Public Fish & Oyster

My lady, myself and our son tried this place after reading favorable reviews. It was a huge disappointment. Oysters on the half shell were fresh and good. Mussels in a seafood medley were exceptional. However, nothing else rose to the level of average. Fried oysters were poorly prepared and visually unattractive, well below the standard set by other areas restaurants that do not specialize in seafood. Lobster in a dish with sea scallops was overcooked to the point of being tough and tasteless. The same was true of shrimp and clams in the seafood medley. Use of haricots vertes in that same medley was odd and made the dish difficult to eat. You’ll find better key lime pie in the frozen foods case at the local supermarket. All in all, giving this restaurant two stars is generous.

Great oysters! Everything we tried here was delicious! I especially like the fried brussel sprouts. Nice beer, wine and cocktail selection. The waitstaff was great however the hostess needs more training, the first words out her mouth were we have no tables, while in actuality the patio was free.

Great oysters! Great service too! We have been here a few times for happy hour, where the oyster special of the day is on sale. One day we missed the happy hour window, which turned out to be a happy accident because it encouraged us to try 5 different kinds of oysters instead of gorging on just one kind.

Our servers name was Cameron C, or at least the name in the receipt. Don’t recall our server introducing himself. The server had 5 tables and a party of around 8. The party was seated after us an received bread and water before we received our water. We never got any bread, even though it was offered. I was left with an empty glass of water more than once. The service was subpar. For the price of the food I expected much better service. The menu was ok. They did not have the plate I wanted from the menu, a filet mignon. They were selling a skirt steak instead for the same price. The server tried to sell it as being the same thing as a filet, which is not. I ordered a veggie risotto instead which was ok. The lobster chowder was good but I would have prefer it be a little bit hotter since it was just warm. The tip reflected my dissatisfaction.
Update: I tried a second risotto in another restaurant and noticed that the risotto I had in public fish was not as a risotto should be. It was watery and salty. It should have been creamy.

Probably one of the best seafood meals I had in years. The selections of wines to go with the meal was large and covered all budgets. We started the meal with a dozen oysters. They had more than 10 varieties that day. We told them to give us 6 varieties, two of each and left it up to them. They were fresh, and probably among the best we had ever had.
My wife and I both ordered Moules Frite, but two different preparations. First of all, kudos to the restaurant for their making changes in the sauces per our requests. The mussels were delicious and tender. My wife had the classic Muniere preparation. I had the Yucatan with chorizo, cilantro and poblano peppers. The chorizo is made in house and delicious. The french fries were outstanding.
We were too full to try dessert. Highly recommend this restaurant.

My husband and I visited here for dinner with our young son on vacation. The staff was very friendly to our son and nobody seemed to mind a baby — so kid friendly.
We had oysters which were very good. But our main entrees didn’t live up to expectations. My husband had yucatan mussels. He said the fries were great, but the mussels weren’t cooked correctly as all fell apart when trying to eat them. I had the lobster roll and hericot verts instead of fries. The lobster roll was ok but could have used some more seasoning. Same with the hericot verts which also could have used another minute or so cooking.
We plan to return to Charlottesville, we don’t plan to return here.

I picked this place for our anniversary dinner for two reasons: we both love oysters and their craft drink menu looked amazing!
This place is really cute but small, so I recommend you make reservations. We actually had to change the time of ours because something came up, but they were super flexible. There’s a huge chalkboard against the wall listing all the oyster offerings, where they’re from, and what they taste like. They ranged from placed like California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Canada, and Virginia. They kept crossing out the different choice when they were all out. The waitress didn’t clearly explain that when you’re ordering the oysters you’re literally only getting 1 of that kind. We were both kind of surprised when we ordered two varieties and only got 2 oysters. Oh well. They were super tasty and freaking huge! We ended up ordering a half-​dozen mix and match.
Their craft drinks are AMAZING! My boyfriend got the bacon-​infused old fashioned, which was good but you couldn’t really taste the bacon. I tried three different drinks: their Mule (delicious and refreshing), Dark N Stormy (way better than the ones I make!) and the Paloma (very drinkable).
Our dinner was delicious, but I honestly do not remember too many details about that portion of the meal (probably due to the 3 drinks, duh). I do remember continually being bumped into by waitstaff walking by and customer, as this place is super tiny — as noted earlier.
Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area!

Incredible food, but disappointingly slow service. We came on a Saturday night with a reservation and were seated immediately, but it took 10+ minutes to be greeted by our waiter and to have our drink order taken. Our waiter (who was very nice the whole evening) did say he’d be over soon and thanked us for being patient, and finally took our drink and appetizer order. Our drinks took a very long time to arrive, and he then urged us to put in our meal orders because they would likely take a while.
We started with the oysters Rockefeller and the oysters wrapped in bacon — both were delicious and came out steaming hot. Our waiter then offered us bread while we waited for our dinners. I ordered the PFO Pan Roast and my fiancé had the Yucatan Mussels. Both entrees were incredible, we literally drank every last drop of broth. I just wish we would’ve saved or been offered bread with the entrees to soak up the broth. The fries were delicious. We also ordered fried Brussels sprouts since we didn’t know how large the entrees would be– they were incredible too, but we couldn’t really finish them since we had so much food.
Since it was my fiancé’s birthday, I called ahead and asked for a dessert to be brought out with a candle. Unfortunately the waiter seemed to forget and had asked if we wanted dessert, so I had to remind him. The chocolate torte that was served was very good.
I would definitely eat here again! Just make sure to have a reservation and be prepared for slower service on a busy weekend evening.

One of our best oyster dining experiences. We place is small and quaint. Max seating is 48. We sat at the bar and Daniel took care of us. The wine list is probably the best we’ve seen and they had a wine from Santa Cruz, my beach growing up which paired perfectly with the seafood. We started with the soup and a salad. We stuck with the local oysters and they were presented and cleaned beyond our expectations. We finished with with the haddock and shrimp cocktail. The presentation of every dish was superb and the ingredients were so fresh every bite was as good as the first. Daniel comp’d us a glass of champagne to end a wonderful evening of great conversation with those seated around us. We will be back.

I had an amazing dinner at Public Fish & Oyster. It was mine and my husband’s «dateiversary» so we made a reservation for a Friday night. Even though we arrived a bit late, the host was nice about it. Our table wasn’t actually ready but the second it was, he made sure we were sat and apologized immensely. I had a glass of the blanc de blanc and thought it was great, especially given the price at $ 8. The complimentary bread is fresh and has a nice chew to it, and the scallion butter that comes with it is unique but delicious.
My husband started with the fried oysters (not my thing) and he loved them. They were crispy and were a huge serving. I went with the Steak Frites and it was amazing. Not only was the portion huge but the steak was one of the best I’ve had. It was cooked perfectly and was so flavorful. There was some kind of teriyaki? flavored sauce with it and it was perfect. And the french fries, oh the french fries. I think they’re the best I’ve ever had. They were crispy, had great potato flavor, and weren’t too greasy. I swore I wasn’t going to eat them all but I did. The dish also came with a nice apple and almond salad, which was a great balance to the heavy steak and fries. My husband got the Dijonnaise mussels and they were delicious as well – very flavorful and again, a huge portion. He was also impressed that there wasn’t one bad mussel in the bunch (you usually get at least one).
I was also impressed by the service. I’ll be honest I’ve had friends say that the staff here is unfriendly, but between the host, who may have been a manager, our waitress, and the bartender, everyone was was very nice. I can’t wait for warm weather so I can come back again and enjoy some food on their patio.

We went to Public Fish and Oyster in Valentine’s Day weekend. The food and drinks were delicious and be service was FANTASTIC. Everyone was kind and helpful with suggestions regarding food. One person even suggested a great bar to go to after our dinner. We ordered from the raw bar as well as the fried oysters for an appetizer, I got the diavola mussels and my husband got the brisket with cornbread bread pudding. Everything was wonderful. The seafood was fresh and cooked to perfection. My favorite thing we tried was actually the compound butter that was served with the bread. It was a shallot, chive, and sea salt butter and it was to die for.

Public Fish & Oyster is a teeny tiny space, but you are in luck because they do take reservations. We headed in one evening for dinner and just before we arrived two couples were are friends with were being seated. We were able to skip out on our reservation and join them as a party of six. The server seemed annoyed with the amount of time we were taking to order and that we requested more bread after they brought the same amount of bread to the table of two next to us. I decided to let it go and hope that the server’s attitude improved.
Public has a wonderful selection of fresh oysters that rotate regularly. They have a local selections as well as selections from far away. The list is arranged from least briney to most, so you are able to try a variety or just stick with what you like. We began our meal with some very fresh and very tasty raw oysters. We continued on with an oysters lyonnaise salad. This was amazing! For my main entrée, I ordered the Yucatan mussels and frites. They were full of flavor and the chorizo gave them the perfect amount of heat. The frites are crispy and served hot. My boyfriend got the rockfish, which was also delicious. I think I enjoyed the mussels more, but both were wonderful dishes! I love having extra bread for the broth when I order mussels, but these were served without any bread at all.
We had such a wonderful meal at Public, but I was very disappointed in our service. Throughout our meal the server continued to seem annoyed and had a marked attitude. This was our first visit, but we had heard of snotty service here from other friends prior to visiting, and I was disappointed to verify that this was true.

Tabitha was a fabulous waitress to a 16 person table. They did an impeccable job bring food out at the same time for a large group. Great oy selection. Everyone loved what they ordered. Would definitely come back and recommend to others.

Last night a group of friends and I ate at Public Fish & Oyster. We had a 7:45 reservation. When we showed up the host told us that the people at our table were just finishing up and we would be seated shortly. The people at that table got up and left and some people came in off the street without a reservation and just pounced on the table. Instead of intervening the host told us sorry and offered to buy us a round of beers. We then waited an additional half hour to be seated.
Once we were seated the staff was apologetic and accommodating. The food, however, was terrible. I had the swordfish and it was essentially a salt lick. The fish and the sides were so salty that I didn’t even care to finish them. My friends tried my food as well and they both agreed that it was extremely over salted. One of my friends had the Yucatan muscles and they were also incredibly salty to the point that he didn’t finish them. I tried them as well and also agreed that they were way too salty. Another one of my friends had the cod and he said it was OK.
I liked the ambience of the restaurant and we had 18 oysters on the half shell between us which were good. I might consider giving the restaurant another chance. Maybe it was an off night or maybe everyone on staff is a chain smoker. Either way, they need to not over season their food and learn how to keep reservations in addition to taking them.

Make sure you make a reservation unless you want to seat in an uncomfortable seats in the bar or wait 30−40min. I got their Pouched Seared Trout and my friends got PFO Pan Roast and Pork loin. Pouched seared trout was amazing! The stuffing inside the trout was on a little creamy side but I really enjoyed every bite of it. The dish also came with finger potatoes which were also delicious. I tried my friends dishes and I really loved pork loin. It was so juicy and chewy! Love love love.
Pros:
Delicious food (try their fish dish and pork loin!)
Happy hour on oysters and drinks until 6pm?
Good atmosphere
Cons:
Need to make reservations (small seating area)
Pretty pricy menu ($ 24 – 29 for entrée)
I recommend this place!

I’ve never had a bad experience at Public! The food, the drinks, the service… all fantastic!
Their entrée menu seems to be ever changing so it’s hard to make suggestions, but I will say that the mussels are always a crowd favorite! I’ve also had lobster pasta dish and a snapper dish, which were both great.
Be warned, parking is a bit of a nuisance, but you can always pay to park at the Amtrak lot just a block away.

An excellent dinner on a very busy night! My friend and I came to Public Fish & Oyster for Restaurant Week and made reservations several weeks in advance. Good thing we did, because when we got there for our 6:30pm reservation the place was packed. It’s a tiny, very cozy restaurant with an eclectic mix of peeling brick walls and stainless steel (take a look at the ceiling, it’s gorgeous!), and there also appeared to be a pretty outdoor seating area. It was a bit loud for regular conversation and the servers were definitely in a hurry to cater to everyone, but I certainly felt adequately cared for, and our server was timely and polite!
The Restaurant Week menu was great, and priced at $ 26! My friend ordered the clams casino to start, and I had the calamari. Both fantastic! I really enjoyed the light and flavorful, Asian-​inspired seasoning on my calamari, and the clams casino had a lot of flavor with a very crispy breaded topping and bacon. Mmm bacon.
For our entrees, she ordered the PFO pan roast while I had the seared snapper. Again, both excellent. I loved the light chimichurri mixed with aioli served with the snapper, which was delightfully flaky with just-​crisped skin. The hot peppers, spinach, pineapple, and fried plantains served with it made for great flavor combinations and a really fun dish. The pan roast came in a lovely, light lobster veloute that was almost like a very mild curry, and everything in it was delicious. Both my friend and I were impressed with the portion sizes, as well – we weren’t expecting to get that much food, but they gave me the whole filet and her bowl of pan roast was quite large.
The dessert course didn’t quite live up to the rest of the courses, but they were simple and refreshing, and felt very homey, which I liked a lot! All in all, we had a wonderful dinner, and if I could afford eating at Public Fish & Oyster at normal prices, I would totally go back. Perhaps for a splurge one day, or when showing my parents around Charlottesville! ;)

Upon walking in my boyfriend and I immediately noticed the cornucopia of crustacean lining the end of their bar. The oysters were neatly stacked and organized atop a throne of ice; we were moths drawn to a flame. Briefly looking away to be greeted by the very personable gentlemen at the front, we were led to a cozy table along the exposed brick wall. Our server was there within seconds to hand us our menus and to introduce himself. I was already feeling the warm buzz of a good night of fantastic customer service.
We ordered the buttery South Bay oysters to start and had a selection of four toppings to choose from. The ever constant cocktail sauce was my favorite, followed by the shallot, the mysterious green sauce, and the traditional horseradish. The South Bay oysters were perfectly prepared on the half shell and were lightly submerged in their own juices. With a quick clink to «cheers» to our victories oyster fest, we dug in, or, slurped up. Delicious.
For entrees we both selected the Bistro Steak Frites medium/​medium well with Belgian fries, a side of Goat Cheese and Summer Watermelon Salad, and Bordelaise. The steak was tender, juicy, and had a hint of balsamic vinaigrette. They were simply wonderful. The Goat Cheese salad was light, fresh, and a hint of natural sweet with the watermelon. Extremely refreshing paired with the steak and the heavier frites and aioli. The frites were perfectly prepared and crisp to the bite. It was hard not to overdose on them.
We were feeling ambitious so we also ordered the Portuguese Moules Frites which had house-​made linguica sausage, roasted tomatoes, garlic, lager, and basil. The Moules Frites were quite good, but having had this similar dish in many different places it was hard to decipher whether it would have stood out on its own. I would have enjoyed bigger chunks of sausage to match with the deliciously roasted tomatoes, but the moules were fantastic in the beer base. It was a nice compliment to the steaks. To polish that off we gorged ourselves on two complimentary servings of house bread and butter. I have to say I almost loved the butter more than the aioli, but both are what I’d come back for!
The last component I will mention is the service. Top notch. Our server was well versed in the variations of oysters and could speak on their location and the contribution of location to taste. He then went on to speak about each item on the menu and shared seasonal suggestions as well as preferred staples. We very much appreciated his input and will be back if not just to have a conversation with him. Very professional, personable, and enjoyable.
I’m happy to report that not only did Public truly wow us, it left us excited to bring future guests to this business. I would go as far as to say that they are one of the best restaurants I’ve been to since moving to Cville. I will be back!

We went here for brunch today and was so impressed. The décor is quaint bistro feel but with lots of light and high ceilings. There was no wait for brunch but it was almost full inside from 10 – 12.
We started with the pastry basket. For $ 6 you can’t beat this! They have a pastry chef in house and everything we got was fantastic…2x each chicolate nut biscotti and blueberry cream cheese danish and 1x bacon cheddar biscuit. He started off with a half dozen oysters on the half shell which he said were fantastic. There were 3 types from mild to briny.
For entrees we had shrimp and grits and mussels dojo inside. Both were fantastic and were nice size portions. We got a side of fresh fruit which was a nice size compared to what you often get for brunch. To drink we had a Bloody Mary and coffee. The Bloody Mary was nice and the coffee okay (a little weak for me). Overall a great meal. This is probably the best brunch in town right now!

Absolutely fabulous place for fresh oysters and drinks. Great selection on menu and the décor is so interesting. I loved it and which they had one near me.
Crowd was older and very sophisticated. Service really spot on. Great ice cream and coffee. This one is a must if in the area.