One of our favorite warm weather activities is kicking back with a platter of oysters and some cold beers or a bottle of rosé, a pastime that’s been popular for many years, in many places.
Restaurants that offer live seafood, or a service known as a raw bar, began cropping up in Europe in the mid-1700s before landing in the United States in the early 1800s. Though the trend originally began with just oysters — the oldest oyster bar in the United States opened in 1826 in Boston — it wasn’t long before the craze expanded to include a variety of shellfish.
Today, our affection for bivalves is still going strong, with more $1 oyster happy hours and giant seafood towers surfacing at restaurants than ever before. And what’s not to like? Though they typically feature mostly uncooked items like oysters, clams, scallops and mussels, many “raw” bars also offer steamed shellfish such as lobster, crab legs and shrimp cocktail, all served cold.
Cooked or not, the fresh catch is often accompanied by cocktail sauce, lemon, mignonette sauce or other condiments (plus an awesome drink list).
1. Lupolo (New York)
With a raw bar located at the restaurant’s central, wrap-around dining bar, Lupulo in New York offers oysters, shrimp and other fresh seafood, as well as delicious Portuguese tapas to pair with its 16 craft beers on draft.
2. Island Creek Oyster Bar (Boston)
As its namesake suggests, Island Creek Oyster Bar in Boston offers an extensive list of oysters from both the East and West Coasts, plus littleneck clams, jumbo shrimp cocktail, crab claws and lobster.
3. Strip House Midtown (New York)
While perusing the incredible meat selection at Strip House Midtown, a great New York steakhouse, don’t forget to nosh on the seafood platter featuring buttery oysters from both coasts, lobster and shrimp cocktails, littleneck clams and lump crab.
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