Half-shell flights of Kumamoto, Olympia, Shigoku and Pacific oysters from Hood Canal and Willapa Bay. Briny in winter, melon-sweet in summer, eaten standing up.
The Olympia is the only oyster native to Washington, harvested by Squaxin and Suquamish people for generations and prized for a coppery finish the size of a thumbnail. By 1900 over-fishing had collapsed the wild beds; growers introduced Pacific oysters from Japan in 1902 to rebuild the industry, then Kumamotos in the 1940s. Taylor Shellfish Farms, founded in 1890 on Samish Bay, now grows all four commercial species and runs three Seattle oyster bars. The Walrus and the Carpenter opened in Old Ballard in 2010 and codified the local format.
4 editor picks for Pacific Northwest oysters in Seattle, ranked by editorial score. All Seattle signature dishes · Pacific Northwest oysters across every city.
The Walrus and the Carpenter ★ 4.8
ballard · 4743 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
The Walrus and the Carpenter in Seattle's Ballard is Renee Erickson's 2010 oyster room, a wood and marble bar, a chalkboard of 14 oysters. Priced at $$$.
Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar Pioneer Square ★ 4.5
pioneer-square · 410 Occidental Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar in Seattle's Pioneer Square is the on-counter outpost of the 135-year Samish Bay farm: half-shells, geoduck crudo, manila clams.
Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar Melrose ★ 4.4
capitol-hill · 1521 Melrose Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar Melrose in Seattle's Capitol Hill is the Capitol Hill outpost inside Melrose Market: a marble bar, Samish Bay oysters.
Shaker + Spear ★ 4.3
belltown · 2000 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
Shaker + Spear in Seattle's Belltown is the Kimpton Palladian seafood room: a kitchen working off the Pike Place fishmongers and Hood Canal shellfish growers.