Half Shell Oyster House Trussville

Great food! Great server, Carla! Wonderful lunch!!

If you can get past the two hostesses with their face in the phone, twirling their hair, not caring at all if your there or not. Once seated our waitress was good, she had several large tables over 8 to handle. It took a while for food, but like I said several large groups. I ordered redfish royal, my husband ordered redfish Orleans, both were ok, my fish was thin and quite tough on the end, had to use a knife. The Cajun boiled mashed potatoes were good, the sweet potato puree excellent and that was my dessert. A little after 5pm, a more professional dressed woman came out and started moving tables and chairs around right after the bus boys set them, she could have had them do it,it was loud and disturbing while we were eating. The bus boys weren't doing anything else. It doesn't seem managed well and there is zero atmosphere. I wouldn't go back.

Wheelchair accessibility: I didsee someone with a wheelchair ♿️

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 4

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Sweet Potato Creme Brulee

This restaurant has been very hyped up, maybe overhyped, if you know what I mean. We were seated and waited patiently for our server. We ordered drinks and felt rushed to order an appetizer. Had not even had a chance to look at the menu at this point, and it being our first time there, we were busily looking for drinks and trying to make our decision. So, we ordered the yellowfin tuna salad. It was very good. Comes with 4 club cracker sets for 2. We ate it all. Delicious. Now, here's where i need you to understand...there was no crowd, it was a Saturday, the day after Valentine's, and they just were not busy. There were maybe 3 tables when we arrived. There was no wait at the door. Why were we so rushed? Is there some sort of late-night happening that we are unaware of? However, drinks took a long time to come and were worth it, in my humble opinion. The presentation was nice and they were well made. We decided on the most colorful drinks they made, bc they were out of the banana liqueur for the Bananas Foster Old Fashioned my date wanted to order. I ordered the Long Island made with coconut cream and pineapple and it was perfect. My date got the Rum Punch and it was also delicious. The bartender is excellent. Wish we had sat at the bar instead of a table.
When dinner arrived, mine the oyster sampler platter, 12 oysters, 3 of each kind offered, and I was slightly disappointed. They were small and looked slightly burnt, as I bit into one, I pulled a hair from my mouth and it was not mine. The taste was pleasant for the Oysters Rockefeller, which is the one from which the hair came, and I didn't care for the others or their recipe and I love oysters. I was also not told where they came from. I ask at every restaurant that serves oysters and they can always tell me. My date ordered shrimp and grits. The cheese sauce was amazing, he does not like seafood as much as I do, but agreed to try this restaurant with me. It was on our list to try restaurants in Trussville. I ordered the Creme Brule sweet potatoes as a side and would order this as a dessert, so sweet, but delicious. Loved every bite. He ordered hushpuppies and they were just regular hushpuppies nothing extraordinary.
For dessert, we ordered the bananas foster cheesecake. Loved it. Highly recommend trying it. The rum sauce caramel was perfectly made as was the crust. The cheesecake with bits of banana throughout, was soft and whipped and topped with real whipped cream. Someone took a lot of time to prepare this and it was very, very delicious. Overall, we decided this is a dessert and drinks type of place, but will not be back for another dinner. We felt rushed throughout the meal, and like some of the food was as if we had walked in at 5 minutes before closing. For the total bill, over $100, I can't see coming here again or spending this amount, to be treated this way and served dinner that frankly, I can get elsewhere and better prepared without hair in it. Desserts and drinks had to be made by someone who cared enough to want repeat customers. Service was slow to arrive, not friendly, and made us feel as though we had inconvenienced her by coming in to eat. She rushed the entire service and did not even pretend to be friendly or welcoming. There might have been 3 tables there at the time and it was a Saturday around 7 pm. Just very disappointing for what should have been an amazing meal, especially for the price. I'm just willing to spend that kind of money plus a very generous tip even for subpar service.

Parking: Very small lot that looks packed, don't be deceived. It's employee cars. We thought they were really busy every night. The 2 handicap spots available are in front of another business. Just the 2 that had to be added to the parking lot legally.

Kid-friendliness: I do not think this would be kid-friendly, more of a date night, drinks, and dessert type place.

Wheelchair accessibility: Once you do find the 2 spots and manage to get out of your

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 2

Recommended dishes: Bacon Shrimp and Grits

The food was excellent, the atmosphere was relaxing, the server was friendly but not attentive she took absolutely way to long to check on us and bring our check.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 3

It's a great place to eat, had a 1hr wait but it was worth it got to see the surrounding area, once were seated our service was wonderful, and we had a great night

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The food was very good and the server was attentive.
I recommend a visit!

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Royal Redfish, Charbroiled Oysters, Crab Claws, Crab and Shrimp Dip, Gumbo

Service is always great, food is always top notch!! The smoked tuna dip is the best! And no one has fried okra that compares to half shell fried okra! I highly recommend the sunset martini!! I've never had anything that I didn't love here! A little expensive but you definitely get what you pay for here!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Such an amazing set up. The food and wait staff were excellent!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

First of all our waitresses apparently did not attend charm school. Husband was informed they do not fry oysters so he had to amend his original poboy order. Another waitress Alexis was charming & refilled my tea, at my request. Lastly, my shrimp poboy roll/ bun was so thick it overwhelmed the taste of the sandwich.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 3

WOW. This was a fabulous meal. Start to finish the oysters Orleans (best ever) and gumbo (top 5)with drinks we're amazing. Then the redfish royal and redfish Orleans could not be better. Will do be back. Thanks to Rico and to our chef who had to do double duty on the dinner and the oysters! We will return!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Royal Redfish, Oyster Sampler Platter, Sweet Potato Creme Brulee, Charbroiled Oysters, Redfish Orleans

Always a great place to go for date night with the miss
Food is always great and the staff is the best

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Bacon Shrimp and Grits, Royal Redfish, Sweet Potato Creme Brulee, Fried Green Tomatoes & Crab Cakes

It was our anniversary. I wish we could've sat where we sat on our 1st date. But we were told we couldn't because of limited staff. But our waiter told us after the the fact that she wouldn't have a problem with us sitting in our original spot. Foot was good waiter was supper nice. See yall again 1/8/26

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 3

What a gift to support a restaurant who shares! Half Shell Oyster House gives Grace Klein Community free appetizer cards so we could thank volunteers who serve the community. How beautiful is that?!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

First, and probably last experience here today for lunch. Wife and I ordered Oysters Rockefeller, Rockefeller artichoke dip, Royal Red shrimp with jalapeño hushpuppies, and shrimp po boy blackened instead of fried.
I like spinach, but the Oysters Rockefeller had way too much! I separated the oysters from the spinach mixture and the size of the pile of spinach was over twice that of the oyster.
The Rockefeller artichoke dip was very bland and the bread seemed stale.
The Royal Red shrimp had a slimy texture and tasted off. My wife had to send this back and that’s something she rarely does.
The shrimp po boy had a small portion of very small shrimp with barely any seasoning on it at all. Definitely not what I would consider blackened. The menu said fresh in-house French bread, which is a joke. Dried out, stale bread that crumbled with the first bite, essentially turning into sawdust.
Sadly, the best thing we ate was the jalapeño hushpuppies.
Our server, Carla, was very good.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 5

Whenever I come for lunch / dinner I am always treated with utmost respect and I love the atmosphere. From staff to Managers This Place Is The Go to for all Your Seafood Needs!!!! I Especially Want To Thank Manager Deandre For Going Above And Beyond Assisting And Making Sure Everyone In My Party Was Satisfied And Well Taken Care Of Will Definitely Continue Business with Halfshell Trussville!! #1

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Oyster Sampler Platter, Seafood Sampler, Redfish Orleans