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 across leases from Hood Canal to Willapa Bay and runs three Seattle oyster bars at Melrose, Pioneer Square and Queen Anne. The Walrus and the Carpenter opened in Old Ballard in 2010 and codified the local format: a wood-and-marble bar, a chalkboard listing 12 to 16 oysters by farm, and a kitchen pulling lardo and rye toast against the brine. There is no better cheap thrill in the city than an oyster happy hour from 16:00 to 18:00.

4 editor picks for Pacific Northwest oysters in Seattle, ranked by editorial score. All Seattle signature dishes · Pacific Northwest oysters across every city.