25 cent raw oysters is the deal every Monday night. I've had them regularly and it was a very good deal. Cold, plump, never milky, always salty, and delicious. However, this Monday night in July was a different story. Realizing that summer oysters are not as salty I love these babies so much that I'm willing to use the shaker and dip them into cocktail sauce during the lean months (when they're prime I eat them straight off the shell). Zeke's oysters on this Monday were cold, plump, had a great texture, and were loaded with shells. I'm talking about having to chew very carefully and pulling out an average of three shell fragments (often large ones) per oyster. This is inexcusable and I can only hope that it's a temporary glitch.

Being a 'small eater' I like to order appetizer size portions of different items. A cup of turtle soup was tasty but much thicker and 'redder' than I like. Thin it out a bit, use less tomato whatever and it could rival the city's best. Fried Calamari was delicious, light, airy, and abundant--much more than the two of us could eat and we were glad to have friends at another table to share this with. An order of boiled crawfish at $6.95 per portion (per pound?) was WAY overpriced in a land where they can be purchased for 99 cents a pound. They tasted old and fishy.

I've never been to Zeke's before without ordering their delicious charbroiled oysters. I skipped them this time, figuring that if the oysters on the half shell were so loaded with shells I could expect the same in the charbroiled ones. What a shame that is because it's such a great dish.

Service at the bar, where we ate, was wonderful. Tip your beer up high to get the last drop and the server delivers a cold one to your table. Can't beat that. Just hoping they get the oyster bar back to what it should be soon.

I had the fried soft shell crab which was wonderful. The crab was very big, meaty and crispy. It came with a salad and an enormous amout of fries. The waiter had only been there two weeks and was doing a fabulous job.