The Absolute Best Oysters In The U.S.

Oysters are known for creating hesitation in some diners. Not everyone wants to try slurping these sea creatures straight out of their shells. But for others, oysters are nature's best culinary creations. Oysters — which are a kind of bivalve mollusk in the same family as clams, scallops, and mussels — are on the menu at some of the world's best restaurants. Also, they famously contain aphrodisiac properties. What's not to like?

France usually claims to have some of the best oysters in the world. But in the United States, certain parts of the country have become known for theirs, as well. According to Matador Network, most of the oyster hot spots are in states like Washington, Maine, California, Massachusetts, Texas, and other places. Rand McNally reports that waterways all over the U.S., like the Gulf Coast, Chesapeake Bay, Narragansett Bay, and Puget Sound, are responsible for providing some of the best American bivalves.

The U.S. is home to five different types. Per The Spruce Eats, there are Atlantic (or Eastern) oysters, Pacific oysters, Olympia oysters, and Kumamoto oysters. European Flats (or Belons) are also commonly found in the states, but they are typically grown overseas. These oysters are what you'll usually find at some of the best seafood restaurants and oyster bars in the country. And what are those places, you may ask? Read on to learn about where to get the best oysters in the U.S.

L&E Oyster Bar is a Los Angeles restaurant that's one of the best places you can eat the bivalves in the U.S. The establishment has a commitment to freshness that won't leave you hanging. L&E claims that "Each day oyster farmers harvest, pack, and ship us the best oysters available in North America." What's ending up on customers' plates doesn't seem to be disappointing them, at all.

The Los Angeles Times called L&E "Oyster nirvana." The Infatuation described the place's oysters as "creamy and briny in a way that makes you think they were hand-delivered from the ocean that morning." One review on OpenTable called it the "best place in LA for oysters."

This oyster bar is located in the hip Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. According to the menu, oyster selections change daily, and there's also a fried oyster entrée. Other seafood entrees include crab cakes, moules frites (a.k.a. mussels and fries, via Food Network), lobster mac and cheese, and fish and chips.

Seattle is a sort of hub for seafood restaurants. But even in a city full of oyster bars, The Walrus and the Carpenter still stands out. The restaurant opened in 2010 and is located in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard. According to Bon Appétit, the oyster bar is a "raw bar with French nostalgia and low-key American funk." Seattle Magazine also gave props to chef Renee Erickson and the menu, calling the fried oysters "superb."

On the menu, there are over five different types of oysters. Next to the type of oyster, you'll conveniently find the name of the farm where each bivalve was harvested. There are Olympia Wild oysters from Olympic Oyster Company. There are Calm Cove and Pickering Passage oysters from Hama Hama Oyster Company. There are even Canadian oysters, "Fanny Bays," from nearby Vancouver's PNW Shellfish Company. The menu also boasts vegetables, meats, cheeses, wines, and beloved bread to pair with those savory mollusks.

There's not a shortage of oysters in New England, especially in Massachusetts. As such, you'll find plenty of seafood restaurants and oyster bars to visit in Boston. But among many well-known names — including that of the now-closed Island Creek Oyster Bar — Neptune Oyster still stands out.

Neptune Oyster is located in the North End, a Boston neighborhood known for its culinary talents, especially Italian ones, according to Boston.com. The place's raw bar is open for lunch and dinner daily. On the menu, it doesn't reveal what oysters specifically will be offered, but explain that East Coast and West Coast varieties are provided. The eatery's Instagram reveals that the restaurant at one point served Kumamotos, which per Oyster Guide taste super sweet and fruity, with melon flavor.

According to reviews, this is a "refined" oyster bar, where skilled oyster shuckers service a packed house full of classy diners all the time (via Condé Nast Traveler). Other assessments note that the space is small — so maybe it's not that hard to fill up (via Fodor's Travel). But with over 5,000 reviews averaging nearly 5 stars on Yelp, Neptune Oyster has clearly served its share of satisfied customers.

While Lake Michigan is home to many bivalves, there aren't any oysters in that massive body of water. As such, Chicago restaurants have to source mollusks from the West and East Coasts (which the midwestern city isn't particularly close to), as Eater explains. Despite this distance, some Chicago natives still have their oyster cravings. The spot many will use to satisfy them is GT Fish & Oyster, a seafood restaurant with a renowned raw bar. The menu is seasonal, but you can expect to find a variety of oysters there year-round. There are Big Cove oysters from Washington and Malpeque oysters from Prince Edward Island. GT offers Pink Moon oysters, which are known for — in addition to their mildly salty flavor — having beautiful shells and consistent shapes. There are also Fanny Bays on the menu, which will please diners looking for mineral flavors in their mollusks.

Reviews of this Chicago restaurant's raw food offerings say it has a good selection (via The Infatuation) full of "delicious" oysters (via OpenTable). GT Fish & Oyster is a higher-end restaurant, and it's even gotten the attention of the Michelin Guide. Michelin said the "communal table by the raw bar makes a perfect perch for slurping oysters."

Eventide Oyster Co. is a Portland seafood restaurant that's become one of the most famous spots of its kind in the country. The business now has a smaller Boston location — but the original Maine one has by far remained the most well-known. Looking at the numbers gives you a clue at why: Nearly 60,000 people have checked in there on Facebook, and there are over 3,000 reviews on Yelp, plus 2,000 more on Tripadvisor. This place has a lot of foot traffic.

The Infatuation said Eventide's lobster rolls shine, but so do the over 20 different types of oysters on the menu. Condé Nast Traveler also pointed to the spot's toppings, like its cocktail sauce, red-wine mignonette, and flavored ices. These come in tabasco, kimchi, pickled red onion, and horseradish options, according to the menu.

As for the oysters themselves, the majority are from Maine. Basket Islands, Winter Point Selects, and Pemaquids, some of the top Maine oysters highlighted by Saveur, are also available at Eventide. All of the oysters — and many others on this list — will be served "on the half shell." This expression simply means the oyster has been opened, one shell is discarded, and (usually) the meat on the remaining shell has been cut. The oyster is no longer connected to its shell, but rests on top, allowing you to slide the whole thing into your mouth.

Row 34 is another outpost of the seafood scene in New England. The restaurant known for its oysters has three locations: one in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, one in Burlington, Massachusetts, and one in Boston. There's also a fourth location opening in Cambridge in fall 2022, according to Eater. While all the spots are bound to be great, we'll focus on Boston, since it's the home of the original Row 34, located in the Seaport District and South Boston Waterfront area (via Tripadvisor).

The restaurant has been described by Bon Appétit as the best place to get Island Creek oysters, a Massachusetts variety grown at a nearby farm in Duxbury. That's probably because Row 34 was created by the same founders of Island Creek Oyster bar, a former Kenmore Square seafood restaurant that closed its doors in February 2021. But you can get Island Creek oysters, which are said to taste briny, on Row 34's menu. If you're looking to try something else, there are around ten other oyster varieties available. Those include familiar names like Ichabod Flats, Wellfleets, and Hama Hamas.

If you want to venture into other raw bar options, you can do that at Row 34. There are clams like Littlenecks (known for being small, sweet, and tender), and Jonah crab claws (said to taste sweeter and less meaty than other crabs) as well. But if you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, you could go for $105 shellfish tower.

The Marshall Store is a California oyster restaurant that serves fresh mollusks straight from the Marshall family farm: the Tomales Bay Oyster Company. The restaurant and farm are both located in Marin County, which is part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. Humboldt and Tomales Bay (the latter of which Marshall is a part of) remain the two top producing spots in the state for oysters. Tomales Bay is even home to an actual city named "Bivalve."

On days with good weather, you can get lunch at The Marshall Store. You can get a plate of six oysters on the half shell for $22. There are also other menu options for oysters prepared in different ways. You'll find Oysters Rockefeller, BBQ oysters, Kilpatrick oysters (a traditional Australian recipe featuring Worcestershire sauce and bacon), or smoked oysters served on toast with cheese from Cowgirl Creamery (a celebrated California artisanal cheese company).

Other seafood items on the menu include New England Clam Chowder (the one without tomato), ceviche tostadas, fish tacos, and trout salad. Per Yelp, The Marshall Store is a great place to stop for oysters while on road trips up and down the West Coast.

Swan Oyster Depot is a San Francisco institution. The casual counter-service seafood restaurant opened in 1912 (via Condé Nast Traveler), and is known for having been one of Anthony Bourdain's favorite SF eateries (via Eater). But the late culinary television personality wasn't the only one to take notice of it.

Condé Nast Traveler has called Swan Oyster Depot "everything a seafood lover could want," with fresh oysters served on ice just as delicious as the popular seafood salads. Bon Appétit called the restaurant worth the long wait it tends to have. However, the magazine also warned that the "no-frills" atmosphere doesn't exactly match the higher prices.

Oysters at Swan Depot come from both the East and West Coasts. Specific offerings rotate daily, according to The Infatuation. At one point, the place was serving Shigokus, Bluepoint Virginicas, and Kumamoto oysters (via SF Gate). All of them you can get with a chili-based house mignonette, which is popular among the restaurant's many loyal fans.

Back in New England, Matunuck Oyster Bar continues to uphold its reputation as an excellent raw bar and seafood restaurant with an amazing view (via Home Is A Kitchen). The spot is the customer-facing arm of Matunuck Oyster Farm, which is located on Potter Pond in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. After starting the farm in 2002, founder Perry Raso opened the waterfront restaurant in 2008. There's a reason the Boston Globe continues to call it "one of the most famous restaurants in Rhode Island."

On Matunuck's menu, there are only two categories of oysters: those from the Matunuck farm, and those from other local Rhode Island oyster farmers. The eatery also offers different kinds of prepared bivalves, such as passion fruit oysters (local ones topped with cucumber gazpacho and salmon roe). Other mollusks, like littleneck clams and cherrystones, are also available, either by themselves or as part of one of the restaurant's seafood towers. Fodor's recommends heading here at sunset to take in the beautiful coast at the same time as your meal.

The Ordinary is a Charleston, South Carolina restaurant where you're bound to get some top-dollar seafood. You'll get to enjoy some of the best oysters in the country — all while sitting in a gorgeous dining room. The restaurant isn't flying under the radar. It's been voted one of the ten best eateries in Charleston by USA Today, which has called the food "adventurous," the ingredients "fresh," and the building "grand." Bon Appétit calls the raw bar "the most elegant" of any in the city. That helps narrow down the choices, as there are quite a few in town.

Bivalves available at The Ordinary include Dixon Point oysters from New Brunswick, Canada, as well as Capers Blades and Steamboat Creeks — both oysters from South Carolina, according to the menu. The best time of year to taste these local ones might be September through April, which is oyster season in the state (via Discover South Carolina).

According to Rappahannock Oyster Company, Virginia is one of the largest oyster producers on the East Coast. Growth within the state's seafood industry occurred largely within the last two decades. During this blooming period, Rappahannock opened five restaurants located throughout the country. Although the restaurant group is appreciated in the culinary world, the Merroir Tasting Room in Topping, Virginia, is the original spot.

The name "Merroir" itself is a popular term in the oyster world. It is a play on the word "terroir," a French word that indicates how a wine has been impacted by its natural environment. "Merroir" is supposed to be a combination of "mer" (meaning "sea" in French) and terroir (via The New York Times). As another waterfront seafood restaurant — one located not far from the oyster farms providing the restaurant's dishes — it's not hard to forget where your seafood is coming from at Merroir.

As for oysters on the menu, Merroir serves raw Rappahannock oysters, roasted oysters, and a "Rockefeller dip," inspired by the flavors and ingredients of Oysters Rockefeller. Virginia's River Realm called the menu "ever-changing," so don't expect to see the same offerings every time.

Peche is a New Orleans seafood restaurant that differs largely from the vibe of Creole Italian Casamento's located in the same city. Where Casamento's atmosphere is vintage, Peche's is contemporary. What makes them alike is that Peche also carries its share of overseas influences. The restaurant of course mentions the Gulf Coast influence, but also says it's inspired by the cooking of South America and Spain.

The James Beard Foundation honored Peche twice in 2014, for "Best New Restaurant in America" and "Best New Chef: South." The second award went to Peche's lead cook Ryan Prewitt. GQ, Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appétit, and many more publications have had nice things to say about Peche, according to the eatery. With so many satisfied critics, it's hard not to find a reason to go here. Indeed, there's at least one person on the NOLA tourism website attesting to the delicious flavor of the local Louisiana mollusks served at Peche. As one Tripadvisor review said "It's worth it! Great fish, oysters, gumbo and desserts."