Perla’s

If I could eat here every day, I would. The have an extensive menu of oysters. I tried about 8 different varieties, and wow. They were succulent & savory. All of them. They were also the cleanest oysters I have ever seen. We ordered a few other things, but I was so enamored with the oysters I couldn’t tell you… That mixed with the champagne ;)
I recommend sitting on the patio (when weather permits). You can people watch, and the patio itself is lovely. I felt like I was in the Hamptons, although partly due to the servers attire. Service was perfect. We had a large group of about 10, and our waiter didn’t miss a beat. Very attentive, knowledgeable, and prompt. It is expensive, on average about $ 20 for half a dozen, but, you’re not getting regular gulf bay oysters here. You most definitely get your dollars worth! I highly recommend!

I have never had a bad meal here! And service has always been great! Please never take off the lobster pasta dish!!! Probably one of my favorite dishes I have ever had!

I was really looking forward to Perla’s, but my date and I were both pretty disappointed. It wasn’t very busy, but it took so long for a waiter to assist us. They eventually comped us with a free appetizer to apologize, which was pretty nice of them.
Service aside, the food was nothing spectacular. Obviously better than a place like red lobster, but for these prices, I don’t think it’s worth it. I was much more impressed with the seafood at Truluck’s.

I usually love Perlas but was very disappointed after a lackluster brunch yesterday. They sat us at a communal table which would have been fine except it was right next to the waiter station so every five minutes our conversation was interrupted by the sound of plates smashing and waiters gossiping about nearby tables. We ordered the pop tarts (very yummy) and then poached eggs with bacon. Thank god we ordered an appetizer bc it took no shorter than 30 minutes to see our eggs. I had also ordered bread to dip in my eggs but unfortunately that plate wasn’t dropped until 15 minutes after my eggs (now 45 minutes after our app) — which were by that time completely cold. If I were the waiter, I would’ve been appalled (he saw I hadn’t touched my dish, whereas my partner had basically finished his meal), but all he could muster was a «sorry for the delay» before disappearing again. My boyfriends experience equally fell flat. His poached eggs were watery and cut open, and his granola and berries was a heap of yogurt topped with a cheap sprinkling of granola. For $ 10 you’d expect a bit more.
What was truly lost on me is that our waiter (who was nice and fairly attentive to his credit) seemed to either ignore or just not care that so many things went obviously wrong. Not even the $ 2 bread (it’s extra) was taken off our check as an apology for its 15 minute tardiness.
I used to love all MMH restaurants — not sure that name is still synonymous with excellent hospitality.

Perla’s let me down this visit
The new tomato and lobster bisque felt thin and weak, although pleasant.
I received BBQ shrimp instead of the Peel&Eats I ordered. I didn’t mention it, as I almost ordered them instead. They were fine, shrimp maybe edging towards overcooked, but the spicy butter sauce was nice.
My wife ordered the burger, which on previous visits was a stunner. It was dry and lacked the over the top cheesy goodness of its forebears.
I got the bouillabaisse, which featured several unopened clams and musses, and which was strongly flavored with an herb which i could not identify, but which rendered the already very salty and rich broth unappealing. The rouille and bread served on the side were actually delicious and the best bite of the night.
Throw in some service quibbles (no bread! Everybody else had bread, excruciating wait for waiter to grab our payment), and it was a pretty sad night out for $ 100 plus tax and tip. I can’t quit the MMH group, because Clarks is great, but this made me think about it.

I was expecting an excellent meal since this is my cousin’s favorite restaurant in the city. The décor was average.
Good cocktails, particularly the Passenger and the Pain Killer.
Friend oyster app was great.
Crab cakes were pretty good as well.
The entrees sound great on the menu, but fell a little flat on execution. The escolar was overcooked and tough. The Tilefish was probably our best entrée.
The dirty rice has a Cajun flare with a little spice.
Service was good.

Most underwhelming meal in Austin to date. We’re in town from Houston and thought we’d try it out, since it’s rated pretty good for seafood.
Checked in, then sat outside waiting for our table. The waiter came by and took our drink orders… annnnnd he’s gone never to be seen again. Tables finally ready, one menu…
Appetizer was the octopus. Not bad, a little on the cold side, but nice flavors. Next up, my girl gets the Snapper, I get the Bollainasse. Pretty solid 30 minute wait for the food. Aaaahhh, there it is! Uuummm, doesn’t look like Bollainasse, and hers doesn’t look like Snapper, but hey, let’s dig in. DENIED! Guy swings back through, «sorry guys, wrong table!» Up comes the food, over to the table next to us… Yeah table next to us, dig into your almost dug into food! Yuuum! Food finally comes. Meeeeh… average taste that can be found at any Babins, or mid level seafood eatery. Definitely won’t be swipin tha old card there again.
End result? Waaaay overpriced meal with service that rivaled the last trip to Chilis back in 09′

I think this might be my favourite restaurant in Austin. some of my happiest evenings ever have been spent sitting on that beautiful deck starting at happy hour and ending at kick out time.
I’m a sucker for seafood and for beautiful décor (and a good tree) — and both my boxes are ticked here.
Having eaten many ways we now tend to go seafood tapas style when we come here and order lots of appetisers to share instead of main dishes — they can be a bit hit or miss, but we’ve got it down to a fine art now! The wood grilled Oysters and the Braised Octopus are eternally delicious. The Yukon potato cakes make me very happy, the brussels are great, the asparagus with bernaise is an excellent addition.
Their Calamari, which is normally one of my best things isn’t the greatest here — a bit too greasy especially as it cools. Their mac and cheese is a bit too cloying for my tastes and the New Orleans Shrimp I just don’t like very much (although this is a matter of taste — my best friend lives for it!)
The Sancerre on their current wine list is light and delicious and goes with everything!
Its a little pricey for what it is — not somewhere to come on a budget. But if you order the right food on a warm evening I think it’s entirely worth it for the atmosphere.
Five stars? Not quite, its relatively expensive for what it is and there are a couple of things on the menu that don’t work for me — but it remains my go to spot for happy hour /​girls nights /​urgent grilled oysters!

Expensive but delicious. Living by the coast I eat a lot of seafood. Everything here was delicious and we really enjoyed the ceviche. We sat at the bar and service was so so. Would return.

Unilocal seems to be overrating this place. We went here because the line was too long at the burger place next door, although we were planning on checking it out some time anyways.
The crab cakes and lobster sandwich was just boring. Not much to them. Very forgettable. And very expensive.

Brunch review: There were 4 of us for brunch and we had a great meal. The ambience and style of this place is just awesome. It’s nautical (the waitstaff is all in striped mariner shirts), and so well designed. I want to pack up the tables and coffee table books and pics of people with their dogs, and the cute floor… just awesome for someone who likes interior design.
I’m from Boston, so Austin isn’t really the place I’d look for seafood, but I was surprised and enjoyed it. I had the shrimp and grits and it was really yummy. We also tried the doughnut of the day and it was super sweet but good. Those pop tarts are really fun, too.
The people watching on South Congress was a blast. If you’re looking for a sceney, cool, brunch spot with a view, this is it.

It’s pricy but worth the penny. Ive never paid 70 bucks for brunch for two that didnt include alcohol, but the shrimp and grits are dope. Service is on point and the place is pretty. Ultra dog friendly.

5 stars for food but 1 star for service.
Loved the food here. My party and I dined here with reservations and we were not able to sit together. Maybe they cannot accommodate large parties? We ordered the baked oysters and brunch items and donuts for dessert. The food was great!
The service on the other hand was horrific! Our server was nice but everything took forever. It took us an hour to get our food after we ordered and when we were finished eating, we sat around for a long time until we had to ask for the check. Then it took 30 minutes before the check actually arrived. We even asked, who seemed to be a manager for our check and she said she would get it for us, which she did not. She actually looked really annoyed that we even asked her.
So unless you have at least 2 hours to eat here, maybe consider going somewhere else.

This place is so delicious if you can splurge!
Try to sit on the patio! It’s more quiet, relaxing and a great atmosphere. Everything we ordered was perfect and exceeded our expectations. We got lucky with an awesome server who made our experience great.
They validate parking for 2 hours.

So everything I had was perfectly decent and the Pozole wowed me.
POZOLE: GET IT. YOU ARE AN IDIOT IF YOU DON’T ORDER THIS. It was one of the most incredibly flavorful and fresh dishes I’ve ever had and the only reason I’m giving Perla’s 4 stars instead of 3.
Brussel sprouts: fine, but not anywhere close to as delicious as the veggie’s preparation at places like Uchi, Uchiko, and The Hightower.
Okra: fine, but also nothing special.
Crispy Snapper: this was better than fine, but again not incredible (especially when you take the $ 32 price tag into consideration).

I have had many people tell me to try Perla’s but yesterday was my first time there — what a huge disappointment.
I went with my husband and in-​laws for lunch around 1PM. It wasn’t very busy and our server was pretty good. I love the atmosphere and it is obviously in an amazing location.
We shared a bunch of plates since we wanted to try a few different things. The oysters — just okay. The ahi tuna? Blah. No flavor, and questionably fresh. We also ordered the lobster, which amounted to about one ounce of meat — only one of us got to eat that it was so little. The best part of the meal was the Mac n cheese and the hamburger my mother in law ordered — not so great for a seafood place.
The worst part was our bill — $ 150 before tip. Pretty steep for lunch and completely unreasonable for the quality.
You want great seafood? Try Eddie V’s

My friend absolutely loves this restaurant and chose it for her birthday. I love seafood, so i’m glad that I tried Perla’s
Food — ³⁄₅
1. Seared Maine Scallops a la Plancha — This dish was great. It’s my friend’s absolute favorite dish. They are perfectly cooked with the right amount of seasoning. It came with an absolutely divine piece of roasted tomato. I loved it so much that I tried recreating it at home (sadly not quite the same)
2. Pan Roasted Atlantic Halibut — Ugh. I was so disappointed by this dish. The waitress couldn’t stop recommending this dish, and said it was her favorite. It was also one of the most expensive items on the menu. Honestly, the dish was so extremely bland. I don’t think it was even seasoned. I think our waitress was very sweet, but I really hope she didn’t recommend the dish just because it was one of the most expensive items. We absolutely didn’t enjoy eating it though.
3. Crispy Texas Gulf Snapper — The fish was cooked really well. It had a nice crispy skin and delicately seasoned. I didn’t care for the sauce or spinach though.
4. Mac and cheese — This was amazing. Probably one of the best aspects of our meal. Delightfully creamy sauce with a crunchy topping.
5. Asparagus — The asparagus was cooked well, but I just don’t personally like asparagus.
Service — ³⁄₅
Our waitress was nice, but after we ordering, we basically stopped seeing her. Also, I still can’t help but feel that she only suggested the halibut, because it was one of the priciest dishes on the menu.
Overall, some dishes were phenomenal and some were a complete let down. I might return, but we much more careful about what I order.

Want to take a quick trip up to the North Atlantic coast? Let’s sit under a striped umbrella, take in the summer scenery and dine on a sweet summer lobster roll. Maybe we can share some fresh, tender little oysters and sip a cold one and talk about the old days at Camp Whatchamacallit while the warm breeze caresses our bare shoulders. Well, I have some good news! We don’t have to drive far. A quick jaunt down to SoCo and a table on the patio at Perla’s and we can remember our summers swimming in Barton Springs and chasing fireflies while we eat some really fresh seafood.
I am a lover of the lobstah! There are few things better than a really good lobster roll made the traditional way. A fresh leaf of butter lettuce, large, tender chunks of sweet lobster meat and housemate mayo served on a New England style, top-​split hot dog bun that has been generously buttered and toasted perfectly. It’s simple, it’s complex, it’s perfect. Pair it with one of their SoCo fizzes and, baby, you livin’ right! Sure, they have lots of delicious seafood, some of the best oysters and sea scallops I’ve ever had my mouth on, but my favorite is still the lobster roll! Heaven.
The fried peach pie, available now, is also amazing and was a perfect finish. The pear bread pudding I’ve had in the past was also amazing, and I don’t normally care for bread pudding.
Get to Perla’s! And… can I come, too?

I’m no Homer Simpson, but I HAD to order the Strawberry Shortcake Daily Doughnut. It turned out to be a big waste of calories as it was neither unique-​tasting nor freshly baked.
The savory dishes were much better. After polishing off a very mild ceviche (I normally prefer a strong tart flavor, but this was refreshing on a muggy day), I dug into the divine crab cake and lobster roll. It was a little pricey for brunch — almost $ 100 for two pre-​tip, but the seafood was fresh and delicious. Not to mention, I immensely enjoyed eavesdropping on the online/​Tinder first date at the next table. I’m a firm believer in boning on the first date so I hope that’s how they concluded their meeting.

There’s nothing more blissful than Sunday brunch at Perla’s. Beach deck, huge oak tree, fresh flowers, people watching on soco, lobster & caviar omelette, crisp white table cloths, flowing prosecco… I’ve never been to the Hamptons but this is what I imagine it would be like.
Yes, it’s $ 200 for two people but if you want a perfect five-​star brunch experience in Austin, there’s no other place.