EaT: An Oyster Bar

EaT is best described as just plain fun. From the laid-back, old school Cajun décor to the ridiculous assortment of oysters, cocktails and beers, this is a great place to relax and enjoy a night out. It is situated in the N.Williams patch of what I call “N.W goodness” – right down the street from Lincoln/Pix/5th Quadrant, and more. The area is lively and easily accommodates a night of progressive dining, as we did this fine evening!

The interior of EaT is spacious and filled with vintage chrome tables, wooden tables, longer tables for large parties (situated across from the bar), and some seating at the bar as well. There are old bar signs throughout, very eclectic, and they also have a flat screen TV for you sports junkies. It looks like in the Summer you would have access to the patio directly next door (can’t wait to check that out). We sat in a table next to the floor to ceiling windows and enjoyed the afternoon, it was perfect.

Service was friendly and attentive. We were warmly greeted as we walked in, and our waitress was helpful in choosing both beers and oysters. The menu here is solid, both for food and drinks. They have four rotating taps (decent light and heavier choices, all served in 10oz pours, which is SO much better to me than full pints), more beers offered in bottles/cans, and a full page of bourbon/whiskey choices. And then you have the oysters and food choices…what an assortment!

Drinks: Started with drafts (C-Note/Trumer Pils) and moved on to cans of Rainier – oh how I have missed you! They even offer coozies to keep your beers cold, which is so awesome… I am a total Midwest girl and we love our coozies.

Food: This was so fun to choose…we started with a dozen oysters, a mixture of all four types they were offering (sorry, I have no idea what the difference is between them all). They were served neatly arranged on a tray of ice, perfectly chilled, with lemon slices. Multiple types of hot sauce and full bags of good old saltine crackers fill all of the tables at EaT, which is a down-home touch that we appreciated. Next we each ordered an oyster shooter, mine the “Standard” and his the “Kentucky”. These were nicely spiced and went down surprisingly smoothly! Finally, we ordered some of the baked oysters, and of course these were phenomenal. We ordered 3 of the “Rockefeller” (Fresh Spinach, Watercress topped with Parmesan) and three of the “Bienville” (A rich Mushroom Béchamel with the Trinity). Both options were hot, creamy and decadent – a must try at EaT.

Another plus for EaT is that the pricing is so reasonable! Our bill for everything we ordered was $45…try beating that price for the quality of oysters we happily slugged down :)

You could enjoy this place with anyone – significant other, parents, large groups – overall just a great Portland spot. Another fun fact: we found out from the waiter at Lincoln that the Owner of EaT is a Southern transplant living out his dream with his restaurant in the NW – how great is that? EaT is highly recommended by me!

*Jayne