Sandbar Fish House and Market Reviews

If I could give 2 grades I would, because the staff was GREAT. I will say that the food was subpar. I have had the pleasure of different jobs sending me to 5 star restaurants. This was not that good. I had the Shrimp Ceviche for an appetizer, and it was okay. Very little taste and over priced. It came with 5 medium shrimp. With it being shrimp season it shouldn't be that expensive. Plus, I felt like I could have made it myself. I had the Maine Crab Cake for dinner and that was not good. I've had better many other places, I got more than one cake, and paid a lot less. (You may think well the crab wasn't fresh, but that would be wrong because it was caught fresh that day from the local bay) I would not go back for the food ever again. But if you want a great servers, then this is the place to go.

Really exceptional food. Great service. Very classy place, located in the Pearl Brewery. Rather expensive, but worth it if you like seafood! Known for a good oyster bar.

Hanger steak and fries. Terrible plain steak, and the most annoying fries available in a restaurant.

Made reservations after frequenting The Pearl, never tried this restaurant. Viewed the website, food/menu look amazing!! Called to make reservations... They asked if I've dined with them before, have not. Let me know "the restaurant has gone casual, menu has entirely changed, is that okay?"

Our reservation was delayed 20 mins before we were seated. We first received a selection of citrus for our water which was nice and unique. Also unique was the purse stools (yes, they exist) for the ladies purses beside their chairs. We then ordered a few bottles of wine (party of eight) and some appetizers. This leads to my biggest gripe about the Sandbar which was the wait. Our party of eight waited 20 minutes for our wine, then another 40 minutes for our appetizers, and finally another hour for our entrees. That is a two hour wait for our meals. That is entirely too long and indicative of a poor staffing schedule or plan. When the food was received, it was hit or miss: either delicious (Ceviche) or missing the mark (lobster bisque and muscles with fries). For an average menu, the wait is not worth it.

I came here thinking it was a casual seafood place. Man was I wrong. The service was incredible. So professional, so quick and the attention to detail and knowledge the server had was overwhelming. The ceviche is incredible. It's more of a sashimi salad in a sense not drenched in lime like you may expect. And they have a top 3 in town burger easy. Would highly recommend.

Now as a caveat my experience occurred on NYE and may not reflect the typical dining experience here as there are many positive reviews otherwise. We made reservations to eat here and were informed that there would be a $25 fee applied to our credit card for any cancellation. What we were not told was that there was a fixed menu, nor was it mentioned on their website. Now the meal was excellent and I would have probably ordered any of the items we had except the onion tart which I did not care for. The biggest problem with the fixed menu was one of our guest is vegetarian and the restaurant mad a big deal about accommodating them and in the end charged the same price. This wouldn't have been an issue if we knew the menu was fixed. The service was extremely slow, the five course dinner took 2.5 hours which wouldn't have been a huge issue except it was NYE and we had plans for afterwards. Again this wouldn't have been an issue if we knew it was going to be a five course meal in advance. The service was fair, most of the staff did not seem like they wanted to be there which I can understand but people are paying for the service as much as they are the food at this establishment. It seemed that many of the patrons surrounding us had snooty comments to make about the experience, possibly because they were not aware of the fixed menu either. Optional with the menu was a wine pairing with each course which my wife opted into. Overall a great price and she enjoyed the pairings. My problem was with the sommelier. Now don't get me wrong he was very nice and was very calm and collected despite how many different people he was tending to at various points in their meal. The problem I had was the fact that his hand look like he just got done repairing a car, one finger nail had dry blood on it. Another issue I had was that he was mispronouncing French and German words. My problems with him may be nit picky but when you are paying that much for a meal I think it's reasonable to expect the staff to not have dry blood on their hand. And, your job is wine, you should be able to pronounce regions of France and Germany or at least get close.
Overall the food was excellent but the experience was abysmal and the place felt like it was forcing itself to be something it's not. I feel like I should go back to give it a second shot on a regular night but I'm not sure I can bring myself to.

dinner 7/22/09 31th anniversary. best seafood i have eaten anywhere. not to name drop but i have had the tasting menu with wine pairing at la bernadin for $400 per person and this food was better. don't miss the lobster bisque or the fish ceviche. i had a great white burgunidy which the waiter recommended. expensive and slow but worth the wait and the cost. i am going to try to eat here once a month. perfect butter.

Best restaurant in San Antonio. Food is great and they treat you like royalty. I never want to eat anywhere else when I'm in town.

Food was excellent. Atmosphere was modest. Very well priced for quality of preparation of food by the chef. Beverage selection matched. Yet, waitress put our bottle of wine "to go" on a spilled spot of sauce. She put our "to go" food bag on the spilt sauce. Minor attention to detail for a classy elegant place yet necessary. We will be back to give a 5 star rating soon.

Fantastic food and service also staff remembered my drink from three weeks ago to let me know they were out of that one but had a substitution available.

Really pricey. The online menu shows different prices than are actually offered. Your plate is going to be $30 bucks, basically.

The food was good, but it took us over an hour to get it. I don't think that was normal. They gave us some deserts as an apology. The cheesecake was kinda sour, which was odd.

Most of the portions were really small. The short ribs were huge though, delicious, and the only thing that was maybe even worth the money. It's one of those really fancy restaurant to that brings out tiny portions of really fancy, expensive food on huge plates. If that's your style, then you'll like it.

I did find it a bit off though. This place had a little step stool for ladies to put their purse on so they didn't have to put it on the ground. This same restaurant "set" our table by laying a fresh sheet of butcher paper over the dirty table cloth that was currently on the table.

I love eating at a place that has a real passion for what they are doing, The Sandbar has that in spades.

Oysters from the east and west coast, perfect cesar salad, just an amazing experience.

Very plain location, and few tables. Reservations are probably a good idea, but we walked in late on a weeknight and had no problems.

"Arguably the best fish in San Antonio. A bit tricky to find on the river side of the Pearl Brewery. With the closing of La Reve, Sandbar has IMO become the top Weissman restaurant and it is superb! In my experience everything is fabulous! The fish and chips are awesome. Dinners are superb. Good wine list. Great staff.

Andrew Weisman and his wife have created some extraordinary seafood courses here, the biggest let-down being the desserts. It's expensive but quality seafood everywhere is expensive - the difference here is that you'll be really glad to abuse your credit card and treat yourself to a standard of seafood simply not available in San Antonio. Or Texas, actually. It's really very good - just dodge the dessert course.

I visited the last Weissman establishment I had yet to try - the new Sandbar, located dangerously near to the CIA construction at the Pearl Brewery. I'm nervous about eating seafood in San Antonio, but I have sung the praises of the culinary capabilities and legitimacy that Chef Weissman brings to the city in previous reviews, so I'm not too worried.

With both Sandbar and Il Sogno located on opposite sides of the brewery grounds, it would make sense that atmosphere would be similar between the two - clean, bright colors and upscale environments permeate the large open room. I grabbed a seat at the bar and perused the menu.

The special of the day was a crispy skin bass, similar to the the specials that other reviewers have described - in a cream sauce with asparagus and mussels. It's almost unnecessary to point out that everything was impeccably fresh, with a presentation to match.

Others have mentioned the quality of the service, which I found to be quirky, though not impolite. Prices, too, are high, but I wouldn't have it any other way: I don't know how much it costs to have fresh coastal shift to San Antonio, but I know it's not cheap.

There's not really too much to say - it was exactly as you would expect from a Weissman establishment: amongst the best seafood in the city.

I went last night, and it was awesome! Though you may want to make reservations if your party is more than two(limited seating). The price of your meal can be anywhere from 10 for a hamburger to over 20 for the dinners. Everything is well worth the price. Start to finish the attention to detail was refreshing. For the ladies they offer a small stool to hold your purse as you dine. I ate the salmon which was juicy and flavorful especially the mushrooms. Any one like key line pie? A delicious end to a memorable meal.
A must try restaurant for anyone wanting something new!

The stuff was friendly and attentive, prices were not unreasonable for the amount of food they give you. The food was delicious not a crumb was left in a single dish.