Truly an outstanding meal (for one meat eater and one vegetarian): delicious, creative, multi-layered and a learning experience rolled into one. Kudos to Chef Rob and the team.
We are working our way through many of the DC Michelin Star restaurants (and we try to visit at least one when we travel to other cities): it is incredibly rare to immediately start making plans to come back again. Sure, plenty of them are delicious and would be enjoyable again, but don’t warrant the price tag or are too slow and elaborate to repeat with any frequency… some just aren’t worth returning to at all. But the value, the flavor, the experience and the ethics at Oyster Oyster have us wanting to return each season as the menu turns over and they weave in new seasonal, local, sustainable delicacies.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Max Daniel
This place was amazing. Full stop. What a wonderful experience, food, and beverage. The staff were so welcoming and the food was amazing. Go here...they have a little michelin man statue as decoration, well deserved.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This That
It was nice to try this restaurant. They had some creative flavors. Some dishes I liked a lot more than others. I have to say that I had a few questions that the server didn’t know the answer to and they never followed up with me during the meal. It seems simple relative to the time and care they obviously take so I’m giving them four stars instead of five. “What can they tell me about an interesting ceramic piece.” “How is the flour made from the day old bread reincorporated into the next days loaf.” Another odd thing was that they noticed I was left handed and so made a point of setting the silverware left handed. And then reverted to setting it opposite as the meal progressed. I wouldn’t even think or mention this except they made a point of it and then..?? All and all it was a good experience and these are small points. I appreciate that they have a 0 waste system and I wish them well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Anthony Sternberg
I was disappointed with our experience at Oyster Oyster. Several dishes were heavily overdosed with vinegar, which overpowered the intended flavors rather than complementing them. The lion’s mane mushroom dish, in particular, was burned and carried an excessive smoke flavor that made it unpleasant to eat.
Service throughout the evening felt shaky and unpolished. To add to the disappointment, we were celebrating my son’s birthday, and no acknowledgment or gesture was made, which felt like a missed opportunity for a restaurant positioning itself at this level.
Overall, the experience did not align with Michelin-level expectations. While the concept is interesting, execution and hospitality fell short.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 2
Spencer Nelson
What a lovely experience at Oyster Oyster! We were here for my wife’s birthday, and the team delivered immaculately yet again. We also tried the mixed wine+juice pairing which was very fun.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hai-y Le
I loved the marigold “butter”! I admire the restaurant’s oysterarian and vegetarian-friendly concept
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Daniel Wodak
This is one of the absolute best restaurants I’ve ever been to. Incredibly impressive and creative without being remotely pretentious. Seriously committed to local farms and sustainability without being remotely preachy. I’d eat there daily if I could.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kendall Law
Oyster Oyster gives very much jazz: atmospheric, meandering, committed to the vibe over the payoff. That's not a read-some people genuinely love jazz.
Anastasia Leiphart
My favorite part of my meal here was the price honestly. My friend and I got the regular course menu without any drink pairings, and considering 20% gratuity is already included, I felt it was very reasonable. The (seemingly small) staff were all on the ball and highly competent, definitely at the highest level of service. My friend is a vegan and I am not, and honestly there are a lot of veggies that are not my favorite, so I was surprised that I really enjoyed everything, even the parts that had some of my least favorite vegetables involved. I enjoyed the level of specification about where everything was sourced, and again all members of the staff knew these things and it was nice to know that we were eating locally sourced foods. It was a special occasion for us, and I was very satisfied that not only did we receive a nice little card in acknowledgement, but that various members of the staff actually acknowledged it to us as well. The restaurant itself is very small inside and not anything special as far as decor or vibe goes, but it felt approachable. I have been to other high-end restaurants with similar concepts elsewhere, and I could tell why this place has a Michelin star and the others do not. The entire experience was very polished start to finish and I would recommend this restaurant to friends. Unfortunately I did not try the wine program this time, but I did enjoy their selection of teas and juices.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Will Brooks
This was delightful. The lions mane mushroom was a better interpretation of steak than any steak I've had. I'm not vegetarian normally but a friend invited me and I cannot rave about the food enough, really made my week. The fruit juice pairing menu surprisingly good.
My experience at Oyster Oyster was wonderful. Every dish was creative and beautifully executed, and I loved hearing the stories behind where each ingredient came from. Everything we tried was flavorful and unique. The only thing keeping this from being a perfect five was that the main entrée (the eggplant dumplings) didn’t quite deliver the same punch as the earlier courses. It was still good, just not quite the showstopper I expected as the final savory dish. Overall, though, a memorable and thoughtful dining experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Shashank Pedamallu
Where to start? I just had an exceptionally incredible experience beyond my expectations at Oyster Oyster.
Few things can enliven you when you’re fatigued and drowsy after a red-eye flight and a long day. The dinner here did that and more for me!
Me and my wife are vegetarians and made a reservation quite in advance for our first ever trip to DC. The restaurant was quite charming with elegantly compartmentalized seating options - the kitchen, booths and chairs and tables. We got the booth.
Before going further - I’ve dined at restaurants recognized by World’s 50 best, multiple Michelin 2 star restaurants, fine dining restaurants with vegetarian degustation menus in multiple countries. By far, this stands as the best experience I had.
We got the Harvest menu. The experience started with a refreshing warm and umami drink to cleanse our palates. - The first course was bites and finger food. It was “game-on” statement displaying the variety of flavors and textures. With an Indian background, I was delighted to see the novel usage of some of our native spices / ingredients in new flavors - fermented coriander seeds with turnips, sesame with tomato. - The second was salad with potatoes and greens. Absolutely refreshing. - We then had Old Bread New Bread with butter made from sunflower seeds along with Squash and mushrooms. The bread and butter was so addicting that we had to request our hostess not to take that away and we are holding on that to not get stuffy in stomach. - The next course with “meatless” balls was so comforting. I just couldn’t comprehend how they could do that with eggplant! - It was followed by desserts which were ok (not exceptional to me at least).
We also took a wine and juice pairing along with this. I’m no wine connoisseur and cannot speak with authority on them, but as a diner, I was thrilled by the juice pairing. The juices were totally crafted by the team with unused ingredients from the kitchen. They just complemented with the dishes as a pair quite well. Definitely recommend their juice pairing.
Lastly, the service was top-notch. Our hostess Izzy (apologies if I got this wrong) was quite enthusiastic to share the details of each dish along with the story behind it. My wife once had to leave the table to use the restroom. The hostess took the napkin she put aside and folded it placed it back in this time. Everyone was so genuine and greeted us on our anniversary. Upon leaving my wife commented that the menu they gave us has details about food, but not the drinks. Guess what, the next day I had the drinks menu (both wines and juices) in my email. I haven’t even asked.
All-in-all phenomenal. Highly recommended this to anyone.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Heewon Choi
Love love loved it! At least among the Michelin-1 star restaurants in DC, this was the best place to me, even though I'm not a vegetarian or vegan and I love proteins.
First and foremost, all the foods were top-notch. Mouth-watering and also visually satisfying. Wine was great, too.
Secondly, service was impeccable - some friendliness + some professionalism + and some humor.
What impressed me and my company the most, however, was how the restaurant was dedicated to their values. From every bits of the food and the way they operate showed how they wanted to run this business and interact with the local community. All the food ingredients locally sourced, the plates they use were made out of used wine bottles, even the menu paper was completely decomposable so we can just give it to our plants at home.
Very impressive, and highly satisfied.
One small hope, tho : Would love to see the course menu before getting the foods instead of afterwards.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stephanie
Absolutely out of this world! Hands down the best vegetarian, local, and sustainable fine dining experience in the U.S. The welcome broth was bursting with flavor, and the beet pastrami kohlrabi was exquisite— even the meat lovers in our group were amazed by how rich and satisfying it was. Every course, from the smoked new potato salad to the grandmama zucchini bread, corn froyo, and spicebush porcini shortbread, was incredible. The staff were warm, knowledgeable, and accommodating. Truly an unforgettable dining experience!
Truly an outstanding meal (for one meat eater and one vegetarian): delicious, creative, multi-layered and a learning experience rolled into one. Kudos to Chef Rob and the team.
We are working our way through many of the DC Michelin Star restaurants (and we try to visit at least one when we travel to other cities): it is incredibly rare to immediately start making plans to come back again. Sure, plenty of them are delicious and would be enjoyable again, but don’t warrant the price tag or are too slow and elaborate to repeat with any frequency… some just aren’t worth returning to at all. But the value, the flavor, the experience and the ethics at Oyster Oyster have us wanting to return each season as the menu turns over and they weave in new seasonal, local, sustainable delicacies.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
This place was amazing. Full stop. What a wonderful experience, food, and beverage. The staff were so welcoming and the food was amazing. Go here...they have a little michelin man statue as decoration, well deserved.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It was nice to try this restaurant. They had some creative flavors. Some dishes I liked a lot more than others. I have to say that I had a few questions that the server didn’t know the answer to and they never followed up with me during the meal. It seems simple relative to the time and care they obviously take so I’m giving them four stars instead of five. “What can they tell me about an interesting ceramic piece.” “How is the flour made from the day old bread reincorporated into the next days loaf.” Another odd thing was that they noticed I was left handed and so made a point of setting the silverware left handed. And then reverted to setting it opposite as the meal progressed. I wouldn’t even think or mention this except they made a point of it and then..?? All and all it was a good experience and these are small points. I appreciate that they have a 0 waste system and I wish them well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
I was disappointed with our experience at Oyster Oyster. Several dishes were heavily overdosed with vinegar, which overpowered the intended flavors rather than complementing them. The lion’s mane mushroom dish, in particular, was burned and carried an excessive smoke flavor that made it unpleasant to eat.
Service throughout the evening felt shaky and unpolished. To add to the disappointment, we were celebrating my son’s birthday, and no acknowledgment or gesture was made, which felt like a missed opportunity for a restaurant positioning itself at this level.
Overall, the experience did not align with Michelin-level expectations. While the concept is interesting, execution and hospitality fell short.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 2
What a lovely experience at Oyster Oyster! We were here for my wife’s birthday, and the team delivered immaculately yet again. We also tried the mixed wine+juice pairing which was very fun.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I loved the marigold “butter”! I admire the restaurant’s oysterarian and vegetarian-friendly concept
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is one of the absolute best restaurants I’ve ever been to. Incredibly impressive and creative without being remotely pretentious. Seriously committed to local farms and sustainability without being remotely preachy. I’d eat there daily if I could.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Oyster Oyster gives very much jazz: atmospheric, meandering, committed to the vibe over the payoff. That's not a read-some people genuinely love jazz.
My favorite part of my meal here was the price honestly. My friend and I got the regular course menu without any drink pairings, and considering 20% gratuity is already included, I felt it was very reasonable. The (seemingly small) staff were all on the ball and highly competent, definitely at the highest level of service. My friend is a vegan and I am not, and honestly there are a lot of veggies that are not my favorite, so I was surprised that I really enjoyed everything, even the parts that had some of my least favorite vegetables involved. I enjoyed the level of specification about where everything was sourced, and again all members of the staff knew these things and it was nice to know that we were eating locally sourced foods. It was a special occasion for us, and I was very satisfied that not only did we receive a nice little card in acknowledgement, but that various members of the staff actually acknowledged it to us as well. The restaurant itself is very small inside and not anything special as far as decor or vibe goes, but it felt approachable. I have been to other high-end restaurants with similar concepts elsewhere, and I could tell why this place has a Michelin star and the others do not. The entire experience was very polished start to finish and I would recommend this restaurant to friends. Unfortunately I did not try the wine program this time, but I did enjoy their selection of teas and juices.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was delightful. The lions mane mushroom was a better interpretation of steak than any steak I've had.
I'm not vegetarian normally but a friend invited me and I cannot rave about the food enough, really made my week.
The fruit juice pairing menu surprisingly good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Phenomenal plant-based tasting menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My experience at Oyster Oyster was wonderful. Every dish was creative and beautifully executed, and I loved hearing the stories behind where each ingredient came from. Everything we tried was flavorful and unique. The only thing keeping this from being a perfect five was that the main entrée (the eggplant dumplings) didn’t quite deliver the same punch as the earlier courses. It was still good, just not quite the showstopper I expected as the final savory dish. Overall, though, a memorable and thoughtful dining experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Where to start? I just had an exceptionally incredible experience beyond my expectations at Oyster Oyster.
Few things can enliven you when you’re fatigued and drowsy after a red-eye flight and a long day. The dinner here did that and more for me!
Me and my wife are vegetarians and made a reservation quite in advance for our first ever trip to DC. The restaurant was quite charming with elegantly compartmentalized seating options - the kitchen, booths and chairs and tables. We got the booth.
Before going further - I’ve dined at restaurants recognized by World’s 50 best, multiple Michelin 2 star restaurants, fine dining restaurants with vegetarian degustation menus in multiple countries. By far, this stands as the best experience I had.
We got the Harvest menu. The experience started with a refreshing warm and umami drink to cleanse our palates.
- The first course was bites and finger food. It was “game-on” statement displaying the variety of flavors and textures. With an Indian background, I was delighted to see the novel usage of some of our native spices / ingredients in new flavors - fermented coriander seeds with turnips, sesame with tomato.
- The second was salad with potatoes and greens. Absolutely refreshing.
- We then had Old Bread New Bread with butter made from sunflower seeds along with Squash and mushrooms. The bread and butter was so addicting that we had to request our hostess not to take that away and we are holding on that to not get stuffy in stomach.
- The next course with “meatless” balls was so comforting. I just couldn’t comprehend how they could do that with eggplant!
- It was followed by desserts which were ok (not exceptional to me at least).
We also took a wine and juice pairing along with this. I’m no wine connoisseur and cannot speak with authority on them, but as a diner, I was thrilled by the juice pairing. The juices were totally crafted by the team with unused ingredients from the kitchen. They just complemented with the dishes as a pair quite well. Definitely recommend their juice pairing.
Lastly, the service was top-notch. Our hostess Izzy (apologies if I got this wrong) was quite enthusiastic to share the details of each dish along with the story behind it. My wife once had to leave the table to use the restroom. The hostess took the napkin she put aside and folded it placed it back in this time. Everyone was so genuine and greeted us on our anniversary. Upon leaving my wife commented that the menu they gave us has details about food, but not the drinks. Guess what, the next day I had the drinks menu (both wines and juices) in my email. I haven’t even asked.
All-in-all phenomenal. Highly recommended this to anyone.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Love love loved it! At least among the Michelin-1 star restaurants in DC, this was the best place to me, even though I'm not a vegetarian or vegan and I love proteins.
First and foremost, all the foods were top-notch. Mouth-watering and also visually satisfying. Wine was great, too.
Secondly, service was impeccable - some friendliness + some professionalism + and some humor.
What impressed me and my company the most, however, was how the restaurant was dedicated to their values. From every bits of the food and the way they operate showed how they wanted to run this business and interact with the local community. All the food ingredients locally sourced, the plates they use were made out of used wine bottles, even the menu paper was completely decomposable so we can just give it to our plants at home.
Very impressive, and highly satisfied.
One small hope, tho : Would love to see the course menu before getting the foods instead of afterwards.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Absolutely out of this world! Hands down the best vegetarian, local, and sustainable fine dining experience in the U.S. The welcome broth was bursting with flavor, and the beet pastrami kohlrabi was exquisite— even the meat lovers in our group were amazed by how rich and satisfying it was. Every course, from the smoked new potato salad to the grandmama zucchini bread, corn froyo, and spicebush porcini shortbread, was incredible. The staff were warm, knowledgeable, and accommodating. Truly an unforgettable dining experience!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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