Clark's Oyster Bar

Jim Maliksi

A great new addition to downtown Menlo Park! The restaurant is beautifully designed with a cozy New England diner ambiance. We had clam chowder, oysters, a wedge salad, crab omelette, and affogato—all delicious and expertly prepared. Our attentive waiter brought out incredible sourdough bread and butter as soon as we were seated, setting the tone for a wonderful meal. The atmosphere is friendly and casual. Can’t wait to go back and try more dishes!

Olivier Sauquet

Fantastic addition in Menlo Park. I loved the oysters and the linguine with clams! Super nice staff.

Tiffany van Londen

Great service, delicious food, spritz and dessert. Outstanding skate fish, salad with crab, affogato with bourbon ice cream and profiteroles.

Went with my parents and the whole family liked it - we were hesitant because it seemed to have low reviews, but it was honestly wonderful! Taking my husband back next weekend.

I honestly can’t believe this place doesn’t have a line out the door and a statue in its honor. My husband and I are obsessed — like “plan our week around it” obsessed. And trust me, I’m a seafood snob who has no patience for mediocre sashimi. The sashimi sampler (especially the hamachi) is melt-in-your-mouth perfection, the oysters taste like they were flown in on angel wings, and don’t even get me started on that sourdough — it deserves its own fan club. It’s giving “upscale East Coast seafood joint,” but somehow in Menlo Park, which feels like winning the culinary lottery. And the cocktails? So good I temporarily forgot we have a baby and responsibilities.

First time visitor and was impressed by the food and service! The cocktails are amazing and it's clear the bartenders know what they are doing , especially with drink presentation. For food we had the Clam chowder, Octopus, Fries, and the whole Branzino. Clam chowder was delicious and is some of the best I've had in the bay so far -- they serve it with Tobasco which was perfect. The Branzino fell right off the bone and didn't even need a dipping sauce with how delicious it was. The only small nit I have is the fries are true shoe string fries so a little difficult to eat

Had lunch here with my family and we loved it. The oysters were unbelievably fresh and all the seafood was delicious. The bread is out of this world - you have to try it. Service was friendly and made us feel really welcome. Such a great spot!

Valentina Kauf

Had lunch here with my family and we loved it. The oysters were unbelievably fresh and all the seafood was delicious. The bread is out of this world - you have to try it. Service was friendly and made us feel really welcome. Such a great spot!

Priya Gupta

First time visitor and was impressed by the food and service! The cocktails are amazing and it's clear the bartenders know what they are doing , especially with drink presentation. For food we had the Clam chowder, Octopus, Fries, and the whole Branzino. Clam chowder was delicious and is some of the best I've had in the bay so far -- they serve it with Tobasco which was perfect. The Branzino fell right off the bone and didn't even need a dipping sauce with how delicious it was. The only small nit I have is the fries are true shoe string fries so a little difficult to eat

Chloe Holmes

I honestly can’t believe this place doesn’t have a line out the door and a statue in its honor. My husband and I are obsessed — like “plan our week around it” obsessed. And trust me, I’m a seafood snob who has no patience for mediocre sashimi. The sashimi sampler (especially the hamachi) is melt-in-your-mouth perfection, the oysters taste like they were flown in on angel wings, and don’t even get me started on that sourdough — it deserves its own fan club. It’s giving “upscale East Coast seafood joint,” but somehow in Menlo Park, which feels like winning the culinary lottery. And the cocktails? So good I temporarily forgot we have a baby and responsibilities.

Katina Ballantyne

We love Clark’s! The food is fantastic and the cocktails are excellent. This is a fun date night spot and contrary to the other reviews, I didn’t have a hard time hearing my husband speak and think the volume level is just fine! It’s just a fun and lively restaurant and I’m so glad downtown Menlo Park has a new spot!

Unique menu items. First time trying Burnt Honey Ice Cream and Crispy baby potatoes with bell pepper tomato chutney. For starters, they bring out yummy fresh sourdough bread with whipped butter and coarse salt on the side. Not overly sour. Good soft texture with a slight chewy to it. Bread is complimentary. Also had the Dungeness Crab Omelette, Buttermilk Pancakes, New England Clam Chowder and Basque Cake for dessert. Pancakes were yummy. Definitely had buttermilk in the perfect amount. Clam Chowder was good too. Not too clammy with very tasty soup. Fresh lumps of crab folded inside the omelette. Accompanied by crispy roasted baby potatoes with what tasted like tomato bell pepper sauce that's similarly prepared to a chimichurri sauce. The Burnt Honey Ice Cream came with the Basque Cake. Cake was mildly sweetened. Most of the sweetess was from the ice cream that tasted like toffee. Nice relaxed ambiance in a bright dining room. Nice friendly staff. Pricey but they definitely paid attention to details and had good quality ingredients.

Our first visit here to this new place that is in the same location as Ann’s coffee shop diner that had been in downtown Menlo Park for ever. The Austin based outfit has just opened its first location in Califonria. We sat in the outside patio which housed an old flower shop. They have heaters so it was quite comfortable. I had a beer and was craving a burger which was on the smaller side maybe half a big as what I expected. Came with shoestring fries very crispy but I prefer the thicker cuts. We also shared a beat salad which was very good can came with crunchy pecan nuts. I also had blackened Mahi Mahi and our friends had the Lobster roll and linguini with clams. For desert we shared the chocolate bread pudding which came with a dollop of ice cream and was very good . Also the key lime pie was a nice size with a good crust and not too lemony or too sweet. We hope to go again and try some other dishes

Having gone to the original Clark’s in Austin, I consider myself a fan. I saw that they opened recently in Menlo Park and decided to see if they were the same Clark’s and, upon arrival, it was clear they were. They nailed the decor with an expansive bar seating area, plentiful tables, high ceiling and a memorable clear fish tank like the Austin location. They also have outdoor seating like the Austin location that is very popular. We were seated shortly after arrival for lunch and the restaurant was about 1/3 full having recently open and on a weekday. Our server took our order and the complimentary sour dough bread came. It’s absolutely delicious and the simple radish, sea salt and butter are the perfect complement. Although I’m watching carbs, I soon found myself finishing the whole thing because it was that good but also because after ordering, the wait was longer than expected (~35 minutes). I’m guessing it’s opening kinks as they’ll have to speed up if it gets busier or to get the work crowd back in time for their 1 hour lunch. Our main order were the oysters and we went with the recommendation of all East Coast ones at $4.50, highlighted by Pink Moon and the St. Simon. The oyster shucker may have not been the fastest but the quality and flavor for our dozen oysters was excellent. This area doesn’t have many oyster options anymore so Clark’s already sets the bar. Next, we had the chowder and while it’s a bit light on clams, I loved the serving temp (very hot), plentiful celery and bacon, and hearty bacon. Finally, we finished with both a lobster roll and a crab Louie salad. Both are pricey but were perfect for sharing and again temp was perfect (warm toasted lobster roll, cold lobster pieces, chilled lettuce for the salad). Overall, despite the minor wait, we had great service with servers checking in multiple times, offering water refills and busing our dishes that we had finished. Clark’s is a seafood and oyster bar that the Peninsula really lacks and while the prices are higher, the quality is better; it’s more polished and authentic than Restoration Hardware, the old Scott’s Seafood, or nearby Cook’s. Welcome to Menlo Park! It’s been tough with establishments closing in downtown MP, but Clark’s is a welcome addition. Clark’s accepts reservations but walk-ins are accepted. Dining is available indoor and outdoor and all credit cards are accepted.

Pricy but yummy. First time there. We ordered mussels and clams, crab omelette and lobster rolls. Food quality is no doubt, fresh and delicious. But the environment is definitely loud and price is high. With that high price, usually we expected higher quality of environment and atmosphere. I believe some sound prove system might help a lot of decrease the loudness. Pricy but delicious. It was our first time there. We ordered mussels and clams, a crab omelette, and lobster rolls. The food quality is undoubtedly fresh and delicious. However, the environment is quite loud and the prices are quite high. Considering the high prices, we usually expect a higher quality of environment and atmosphere. I believe installing some soundproofing systems could significantly reduce the noise level. Interesting style of French fries! Kids like it.

Sanjay Subhedar

Our first visit here to this new place that is in the same location as Ann’s coffee shop diner that had been in downtown Menlo Park for ever. The Austin based outfit has just opened its first location in Califonria. We sat in the outside patio which housed an old flower shop. They have heaters so it was quite comfortable. I had a beer and was craving a burger which was on the smaller side maybe half a big as what I expected. Came with shoestring fries very crispy but I prefer the thicker cuts. We also shared a beat salad which was very good can came with crunchy pecan nuts. I also had blackened Mahi Mahi and our friends had the Lobster roll and linguini with clams. For desert we shared the chocolate bread pudding which came with a dollop of ice cream and was very good . Also the key lime pie was a nice size with a good crust and not too lemony or too sweet. We hope to go again and try some other dishes

Randy F.

Having gone to the original Clark’s in Austin, I consider myself a fan. I saw that they opened recently in Menlo Park and decided to see if they were the same Clark’s and, upon arrival, it was clear they were. They nailed the decor with an expansive bar seating area, plentiful tables, high ceiling and a memorable clear fish tank like the Austin location. They also have outdoor seating like the Austin location that is very popular. We were seated shortly after arrival for lunch and the restaurant was about 1/3 full having recently open and on a weekday. Our server took our order and the complimentary sour dough bread came. It’s absolutely delicious and the simple radish, sea salt and butter are the perfect complement. Although I’m watching carbs, I soon found myself finishing the whole thing because it was that good but also because after ordering, the wait was longer than expected (~35 minutes). I’m guessing it’s opening kinks as they’ll have to speed up if it gets busier or to get the work crowd back in time for their 1 hour lunch. Our main order were the oysters and we went with the recommendation of all East Coast ones at $4.50, highlighted by Pink Moon and the St. Simon. The oyster shucker may have not been the fastest but the quality and flavor for our dozen oysters was excellent. This area doesn’t have many oyster options anymore so Clark’s already sets the bar. Next, we had the chowder and while it’s a bit light on clams, I loved the serving temp (very hot), plentiful celery and bacon, and hearty bacon. Finally, we finished with both a lobster roll and a crab Louie salad. Both are pricey but were perfect for sharing and again temp was perfect (warm toasted lobster roll, cold lobster pieces, chilled lettuce for the salad). Overall, despite the minor wait, we had great service with servers checking in multiple times, offering water refills and busing our dishes that we had finished. Clark’s is a seafood and oyster bar that the Peninsula really lacks and while the prices are higher, the quality is better; it’s more polished and authentic than Restoration Hardware, the old Scott’s Seafood, or nearby Cook’s. Welcome to Menlo Park! It’s been tough with establishments closing in downtown MP, but Clark’s is a welcome addition. Clark’s accepts reservations but walk-ins are accepted. Dining is available indoor and outdoor and all credit cards are accepted.

Hsin-Ling Tan

Pricy but yummy. First time there. We ordered mussels and clams, crab omelette and lobster rolls. Food quality is no doubt, fresh and delicious. But the environment is definitely loud and price is high. With that high price, usually we expected higher quality of environment and atmosphere. I believe some sound prove system might help a lot of decrease the loudness. Pricy but delicious. It was our first time there. We ordered mussels and clams, a crab omelette, and lobster rolls. The food quality is undoubtedly fresh and delicious. However, the environment is quite loud and the prices are quite high. Considering the high prices, we usually expect a higher quality of environment and atmosphere. I believe installing some soundproofing systems could significantly reduce the noise level. Interesting style of French fries! Kids like it.

Popped into Clark’s Oyster Bar in Menlo Park for a seafood fix, and the staff welcomed us with warm vibes! 😄 The mussels and clams were pretty tasty, though the mussels weren’t as plump as I’d hoped, especially coming from fancier seafood spots. The real star? Their in-house sourdough bread—crusty, chewy, and so good I nearly forgot to save room for the main course! The cioppino, though, was saltier than a sailor’s curse—dial it back, chefs! Meanwhile, the king salmon was a win: tender, with skin so crispy it could star in a cooking show. Service was a bit sluggish for a not-so-busy time, but overall, Clark’s is a decent spot for a seafood night. Just watch the salt shaker! 🦪

My husband and I went to Clark’s for his birthday lunch. We started out liking the ambience and were excited about the menu options. Although the waiter was really nice, he was not helpful and was hard to understand from time to time. It started off fine. Again, he seemed really friendly and wanted to be helpful. Just that he wasn’t actually helpful. We were seated, got our menu, asked if we wanted water (sparkling), asked if we wanted bread, got our bread and finally got to order. It was almost a different person each time bringing us our stuff. In between each step after we got our menu we tried to flag down our waiter to order food. The process took ~ 10 mins to finally order food. It’s fine, we’re having a good day. All is good. We then finished all of our bread and over half of the bottle of the sparkling water. It was 50 minutes from the moment we RECEIVED our bread to when we received our food. I know because that’s the time I took the photo of the bread. We ordered a clam chowder soup, beef tartare, a dozen oysters, and a lobster roll. Someone explain to me how it takes 50 mins to serve at least one of these appetizers. In between the 50 minutes I had asked repeatedly if we could just get the clam chowder soup to start because we’re starving. The waiter repeatedly said it was coming. It’s almost ready. 50 minutes later, we received our food and everything (except our Lobster roll) came out at the same time. So only appetizers took 50 mins. Why couldn’t we get them one at a time? We were so hungry. The waiter keeps telling me that there’s 3 more oysters to shuck. Maybe give us our soup first? Or beef tartare? He just keeps telling us that the food is coming. We ended up sending back our beef tartare because it was too salty to keep eating. There was an ingredient in there that makes it salty before the added salt and pepper. We really wanted to try it with less salt and this time I think the cook just went with no salt at all, just pepper. I could see only the pepper and no salt because it was not mixed well. You could argue that salt was just melted into the beef, but that part where all of the seasoning was should have been extra salty then. The flavoring was just off. I was too hungry to care at that point, but at least it was edible the second time. Just don’t order the beef tartare here. For the price of this meal, we really have to rethink whether it’s just best to go to Hog Island Oysters in SF. Or quite honestly, Zola nearby had pretty tasty oysters too and much better service for roughly the same price. If I had to recommend food at Clark’s, I would say get the west coast oysters, the frites, and the lobster roll. The lobster roll with frites was good, could use a tiny bit more salt on the lobster itself. By the end, we wanted dessert but guess what? We couldn’t flag down the waiter. So after 1.5 hours of lunch for oysters, soup, beef tartare, and the lobster roll we decided we didn’t want to wait possibly 30 mins for a scoop of ice cream because it took another 10 mins to get his attention. ~5 mins for the check, fortunately he was already getting another table’s check. We had to ask other staff in between to help us, because although we explicitly said we were going to share, no sharing utensils were provided. Like an extra bowl for the soup. All in all, the check came in 2:11pm when we sat down at 12:38pm according to the receipt. We ate really quickly too, like 20 mins? So for this lunch to take almost 2 hours feels sort of ridiculous. If you read any of my reviews I rarely give anything less than a 4 stars but this was a really poor experience overall. I don’t know if we’ll go back again. Also, for the price of a restaurant like this, for birthday’s, usually a scoop of ice cream/ dessert is provided. I had really high hopes for this place but we were really disappointed. It was a surprise birthday lunch so this really sucked. We didn’t even take a photo together for his birthday because we just wanted to get out of there 😓

Stephen P

Popped into Clark’s Oyster Bar in Menlo Park for a seafood fix, and the staff welcomed us with warm vibes! 😄 The mussels and clams were pretty tasty, though the mussels weren’t as plump as I’d hoped, especially coming from fancier seafood spots. The real star? Their in-house sourdough bread—crusty, chewy, and so good I nearly forgot to save room for the main course! The cioppino, though, was saltier than a sailor’s curse—dial it back, chefs! Meanwhile, the king salmon was a win: tender, with skin so crispy it could star in a cooking show. Service was a bit sluggish for a not-so-busy time, but overall, Clark’s is a decent spot for a seafood night. Just watch the salt shaker! 🦪

Kim

My husband and I went to Clark’s for his birthday lunch. We started out liking the ambience and were excited about the menu options. Although the waiter was really nice, he was not helpful and was hard to understand from time to time. It started off fine. Again, he seemed really friendly and wanted to be helpful. Just that he wasn’t actually helpful. We were seated, got our menu, asked if we wanted water (sparkling), asked if we wanted bread, got our bread and finally got to order. It was almost a different person each time bringing us our stuff. In between each step after we got our menu we tried to flag down our waiter to order food. The process took ~ 10 mins to finally order food. It’s fine, we’re having a good day. All is good. We then finished all of our bread and over half of the bottle of the sparkling water. It was 50 minutes from the moment we RECEIVED our bread to when we received our food. I know because that’s the time I took the photo of the bread. We ordered a clam chowder soup, beef tartare, a dozen oysters, and a lobster roll. Someone explain to me how it takes 50 mins to serve at least one of these appetizers. In between the 50 minutes I had asked repeatedly if we could just get the clam chowder soup to start because we’re starving. The waiter repeatedly said it was coming. It’s almost ready. 50 minutes later, we received our food and everything (except our Lobster roll) came out at the same time. So only appetizers took 50 mins. Why couldn’t we get them one at a time? We were so hungry. The waiter keeps telling me that there’s 3 more oysters to shuck. Maybe give us our soup first? Or beef tartare? He just keeps telling us that the food is coming. We ended up sending back our beef tartare because it was too salty to keep eating. There was an ingredient in there that makes it salty before the added salt and pepper. We really wanted to try it with less salt and this time I think the cook just went with no salt at all, just pepper. I could see only the pepper and no salt because it was not mixed well. You could argue that salt was just melted into the beef, but that part where all of the seasoning was should have been extra salty then. The flavoring was just off. I was too hungry to care at that point, but at least it was edible the second time. Just don’t order the beef tartare here. For the price of this meal, we really have to rethink whether it’s just best to go to Hog Island Oysters in SF. Or quite honestly, Zola nearby had pretty tasty oysters too and much better service for roughly the same price. If I had to recommend food at Clark’s, I would say get the west coast oysters, the frites, and the lobster roll. The lobster roll with frites was good, could use a tiny bit more salt on the lobster itself. By the end, we wanted dessert but guess what? We couldn’t flag down the waiter. So after 1.5 hours of lunch for oysters, soup, beef tartare, and the lobster roll we decided we didn’t want to wait possibly 30 mins for a scoop of ice cream because it took another 10 mins to get his attention. ~5 mins for the check, fortunately he was already getting another table’s check. We had to ask other staff in between to help us, because although we explicitly said we were going to share, no sharing utensils were provided. Like an extra bowl for the soup. All in all, the check came in 2:11pm when we sat down at 12:38pm according to the receipt. We ate really quickly too, like 20 mins? So for this lunch to take almost 2 hours feels sort of ridiculous. If you read any of my reviews I rarely give anything less than a 4 stars but this was a really poor experience overall. I don’t know if we’ll go back again. Also, for the price of a restaurant like this, for birthday’s, usually a scoop of ice cream/ dessert is provided. I had really high hopes for this place but we were really disappointed. It was a surprise birthday lunch so this really sucked. We didn’t even take a photo together for his birthday because we just wanted to get out of there 😓

Great food and service but very expensive for what you get and a loud atmosphere that makes it hard to have a conversation. Our server was helpful to choose a diverse set of favorite dishes. The food was very good, but portions were quite small.

Food is better than OK but the service staff is so persistent to make you orders. A dining should be a lunch sit and talk and relax .You can’t even talk every seven minutes six minutes the staff show up for you to make another order after another order and I am like dude I’m here to have a conversation as well while I eat. It just breaks the conversation. I like to go, but I want the service staff to it push as food is expensive that’s why bill as much as you can?

Chris S

Great food and service but very expensive for what you get and a loud atmosphere that makes it hard to have a conversation. Our server was helpful to choose a diverse set of favorite dishes. The food was very good, but portions were quite small.

Steve Boom

3.5 stars. Decor is great, service was very attentive and friendly. Food was good but not great. The shrimp toast was excellent. The halibut was overcooked -- and not a generous portion considering it was $45 or more. The fries (side dish) didn't come until after we had all finished our main courses. But, they did the right thing and took it off the bill. Overall pretty good. Prices are way too high for the quality and quantity. It's still a new restaurant so I assume they'll fix the kitchen issues, like serving the side dishes at the same time as the main courses. And, as many others have commented, they need to install some sound baffles -- it's way too loud inside.

Very disappointed in our visit here. When the waiter actually says he can't recommend anything as "they don't let me eat here" and is not kidding, the disdain is apparent. Drinks were just ok - martini wasn't very cold and only half full, Manhattan didn't contain a cherry and took 10 minutes to flag someone down to ask for it. Most impressive thing on the menu were the fries but they are so thin that they are difficult to eat and get cold quickly. Sadly we will not be returning as the atmosphere and location are wonderful.

Melissa Montoya

Very disappointed in our visit here. When the waiter actually says he can't recommend anything as "they don't let me eat here" and is not kidding, the disdain is apparent. Drinks were just ok - martini wasn't very cold and only half full, Manhattan didn't contain a cherry and took 10 minutes to flag someone down to ask for it. Most impressive thing on the menu were the fries but they are so thin that they are difficult to eat and get cold quickly. Sadly we will not be returning as the atmosphere and location are wonderful.

Robert Winter

I am not price sensitive. But way over-priced. Example they charge $45 for a lobster roll … left bank and BBC, both within 2 blocks, charge around $30. And it’s the same dish and quality. It’s like let’s stick it to the Californians.

Sharon Fotre

Went to Clarke’s last night to celebrate a friend’s birthday. The minute we walked in we couldn’t believe how loud it was. Obviously insulation for sound control was not done when this place was remodeled. We had cocktails at the bar .. ordered a bottle of wine to go with dinner and a dozen oysters. At this stage we realized how impossible it was to even hear each other speak and had to yell and repeat everything we said. Such a terrible atmosphere!!!! After all you go out to dinner to talk and catch up! We ended up taking our wine and leaving to go across the road to another restaurant. The waitress told us everyone complains about the noise and that they hopefully plan to do something about it. BTW … our bill for one bottle of wine, 3 cocktails and a dozen oysters was close to $250 !!!!! Such a bad experience!!!