Black Pearl Oyster Bar and Grille in Galveston Island

While the raw oysters were good, the crab cakes and fish tacos left much to be desired. My crawfish etouffee was bland and covered in grease. I tried to sap it up with my napkin, spoon and extra rice but nothing helped. The restaurant did take it off our tab. In the picture, the sauce was a cream color while the grease was orange.

Decent service, good food. I had one bad oyster in the dozen. Fried food was delicious. Boudain balls weren't spicy at all. Stay away from the margarita. The bread pudding for desert was incredible. Great place for fried food and a cold beer.

Oh my Po-Boy....this place! Homemade romilad sauce, over stuffed po-boys with fresh baguette rolls, huge portions (totally shareable), great service, fresh hand dipped onion rings and hand cut french fries, boudin balls fried to perfection. This is a must if you are in Galveston and looking for that perfect little haunt to get your oyster fix. (Excuse the half eaten portion pics, but we simply couldn't eat it all). See you there!

Very good food. The wait was kind of long and our waitress was not great.

Best seafood place in Galveston. Huge portions, amazing seafood dishes! Fresh oysters on the half she'll were perfect! Servers kind, caring, fun, and great at what they do! Great hidey hole!

Incredible food, great service and I’ll definitely eat here again. For starters my shrimp Po-boy was a sight to behold and was delicious. The portion was huge but it was so good I had to eat it all. The red beans and rice was equally good. The restaurant was busy but our food came quickly. The staff was friendly and attentive and the the atmosphere was authentic. Next time in Galveston I’ll it at the Black Pearl, it’s worth the trip.

The Black Pearl has not disappointed us yet, The stuffed flounder was delicious, cooked perfectly JUST ORDER IT WHEN YOU GET YOUR DRUNKS, AS IT TAKES A WHILE. The staff was friendly and attentive, The atmosphere is quaint and casual. Great location to the Strand, parking was a block away. We drove a hour and a half just to eat here, so worth it. Wait times depend on time of year.

Last weekend we were at the end of our rope trying to find a restaurant that would accomidiate 8 adults & 6 kiddos. We finally found this place. Even though they are small they made it happen. Much to our surprise the food was killer. EVERYTHING was amazing & we ordered a lot. Thanks to the cooks, waitress, & staff that put up with us. We truley enjoyed everything!!!

Almost every dish is fried and the volume of each dish could feed 3 people at a time. One of the salads my friend ordered was shrimp but they dumped like a gallon on thousand island on it and made it inedible. Service was really good though as our waitress helped us with anything we needed including not charging us for the salad. Oysters here are cheap but just okay as they are more on the bland side. Wouldn't come here again, I can see the appeal though if you're really into fried food.

Let the good times roll w this great local spot. Good prices and the food is fantastic. Amazing fried okra and onion rings.

Great Oyster bar in Galveston. Oysters are fresh and food was great. I ordered the Oysters and Shrimp PoBoy with homemade onion rings. Order was prepared fresh and came out hot. The only negative thing is the waiter needed to pay more attention to his tables. I had to remind him to bring a glass of wine, and I didn’t have any extra napkins. He was more interested with the bartender then service. I recommend this restaurant to anyone, but don’t let the guy in the photos wait on you.

Love this place, it's our go to every time we're in Galveston. The bartender mixes a great margarita and the food is consistently excellent.

They certainly do everything big in Texas! The Catfish Po Boy was enormous and look at the mountain of shrimp on the Shrimp Salad!! The fried mushrooms were delicious and the oysters were perfect AND half off during happy hour! 1 dozen for the price of half dozen.

We were disappointed that they didn't serve oysters at 2:45. So we opted for the fish tacos. The fish was good, the tacos were covered in red cabbage?? Our server couldn't recommend much on the menu, didn't eat fish, etc.... vegetarian. Didn't offer what other customers enjoyed. Just what she didn't. Another table asked about the bloody Mary's. Said she didn't drink... they sent their crab and shrimp balls back. Said they tasted frozen not fresh.

Great food! The poboys are massive and delicious!

Nice atmosphere and friendly staff! My friends Po-Boy was awesome...mine was not. The fried oysters were drenched in too much buffalo sauce which made them soft and mushy. The flavor was good...just way too much sauce. I would definitely give it another try!

Great local restaurant. The food was very good and service was excellent. Prices were $$. I had the grilled salmon with baked potato. Grilled to perfection and moist. Would prefer a wider selection of tap beer but went with Shiner Bock. Would of liked at least one craft beer. My friend had the Red Snapper and thought it was real good.

Food was a bit slow in coming out. Food was good. They did not seem to be practicing social distancing as expected. No paper menus, gave out bottle of ketchup and salt and pepper shakes. Table spacing was too close. Other wise service was good.

The crab poppers are large, unique and delicious. Love them! Overall all of our seafood was perfectly prepared and really very good. The gumbo was very good as well. If you are looking for seafood on the island you aren't going to get better than this.

Amazing food, accommodating service, clean restaurant, with little wait for 5 during the day and big portions for $12-$15

Oysters were great and they shuck them right in front of you. Every other dish we got was huge and could feed multiple people which isn't exactly a bad thing.. but nothing special. Next time I'll just order oysters. Service was alright. We sat at the bar and didn't see our bartender much.

Horrible steak overcooked and no flavor took forever to get a drink. Verry hot when asked staff they said manager locked office and they can't adjust AC. Definitely will never go back!!

Oysters tasted so fresh! Best stuffed mushrooms I’ve had.

We loved it! The food was delicious, drinks were affordable. Staff was friendly and attentive. My husband said it was the best meal he has had at a restaurant in a long time.

Excellent seafood dishes and a nice atmosphere.

Wow! Just happened upon The Black Pearl while in town for work. Outstanding food and big portions! Definitely a must visit.

They Have Gator Bites! And much More. Nice atmosphere the bar is my favorite place to drink. All round Good place off the 🚢 cruise ship to stop at.

Hubby and I were seeking a great place for oysters during our stay. We always try to find local spots and found this gem. Ate here twice this week. Thoroughly enjoyed the oysters, ceviche and gator bites. We visit the island frequently and will definitely be back.

Gumbo was good...a little too much celery not enough okra. The stuffed Jalapeno peppers are good, but the crust was too hard! Been there a few times always a good plate... Was Rally time and they were busy. Service is always fast and friendly!

Went on a really really busy night. Staff was overwhelmed and food was all undercooked. Waitress pretty much threw in the towel and quit coming to the table.

Good casual vibe, reliable food quality, mostly fried. Great Apps

Very disappointed. But just opened after covid 19. Don't know if I'll go back and try again? Cajun shrimp was hard and oysters was definitely not the best around.

Things started off a little iffy due to the size of place(we had a party of 10) and no kids menu. However, after we got the food which portion size here was done correctly and the quality was top notch, I didn't care about a kids menu or the smaller space. Some of the best food I've had.

Really good boudin balls, fried oysters,shrimp & catfish. Thick Hamburger patties & flavorful fish tacos. Bar drinks had good price & not light on alcohol content. Staff works hard & are courteous. Another good experience. Will return.

Almost a great place! Just a bit off. Food is very good. Chef delivers. Bar is off, tales too long to get a drink. Too much attitude. No music. But set up and glass is cool.. Really trying, but wait and bar staff killed experience. Will try again, hope they get some enthusiasm behind the bar and wait staff that has timing. Though enough to write this much, a rarity. Has that much potential.

We come annually and it is so good. Food is really good, nice down home service... Just a great little experience! Skip the touristy places and come downtown...

Small restaurant with a cool vibe. They put together some tables to seat 11 of us which was great considering the whole place had maybe 12 tables total (and a bar with plenty of seats). The service was good and attentive. I shared some grilled oysters Rockefeller with the table and they were tasty. Wife and i shared a half muffaletta, but i wouldn't get it there again. Everyone else enjoyed their gumbo, fried oysters, and whatever else they had.

We had great service sitting at the bar! We tried the raw oysters, calamari, and ceviche! It was perfect for the 3 of us. Fun place, good service, great food. We'll return for sure next time we're in Galveston.

This is a great place to have an excellent meal in Galveston! I recommend the seafood gumbo or the oyster bisque to start. Then go with any of the seafood dishes... you can't go wrong. And leave room for some bread pudding with bourbon sauce for dessert!!

Great food by the strand. Clean restrooms, little high on the prices and super nice staff. Owner needs to up grade air in restaurant...was not working very well at all.

Great service from an outstanding server and some of the best raw oysters I’ve had in a while unfortunately were followed by the most disappointing, soggy poboy ive ever had. The menu said it was oysters with cajun sauce and bleu cheese but it was very clearly buffalo and way to much which made the sandwich a terrible mess. The manager showed me a picture of the sauce jug and the brand is CajunChef hot sauce. Thats the brand....so ....still buffalo sauce. Terrible sandwich for a premium price.

Amazing food!! Really great portions

Visited in the afternoon specially for raw oysters and was not disappointed! Sat at the bar and enjoyed great customer service. Plan to continue to support this establishment through these " unprecedented times".

Great bar and great food. The service was perfect. Overall a great experience!

Raw oysters were cold and well shucked. We all enjoyed our food. Loved sitting in front window seats. Lively crowd and good service.

Nice little place to grab a beer and some oysters. Only reason they got 4 stars is because the dismal beer on tap, Bud light, Miller, Stella, Shiner is all on Tap. Ok but they could use at least a Dos XX or a Blue moon to the mix. Oysters were also small, good but tiny. Took two to cover a Saltine cracker. Flavor was good and Gumbo was a 8 out of a 1-10. 10 being the best. Shrimp Po-boy was excellent & the Black pearl salad with Blackened Shrimp was to write home to Momma about.

Amazing. Food, dish variety, service A+, atmosphere relaxed. We had oysters on the half shell during happy hour between 5-7pm and save a few bucks per dozen. The baked oysters were awesome especially the Rockefeller - my favorite out of the three styles we tried. Gumbo was delicious and authentic. Server was really cool and gave us the low down on the whole menu like she had tried everything - and I'm sure she had. I'll be back here every time we come to Galveston, for sure.

AMAZING SERVICE!! I recently had bite bloclers put in. This prevents me from chewing. I asked if an off menu item that is for dinner only was available at lunch menu time. They made it for me!! I am very limited on my food choices right now and they made feel welcome and cared for under my circumstances.

Best place for seafood on the island! Went for lunch had shrimp poboy with onion rings. Onion rings were home made and excellent. Huge poboy just as great but best was waitress behind the bar. Ana was attentive to my tea glass being 1/2 full and brought out fresh glass of cool tea. Excellent service. Always coming here when in Galveston.

I have been there many times. They have always provided excellent service with clean surroundings. Good prices on menue with good selection. Sea food abundant with hamburgers available. Jim