Max's Oyster Bar

Went here for a friends birthday. We were immediately seated at our reservation time. Our server Mark was attentive and got me a drink that wasn’t on the menu. The food was fresh, flavorful and in large portions. The place was clean inside and out. It was buzzing with customers all night long! Customers varied from college students to senior citizens. It was a vibe!

Another Great North East Oyster Bar. Sat at the Bar ordered one of the Raw Seafood appetizers, everything was very good. The service at the bar was outstanding, and the bar tender was super cool. They have a number of very interesting things on the menu like Sea Food Hot Pot, Lobster Pan Roast, and others. I had to try the traditional steamed Lobster, and the Lobster Pan Roast. I mean if you have a Seafood Restaurant in the North East it better be good otherwise you probably won't be around long. Max's Oyster Bar definitely satisfied my seafood craving. Can't wait to go back when I'm in town.

Love the fresh oysters and all Seafood menus were delicious and the wonderful staff and soothing atmosphere. I had the tuna tatake, Ahi tuna tartare, grilled Trout and oyster raw bar.

Had two of the specials, lobster bisque and the Nantucket sea scallops. Portions were not huge but it was delicious! Finished with the chocolate beignets. Also very good. I wasn't blown away but would eat here again.

Absolutely delicious. 5/5 stars for the raw bar! We had 2 different trays, most of which were delicious. I personally wasn't a huge fan of 2 things, but everything was delicious!! Highly recommend!

Such a beautiful experience! The food was beyond our expectations. I tried the fish n chips, and the clam chowder. The food came out timely and the service was great!

Excelent sea food all over the place. Very fresh ingredients. One of the best paellas I ever had it can be for 3 people the portion!. The grilled octopus 🐙 is very tender and tasty nothing chewy. Créeme brule can be better. Appetizers, and main dish we spend like 112 per person and including drinks and dessert. Nice experience and nice decorations. Be prepared to have time and a full talking experience, main dishes took a little while to arrive to the table.

Absolutely amazing food and service. For appetizers I had truffle fries and oysters, they were to die for. Fresh oysters and amazingly seasoned fries with shaved parmesan. I had the lobster roll and my girlfriend got the salmon for dinner. It was beautifully cooked and everything was so tasty and amazing. I highly recommend coming here! They got some of the best seafood around!

Great dining experience with fresh seafood and helpful staff. It is always helpful to have service staff who provide helpful insight into the dishes offered to help in making a great dining experience.

Oysters were super fresh and yummy. The food is also great quality. The prices are a bit expensive but reasonable for the quality. The atmosphere is beautiful.

One of my favorite restaurants in West Hartford. It never disappoints. Love going in the warm months so I can sit outside. Seafood is my favorite, I love that you get a small card where you can check off what type of seafood from the raw bar they can bring you. Drinks, of course, are great. Plenty of space to accommodate larger parties.

This is my new favorite spot. The oysters and clams were fresh. The service was amazing and thank you to our waiter Ronald!! The drinks were good and my favorite was called “Always Sunny” they make them strong. I highly recommend this restraunt for seafood and steak you can not go wrong here. They also have beer from local breweries and the seafood is also local. Highly recommend you stop by and give them a try!

I've been here less than 5 times, but each time that I've been, it's been a great experience. Matt has been the server for two of those visits, and he's great as well.

During my most recent visit, I had the New England clam chower to start and the Native Scallops for my meal. Excellent! A couple of friends had the Street Corn Salad as their starter. They said it was great. Their happy (empty) serving platter indicated the same. I'll have that as my starter when I visit again.

Go after 4p.m it's happy hour. Super inexpensive food that has amazing flavor. There bartenders are awesome guys as well. It's atmosphere is great for date night, or even some drinks with friends in a clean comfortable environment.

Company dinner, upscale spot, very nice ambience, we got a table by the window which is the place to be, wife loved the oysters, I'm a no seafood guy, so I got the steak which was tasty as well, GREAT drinks!

If you love fresh seafood dishes prepared well and a great bloody mary, this is the place. I like a lot of horseradish in my bloody marys and that is what you will find here. They know how to treat gueats, they willingly split our salad and our entree.

Great food, stellar service, and the highlight of the evening was seeing Brandon who I haven’t seen in 20 years.

Max's Oyster Bar gives an old school dining experience. Another term would be "classic." The menu doesn't feature avant-garde culinary experiments - it reads like a fancy restaurant menu from 1989. And this classic experience is what draws so many people here.

Recommendation:
Cocktail: Rosé Sangria.
Starter: Oyster Sampler, Mexican Street Corn Salad.
Entrees: Georges Bank Sea Scallops, Crispy Soft-shell Crabs.
Dessert: Blueberry Cake (by Executive Pastry Chef).
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Detailed review:
Another beautiful afternoon at West Hartford. The public parking was full. It took me 10 minutes just to find a spot for my car. Luckily, we left early so we were on time for the reservation. The host and waitress were friendly and helpful. Shelby gave us a very detailed description about her suggestions. We ordered Watermelon Sug and Rosé Sangria cocktails, Oyster Sampler and Mexican Street Corn Salad for Starter. My wife got a Georges Bank Sea Scallops and I got a Crispy Soft-shell Crabs. About the taste:
- Rosé Sangria: fruity, not too strong, refreshing.
- Watermelon Sug: this cocktail is fine. It's not good enough for me to recommend you to order it, but it's still good.
- Oysters Sampler: a bit salty (which is normal for North East oysters), fresh, meaty.
- Mexican Street Corn Salad: really fresh and delicious. Instead of using regular bread croutons, they use corn bread croutons, which is good. I am not a big fan of vegetables but I can tell you can't go wrong with this salad. They noticed we are a couple so they automatically splited our salad into 2 dishes. Small thing but nice thing.
- Georges Bank Sea Scallops: insanely delicious! Scallops are incredibly fresh, sweet, buttery, and fragrant! Very well paired with pesto, light corn risotto, and grape tomato.
- Crispy Soft-shell Crabs: it's really good. I can say this is the BEST soft-shall crabs dish I have ever had so far. They have a perfect sauce to accompany the crabs.
- Blueberry Cake: moist and delicious, not too sweet. It's a good size to share between 2 or 3 people.

So for the food, I gave it 5/5.
For service: 5/5 (the food came out really fast)
Atmosphere: 4.5/5 (finding a parking spot is not easy)
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If this is your first time at Max Oyster, tell the waitor. They may have a free "chef welcome". For us, we got Smoke Salmon on Tortilla Chip and Chocolate Truffles 😘👌.
Never mind what I said about parking, I highly recommend you to come and try out my suggestions. Once you do and have a great meal, give my review a like. 😉

The food here is phenomenal and there are options for everyone. Service always has the “high-end” dining professionalism to it. It’s a great spot for a special night out or for a reasonable lunch.