Why The Oyster Bar In The Palace Station Las Vegas Is Worth The Wait

The Background

Located within The Palace Station in Las Vegas is a litte place called The Oyster Bar. The Cajun style restaurant has been in Palace Station since 1995. This isn’t a normal restaurant with an actual entrance and tables. It’s literally a bar. Seats surround a half-octagon-shaped granite countertop.

Due to this, seating is exremely limited (18-20 seats), which can lead to lengthy waits. I’ve heard of people waiting in line up to 3-4 hours during peak hours. Fortunately, the restaurant is open 24/7 so there’s some off hours to sneak in to avoid the rush.

Offering a number of seafood items on its menu from raw oysters, chowders, gumbos, cioppino,and jambalaya, there’s many fine options to choose from.

They prepare and cook the food right in front of you. Steam kettles, used for many of the dishes, line the bar. You can literally watch your meal come together right in front of you.

Why do people flock here and wait in the line? Undoubtedly the main draw is the Pan Roast.

The Experience

I arrived in Vegas around 11 am, and the first place I stopped was The Palace Station. Luckily, the line wasn’t too bad at this time. It took around an hour to grab a seat.

There’s a lot of tempting items on the menu that sound really delicious. But I came here for one thing: the Pan Roast.

The Pan Roast is a very unique dish. It’s basically like a thicker tomato stew with a lot of cajun seasoning and spice with seafood and a side of rice. You can adjust the overall spice level from 1-10. I generally go with the 7, which is just the right amount for me.

I ordered the Palace Pan Roast (shrimp, crab, chicken, and andouille sausage) with the 7 spice level.

The bowl the Pan Roast comes in is massive. They give you a generous amount andouille sausage, chicken, shrimp, and shreds of crab meat throughout the soup and really soak up the soup flavor. The rice on the side so it doesn’t soak up all that wonderful soup, which is nice. Altogether it’s a lot of food!

Above all the ingredients within the Pan Roast, the star that makes the dish stand out is the tomatoesque broth / soup.  I can’t quite pin what all the seasonings and spices are. There’s a lot of different ingredients in this. It’s so flavorful with a rich and creamy tomato taste with chili flakes thrown in providing the spice.

Taking a spoonful of rice, dipping it in the soup and grabbing a chunk of chicken, shrimp, or sausage, and savoring the flavor of the sauce is truly a delightful bite. You get a nice warm feeling of contentment throughout your body with each spoonful. You won’t be disappointed with this meal.

The Verdict

The Oyster Bar is an inconic restaurant which has been serving Cajun style dishes and seafood in Las Vegas for nearly 30 years. There’s a ton of great restuarants in Las Vegas to experience and try. None of those places have the Pan Roast though. Wait times may be extreme at times due to limited seating but the uniqueness of the Pan Roast truly makes the wait worth it.