Broadway Oyster Bar

User Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Food is good. Service is hit or miss. Definitely inconsistent. Management seemed to change about four years ago... maybe three... and for the worst. It feels like they are now skating on their 'we're a funky bar with a funky reputation', and not trying any more. As well, it is not really a blues bar any more.

The music has changed from mostly blues to mostly old hippie rock like greatful dead cover bands, old 70s type of music, and the occasional out of town blues or rock act. Some days they have more local blues acts but in general it is no longer a place to watch blues. I get the feeling it makes most of its money on drunk Cardinals fans who go there based on the reputation it had developed when it had better management and music. It's only two blocks from the new Stadium and all the parking lots for the game are around there, so it isn't hard to make a lot of money on game days.

That said, they do still host a great blues jam on Monday nights, hosted by one of the only remaining blues bands that they hire to play there any more (Saint Louis's Soulard Blues Band... great band). Although a jam, this is one where quality musicians sit in on (the SBB is good enough to dissuade those not yet qualified enough to play at that level). Otherwise, I don't really frequent the place any more except for the occasional Cajun dish.

If you are looking for actual blues music, I would go to the other end of the block and check out either BBs Jazz Blues and Soups (great blues all the time) or, even if the owner is kind of a ****, the Beal On Broadway across the street from BBs has good blues all the time too. Otherwise, try your luck in the Soulard neighborhood or possibly the U. City Loop (Delmar).

I'm giving this 2 stars because the place still looks pretty cool, and it is one of the only Cajun places in town.

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User Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

This was our first visit to this restaurant. We called ahead to see what the parking situation was and they told us the restaurant has a private parking area for patrons and street parking if that was full. When we got there, there was a $10 charge to park in their lot (and no available street parking due to a ball game). I personally was very excited to get a Muffuletta which is listed on their website on their menu. I'm not big on Cajun food, so this really was the only thing I wanted to get from there. It was my birthday so we had a party of 6 and needed a minute to look at the menu. The waitress came back to our table several times and never mentioned anything that they didn't have. When we tried to order Muffulettas, we were then informed that they didn't have the bread so they couldn't make them. I asked the waitress if we could have one on a different kind of bread, she went to check and came back telling me they now had none of the ingredients needed to make a Muffuletta. We decided to leave since it was my birthday and I didn't like anything else on the menu. Our drinks (that we had ordered as soon as we came in) cost us $18. So we spent a total of $48 to spend a few minutes in their restaurant and didn't even get to eat the food. The owner (who was standing 10 feet away from our table) didn't think it was neccessary to come over and apologize himself....he sent the waitress over with a very condescending "apology" stating that they are a family owned business and they are more busy than usual (there were MANY empty tables around us at lunch time) and therefore couldn't be prepared to have enough food. Not to mention the fact that they have been around for at least a decade because their website has reviews from 1999. They should be prepared for the large baseball crowds as this is a standard in St. Louis. And they should be prepared for familys to come out to eat on Sundays. I thought they were very rude and not willing to even try to please their customers. They said they are "constantly trying to adjust to the new crowds so they can do better for the next time we come in". Well I'm sorry but....I spent $48 and didn't even get to have food!!! No way am I ever stepping foot in this place again!

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User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Wow!: If you love oysters, this is the place to go! Atmosphere is great and the service is wonderful!

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