Your Neighborhood Oyster Bar and Chowder House -- Merchant Oyster Co, serves the best East and West coast oysters on the half shell, raw clams, Peel N eat shrimp, mussels and more.. alongside a selection of four different chowders. Brown Butter Lobster Rolls and Chef Dennis’ famous crab cakes are house specialties.
Get in vacation mode and grab a cocktail and an oyster shooter. We have a local beer list, Narragansett on draft, wine by the can, draft or glass, along with fun cocktails like our take on the hurricane - the Nor'easter. Come visit us in Lawrenceville!
This place is fantastic. My wife and I was very happy with everything. Will be back for sure.
Perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Loved it.Out of this world freshness!
We had a party of four that had been wanting to have dinner at Merchant for awhile. Whether it was an appetizer served without any plates, asking for more bread for our appetizer that took forever to receive, missing silverware for one of us, two drinks ordered that were a repeat of our first drink but the second ones were completely different so we sent them back, the outside of the lobster roll was so greasy, and the heat vents were wide open right beside our table and made the entire meal very uncomfortable. Overall we were completely disappointed.
We had a fairly large group and showed up early for our reservation to see if they could take us early. They were very accommodating. The oysters were fresh and delicious! And whatever their clam soup of the day was may have been the best thing I've ever tasted in my life!
We had a reservation and were able to be seated quickly right when we got there. The server was personable and very good. His recommendations were well thought out. The food arrived at just about the right intervals. The raw bar items were excellent as was the peel-and-eat shrimp. the only weird thing (and it wasn't a big thing) was they were low on plates and could not provide individual appetizer plates. With the raw bar and peel and eat, it really wasn't much of an issue
Great fresh oysters. Exceptional Peel 'n' Eat shrimp. Great service.
Outstandingly fresh oysters!
We had a wonderful dinner. Love the Merchant Oyster.
The food at this establishment is very good if you enjoy seafood. I highly recommend the lobster roll (hot) and a bottle of white wine. The restaurant itself is on the smaller side, which has its benefits and detriments. We ended up at a table right next to the door, which was opened often and resulted in cold air rushing in and hitting my back. However, the food and drinks were so good it was worth a slight discomfort. The restaurant is a bit on the expensive side, but there are ways to make the menu work for you in terms of pricing. I recommend this place to everyone I know who enjoys seafood. If you are going on a Friday or Saturday night, a reservation is a good idea.
-Jim
Great East’s amazing service
Saturday evening, out with my wife for dinner
She loves oysters
Our table, silverware in a bowl, m paper napkins in a holder on the table like Mc Donald’s
The food was excellent but the baked oysters were the tiniest we have ever seen
Once again great food just not the best ambience for a date with my wife on a Saturday night
Great oysters and shrimps! Casual ambiance like a seaside restaurant. Excellent service.
Crab cake sandwich was excellent. Not too much filler so you really tasted the crab.
My husband’s go to place for oysters when we are in Pittsburgh
Fabulous oysters and lobster rolls!
We had a great experience. The food was delicious and the service was fast and friendly. We're looking forward to coming back.
Merchant Oyster is just the most amazing ever place! The oysters are fresh and wonderful and the selection broad allowing for the exploration of the nuanced differences in their taste. The crab cakes and lobster rolls and chowders are fabulous, and Oh My Gosh! ... Their house made New England apple cake, is so way something that I make sure that have room for! The wait staff is friendly and always happy to help with questions and menu recommendations. A most incredible place. A most amazing Chef!
Great atmosphere and service! Food and drinks were spot on. I’ll recommend Merchant Oyster Company to all my friends!
Tasty brunch (lobster scramble!), attentive service, happy hour beer/oysters, and a cool Steelers pregame playlist. One happy yinzer!
Love this place, one of the better restaurants in Lawrenceville. Good food, good service
Third time for brunch - always a great experience! Looking forward to returning!
My wife and I had a great time here! We will definitely be back. Food n Service was very good!
Great service and great food. Would definitely eat there again!
Great drinks and excellent food made for an experience that will definitely bring us back!
one of my wife's and my favorite restaurants. A pound each of peel 'n' eat shrimp and a margarita. It doesn't get much better.
Service was absolutely horrible . I was embarrassed . At one point in the middle of ordering , my server literally walked away , began multiple other tasks , and returned ten minutes later like nothing ever happened . Also, when asked simple questions about the menu , my server had absolutely no information and said “ he didn’t know .” It was very unprofessional and embarrassing . The food was good, but it really didn’t matter at that point.
We sat down right away and our server offered us the happy hour special even though it was ending in 5 minutes. It was a great way to start the night! And it only went up from there. Such a great evening with amazing food!
This is a must try! The service was amazing. All the staff was so attentive. The food was phenomenal. I can't wait to go back for the clam boil. My husband loved his lobster roll as well. Kids enjoyed their hot dog. And, my non-pescatarian brother-in-law loved his burger and the spinach artichoke dish. We tried all their fresh oysters and it was a wonderful experience tasting through them. My new fave restaurant!
Very Good. Have to go back for a Taylor Pork Roll sandwich.
From the beer to the crab BLT, my food and overall experience was a 10/10. I’ll be going back to the Merchant Oyster, for sure!
Perfect, as usual! This place is a true gem in our neighborhood! The food, drinks, and service are always exceptional and the atmosphere is just awesome. Couldn’t recommend Merchant Oyster more!
Excellent menu very nicely rendered by the kitchen, and served by a very pleasant and engaging front of house team. We will look forward to returning!
15 mins - for the waitress to come to my table
20 mins - to have my drink brought to me
70 mins - for my entree to arrive
Overall - service was painful and slow... take WAY LONGER than it needed to do. Food was good though.
The oysters here a joke unfortunately. I know that Pittsburgh is landlocked but I've been to other restaurants (for example, Muddy Waters, where the oysters are large and tasty). Here, the oysters were pathetically small and tasteless. The owners attempted to make us feel comfortable (although the A/C was blasting and we were freezing - so they had to open the windows to let in some warm air). The waitress was totally disinterested and had nothing of interest to tell us. Sorry to say - we won't be back. We've been here several times and we keep hoping it'll get better and it hasn't. It's a shame because the ambience is great but the food is simply inferior compared to Pittsburgh standards today. Sorry for the bad review - not something I do at all - but this was simply a very bad experience when we had guests in town and were embarrassed by the experience.
Best seafood I’ve had in pittsburgh, at a better price than the high end restaurants.
Awesome! Merchant Oyster is a favorite - it was the first Brunch experience though and it did not disappoint. Can't wait to go back!
Everything and everyone was wonderful. Wish we could have thanked the chef personally, but we were having such a great experience that we lost track of time and had to hurry to make it to our next stop.
The oyster shooters were transcendental.
Thought server was very good and knowledgeable, and overall service was great. Crab cake a little salty but other dishes well seasoned. Oysters awesome and fresh.
Relaxed atmosphere. Nice selection of oysters. Definitely a place to return to with a group of friends.
FAQs
Merchant Oyster Co. offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (412) 932-2553.
Merchant Oyster Co. is rated 4.6 stars by 98 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.