Two Chefs Seafood Oyster Bar

Overdue on the review, have been there 3 times now and each time has been better than before. Blackened Shrimp Salad was outstanding add some gumbo to that and I am a happy camper. Have tried most things on the menu all are very good shrimp app might be just a bit overpriced but still very good. I have only sat at the bar and my server each time (Shannon) was great very helpful and makes a great drink!!!
I’ll be back

Just stopped in for quick appetizer and a drink. Oysters on fire, are fantastic. We loved everything we had. Absolutely a do over anytime.
This was our first time and can wait to return.

Had 15 crab clusters in all you can eat! Hehehehahahahehehehahahahahehehhehahahahahhehehehehhahahahhehahhehhahehhahehhaeha

Well I want to start off by saying I REALLY wanted to like this place! Its not too often inland that I see baked oysters on a menu, so that was my main point in going. I LOVE eating seafood, but don’t frequent too many restaurants in the city for it. I make the short trek to the beach to get some real deal freshness. I think maybe one of our first mistakes was going to Two Chefs during nighttime hours. We went around 9:00p.m., and they close at 10:00. I didn’t think it was too late, but our waitress seemed to have a big attitude about it. I found this place thru a Unilocal email declaring it had a dog friendly patio. Not so much. It was more of an alley way that had a door to the kitchen and you could see everything. People were constantly coming in and out which made my pup in particular a little on edge. For lighting, there was just one huge street light out back in the parking lot that blinds you if you’re facing it. I literally moved to the other side of the table. However, like I said it might be a better experience here in the daytime.
Now, on to the food. We started off with the oysters– the main reason I wanted to dine here. The Oysters on Fire were AH-​mazing. They were truly exceptional, and the saving grace of the whole meal. The Baked Oysters were also good. It was a little weird how they were served. Not on the half shell, in a fondue that you had to fish around in to find them. (Pun intended) I don’t know what I was thinking ordering Fried Chicken from a Seafood restaurant. I saw pics of it online, and thought it looked sooooo good. Meh. The skin was good and crispy, but the chicken itself did not have a lot of flavor and needed salt. Our waitress never came back to check on us after bringing our food, so I actually had to ask a dishwasher that walked out the back door to bring me some. It came with some house made pickles that I was eager to try, but neither myself our my boyfriend liked them. My honey ordered the Grouper that I tasted also. Again, not a lot of flavor and was a seemed a little more fishy tasting than normal.
So to sum up, everything was pretty sub par besides the Oysters. I gave them 3 stars instead of 2 simply because of the Oysters. Will I be back? Not sure, but if so, it will be during daylight hours and will definitely be sitting inside eating just oysters.

What a great restaurant for brunch! Oysters on the half shell were awesome! We also ordered gumbo, fried oysters, deviled eggs, and eggs Magnolia, all highly recommended. Can’t beat $ 8 unlimited mimosas for Sunday brunch. Will definitely be coming back! Maybe on Tuesday when they have $ 1 oysters.

Great food, had the grouper and oysters that were excellent. The owner was very friendly and made sure I enjoyed my stop in.
I will definitely return!

We decided to try this place out considering our mood for seafood. Read the tons of great reviews and this one we’ll be no different.
We ordered the stuffed crabs and blackened grouper, guys it was soooo good. Our waitress told us they get the fish fresh daily and you can taste it.
A little on the pricey side, but hey… treat yourself. The ambience is welcoming, the staff is friendly and quick. If you ever find yourself in downtown orlando, I would recommend this place.

My order:
Oysters on half shell: ⁴⁄₅
Brussels sprouts: ¹⁄₅
Lobster mash potato: ³⁄₅

We luckily came on Tuesday (I think) and have $ 1 oysters. Good service (but for some reason we kept hearing plates and utensils crashing on to the floors.
Marrow as great. The portions aren’t too bad. Our server was great.

This food is very authentic and amazing. Very good staff friendly and willing to make sure the experience is amazing. I definitely recommend The Chicken Cajun Bowl And The Stuffed Shrimp just pure mouth wateting perfection. This place 6 stars not 5 that’s how good the food was. We will definitely come back when in town.

I was looking forward to amazing oysters and seafood. This place was really busy (good sign). I had to sit at the bar but there is nothing wrong with that. In fact the bar is he best part of the place. They make great drinks. I ordered a dozen of their daily oysters. $ 1 a piece the price is great. The taste wouldn’t have allowed for a higher charge though. They didn’t have a lot of taste to them. I ordered the linguine and clams as my entrée and the presentation was ok. So was the taste. I liked the spice level and the pasta was al aldente which is good because you want to chew on something. The clams were cut in tiny pieces and I don’t know why. I can take bites and if you cut something in tiny pieces I always feel like you’re mixing in the «not so fresh» stuff. All in all a good place but overrated on Unilocal.
And then the desert comes out perfectly! I can’t change the rating because this place says it’s a seafood and oyster place. Just come here for drinks and desert instead.

I was recommended to this great little place by a fellow Unilocaler from Orlando.
I am so glad we had dinner here. The service was great !
The food was super good, I had friends from Brazil with me and they enjoyed it just as much as I did !
Started with the bone marrow! Mmm I recommend also calamari and BBQ shrimp both good.
I had the shrimp po boy sandwich. This was the best I have ever had. Period ! I highly recommend it.
All of our side dishes we really good. The Brussel sprouts, Mac & cheese !
I over all highly recommend this great little restaurant for dinner.

Two Chefs brunch is fantastic. My friends and I visited for the first time this past Sunday, lured in by the advertised $ 8 bottomless mimosas and the guarantee that chef Amy Gilbert (previously of Emeril’s Tchoup Chop) would be on staff preparing her wonderful signature desserts. This relaxed little gem of a restaurant did not disappoint! We sat on a comfortable (dog friendly!) shady patio that was right off of the kitchen. It was quiet and felt secluded thanks to plenty of tropical foliage.
Our server, Amanda, was on point, informative and friendly. We were never waiting for drink refills, which can be an issue at other «bottomless» brunch spots.
As a group, we tried many of the menu items. The lobster deviled eggs were delicious. The fried chicken with rosemary Parmesan Belgian waffle was the perfect balance of sweet and savory, and the andouille sausage had the perfect bite of spice. For dessert we tried the s’mores, which consisted of a warm, gooey chocolate brownie, graham cracker cookies, and toasted bourbon marshmallows. OMG delicious. We also got a mini-​pecan pie that was TO DIE FOR.
I can’t wait until next Sunday!

Two Chefs really impressed me. You get upscale fancy looking food for a decent price– with or without a Groupon. I will say this: they are really into giving food a charred look. But don’t let that put you off. Their flavors are on point.
I ordered the fried oyster BLT. Amazing! The flavors were perfect, an the presentation was great. I’ll probably order them every time I come here.
For my entrée I ordered the blackened shrimp salad. When you look at it, the word ‘salad’ doesn’t come to mind. Its base is a shaft of grilled romaine, and everything else is sprinkled onto it. It was great, though I would have preferred if it were served in a bowl with the romaine chopped up. But that would take away from the presentation, admittedly.
My wife ordered the fried chicken. This is where they lose a star. The chicken had that Two Chefs signature char, and was juicy inside– but it desperately needed salt! Maybe that’s what the pickles are for, because any other sides are extra. Kind of disappointing.
All in all, I really enjoyed eating here, and I’d come back again.

This is one of those places where a half star would really come in handy, since I hate deducting a full star for the «issues.» Unfortunately, I am being forced to choose, and if I was going to deduct a ½ star, then it isn’t a 5 star restaurant. Still, 4 out of 5 is awesome. I think Meatloaf said that in his 2014 album, Hell Has Frozen Over so now the Bat won’t Leave.
My better half — actually, she’s much smaller than half of me (I’ve put on weight), so I guess she’s more like my better ¹⁄₅ — bookmarked this lovely find in downtown Orlando. Like many of you, we always seem stuck in the I-​Drive area of Orlando, or walking around Epcot eating as much as possible, but we were in downtown for something you don’t care about but should (ending greyhound racing — look it up) and decided to try some local flare.
As usual, I have bored you with 2 paragraphs containing nothing about the restaurant. You are welcome. Anyway, Two Chef’s is a smallish, upscale Oyster Bar with an open kitchen, a bar area set apart from the rest of the restaurant, and an outdoor picnic table area. There are maybe 10 – 12 tables total. As mentioned, it is an upscale restaurant, which is why I find their patio so disappointing with white picnic tables. Something you’d expect from a BBQ joint or sandwich shop, but not a nice Oyster bar (one reason I am deducting points).
We arrived for an early dinner and as no one else was there, we were sat immediately. I ended up ordering the roasted duck hash appetizer with fried egg (actually, over easy), corn, onion, herbs and truffle oil while Melissa got some oysters. Another issue resulting in star loss was appetizer timing. First, they were open for lunch, so not having the kitchen ready to go for dinner is unacceptable. Second, we have the only order in until another table got sat next to us. Their appetizers came out first, which isn’t a crime — maybe their food didn’t take long to cook — but our appetizers took at least 15 minutes to come out, and Melissa’s oysters sat under the heat lamp for a good 5 – 7 minutes while mine was finished. Nevertheless, my duck hash was awesome. Never really had anything like it. The roasted corn added crunch while the duck added flavor and the onion and herbs some wonderful spice.
As an aside, our server Ray was great — knew the menu, had suggestions, kept our water filled. The appetizer timing may or may not have been his fault, but I’m blaming the kitchen on this one as he did go check on it a couple of times. The only drawback to Ray’s service was when I asked him to bring out Melissa’s oysters so she wouldn’t have to wait for me (she was getting very hangry, which is the only combination word that I find acceptable for use along with brunch and brinner — don’t you dare say staycation or webinar to me!). Ray kind of gave me a bit of an attitude telling me to relax and he has us. I don’t think he meant the attitude and I forgive him (he was probably worried about that) since his service was otherwise superb and I may have been a bit pushy.
My entrée was the cajun bowl with roasted pork. This came with collard greens, dirty rice, a grilled sweet potato and hickory sauce. Wow I say! WOW! I do not like collard greens — I loved this. Every bite was awesome and I wanted to lick the bowl but Melissa has been trying to civilize me so I didn’t. The flavors combined perfectly so that every bite needed a bit of everything. If I had one more complaint, it would be the portion size, but seeing as how I’m starting to hear a loud beeping whenever I walk backwards, the portion size was fine.
Worth coming back to again in the future.

Great upscale oyster bar and restaurant. The front of the restaurant is a bar area, and the back side is more tables and dining. Had a great end of the week Friday night dinner here, perfect for relaxing.
The BBQ shrimp appetizer is wonderful! It had all those rich roux flavors in the creole style brown BBQ sauce. It came with grilled and buttered bread, a very satisfying choice to start my meal. The speciality cocktail, Peter’s pickled peppers, was a fancy Bloody Mary with extra spices and accented with pickle juice, very savory and delicious cocktail. I had the «two chefs salad» for my entrée, a great mix of shrimp, bacon, palm hearts, green beans, tomato and onion. Admittedly is was a very meaty salad, so yum! My partner had the gulf coast oysters and the blackened grouper with crabmeat topping. He loved both. This was plenty of food for us, but most items here are served al a carte, so it you want a side it’s additional. Some items have sides and that is specified in the menu. We didn’t need sides, but it’s an option for next time. The mac & cheese and greens both sounded great.
For dessert with had a very unique peach cobbler vanilla bean cheesecake. The peach was chopped finely and there was a peach schnapps glaze reduction on the plate, along with whipped cream and shortbread cookies. The plating was so pretty. The vanilla bean cheesecake was firm and dense, but not overly rich-​so so good. It was an unusual flavor and texture combo that just worked perfectly. We shared dessert, but honestly I wanted my own piece… gosh, next time! On the way out I saw another person having fried chicken. Will get that next time too as it looked like a southern person’s dream. I would love to come back and I like the special NOLA vibe this place has. It’s an upscale place, but also seems relaxed and not pretentious, they are just about the good food here. I love that!

We decided to come check this place our for their New Orleans inspired cuisine and great reviews. I arrived first and was sat right away. The waitress brought me a water and told me I had 5 min before happy hour ended so I could get my drink order in (score!) $ 5 house wines, even Pinot noir — Not bad at all either.
I really wanted to try the Roasted Duck hash but they were all out, so we ordered raw oysters with the Atomic horseradish which is literally the best condiment ever! We were cautioned to use small portions but it was like a massive heat explosion that went away in 5 seconds — kind of like edible adrenalin — love it! We also ordered the oysters on fire which were baked with cheese and and habanero — cheesy and perfect for someone who isn’t sure if they like oysters yet. Both were extremely fresh, no grit! My friend ordered the calamari which although flavorful was a big soggy and not as well cooked as it could have been. The cherry peppers gave it good flavor just texture was a bit off.
For entrees, I ordered the shrimp po boy with Brussels sprouts and they jalepeno Mac & cheese. Po boy was exactly like I expected with crispy seasoned large shrimp, crusty bread and tomato/​lettuce with a tasty homemade aioli. Mac & cheese was ok but needed more heat — jalepeno was not very present. Brussels were in a tasty lemon based sauce — I’d get them again in place of fries.
My Friend ordered the lump crab stuffed shrimp which she enjoyed but mentioned her rice was a bit undercooked. It was a very pretty dish! My other friends ordered the swordfish special with eggplant. Beautifully prepared and plated, well cooked fish with Chinese eggplant which had tasty vegetables and sauce but he thought wasn’t show-​stopping. His husband ordered the fried chicken with homemade pickles which he ended up sending back because the chicken was a bit overcooked and lacked seasoning. Our waitress was very apologetic saying that was a top seller and offered to replace or he could order something different. I’m sure it was just an one-​off situation but he decided to play it safe and went with the shrimp po boy with a side of lobster mash which was pretty tasty! Lots of lobster bits and buttery goodness.
Our waitress was very sweet, attentive and was nice enough to even bring me a little whipped dessert with a candle because she heard we were celebrating my birthday. That homemade whip cream and berries was a hit even as simple as it was — a very nice gesture which I gladly ate it all up!
I will be coming back on Sunday to check out their brunch with bottomless mimosa and if that atomic horseradish is available — I’ll even try a Bloody Mary!
Parking is available on the street and side streets and there is a separate bar area from the restaurant I didn’t get to check out but next time for sure.
Tip: make a reservation, especially for larger parties as it’s not a huge dining space.

I had high hopes for this new seafood joint in the downtown area. Alas, the food here is decent at best, but it was accompanied by a very odd layout, and mediocre service.
Street parking is plentiful, and as we walked up to the restaurant we noticed that there were curiously 2 doors right next to each other. Not knowing which was which, we chose the left door and stumbled into the small bar area. We kind of looked around a little bit and then found our way through a hallway and into the main dining area, There, we were greeted by the host who asked us if we wanted to sit at the bar or the main dining area. We said we wanted a bar table but since there weren’t enough seats open so we ended up in the main dining area. The layout definitely looks like a repurposed office space, rather than a purpose built restaurant. The flow is just awkward.
We were seated at a table which was located right next to the kitchen. When I say next, I mean I could reach out from my seat and touch the expediter. While it can sometimes be fun to see the inner workings of the kitchen, the heat was rather bothersome. It was noticeably warmer at our table than anywhere else in the restaurant, and certainly more so than the bar area.
On to the food.
My wife and I came here on a Tuesday happy hour for their $ 1 oysters. When we asked the server about happy hour specials, she could not recite any of the drink specials, nor did she make mention of the oysters. As it turns out the special is only available at the bar (which was where we originally wanted to sit). Luckily a manager was kind enough to allow us to have the special even though we were sitting in the main dining area. Our server went away for about 5 minutes to take some notes, and eventually returned to ramble off the drink specials and take our orders. Throughout the rest of our meal our server did a poor job of checking in on us or refilling our water,
As for the food, the oysters were large, tasty, and not gritty at all. However, my biggest gripe was that they use a very minimal amount of ice in the tray (see pic). This is certainly not something you would expect for raw oysters. And considering our proximity to the hot kitchen, there was no ice left when we were only halfway through, We also tried the shrimp po boy sandwich and pancetta mac & cheese. The sandwich tasted fine and had a good amount of shrimp on it, but at $ 14 I think it was overpriced. The mac & cheese looked great, but ended up being rather bland, and runny (not gooey).
Overall, I was not particularly pleased with my experience here. The higher than average prices are not justified by the lack of service, and poor design.

It was ok.
Went for dinner on Wednesday — parking was super easy! It’s in a weird place on the North end of Orange Ave so I am happy people are aware of it and checking it out.
Not much of an atmosphere, which is a bummer. I like the bar area much more than the dining area. The dining area is very lack luster with any kind of ambiance, which maybe they were going for but not much of a comfortable feel here. The thing that was really weird was the «office/​desk» area was at the front door, open to the dining room. Just a weird piece to the layout of the spot. The chef came over to see how we were enjoying our meal, when I appreciated, and he mentioned they didn’t have large refrigerators so all of the veggies, meat and fish are very fresh each day. So, maybe it’s just a tiny spot to operate in? I hope they work that out so they can create more of an atmosphere here even if they are going for casual.
Started with the house salad and it was super fresh! Beautiful greens with cucumber, carrot, tomato and radish. They only had an option of Ranch, Vinegar or Caesar for the dressing so I just went with olive oil and it was good because the veggies were delicious because of their freshness.
Went for the special for dinner:
Blackened grouper topped with crab.
The fish did taste extremely fresh along with the veggies however, the grouper wasn’t very flavorful. There was lemon sauce but not enough, I could have used double of what was on the plate but the crab was pretty flavorful so that really made the dish for me.
Paired it with wine so didn’t get to try their specialty cocktails. Next time I go I think I am going to try the bar area — just have a feeling I would like it a bit better and don’t really have a desire to try their dining area again.

After winning a gift certificate a few months ago, my wife and I decided to finally check out Two Chefs last night and had a great experience. On Tuesdays, they have $ 1 oysters, 50 cent wings, and $ 3 flat breads, and we decided to try all three. The wings were fairly large (not the minuscule ones you typically get on cheap wing night at other restaurants/​bars) and the hot sauce was decent. The bleu cheese was really good; not sure if they make it in house but it was delightfully strong. The oysters were also pretty large and the horseradish was on point. The caprese flat breads were good and there was a healthy amount of cheese and tomato on both orders we had. Both drinks we ordered (a specialty cocktail and a whiskey sour) were strong but not too strong and well-​priced.
The standout, believe it or not, was our order of collard greens. Wow, these are some of the best collards I’ve ever had. They had a sweet and spicy flavor. I will definitely be getting an order or two when I return; it is a must if you visit.
Something else I really liked was that Chef Larry came out and talked to each table in the bar area, and chatted about the food and restaurant. It was a nice touch.
Bottom line: Two Chefs made a really good first impression, collard greens are amazing, and we will be visiting again soon.