Slack’s Oyster House & Grill

The seafood is fresh, oysters and shrimp are good… and then it ends… don’t let them cook food or serve you a drink… then it becomes a casino corporate adventure … Just walk in and get great raw bar and leave and you will be very happy — or if you win barrels of cash at the casino it’s good too …

I don’t gamble, so my boyfriend has to bribe me to go to the casino with him. We always sit in the same place and we always ordered the oyster shooters. Unfortunately they are no longer on the menu. We were very disappointed. The gumbo we enjoyed is also gone. The servers and bartenders are very nice. I hope they bring back the oyster shots.

My husband & I recently visited Slacks and really enjoyed from start to finish. Our server, Mary G was knowledgable, friendly & all her suggestions were delicious! Started with the lobster deviled eggs, unique & tasty! My husband had the bone in strip, cooked perfectly & my wicked shrimp definitely had a great kick to them. Finished with the roasted strawberries, Delish!!! We definitely will be back to see Mary again soon!

We walked in with a reservation from Open Table, and so I expected to be seated in the dining areas (one on either side of the bar/​entrance), especially as I saw open tables in either dining area. Instead we were seated at a high top by the bar. The gentleman who seated us told us it may be a minute before a server stopped by as they were busy. Um, if you have the proper staffing, it’s not that busy. How about instead of like two managers two hostesses and a seater, they invest in more staff. Even better idea… have the seater take drink orders and then the server can bring them out and greet the table.
Finally a server came over and took a drink order and ran down specials. Then he was gone again. We ordered starters and another round of drinks once he came back (seems he had tables in three sections). The appetizers were decent (lobster deviled eggs were OK but the oysters were good). Oh yeah the list of available oysters posted on the bar didn’t match what our server told us… kinda odd.
We ordered our Entrée’s and a bottle of wine. Entrees came out and again tasted good (weird menu workout where you select a fish and a plating like one from column A and one from column B), but no wine. Finally our server came over and said they had to get the bottle from the main store room and it would be a bit. I told him to keep the wine, we were almost done with the entrees.
If you are coming to dine with gaming as a distraction, don’t bother. If you come to gamble and get peckish for something more than a burger, maybe try this place. It could be so much more if they could work out the FOH issues.

Unbelievably good! Seriously one of the best dinner’s I’ve had in my life. You have to try the NE Clambake, the broth was insanely good, and I poured some in the lobster risotto– delicioso! Mary G. was our server and was extremely attentive and knowledgable with the menu.

It is difficult to write a glowing review when there were failures at such a high priced dining experience. But somehow I may do so, at least a semi-​glowing review. I just noticed that this restaurant is indicating $$ here on Unilocal and I feel that must be changed to be fair to potential consumers. I feel this is clearly a higher end facility that serves and charges for your meal A la carte so I personally would consider this establishment to be more in the range of $$$ to $$$$.
Why am I writing a semi glowing review of a high end dining experience who experienced failures? Service failure recovery, that’s why. Two issues that came up:
I ordered the 8oz. center cut fillet priced at $ 30 A la carte and asked for it to be cooked medium rare. To which our server informs me that it is actually cooked and served bone-​in for added flavor while grilling even though every other steak on their menu indicates bone in and this one doesn’t. Fine, I don’t mind dealing with a bone. When it arrives at the table the server asked me to cut into my steak to ensure it was cooked properly. It was well done. Now I’m not a huge fan of sending food back but our server insisted. I suspect that he could tell by the look that my steak was not cooked properly, prompting him to ask me to cut into it. Once the new steak was delivered it was amazing, with the blue cheese butter melting on top.
The other failure that occurred was with my mothers meal. She did not share with me until leaving. She ordered the special, their take on a captains platter. I contained a half lobster but they did not crack or split the claw. So this issue was not given a chance to be rectified.
Their recovery was good on my steak issue. The chef tended to the matter personally and delivered it to the table. The manager came over and apologized, offering complimentary dessert. Everyone who approached the table after the issue acknowledged it and apologized.
So what was good (scratch that). So what was amazing about this restaurant? Try the Lobster Deviled Eggs, Crab Cakes, Lobster Risotto, the «Medium Rare Bone In Center Cut Fillet», the Blue Cheese Butter and the free oven roasted strawberries for dessert. Really the taste of the food was great, and once prepared correctly it was delicious. I would go back and I would recommend this place to others, I’m sure the kitchen will get it right.

the place is clean, the service is good. you can see people make your shelled food in front of you. i ordered fried clams. they salted the tops layers (crisp, crunchy but way salty) the ones below were greasy and you get the grease crumbles too. they did not serve with bellies and did not give a choice. down the street i have a dive take out walk up to clam shack place you get 5x as much with half the price and options on ur clams! surprised! I ate the Lobster Gumbo. The spices were rich, the lobster was a fresh claw, not overcooked. done just right and smallish in size but perfect in my opinion for a soup. very much enjoyed the soup. I asked for bread and was given a sample. their sourdough was fresh, airy and tangy… the others were heavy and not striking. the water comes chilled and is filtered. do not have with ice… u will get brainfreeze! perfect by itself though. i really enjoyed the atmosphere. i just think i hit on the wrong thing for a main course. if it were not for that… i think it could be a what it appears to the eye… an elegant 5 star place! I myself will not be going back… to pricey for a place a walk up clam dive restaurant beat them at.

A friend invited me to dinner last night, Lets check out the new Casino and have a nice dinner. Well it was no disappointment, we wandered around and finally settled on Slacks. What a great choice we made, the service was great Mary Lou assisted by Nancy made sure we were well taken care of, Slacks had a nice selection of beers and a good wine list, The bread was yummy cranberry walnut bread to be exact, we shared a chopped salad and it was delicious, moved on to a app of crab cakes, I was getting full so never finished my hefty crab cake. My friend had the seafood (lobster clams ect dinner) I had a wonderful dinner with shrimp /​chilies tomatoes and homemade pasta, I would go back just for a repeat of the pasta, my friend was eyeing it the whole meal. It was spicy and so good! We both had deserts he had the strawberry short cake that was not only a pretty presentation it was yummy. I had the warm chocolate donuts and took two home. We could have easily shared one dessert. We had a cup of coffee that was brought in a french press keeping the remainder warm while we enjoyed our dessert, We sure will be back to this restaurant weather we go to the casino or not the food was great and so was the service glad we tried it cant wait to have the Shrimp Pasta again thanks ladies for a nice evening

Oh Slacks… You guys have some serious kinks to work out. Everything points to WOW but crashes and burns the second you start.
The Good:
— Nice wine list
— Very upscale dining room
— Menu
The Not so Good:
— Everything looks upscale but terribly underdelivers
— Our server didn’t know anything about what was on the menu or the specials (she told us that burrata was mozzarella stuffed with cream cheese and didn’t know the difference between a littleneck and a cherrystone)
— Very pricy
— On the large seafood tower they shove the clams under the top tier so you can’t get to them
— Octopus was WAY overcooked
— They don’t take reservations on the weekend through Opentable
— Whoever is doing the shucking needs to was the oysters first so that we don’t get a mouth full of dirt and shells
I want this to be good. But really, it’s a Vegas restaurant in a crappy slots parlor. People don’t «win big» and decide to go to dinner there. The whole of Plainridge Casino has the same exact vibe.

So disappointing. So very very disappointing. I live in the area, love oysters, and love seafood. Trattoria della Nonna and Cibo Matto are my oyster go-to’s in the area. I thought Slack’s might be my new «place» for oysters and seafood.
It is not.
First the good: the service was very good. Our waitress was great, she was funny and helpful. Also, we got a calamari appetizer, and it was pretty good as well.
The bad: I came for oysters. I did not buy any, Why? They cost $ 4.00 per oyster! I can go to Legal in Boston and buy oysters cheaper than that. We are in PLAINVILLE! Come on guys. $ 4.00 per oyster. They did have a wide selection of oysters. I got their lobster roll and it is the worst lobster roll I have had, and I have had the McDonalds lobster roll (which is not terrible, but that is another story). The bread was burnt, the lobster was dry, and the sandwich was bare. My girlfriend got their burger as it was «ok.»
Overall, Slack’s is overpriced and severely under-​delivers. Go elsewhere.

Great oysters, fun/​classy, interesting cocktails, great beer selection! We just came to check out the new casino and try the oysters, but all the food going by looked delicious. We sat at the comfortable bar and had a friendly bartender, Douglas, who made great recommendations and knew his stuff about the local beers. The staff all seemed very welcoming and happy. At least today, Sunday, it remains an oyster bar until 5:00 when the full menu opens up. The people next to us ordered a chopped salad, a clam-​filled chowder and a perfectly cooked halibut dinner. They seemed to like everything, but raved about the halibut. Nice addition to the area. Also, it’s a nice escape from the noisy gambling floor– you can’t hear any of the games– only the great big band music being piped in!