I love the food at Rodney's. The oyster selection is great, and they are always fresh. Forget Joe Fortes. Rodney's is the place to eat oysters! The steamed clams are excellent, and chowders are really good as well.

I have been to this place a number of times, and the service ranges from good to terrible. Most of the time, the servers are impatient and have bad attitudes. Asking for the menu seems to be an interruption to their day. If they are out of the type of oyster I wanted for that day, they just blankly stare at me and don't care to make any recommendations. I did have a good server one time who actually asked what kind of oyster I like and made recommendations without being prompted.

The atmosphere of this place is fun. Too bad the service is (on average) not very good.

Came down to this "old standard" with my wife after an afternoon of shopping. It was early evening/late afternoon but the spot was hopping and there was no one at the door to seat us. An gentleman who seemed at bit older than the rest yelled across the restaurant and told me someone would be right with me! I've been to Rodney's many times but this time I felt they deserved a shout out.

Like I said, the place was busy but not to the point where my server couldn't treat us well and have a little chat. A nice Irish boy who looked a little bit like a mix of Jesus and Viking took good care of us. He just seemed the know exactly what we needed and when we needed it. Maybe it was because he told us exactly what we needed and when we needed it. I like a waiter to take charge. Give me your best! We had a couple dozen oysters and some frosty cold pints because its an oyster house and thats what they do best. We then had more oysters and more pints. We lost count of how many rounds we had. Luckily we live near by.

I've had oysters all around the city and Rodney's always has the freshest and best selection. I don't really know the menu very well because we only ever have the fresh shucked oysters or the pan fried oysters. We always have a hoot. I cant remember Rodney's ever being anything but a good time. We even had a friend from out of town with us who had never eaten an oyster...he rang the bell and made an "oyster virgin announcement." She blushed a little but it was all in good fun.

It's an oyster house. So go for the oysters and you can do no wrong. I love Rodney's.

Salut

Having a meeting at 8pm in Yaletown, we needed something quick. A friend suggested oysters - fast and easy.

We arrived around 7pm for our first time at Rodney's, and were seated immediately.

The menu did not have a raw oysters section, nor did they have a board stating the oysters on offering - at least not in the upper level where we were seated.

15 mins, finally someone comes by. "Drinks?" I said we were ready to order everything, and were admonished soundly. "Well, I'm taking care of drinks first." Yikes.

Drinks come, and the same server asks if we are ready to order. I guess he missed our readiness first time 'round.
But, excited about some fresh oysters, I cheerily say, "So what raw oysters do you have on tap?"
"On tap!?!?" he sneers.
Sheepishly, I reply "Oh, it was just an expression."
"Oh, is that an expression we have now?" he snidely replies.

Unsure if I was astonished more by his social or service incompetence, I asked right out: "What oysters do you have this evening?"
He emits an incredulous laugh, and his face turns red in anger. "Well!" he shouts. "We've got all kinds of oysters! We've got 12 kinds. Shall I tell you every one of them? Is that gonna mean anything to you?!"

My dining partner and I exchanged stunned glances. No oyster menu... no oyster chalkboard or list... and since this is an oyster house, I guess asking about the oysters is a pretty reasonable question. Since I don't work at Rodney's, I certainly don't know how it goes - so do you just say, "A dozen oysters" and let the server randomly select some for you? If that's true, why couldn't he just say that?

I still can't tell you what we were supposed to have done. He shouted a few sarcastic questions... "So do you like them meaty? Creamy? We have all kinds, you know. What do you want? West coast? East coast?" He was clearly incensed - though at my work, I'm delighted to have customers. I guess not everyone is.

My bad for not walking out right there. We quietly ordered 6 raw oysters and some steamed clams.

Later, another very good server (thus the 2-star rating) noted in shock that the table that had come in after us received their food first, and that our server had not given us any bread, though all other tables had some. The same, good server, when clearing the empty clam shells, was surprised that our hot clams had been served before our raw oysters, which took a good 20 mins to come. (6 of them, remember.)

We left angry, more for the demeaning attitude of the first server, and when the bill came and it was tip time, he was sweet as pie.

We tipped in accordance with our experience, and we will never go back. I guess with the Olympics coming, some restaurants aren't worried about providing a nice experience. My money will go elsewhere.

My husband and I ate here for ToY, which runs till the end of October. They're offering a whole 1.5 pound Atlantic lobster and 8 oz NY sirloin steak plus your choice of dessert for $45. We started our meal off with a few oysters, which were very good. They have so many sauces for the oysters, which are also great for dipping the bread. We then had the New England clam chowder, which was also very good. We shared the lobster and steak (the server suggested sharing and I'm not quite sure how one person could eat both). Both were delicious. Lobster came with melted butter for dipping and was cooked perfectly. Steak was also seasoned to perfection and tender. We ended the evening with the cheesecake, which was delicious. The other dessert options were banana creme brulee, pumpkin pie, and chocolate mousse. A fantastic value and I may be back before ToY ends.

I also had to smile when I read the complaints about rude staff at Rodney's, particularly the hostesses. They got rid of one really bad one and hired another from what I experienced last night. If this is part of the theme of the restaurant, it doesn't work. Also, beware of rude "first mates" telling you that you have to leave, in the middle of a new order for drinks. We had just spent $200.00 or more on food and wine. We had to find our own table by asking if we could join another, after waiting over one hour. We were not there for more than 1.5 hours and we were being ushered out the door. Very rudely handled by the "first mate" He told us he didn't care what we thought. I had a restaurant review person in my party and the review is not going to be a good one! Food is good, service can be a little lacking in diplomacy.

Rodneys has always been a favourite or ours. Having recently just moving back to the city after working in New York was craving Oysters.
Settling back in Yaletown decided to hit Rodneys friday night. Excellent service with top notch Kushi's !
Reasonable for Yaletown and much more reasonable than eating oysters at Blue Water. Comfy joint but needs a revamp in the dining room. All in all, thumbs up !

Have always wanted to try this place but never had a chance. When one of my girlfriends suggested it I jumped to the opportunity. Great Place, good service and unreal oysters! The room has a great feel to it and honestly wish I had been there sooner in my dining career. Not the cheapest place in the city, but still overall good value.
We will be going back soon!

I was going to Yaletown and stubled upon this place. There was a menu on the outside for "Low Tide". I was quite impressed. When I read reviews on this, I thought it was an expensive, snooty place.

The "Low Tide" menu had the raw oysters on there for half price ($1.50/each). I think it was only Sunday to Thursday. It was so......good. Their pan friend oysters were also VERY tasty.

I thought the service wasn't bad at all. The waiters there were nice and funny. However, the only complaint I have for the waitress that brought me to the table was quite rude. I wasn't too sure what was wrong, but she seems quite cranky. I thought with the spirit of the other waiters, the two waitresses would atleast have some kink of spunk, but some peeved her off and she's taking it out on the rest of the customers, which is quite unfortunate.

After the dinner, I ordered a Chocolate Mousse. I thought it was quite expensive. It was $6.25 for a small portion.

I recently stopped by Rodney's on a cold winter day. My daughter and I had a couple "New England" chowders and some Panfried Oysters. The chowders were hot and hearty and the cooked oysters were lovely if not unique.

We sat at the bar which seems the place to be. The chairs are perfect height to be able to absorb the room while enjoying the banter of your neighbour or the handsome barmen.

It was lunchtime and maybe half full, but our food came promptly. Even though our lunch was put on pause a few times by some rather odd humour I would go back in a flash.

Keep it up.

Rodney's is substantially busy, and understandably so. Waitstaff service was exceptional - the waiters really know their menu and wine list, and have honest recommendations for every palate. The oysters (that I had a chance to try) were delicious, and I loved that there were a selection of sauces to try them with. The banana pepper chutney was my favourite! The clam chowder, however, was nothing special. It was lukewarm and had about three clams in the entire bowl.

Upon entering Rodneys, we were told that there would be a wait, and shoved into the back holding area that served a (very) limited menu. In my opinion, this is Rodney's way of gouging you. You're waiting, you're getting increasingly hungry, and subsequently you end having to order more booze and appetizers that you may not have ordered, had you gotten proper seating in the first place.

We were held ransom for over an hour. The hostess did not come by to check on us or to update us on our seating situation, while there were empty seats upstairs and in the main lounge area. When we questioned this, we were told to wait while they checked with management / waitstaff / ??? about the status of those tables. We weren't told anything by the hostess until we left fifteen minutes later when we were exiting the restaurant.

The restaurant looked like it had so much to offer, but it would take a lot for me to forget this first experience. There are loads of other places in Vancouver for raw oysters and delicious seafood - Joe Fortes, Monk McQueens, Fish House, or Provence. None of them have notably snotty, unexperienced hostesses waiting at the door.