salt. The worst food offense to me was the $9.95 crab poppers which weren't all that and were served with Kraft ranch dressing. Unmistakeable and not very good. Totally not worth the money. Avoid that option!
So roach fiasco aside, I would like to try them again. I think I have a little PTSD I will need to work through first, though.
Eat here!
We had a large family group (including kids) and EVERYONE loved what they ordered.
We started with calamari for an appetizer. It was very good. The breading was flavorful and stuck to the squid better than I've seen at some other places.
For my entrée I had the grilled tilapia with sautéed green beans. It was served with a little cup of creamy garlic butter herb sauce that was amazing. My husband, mom, and brother-in-law had Po' Boy sandwiches and loved them. Sister had some of the best beans and rice ever. My middle school aged nephews both ordered some sort of seafood mixture (shrimp, crab, and something else) and they both chowed down on the meat, but barely touched the mound of white rice in the middle of the plate.
They do not have a "Kid's Menu," but our very friendly and attentive waiter suggested a few things and we ordered my 5-year-old a grilled cheese sandwich and fries. (Mommy sampled a bite of her sandwich and it was the BEST grilled cheese I had ever tasted.)
It's a small restaurant, so I was not surprised that our group of 8 (plus a high chair) had to wait a little bit for a table. It was definitely worth it!
I would have given them 6 stars, but our table was directly under a fan that could not be turned down because they lost the remote control for it. Â Fortunately, our food was so good that we ate it before it could get cold.
Next time I will bring a sweater.
...And see if I can get a jar of that sauce to bring back home with me.
Came here randomly w/ a hankering for oysters -- unfortunately, they ran out of fresh oysters.
I didn't want to just leave so we decided to try the BBQ shrimp plate. It was pretty good but it was basically shrimp and herbs in a plate of oil. Lots of flavor but too oily for my taste. Only thing good about it was the fresh gulf shrimp.
It wasn't the best experience but I'd go back again to try the oysters. Not giving up on this place just yet.
I am a big fish taco fan and anytime I see them on the menu I have to try them out. Â I must say that so far Black Pearl has my vote in Galveston. Â The only thing I don't like is that they do not put any cheese on them but still the jalapeno pico they serve on it brings a bit of a kick that just make you want to dive in for another bite!! And the sauce a chiptle sauce of some sort is also good, I get mine on the side so I can add as much or as little as I like. Â Besides the fish tacos the Shrimp po-boy is great as well They stuff it full of fried shrimp almost enough for two people. Â
This place has a laid back atmosphere, every time I have been they are packed. Â The wait staff are very friendly which makes for a great eating experience.
For our evening in Galveston, we wanted to try a casual dining place that offered some good seafood. Â The Black Pearl was a great find. Â First of all, we got to the restaurant right after dark, following a half-mile walk from our hotel. Â The place was packed! Â I couldn't believe we actually had to wait for a table, since Galveston Island seemed pretty slow that weekend. Â I immediately took this as a good sign, and our group took the opportunity to belly up to the bar for some cold beer and a half dozen oysters on a half shell. Â Fantastic beginning, and a table came open for us as we finished the beers and oysters.
Here's where the real fun began. Â Our server was obviously tripping on some kind of hallucinogen, because she was saying things that didn't exactly make sense. Â For instance, when Mrs. B told her that we were married, she said something like, "that is so inspirational" and rambled unintelligibly for a minute before asking, "Would you like another beer?" Â Well, it is my pleasure to inspire you. Â I did have another beer, by the way. Â Also, I'm pretty sure she forgot to enter everyone's order, because two of ours got served quickly, and we had to wait on the remaining two entrees, but the server realized a mistake had been made and had the kitchen prepare the remaining two orders promptly. Â As we left the restaurant, we couldn't remember if she had said her name was Melanie or Beth Ann, so we decided that her name was "Meth Ann."
As another sidebar, we were hoping to get some local seafood, as there are shrimping and fishing boats working near the Galveston port constantly. Â When we asked Meth Ann which of the seafood dishes were made with Gulf seafood, she asked the manager and responded that all the seafood is harvested locally. Â I would like to fact-check this, as I'm fairly sure that there are no species of sea bass that are native to the Gulf of Mexico, but I guess I'm not 100% on that one. Â Oh well, we just chalked that up to more of Meth Ann's hijinks.
I thought we got a good feel of the local scene without it being too touristy. Â All of the food I tasted had really good flavor, and Meth Ann provided some quality entertainment. Â On my next visit to Galveston, I might try some other places along the way, but I will definitely return to the Black Pearl.
So, when I said we shall eat nowhere we have at home, I was effin serious :P. Â For the most part it was lunches in, but we happened to be near the Strand shopping and trusty daughter spotted this place I wanted to hit. Â Came here based on fellow yelper reviews of oyster bars in Galveston. Â One would expect that at some juncture, half-shell would be easily accessible and good. Â Post shopping and candy shoppe on the strand we walked over to TBP.
So, bonus upon bonus, it's Sunday and they have a "brunch". Â This is a small 15-20 table neighborhood oyster BAR, that happens to serve pretty damn good fare. Â Sunday, 8$ doz oysters (I'M INNN!!), as well as some drink specials. Â I see cajun boiled shrimp on the menu and aforementioned oysters, daughter sees Gator bites, wife wants grilled shrimp Caesar salad... shiner bock and away we go.
Service is sufficient for a pub-like environment, too many people and not enough staff, Mommas was crabbier than I about it. Â Decor is as expected, it's cozy, it's quaint and clean... that's all you can ask for. Â The kitchen is easily observed and clean (whew ;) ).
So our boiled shrimp come out... DAMN that's a lotta boiled shrimp!! Â We start going after it, Mommas and I help little homie get his shrimps, daughter gets her own and we start buzzing through this massive mound of shrimp...seriously it was a bunch of shrimp.
Sadly, due to what appeared to be register, CC machine / other mayhem, our waiter let our shrimp sit for about 10mins... meaning we were 10mins getting our entrees pre-mature. Â Big platter of oysters for daddy... (pretty shit poor shucking job BTW - Â my only beef with the oysters - abductor not properly severed in over 50% of the oysters), briny factor, horseradish freshness / punch and cocktail sauce all good. Â Not OMFGBBQWTF, but real good, specially the bottled horseradish, at least you can tell they do enough business that it gets cycled through and keeps its potency.
Daughter (and everyone else) loved her gator bites. Â The remoulade was absolutely brilliant as well and complemented the little fried bites of gator splendidly.
Mommas grilled shrimp came out blackened. Â Good news is they know how to blacken shrimp. Â Crisp, char, not burnt, savory, little heat and obviously containing thyme. Â According to Mommas the lettuce was a bit wilty and over dressed. Â She finished her shrimp and daughter finished off the salad so it wasn't *that* bad.
In all, the price was equitable, the food was super tasty, the folks in there pleasant and were we to make it back to Galveston, we'd eat here again.
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