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Half Shell Oyster House

4.5 (427 reviews)
Open • 11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Updated 2 months ago

Waitlist - Half Shell Oyster House

Live Current wait: under 5 minutes

Half Shell Oyster House Photos

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HALF SHELL OYSTER HOUSE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Touristy
Romantic

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Recommended Reviews - Half Shell Oyster House

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Jennifer L.

omg !!!Muy world has been rocked!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a Pensacola, FL native and know fresh, delicious seafood. This restaurant, I can't believe I have been dining here and it is a chain. These folks know how good, fresh, New Orleans style seafood should taste. Ok y'all, I am from Pensacola, FL, and as soon as I could walk and talk, I knew how to discern fresh seafood from crap. With upmost imtegrity, I have to admit, I have been here twice in 4 days!!!!!!!!! I live 100 miles away in Penacola, Fl, and had to hit this place up again!!!! I came less than. 4 days ago and this place was amazing! I drove 100 miles to eat here again. The oysters where so delicate and sweet, that I drove 100miles for a repeat experience, and the oysters and shrimp rocked my world again. The server, Gilliian, and the manager checked with me multiple times to make sure my experience was rock in, and it was. This place you must visit if you like good seafood and want a magical experience. The historical building has been re-furbished into a killer seafood restaurant experience. The food and staff are mindful of every need, and the food coming out of the kitchen is amazing. I have celiac disease, and managers us the staff made sure I had an allergic reaction free dining experience, plus the food and service were incredible! Two times in 4 days I had the exact 5 star experience. Gillian as my server, I forgot the managers name, but they made the rounds frequently to the guests to make sure we had a stellar experience. I would give it more than 5 stars if possible. This is a gluten-free friendly place!!!!

Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffee
Kimberly B.

Royal redfish was pretty good, definitely a solid choice. I also tried the shrimp and crawfish etouffee special but it was just alright--wouldn't order that one again. We sat at the tables by the bar and the service was a bit less attentive than I was hoping for... but overall an ok experience. Had the oyster orleans and rockefeller too; flavor was great but they were a little gritty.

The fish and jalapeño hushpuppies
Cary M.

The food is perfect, we ordered margarita grouper, it comes on coconut rice with pineapple corn cilantro tomato on top. Sydney was our waitress she said this was one of her favorite dishes and we tried it, she was right. Sydney has a pleasant personality and made us feel at home. Great job half she'll Oyster house

Fried Green Tomatoes
Alexis N.

Talk about some amazing food in Biloxi!! For my short stay in the area, I wanted a fantastic meal. This place was suggested and I can see why! There is downstairs and upstairs seating area (Full bar on both floors as well). We were warmly greeted and seated right away. Our waitress Kelly was very friendly and had some great suggestions for dinner. Immediately, we ordered the fried green tomatoes. We also had the Redfish Orleans and the most ordered side was the sweet potato creme brulee. The fried green tomatoes had a creamy crab sauce over the top which paired perfectly with the crispy breading. The Redfish Orleans was amazing and the sweet potato creme brulee was the star of the show. Definitely a great meal with great service!

Crab cake topped with ravigotte and parmesan
Staci A.

We visit here once or twice while we're in town...oysters are delicious and shucked fresh daily! Everything we've tried has been so good...this trip I had the crab cake topped with blue crab herbed cream sauce from the appetizer menu and my husband had raw oysters...so yummy! It's French Quarter style...dark and sultry decor with cool, funky lighting. They have additional seating and a second bar upstairs. It's an old building and the stairs are very precarious, so just keep that in mind if that would be an issue. The service is always on point...we sat at the bar this trip. Aaron did a fantastic job and never stopped moving!

Gumbo
Brad T.

Half Shell | Biloxi, MS Yooooo!! Writing this is literally making my mouth water. So many fond memories from this trip because we ate at Half Shell twice lol The gumbo was solid. Not the star of the meal but I love the hunks of meat and how it's not overpowering. The freaking crab claws.. literally perfectionn. So I was wondering if they would be a little chewy or stick to the tendon. Well, that was not the case. They were so fresh and tender. Let's talk about the garlic flavoring was to die for. The charbroiled oysters were sweet too! Fresh, tasty, and a decent size. My only knock on this place is their drink offerings aren't great. A lot of options but nothing that's spectacular #foodreview #oysters #seafood #eatlocal #mississippi

Bill M.

Doing our food and drink crawl around Biloxi this is a must stop. It was really busy but we got a high top at the bar pretty quick. Bartender was our server and right on us and very helpful. Drinks were awesome and a decent wine selection. We tried a few along with some charbroiled oysters. These were awesome and we are not oysters people. These changed out mind about oysters!! so may good flavors. Charbroiled is the only way to go! Place had a local vibe but I know there were a lot of tourist here too. Really cool spot.

Bananas Foster cheesecake.  Happy birthday Sharon!
Marisue W.

Wow party of 4. All of our meals were excellent. Steak to seafood. Best Gumbo ever had. Nick was a great server. Thank you for the birthday cheesecake! Hope to come back before we leave.

"Reds" Shrimp
Tracy S.

Excellent Food, Even Better Service! Had a fantastic dining experience at Half Shell Oyster House in Biloxi! The restaurant is located in a charming old house with two floors, which gives it a lot of character and a cozy vibe. A quick tip for those who may have trouble with stairs--there are 30+ steps to reach the upstairs dining area. They don't take reservations, but if you call ahead and request the preferred waitlist, the staff is incredibly accommodating and will help ensure you're seated downstairs. I really appreciated how smoothly that process went. Now to the food and service--both were top notch! Let me start by shouting out Nick, our young waiter who absolutely crushed it! He was attentive, friendly, fast, and genuinely helpful with menu suggestions. His recommendation to add the Royal Sauce to my blackened trout (served over mashed potatoes and asparagus) was spot on. That sauce took an already great dish to the next level--don't skip it! We started with the fried blue crab claws appetizer. They were decent but a bit too heavily breaded for my taste--not bad, just not a standout. That and the stair situation were the only minor downsides of an otherwise great visit. The garden side salad was very fresh and crisp--a great starter. The gumbo had a nice kick to it, just the right amount of spice and seasoned beautifully. Definitely recommend if you like a bit of heat. Other dishes ordered at the table included: Seafood Sampler - All fried, all delicious, and way more food than one person can finish. Royal Red Shrimp Dinner - Again, huge portion and seasoned to perfection. Jalapeño hushpuppies - A real highlight. If you visit, do yourself a favor and order these! In short: great atmosphere, incredible food, and stellar service from Nick made this one of the best meals we've had on the coast. Highly recommend and will definitely be returning!

Robert C.

Likely one of the best meals I have ever had and I have been all over the world at the fanciest of restaurants. Everything was fantastic. The food, fantastic. The service, fantastic. The ambiance, yep, fantastic. We started with the oyster sampler. We are not big oyster fans, but this was special and different than anything oyster I have ever had. I had the seafood pot pie. Stocked with seafood and the crust was to die for. Creamy and the seafood taste was over the top. The wife had their special which was a filet mignon topped with lobster mornay sauce. Fabulous. The lobster was tender and the steak was perfectly cooked. The sides of broccoli and asparagus with Gorgonzola cheese. OMG. So excellent. This place is a must go when visiting Biloxi. This one is across the street from hard Rock, not the one in Hard Rock. I heard the one we went to is better.

Gumbo
Jeff B.

I have been here 3 times now and it has never disappointed me. If you like seafood, especially oysters you will enjoy. There is other dishes served including steaks and pasta. The drinks are made well too. The place is usually packed but the service remains excellent. The dress can be casual or you can wear nice clothes. It is beautiful inside and although not really intimate it can be a romantic.

Dessert menu
Jennifer T.

We joined the wait list on Yelp and glad we did. It was a Wednesday night and still a line. While we had a short wait, we walked around to see the other offerings around. When seated, it was a busy place with good service. When food was ready it came to the table. Our waitress let me try the greens prior to ordering! Oysters were fresh. I did miss the minuete but there was lemon, horseradish and cocktail sauce. Fried claws were okay and they came with lemon and cocktail sauce. Husband had the salmon which he really liked. We shared a Caesar salad which was okay needed salt and pepper. The drinks were good. It is a rather large place as there was an upstairs. We also saw a bar area as well although small so don't think you will walk in and get a seat unless you are lucky!

Orleans Oysters
Brant D.

Goodness the food was awesome, Orleans Oysters and PoBoy in the voodoo was great, had to have almost 3/4 of a pound of shrimp on it with fresh soft bread! Gumbo was good as well. Very cool spot and will definitely be back again. Service was tad on the slower side and not very busy here at lunch .. but still say.. Check it out!

Seafood Stuffed portobello mushrooms and smoked oysters

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5 days ago

They have great food and take care you ever need. Fast and will return and eat when we are in town

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3 months ago

Fantastic dinner with helpful wait staff. Haven't been in at least five years but it was as good as I remembered it.

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Half Shell Oyster House Reviews in Other Languages

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Came here with my wife. Excellent service. I will say that the parking is small but this small spot…read morepacks punch. We got a little bit of everything to check it out. We split a few things between the two of us. We had the tour of the swamp. The red beans and rice was really great. Not always my favorite when we go out but it really stood out. Very flavorful. The etouffee was great. Wish there was more crawfish but I always wish there was more. We all probably do with most dishes. lol. The jambalaya was really good. Well seasoned. Now my wife is picky about gumbo and is a hard judge to please. I am a little more on the giving side and look at it from the perspective of "even a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work" point of view. A day with gumbo is generally a better day most days. The gumbo this day was not great. I have heard amazing things and I was not impressed. I will only mark off a star because everything else was so great. I hope it was just a bad day and we will hope for a better next time. And there will be a next time for sure. The shrimp po boy was slam packed with shrimp. Great bread and dressed well. The boudin eggrolls were fantastic. Sift and tender on the inside and crispy crunchy on the outside. Loved them.

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Half Shell Oyster House - seafood - Updated May 2026

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