The Oar House

Went here for my B-​day with my mom & little sis!
First thing I noticed walking in was the live music they had going on! It was a pleasant surprise & we loved it
I ordered a glass of wine, they have a good wine list & a full bar!
I forgot what we ordered to eat, a consequence of waiting 2 weeks to write a review. (Check out the pic)
Anyways I remember what I ordered being excellent! My little sis ordered some pasta thing & it was kinda salty.
Overall I liked it! It’s so hard to find non-​chainy dinner spots in the freakin suburbs

I was here for a rehearsal dinner. Even though we were a large party (30+), the service was quick, attentive, and every effort was made to make sure everyone was pleased. The food was excellent and everything paired really well. Great choice if you have a big party and want everything to run smoothly.

Four of us went there last week, Sunday ⁵⁄₂₂ around 7:00, it was dead. Only two tables had people sitting at them and no one sitting at the bar. This is usually not a good sign.
Was seated by a guy, not our waiter. He handed us menus, a specials menu and a wine list. He said they had a wine special where bottles that were $ 60 or less were half price and bottles over $ 60 were $ 30 off. Great we thought, we can try a wine we normally would not buy due to the markup they have at these places.
Tried to order one at $ 55 to start out, a nice Champagne. Waiter came back and said they did not have that one and he recommended a different one that was slightly higher in price. I didn’t like it so we skipped that one. I ordered a beer while we tried to decide on a wine. Ended up ordering a bottle of Pinot Noir priced at $ 65, which they did have this time and my wife got a glass of Moscato, since she prefers white wine.
We ordered the Escargot app and a few of their classic dishes, two noodle dishes and two veal dishes. The noodle dishes were nicely sized for the price, however the veal dishes were under sized for the $ 24.00 price tag. Small little portions of broiled potatoes and veges and a small veal cutlet.
Throughout the whole dinner, the place never got any busier so it’s hard to judge how the service would be or what the noise level might get to. The waiter did ok for really only having one table, but we did have to flag him down several times, which I thought was annoying.
The waiter did stop by near the end of the meal and asked about dessert. We ordered one crème brule and 4 spoons. It arrived very fast, but was very small. It also had a citrus sugar on top which ruined it. Avoid the crème brule.
As we finished up we flagged down the waiter and asked for to go boxes and the check. Imagine my surprise when the bill was $ 206.00. I looked at the bill and sure enough they charged me full price for the bottle of wine, $ 65.00. It took a bit to get the waiter back to the table, but once we did, we asked about the wine. He told us there was not a $ 30 off on the wine. I immediately asked for a manager.
When the manager arrived he asked if there was something wrong with the bill. We explained the wine situation and what the original person who seated us told us. He then said that was wrong and we would have to pay full price. To which I said I was only paying the $ 35.00 that we were told the wine would cost.
He then told us that he would have to call another manager to ask if that was going to be possible. Really? Are you a manager or what? You don’t need to call someone else, you need to just adjust the bill.
Needless to say, our waiter returned with an adjusted bill of $ 171. We probably won’t be going back for some time because the whole place and the experience was just weird. There are far better places to go for a $ 200.00 meal.

The singer/​guitarist was excellent, but if that was all I had to review we would be fine. For those of you who really know Italian food ‚.and I mean you really know it, you will have no reservations about rating the OAR HOUSE as very over priced. The food was less than mediocre as far as flavor is concerned. I think that in order to charge any more than 10.00 for a plate of pasta, it had better have something creatively out of this world… or you haven’t a conscience at all. Italian food is one of the cheapest food fare’s you can make. A pan of lasagna, or a lb. of penne or linguine can serve a family of 6 to 8 people,…for less than 10.00.I payed 18.00 for a plate of penne, pancetta bits
and some small PCs of chicken in an under seasoned Alfredo sauce! If you want REAL AUTHENTIC Italian food that is actually half the price… Go to Valentino’s on the other side of the lake in Rowlett… you will NOT be disappointed!

Love this place! I always get the filet with peppercorn sauce. It never fails to be perfectly cooked and delicious. This is a great date night place. The seafood is amazing too.

Great service and amazing food. Causal and comfortable atmosphere. Definitely a great spot for a date night.

My husband and I went there last night with another couple for dinner. We could see an empty table for four as soon as we walked in. 25 minutes later we were seated at the same table. I ordered the Caesar salad ($ 8.00) and the fillet ($ 32.00). The Caesar salad was tiny and wilted with parmesan cheese that comes out of a can. My husbands salad was about the same. The fillet came with sautéed vegetables and roasted potatoes. Both were tiny portions. The fillet was OK and the sauce was really good. Would have been delicious with more potatoes. Our waiter was OK but nothing special. I think for the money I would opt for Culpepoers next time. I believe they have the same owner but I’ve had much better experiences there.
I’ve seen reviews saying the Oar House lunch is good but three stars is generous for this place for dinner.

Great evening with friends. Service was attentive, food was excellent. Only complaint is red wine was served at wrong temperature

Very nice dinner with friends here last night. Lovely bar, attentive service, great food. There was live music, but it was not so loud to hinder conversation. Upscale, but casual ambiance. Recommend.

I have only ever eaten lunch here, but it is great! You get bread and then choice of soup or salad before your meal comes, so prepared to be stuffed! They have a wonderful selection of pastas with seafood, chicken and beef. The Crespelle di Arrogosta (lobster crepes) are so rich and my favorite!
A dimly lit, cozy atmosphere. Would make a great business lunch or dinner date!

Horrible service for the high prices they have.
We just ordered an appetizer (Bruschetta) Almost $ 9.00 for just 5 pieces of cold dry baguette bread, sprinkled with chopped tomatoes and goat cheese.
As a former food and beverage Director, their cost of that appetizer, could not exceed $ 1.00
We sat at the bar, and the bartender seem too busy socializing, and not taking care of her customers.
After that horrible expensive appetizer we decided not to order dinner, payed our bill and Left, to never come back again.
I do not recommend.
RC Rockwall

Our favorite restaurant in Rockwall. We love the food. The service can be very laid back on
busy evenings, however. The live music here is amazing as well.

Went to dinner with my husband. We are new to the area and wanted some Italian food. The food was excellent. We had calamari and chicken crepes. The crepes were excellent.
I ordered chicken parmigiana and he had Chilean sea bass with oysters. The building was cool. Previous reviews had as leary, but we were very happy with our experience.
Jose was our waiter. He took the time to thoroughly go over the menu and some recommendations. He’s a very nice guy with great customer service.
Not sure why other people had such mediocre experiences. When we were there, we were satisf
ies beyond our expectations.

I’ve been eyeballin’ Oar House for about a year. Situated just next to Culpepper’s on I-​30 at the Horizon exit, I’ve perused the menu and have wanted to try it for a long long time.
It’s more expensive than I expected, most entrees are in the $ 17-​$ 35 range. The atmosphere is casual but nice, with white table cloths there’s also with a long bar with a TV taking up most of the front room. It’s nice but unpretentious.
We stood around for a few minutes before we were acknowledged, long enough to go ask if anyone was going to come seat us and my little impatient hot head was about ready to walk back out. There’s no real hostess stand per se and being newbies I even wondered if there was another door we should have gone into. Finally, a young fella beckoned us to come and we followed him to a table. No real «hey, how many tonight?» or anything, just a c’mere wave and grunting gesture towards a table. First impressions, y’all.
Finally when we were sat and had drinks I have to say our experience totally improved. The waitress was sweet and fun. We ordered some crab claws and were totally stoked when big ol’ claws came out, not the usual baby crab kind. Each hunk of meat was like a yummy crab meatball.
For my main course, I had the Cappalini Agli Aspagagi… basically angel hair pasta with shrimp with asparagus and roasted red bell peppers in a garlic wine sauce. It was light and very tasty… for $ 24 it was very simple, but overall I was happy. Mr. B got the 12oz NY Strip that’s topped with portabella mushrooms, onions and a gorgonzola cream sauce. His also came with potatoes and vegetables as a side… there are a la carte sides on the menu so one would assume you’d need to buy sides as well, but be sure to ask– he did and was totally happy with what came with it. He liked his steak but I gotta say, there’s no way that lil’ fella was 12oz. I’d give it 8oz tops. Still it was very good and for $ 30, it should be.
We finished our wine for dessert and listened to the fella singin’ in the corner of the bar. The atmosphere was romantic and laid back– and I loved it. Overall, I really liked my Oar House experience but there were a few aggravations (weird lack of hostess stand situation, menu prices not really in line with the food you get). I see from their website they have a patio that looks nice too! We’ll have to check that out soon.

If you want to pay $ 30 – 40 a plate do not come here. Service was poor and the food okay. Although the staff was polite, I shouldn’t have to ask for a basket of bread or wait nearly 45 minutes for our entrée. It’s not worth your money or your time.

Not sure what is going on here…
The first couple times I came to The Oar House, my experience was fantastic! Incredible food, the wine chosen for us by the waiter was a perfect fit, and the service was stellar! However, that was over a year ago and as of Valentine’s Day 2015, they have taken a huge step back!
First, we walked in, and I was confused because there was nobody to greet us. This night was reservation only until 8:45, so we walked in at around 9:00 and a guy was looking at us, but didn’t say anything really until we walked up to him. I’ll chalk this up to my fault for not paying close attention, because I was looking around when I first walked in instead of searching for someone to seat us.
Next we were seated in the back close to the kitchen doors. No problem at this point. When the waiter came over, I asked him to recommend a bottle of wine based off the extremely limited menu. It was a special night and the menu was a limited 4 course dinner for $ 60 per person. I can be a bit of a snob about my wine, but always like to get the recommendation of the house, especially when they have a planned menu. Basically I was unimpressed with his selections so I made my own.
The first course came out and we were happy. The food great, the wine I chose was great and very reasonably priced.
2^nd course was a salad that seemed like it came out of a bag. The lettuce was dirty and I stopped less than half way through thinking this was ridiculous. How can The Oar House of all places serve this???
3^rd course and 4^th courses ran together in my mind for some reason. I’m not sure what was going on that night, but for top dollar I expect top level service and food. The food was mostly ok, but this was not impressive at all. I might have paid $ 30 for this meal, but that’s being generous. $ 60 was insane. Where was the spice in the food? My main course was ok, but the vegetables were bland and mushy. I know people will see this review and think he’s too hard to please, but for a total tab of over $ 250 for 2 people, you’re Got-​Dang Right I expect better!
Now for the service… Our waiter was not knowledgable on his wine, no problem I guess. He would not get our water filled, we had to flag someone else down at least twice. Wasn’t the friendliest guy, and the worst part for me besides the check was the loud Spanish swearing that was going on in the kitchen. How low rent is that!!!
Step it up Oar House, or you’ll be losing more customers like myself. I guess it doesn’t matter because the owners still get my money when I go to The Fatted Calf and Culpeppers, but the fact I was so put out that I had to come and write a review makes me not want to go to this owner’s other restaurants.
So sad… I can’t believe I had to give The Oar House a 3 star review…

I live in Dallas now, but I grew up in Rockwall. My family still lives there. In all my years as a Rockwallite (?)… Rockwaller (?)… hmm, you get what I’m sayin’… I had never eaten at this restaurant. Well now I’m a fan!
I’m surprised by some of the lackluster reviews, but I get that not everyone has the same experience when dining out. All I can say is both the food and service were superb!
We came in on a Sunday evening and were celebrating the announcement of my brother and sister-in-law’s pregnancy (I’m gonna be a FUNcle, y’all! — sounds better than «guncle») and also my Mom and her husband’s anniversary. We had wine, cocktails, delicious appetizers, outstanding entrees, and decadent desserts. So we had it all! I got to try escargot for the first time. It was ok… kinda like a very garlic-​y booger. The other apps were more my style. I can’t remember exactly the steak I ordered, but it was good. The seafood entrees that others ordered were outstanding (my Mom gave me a hefty serving of her meal when she got full). Thanks Mom! The desserts were simple (i.e. strawberries with a cream sauce and also cheesecake) yet satisfying enough.
Shout out to our server, Houston. He was personable, knowledgeable with the menu, and spot on throughout the meal.
Side note: I would categorize this place as a little more upscale and intimate… like a good date place. So it was a little peculiar when we were leaving and two guys (probably early 20s) came in wearing tank tops. *shrug*

food is very good. They have a great lunch menu and a good value with nice portions. That was my lunch experience. I would rate it at a 4 star.
Dinner:
Service is odd. Not sure why they would hire someone with such a heavy accent? its not a Mexican restaurant! and don’t order a cocktail with simple syrup! becase we were told the bartender would not make it! We sat there in disbelief. Think perhaps the language barrier was an issue. But no. Turns out the place just couldn’t care less about the customer.
So we walked away from our table… and we went where they would! Not gonna waste 150+$ and a date night on a place like that.

Time to read the truth Unilocal users. The truth about the Oar House in Rockwall.
Nestled next to the lake (or the field formally known as the lake) is a little place called «The Oar House». Now you might assume that this is a place to get meals similar to a Joes Crabshack, but you would be dead wrong. It’s officially billed as a Italian restaurant, but the fare spans chicken, lamb, pork, steaks and fish. They have many pasta infused dishes, but they also have many other choices.
This review was for my experience on a weekday lunch, around 1pm. They are only open from 11am-​2pm for lunch, so it’s a small window of time. A little note here is that they do have a special lunch menu with reduced prices.
The place is like a upscale tavern, and the neon lights are still on the wall. The décor is wooden, dark, romantic, but not so serious that you could not wear a pair of jeans in here if you wanted. A lot of people complain about the lack of dress code, but they dont understand Rockwall. This city does not have a dresscode, you could wear a pair of gym shorts into Culpepper, Zanata, Bin 303 or even Allure if you wanted. No one cares, and neither should you.
The service was fantastic, and prompt. A team of 4 waiters kept my glass of tea full, impressing me with the service and attention to detail. They brought hot bread out which was great, and the spinach dip was incredible. I really enjoyed it.
I opted for the Lobster Bisque for my side over salad, which was a great choice because this Bisque was as good s it gets. Only the bisque from Andiamo in Addison is better.
My main course for lunch was a of the menu item, which was a pasta in white sauce with sausage, chicken, peppers and crumbled cheese. It was amazing. Also a value at only $ 12, which is a steal at a place of this caliber. For sure, this is a meeting/​date place, so guys like me coming in to drop $ 30 on lunch are not the norm, but we are welcome.
The owner came by to greet me and I told him up front that I am an avid Unilocaler and that his place is a 5 star experience. I was ashamed that he was only at 2.5 here, and let him know I would tell the truth about my experience in this review.
Excellent atmosphere, amazing service, incredible food. Yes, this is a 5 star dining experience in Rockwall. Get in there and try it out, you will love it.
Just dont expect long john silvers.

I came here on a Saturday night for a double date with friends. I had high expectations for this place, considering the location on the lake. Side note, there’s no view of the lake… more like the I-​30 service road.
Upon entering, I stood awkwardly at the entrance next to the live guitar musician in the corner. There was no hostess stand, and received several weird looks from the folks at the bar. Umm… do we seat ourselves? I walked out to find our other friends, then reentered with everybody. Finally, a hostess came over to greet us and seat us in the back by the kitchen. It took at least 5 – 10 minutes for anybody to greet us later and bring waters. It took another 10 minutes to receive drinks (2 old fashioned and 1 amaretto sour). We didn’t even get our bread until the appetizers came about 20 minutes later. What the heck? You’ll notice a recurring theme of poor service in my review.
The bread was soggy, and not tasty at all. It tasted like it was frozen and microwaved. We all split a bruscetta appetizer and the grilled shrimp on risotto cakes app. Both were a good start to the meal. For the main dish, I ordered a sea scallop angel hair dish with cream sauce, which tasted like Olive Garden-​status. It definitely did not warrant $ 21. The scallops were diced, which is a shame. I understand it makes it look like you’re getting more scallops that way, but I’d rather get 3 properly seared scallops than 15 soggy squares. There was no sear whatsoever on them, yielding them quite bland. The lobster bisque was not memorable, either. It had one tiny piece of seafood, and that was it– mostly cream base. My bf and the couple joining us weren’t impressed with their dishes, either.
Throughout our stay, the waiter Jesus was not to be found. This was insane, considering during the second half of our meal, we were the only table in the restaurant (besides a few people at the bar). When we got our check, we wanted to ask him to split the bill in half. That would’ve been easy to do if Jesus was even around. He was hiding in the kitchen. Also, we would see several staff members (waterboys and waiters) walk out of the kitchen with a mouthful of food. How unprofessional is that? If you want to eat, at least close our check and get us out of here first.
Conclusion: I wouldn’t come back. For the $ 120 I spent on 2 people, there are a hundred places in DFW I’d rather go first. There’s not even a nice lake view!