Wintzell's Oyster House

WOW! I wish we lived closer. This place is great. The raw oysters were huge and tasted amazing. We have had raw oysters up and down the east coast, west coast and the Gulf. This was definitely one of the best. Dinner was 16 oysters prepared 4 different ways, garden salad, and potato. Delicious!!! And to top it all off? An in house cigar lounge with an amazing air exchange system, comfortable club chairs, and the wait staff were wonderful. This really is a must try if you like oysters, seafood, or cigars. Oh, and you can bring your own cigar......they don't mind.

I was excited to see a Seafood place in the South Hills as I am not a fan of Red Lobster. What a great idea but poor execution. Located in the New/ Old Damon's location in South Land Wintzell's was disappointing. We came for lunch and ordered the catch of the day Grouper (one grilled & one blackened) came with one side. The server also brought what I thought was garlic toast but it was soft and not crunchy nor could I taste the garlic. The bread  would have been great to use to sop up steamed clam broth however I don't think they serve clams. The grouper was OK nothing that would make you say Yum or Mmmm.  

Our server was busy visiting with a couple that appeared to be friends or regulars and kept us as an after thought.

Most likely we will not go back...

My girlfriend and I were very excited to see that an oyster themed southern restaraunt had made its way across the Mason Dixon to Pittsburgh!

I love traveling through the south and eating oysters pretty much every day that I can, so Wintzell's, and Alabama chain was a welcome sight.

I expected it to be a small place about the size of a Long John Silvers, but this was quite an expansive location, a former Damons. The owners also put in an on site cigar bar, which I feel is a really nice touch.

The place was very crowded on a Friday night, so we waited about 20 minutes to be seated. Afterwards, it seemed there were some service mixups, and it took a little while to get our drinks, while we watched a server break a glass. Generally a restaurant of this type has more experienced waitstaff, as these were highschool kids. I am sure they will get over the early growing pains. The owner stopped by and was a nice guy to have a brief chat with.

We ordered half a dozen raw oysters, the oyster sampler, the blackened catfish dinner, and a cup of gumbo.

The raw oysters were high quality, and I believe the owner mentioned he has everything overnighted from suppliers in the bayou. The Witnzells hot sauce was really a treat and added a lot to the raw oysters.

The sampler platter of oysters had Oysters Rockafeller, Savannah, and a few others. All were exceptional.

The blackened catfish was OK, it could have used a bit more of a crust of blackening season. I would probably get it fried next time. There are some great hush puppies that come with the meal to satisfy anyone's inner fat kid.

We had a side of green beans, but they were painfully uninspired, my only real gripe.

All and all, pretty decent. The prices are very reasonable for what you get, and we both left with our tummies satisfied.