The Ottaray Raw Bar & Taphouse

I really enjoyed my time here. The food was hit and miss. I think overall, this restaurant has the capability to be amazing, just needs a little training.

I ordered the fish and chips - fish was cooked through, batter was kind of cooked enough - but should’ve went longer. The chips (fries) would’ve been SOOOO much better cooked longer. They were really oily and under cooked by a mile. I made an “o” with one to show how undercooked a French fry was. The fries were almost like McDonald’s, both under cooked and oily, but if it had been cooked right, it would’ve been amazing.

Considering both were under cooked, but flavor was there, it was a missed opportunity to really shine in this department, considering there was maybe 10 patrons at this time.

The she-crab soup was AMAZING. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it and the flavor was amazing.

That all said, this restaurant is gorgeous, great staff even if understaffed when I was there. The food was amazing for the soup and mediocre for the fish and chips. I did reheat everything under a toaster oven and the golden brown I achieved made it significantly better.

The staff worked hard, but I wonder if they should’ve had more to help buffer the work load. A couple walked out and complained of waiting for 30 mins without a server. It did take some time to receive service, but overall great considering how few staff were there.

I’d love to give a 5/5 here, but the under cooked food and strained staff makes it 3.7/5 in my opinion.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 4

Tonight we celebrated our anniversary as a family of three with our 12 year old son. In these days and times of the expense of going out to dinner, we’ve been putting money aside each paycheck in anticipation of a fabulous night out…it doesn’t always work out that way, but tonight we got everything we could want at your beautiful establishment. Our server Cam and his trainee, Brian, were very professional and gave the most excellent service. We were very well taken care by the whole staff with complimentary sparkling wine, dessert, and a hand written card. On a personal note, our family enjoyed a great meal and great conversation without our phones in hand. Thank you, Brian(yours and our new favorite server) Cam, and the rest of the staff for helping make a great memory. Sincerely, The Reeses.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Excellent seafood and very good service at a fair price. The She Crab Soup, the Outer Banks Sea Scallops and the Smoked Salmon Carpaccio were all excellent. The Conneticut style lobster roll was very good, but I would have rather paid a little more and received more lobster. It was still a generous sandwich. The prices were a little on the high side, but given the food quality, the value was there. Our server, Greg, did a fine job. He was welcoming, helpful and knowledgable. He seemed a little overwhelmed by the number of guests he was serving. The atmosphere was decorated pleasantly, but the noise level was a little high. I am looking forward to a return visit.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

This place was amazing. Extremely accomodating of my fiance and her service dog. Even offered him a bowl of water to drink out of. Food was incredible. We had the mussels and crab cake appetizer and both were incredible. She has the lobster fettuccine and I had the shrimp and grits. Both were amazing and I'm excited to come back and try the rest!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Southern Crab Cake, Shrimp \u0026 Grits

Mel was fantastic!! Food great, good drinks and good vibes. Officially my fave place in gville.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Absolutely incredible fish and chips! The hush puppies are fantastic too!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Fish \u0026 Chips

Love this place. Vibes were so calm. Waiter was very knowledgeable. Green goddess salad dressing with squash salad was great honestly didn’t need dressing as it was so fresh. Also had the white stone, va oysters. Such good choices.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great job on the Salmon and also the Snapper. We will be back!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Don’t listen to these people who gave this place a good rating. They are not foodies and probably eat at Hardee’s. I did this review while I was still seated in this restaurant! Whoever is in this kitchen come to the front!! The macaroni and lobster was liquid highway and the lobster was made in a tire factory. Rubbery! Lobster so rubbery, we couldn’t chew it. One of the waiters stopped to tell us the dish looked runny. Like the sauce was trying to run back to that half of a chef in the kitchen for some flavor and thickening. Brown butter scallops…..total crime scene! That had to have been Walmart butter turned brown butter. The scallops were not cooked all the way! The mussels had a seaweed taste. One and done! Hope to avoid an ER trip on that one.
This restaurant was over hyped. Whoever served this should be forced to eat it! We were the only people of color in this restaurant, but even the Caucasian people next to us were getting tons of apologies from the wait staff for how bad their food was. The service was great, and that’s unfortunate because the service definitely doesn’t match the food. We thugged this out because our waiter and the other waiter were such decent people.

Waste of really good money. And I forgot to get a photo of the muscles!!!!!

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 5

We’ve been coming to The Ottaray regularly for months, but our visit last night felt very different. The staff wasn’t as welcoming as usual, and the overall vibe was off. The food also didn’t seem up to the standard we’ve come to expect—oysters weren’t cleaned properly like they were just a few weeks ago, and the she-crab soup, normally one of the best we’ve ever had, was disappointing this time. Hopefully it was just an off night, but after 8 months of consistently good experiences, this was a letdown.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 1

Dinner tonight at Ottaray Raw Bar and Taphouse - WOW! First time here. The ambience is amazing. Regan our server made us feel right at home and was incredibly nice & attentive. The drink and beer selection are wonderful. Then, the food… we started with the oysters, which were fantastic and then lobster roll & crab cakes. I can’t even begin to describe how delicious these meals were. I just know that we’ll be back again and again.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Regan was amazing and the food was delicious.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Fish \u0026 Chips, Pei Mussels, Oysters Rockefeller

Regan was absolutely wonderful! Very polite and kind!!!
Definitely would be back to see her……

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Oysters Rockefeller

Sooooo yummy. The oysters were amazing and staff Rachel and Tracy were awesome. Also the chicken sandwich was perfect crunchynes.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

A previous review was clearly posted by a former disgruntled employee. It was our first time in and my wife and had a great experience. The service was excellent and the food was good. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the atmosphere. The staff were extremely friendly and personable. Even though we had never dined before we felt like regulars.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5