Henlopen City Oyster House

Whenever l come to Rehoboth l always make sure I head to HCOH for dinner. Wait staff are friendly and professional without being pretentious. The food here is to die for and comes quickly. It’s hard to go past the Fried clams (amazing) and the Lobster Mac and cheese (so good). The Oyster bar offers a sumptuous selection of flavor some condiments which perfectly complement the fresh oysters. Wash that down with one of their delicious cocktails and you’ll find yourself in foodie heaven!
We always opt for an early sitting to avoid waiting. Highly recommended during your Rehoboth vacation!

My husband and I recently visited the Delaware beaches for the first time. One of my friends recommended this place and my expectations were blown out of the water.
Parking was easy. We were able to find a spot right out front.
The ambiance was nice, a little dark at first but they ended up turning the lights on about halfway through our meal.
We started with oysters Rockefeller which came with this little side of bacon stuff (not sure exactly what it was). All of it was delicious.
I had the oyster house punch to drink which was mixed very well.
For entrees, I had the lobster roll with a side of Mac and cheese and my husband had the grilled rockfish with creamed spinach and Mac and cheese. The lobster roll was the best I’ve ever had. Lobster was falling out of the perfectly buttered roll and it had just a slight bit of mayo. The Mac and cheese is made with Gouda and is amazing. I could have eaten a cereal bowl full of the creamed spinach.
Unfortunately we didn’t have room for dessert but I’d love to go back and try their oysters and dessert.

The HOH is our favorite restaurant in Rehoboth! We have been eating here since they opened and became great friends with the owners and staff. The food is amazing, the service is great and the prices are fair. Yes, you will have to fight the crowd for happy hour but it is definitely worth it! You gotta try it!

The oysters were just amazing and came to our table in record time! There were no leftovers after this meal. Also, the happy hour drinks specials are quite good and are a great excuse to get to the restaurant before they start seating so you can nab a table before the wait!

They made a mess of my burger (well done, c’mon!) but it’s still a very viable dining option in a competitive beach town. Just stick to the seafood, which was probably my mistake!

The Bloody Mary was by far the best I have had, spicy and flavorful with excellent garnish. The happy hour specials were difficult to beat as well, perfect raw oysters at half price.
I tried the Lobster Reuben, which sounded too weird to ignore. I trust this establishment, if they serve it I’ll try it. Would I buy it again? No. Any regrets? No.
The fried oysters are the best you will find anywhere. They are lightly breaded and perfectly fried. They still taste like plump and juicy oysters, with their briny salinity intact.

We LOVED this place so much we went there 3 times in 3 days during our trip. Food, service, atmosphere, and drinks were all excellent. Had amazing lobster Reuben and blackened mahi sandwiches. Good clams, too. At dinner we liked the herb butter fish. I think it was halibut? Good key lime pie too.

Every item I’ve had here was delicious. My daughter particularly liked the lobster mac n cheese. Go figure. Seriously, this place only plates delicious entrees. Go somewhere else if you want to wonder whether or not its good. This one is the real deal.

I came here last weekend with my kids for day trip to Rehobeth Beach. I stopped in here for lunch. I had their house punch and clam strips and my kids shared their lobster Mac. And of which was very yummy.

The food is always consistently good. A little too overpriced for me, especially with all the other seafood restaurants in the area. However, since it’s in town rehoboth, they can charge an arm and a leg. They have a pretty good happy hour and fresh oysters are always rotating.

Best food in Rehoboth area.
Always long wait, but you can try best quality food here.
Lobster Mac & cheese
Oyster Fries are must!
Seasonal softshell crap is great as well.

Came here recently in bad weather… normally there is a pretty long wait, so figured I’d go when there are fewer people. Shared a few dishes with friends. The steamer potluck was very good, quite large, and well worth the money — chock full of oysters, mussels, and other steamed deliciousness. Their homemade cocktail sauce was quite nice.
Unfortunately, the rest of the meal was rather blah.
Overcooked, dry pork chop which had an oyster stuffing. Good in theory, just not well executed.
The bouillabaisse was very thick, not typical of the actual bouillabaisse in Marseilles (I’ve been)…but I’d be willing to overlook the variance if it were to the benefit of flavor — it wasn’t. There was no hint of the elegance of a fish broth, but it rather reminiscent of chef boyardee… sweet, thick, tomato sauce, not even a nice fresh tomato taste.
The service was nice.
Overall, we didn’t opt for dessert there and wouldn’t come back except for some oysters on a steamer plate on a warm day… but I wouldn’t deal with the line either… so I probably won’t be back.

Love the atmosphere, didnt love my entrée. I will admit I am a picky eater but I will give my review anyways. Went on NYE and the place was packed. We waited an hour to be seated because they would not take reservations. I love the atmosphere of the place but it was poorly vented so everyones voices were bouncing off the walls and it was very loud and hard to have a conversation with my party.
We all got a round of drinks, I got the sangria and wasn’t too inpressed with it. I expected it to be sweeter and more flavorful. My one friends drink was too strong and she was barely able to drink it and my other friends drink didnt fit the description of it.
We all shared the Bruchetta and Fried Calamari appetizers. I wish I would have just gotten them for my dinner because THEY WERE AMAZING. So flavorful and perfect. We pretty much cleaned the plates. My friend got the cheese board with a variety of three cheeses she picked with honey, fresh fruit, nuts, spreads, it looked amazing and she sure seemed to enjoy it.
For our entrees, I got the lobster mac and cheese. The noodles and cheese sauce were pretty amazing but the lobster wasn’t that good. There were some pieces that had a very «fish and sandy» taste to them compared to the other pieces that were pretty good. I probably would’t order that again with the lobster. Thats just my opinion.
Then of course I had to get dessert. I ordered the peanut butter pie and it was TO DIE FOR. I would literally go back to this place just for that pie. It was a hard shell chocolate topping, with whipped peanut butter in the middle, and a dark chocolate cookie crust. My mouth is just watering typing this.

Dinner last night. Although quoted a 60 – 75 minute wait, we received a text that our table was ready within 45 minutes.
Amy, our server, was wonderful. Friendly and attentive without being overbearing.
Solid beer selection.
The food…
The oyster flight was fabulous, although some of the oyster did have bits of shell. Annoying, but didn’t really distract from our enjoyment.
The grilled razor clams were delicious, especially with the juice from the grilled lime.
My wife had a roasted marscapone plum salad. The bite I had was phenomenal.
Entrees…
My wife cleaned her plate. She ordered the Pan Roasted Maryland Rockfish with faro and a sweet corn sucotash.
My entrée, on the other hand, was not up to expectations. The Wasabi Pea Virginia Cobia, although well cooked, was covered in so much soy sauce that I couldn’t discern anything other than soy. Unfortunate. The dish was not pretty to look at and didn’t match the description on the menu.
Had my entrée been more enjoyable, this would be a 5 star review. The heavy hand with the soy detracted from my experience.
Overall, we enjoyed ourselves. We will return, I’ll just make a different entrée selection.

My friends and I took a day trip to Rehoboth Beach yesterday to celebrate the Labor Day weekend. After soaking up some of the sun, shade, and water for a couple of hours, it was time to eat. My friends are huge oysters fans and one of them is damn near a Rehoboth Beach expert. So the Expert suggested her favorite place to eat those slimy things (sorry, not much of a fan), Helopen City Oyster House. We got there before their opening happy hour time of 3pm. We decided to go down the street for some drinks and come back when it’s open.
Well, we came back at 3:05pm and the place was PACKED. I should mentioned that by ‘place’ I mean the bar area. Mind you, Oyster House is already a pretty small restaurant, so you can imagine how the bar area looked. After about 10 mins of standing around, a waiter told us we can make our own little standing area by some piled up boxes in a corner. I felt awkward the whole time because I was literally hovering over a poor woman who was seated at the bar trying to slide in those slimy little creatures into her mouth. But, hey, at least there was a TV above. So I distracted myself by watching the Williams vs Keys US Open game.
Another 15 minutes goes by. During that period we ordered our meals. Theirs were the oysters sampler + Buffalo Jumbo Shrimps while I got 2 Burger Sliders. Trying to find a space for all 4 plates was a bit of a struggle but we managed. Luckily, a group of friends were leaving and offered their bar stools to us. Finally seated, we ordered some more drinks and I ordered my own plate of Buffalo Jumbo Shrimps because those suckers were GOOD. I did try one oyster and, yep, still slimy.
Four stars are given because of the waiter (wished I got his name), appetizers, strong drinks, and my friends’ enjoyment of the oysters. A star was tacked off because of service in the beginning (Why did it take almost 10 minutes for us to finally get some service/​attention?) and poor happy hour arrangement. There was a small dining section that is also in the happy hour area and yet it was marked off for dinner time (which starts at 5pm) customers. That didn’t make sense to me.

Thanks to my brother for this excellent recommendation. This is a great place to dine with its excellent wine and draft beer selections and the awesome food. I highly recommend the clams casino, fried oysters and the lobster roll. This lobster roll is probably the best ever next to SlapFish at Laguna Beach, CA. There was so much lobster meat and it was cooked to perfection and seasoned great. It gets really crowded so get there before 5:30.

I can’t think of a reason not to rate Henlopen City Oyster House 5 stars.
My husband and I visited on a Monday evening in mid-​July. We figured on a Monday, if we went on the later side, we might have a shot of getting in with a short (er) wait. Even better — there was no wait — we waltzed over to the bar and grabbed two stools right in front of the raw bar — prime seats to watch not only the food but the Nationals who were on that night!
We began with two glasses of wine (small, but well-​done selection — did not expect to see Orion Swift offered) and the Oysters Rockefeller. These were delicious — seasoned beautifully with nice crunchy breadcrumbs. The oysters were super-​fresh — not a hint of brine at all.
Since it was late, we decided to split the lobster mac and cheese (thanks to Unilocal photos, we were prepared for it to be a large portion). OMG. This was just phenomonal. So much lobster, the macaroni prepared to a nice al dente, the cheese was not sweet (which is great because sometimes when both the cheese and lobster meat are sweet it can be overwhelming). Piping hot and seasoned nicely. It was just delicioius — I can’t say enough. Honestly, I’d return for that dish alone, but when I return I plan to try more of their other menu items — maybe several return visits are in order?

My first time here was a pretty pleasant experience. Had the oyster sampler, tuna tartar and blueberry salad.
THE GOOD…
–server was friendly and attentive
–restaurant appeared clean
–variety of oysters was nice and they were super good!
–tuna tartar was delicious
–fresh grapefruit cocktail (forget the name) was pretty good
–water refilled frequently without asking
–texting option to let you know when table is ready
–had a pretty good menu
THE BAD…
–tables way too close to one another… I felt like when people got up or the server came over to the tables next to us all I could see is booty
–parking can be a pain and a quarter for 7 minutes is some bs
–very long wait, well over an hour
–only 5 minute grace period to arrive back after text… should be at least 10
–salad was small… almost like a starter instead of dinner size
Overall I liked the food, but the ambiance use some improving. I’d rather wait longer to have more space than being so close I’m able to hear others conversations. I’d return here though. I really wanted to try the lobster mac… just didn’t wanna feel super stuffed!

After shopping at the Rehoboth Outlets, wife was having serious cravings for oysters, so I jumped on Unilocal and this was the first restaurant I found. Let me just tell you, I am so happy I did! Just a block away from the beach, this quaint little spot had a clean and friendly atmosphere with food and spirits to die for…
I started with the Oyster House Punch, a not so standard rum punch. I don’t normally order drinks like this, but when I saw the ingredients, it peaked my interest with good reason. Great concoction bartender!
For an appetizer, I tried oyster stew for the first time ever. The cream based soup by itself was absolutely amazing, but then you scoop one of the freshly shucked oysters in your mouth and I guarantee that your mind will be blown. Easily one of the best soups I’ve had in a very long time and I could’ve stopped right there and been happy to give this restaurant it’s well deserved 4 stars (very close to 5).
I finished off my meal here with their lobster roll with a side of macaroni and cheese. Extremely fresh lobster meat, seasoned perfectly on a really good choice of roll. The mac and cheese was great as well. You know what, ignore my last paragraph, this place is getting 5 stars!

Dined here in April 2014 with my boyfriend while we were on a mini get-​away for our anniversary. Good service. Great food.
Let me start by saying that the best dish of our entire meal was the lobster mac and cheese. It was very creamy and cheesy with lots of big chunks of lobster. It’s the best lobster mac and cheese I’ve ever had to date.
We ordered beers since they do have a good selection of craft beers on tap. We started the meal off with the oyster sampler and fried calamari with a beer mustard sauce. Our entrees were the lobster mac and cheese and the fried day boat scallops. We also tried the peanut butter mouse pie for dessert. The scallop dish was my least favorite. The scallops were cooked well but the sauce overpowered it.
Overall good experience. I would definitely come back again given the chance.