Boston Oyster Bars: Which Oysters Are on the Menu

Menus checked on . Raw-bar lists change daily, so use this as a guide and confirm with the restaurant.

Five of the 11 Boston oyster bars we checked post the names of their oysters online. Neptune Oyster (27), Row 34 (10) and Black Lamb (6) publish the longest lists. The names that turn up most often are Island Creek, Mookie Blue and Watch Hill. Each oyster below links to our tasting notes, so you can decide what to order before you sit down.

Oyster bars checked
11
Name their oysters
5
Menu listings
47
Linked to tasting notes
34

Most common oysters on Boston menus

Counted across the 5 menus that name their oysters. These are the names you are most likely to see more than once in Boston.

Island Creek oyster illustration

Island Creek

US East Coast

The flagship of New England oysters. Briny and buttery with firm meat, vegetal richness, and a distinctive lobster-stock finish.

BrinyButterySweet
B
S
M
C

On 3 of 5 menus: Neptune Oyster, Row 34, Select Oyster Bar

Mookie Blue oyster illustration

Mookie Blue

US East Coast

A cocktail-size Damariscotta River oyster from Mook Sea Farm in Maine. Strong salt up front, then a sweet cucumber finish, from floating cages the farm harvests year-round.

BrinySweetCucumber
B
S
M
C

On 2 of 5 menus: Neptune Oyster, Row 34

Watch Hill oyster illustration

Watch Hill

US East Coast

Small farm-raised Rhode Island oyster from Winnapaug Pond. High salinity with crisp brininess leading to a distinctive mellow buttery sweet finish. Firm pink meat in unique fan-like shells.

BrinySweetButtery
B
S
M
C

On 2 of 5 menus: Neptune Oyster, Black Lamb

Wellfleet oyster illustration

Wellfleet

US East Coast

Cape Cod classic. High brine, clean finish, with subtle sweetness.

BrinyClean
B
S
M
C

On 2 of 5 menus: Neptune Oyster, Row 34

Boston oyster bars and what they serve

Neptune Oyster

North End 63 Salem Street, Boston, MA 02113

A raw bar on Salem Street that takes no reservations and opens every day at 11am. Its list of oyster farms was the longest we found in Boston, with 13 names from Massachusetts and the rest from Maine, Rhode Island, Canada and the West Coast.

27 oysters named 22 with tasting notes

Show 15 more oysters
Oysters on the menu
The Oyster Bar page prices oysters only as "East coast" and "West coast", both at market price. Below that it lists 27 "Oyster Farms", each with a state or province. That reads as the roster the bar draws from, so not every name will be on ice on a given day. Spellings are the menu's own, including "Beusoleil" and "Kachemack Bay".

Row 34

Fort Point, Seaport 383 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210

An oyster bar in a 1908 warehouse in Fort Point, the original Row 34, open since 2013, with other locations in Kenmore Square and Cambridge. Eight of the ten oysters on the Seaport list were from Massachusetts, including one that carries the restaurant's name.

10 oysters named 8 with tasting notes

Oysters on the menu
Each location page links a dated raw bar menu as a PDF. This is the Seaport list, dated 09/30/26, which gives a town and a per-piece price for each oyster. The Kenmore Square list (09/22/26) named nine oysters and the Cambridge list (9/23/26) seven, mostly the same names, plus Swell from Hampton Harbor, NH and Blish Point from Barnstable, MA.
Happy hour
At Kenmore Square and Cambridge only; the Seaport page posts no happy hour menu. Kenmore Square: Monday to Friday, 4pm to 6pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 3pm to 6pm. Cambridge: daily, 2pm to 5pm. Both are in the bar and lounge, with a chef's select oyster at $1 each, limit 12 per person.
Other locations
498 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215 (Kenmore Square); 314 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 (Kendall Square); 300 District Avenue, Burlington, MA; 5 Portwalk Place, Portsmouth, NH

Black Lamb

South End 571 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02118

A brasserie and oyster bar on Tremont Street, open daily for lunch and dinner with brunch on weekends. The site says the raw bar menu is available during all kitchen hours.

6 oysters named 1 with tasting notes

  • Watch Hill Winnapaug Pone, RI
    BrinySweetButtery
  • Island Creek Dennis, MA
    No profile yet
  • Barnstable Bees Barnstable, MA
    No profile yet
  • Poppy Mashpee, MA
    No profile yet
  • Lemon Stone Damariscotta, ME
    No profile yet
  • Mookiemoto Damariscotta, ME
    No profile yet
Oysters on the menu
The raw bar menu says the oysters change daily and calls its list a sample. It named six oysters, each with a town and a per-piece price. Origins are as printed, including "Winnapaug Pone". The list places Island Creek in Dennis, MA; our Island Creek profile is for the Duxbury Bay oyster, so we have not linked that one.
Happy hour
"Two Buck Shuck": $2 oysters every day until 5pm and all day on Monday.

Ostra

Back Bay 1 Charles Street South, Boston, MA 02116

A Mediterranean seafood restaurant near the Theatre District, open for dinner. Its menu named three oysters, two from Massachusetts and one from Maine, and also has a "Crispy Native Oysters" starter.

3 oysters named 2 with tasting notes

Oysters on the menu
The dinner menu opens with "Today's Shellfish", which named three oysters with their towns. Each is priced by the half dozen.

Select Oyster Bar

Back Bay 50 Gloucester Street, Boston, MA 02115

A seafood restaurant in a Back Bay townhouse, open since 2015 and serving the full menu daily from 11:30am. The site says the raw bar features local oysters; the only one its menu names is Island Creek.

1 oyster named 1 with tasting notes

Oysters on the menu
The menus are posted as images. The food menu has no by-the-piece oyster list; its four "Plateaux" seafood platters and the happy hour menu name one oyster, Island Creek. The menu is printed in lowercase and we have capitalized the name.
Happy hour
Weekdays, 3pm to 6pm, at the bar only and with the purchase of a cocktail, a glass of wine or a bottle of wine: Island Creek oysters on the half shell at $2 each, up to 12 per party.

Eventide Fenway

Fenway 1321 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215

The Boston restaurant of Eventide Oyster Co. of Portland, Maine, open daily from 11am to 10pm. The menu also has fried oysters, a fried oyster bun and oyster shooters.

This menu does not name its oysters, so we have not guessed. Ask your server what is on today, then look each one up in our oyster profiles.

Oysters on the menu
The site labels this a sample menu that changes daily. "Oysters on the Half Shell" are sold by the half dozen and dozen with the line "Selections Change Daily". No varieties are named.

Little Whale Oyster Bar

Back Bay 314 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02115

A New England seafood restaurant in a Newbury Street brownstone, the sister restaurant of Select Oyster Bar. It is open daily from 11:30am with the full menu all day.

This menu does not name its oysters, so we have not guessed. Ask your server what is on today, then look each one up in our oyster profiles.

Oysters on the menu
The home page shows a sample menu as an image. Its raw bar section says "ask your server about our daily oyster selections", and the two seafood platters list "local oysters". No varieties are named on the menu; the happy hour offer on the home page names Island Creek.
Happy hour
The home page offers $2 Island Creek oysters before 6pm, limit one dozen per guest, with the purchase of wine or beer.

Puritan Oyster Bar

Inman Square, Cambridge 1166 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

The oyster bar of the Cambridge restaurant Puritan & Company. The site says most of its tables are held for walk-ins.

This menu does not name its oysters, so we have not guessed. Ask your server what is on today, then look each one up in our oyster profiles.

Oysters on the menu
The menu lists a "daily selection of oysters" at $3.50 each, a "dressed oyster" at $4 and two seafood platters with six or twelve oysters. No varieties are named.
Happy hour
Oysters are half price every day from 5pm to 6pm.

ReelHouse Oyster Bar

Seaport 10 Waterside Ave, Boston, MA (Fan Pier Marina)

A waterfront bar on Fan Pier Marina in the Seaport, open every day from 11am to 1am. Alongside the raw bar, the menu has crudo, sushi tacos and Neapolitan pizzas.

This menu does not name its oysters, so we have not guessed. Ask your server what is on today, then look each one up in our oyster profiles.

Oysters on the menu
The raw bar lists a "Local Oyster Selection" by the half dozen and dozen. The only oyster named is in a dish called "Fancy Oysters", four Wellfleet oysters served with tuna crudo, crème fraîche and caviar.

The Hourly Oyster House

Harvard Square, Cambridge 15 Dunster St, Cambridge, MA 02138

An oyster house on Dunster Street in Cambridge whose kitchen is open daily from 11am to 10pm. The site also takes orders for freshly shucked oysters to go.

This menu does not name its oysters, so we have not guessed. Ask your server what is on today, then look each one up in our oyster profiles.

Oysters on the menu
The raw bar lists "Oysters" at $3 each with the line "Serving 8 varietals daily!", plus a tasting of two each of the day's oysters. No raw varieties are named. A cooked starter, "Roasted Island Creek Oysters", names its oyster.

Union Oyster House

Near Faneuil Hall 41 Union Street, Boston, MA

A restaurant on the Freedom Trail, one block from Faneuil Hall, that says it has served food since 1826 and calls itself America's oldest restaurant. The menu also has fried oysters and a fried oyster roll.

This menu does not name its oysters, so we have not guessed. Ask your server what is on today, then look each one up in our oyster profiles.

Oysters on the menu
"On the Half Shell" lists "Freshly Shucked Oysters" by the half dozen and a cold sampler of oysters, cherrystone clams and shrimp. No varieties are named.

How we put this together

We opened each restaurant's own website and its posted menu on the date shown. We read the posted menus of 20 seafood restaurants and raw bars in Boston and Cambridge and kept 11: the five that named at least one oyster, plus six oyster bars that did not. Two of the 11, The Hourly Oyster House and Puritan Oyster Bar, are across the river in Cambridge. Menus came as web pages, dated PDFs and images. Neighborhood labels are the restaurants' own, with three exceptions: The Hourly Oyster House (Harvard Square) and Puritan Oyster Bar (Inman Square) are read off the street address, and Neptune Oyster (North End) is from a press quote on its home page. Nothing here comes from review sites or other guides.

Oyster names and origins are copied from each menu as printed. A name links to one of our profiles only when it clearly refers to the same oyster. Flavor tags come from our profiles, not from the restaurant. Menus were checked on October 1, 2026; raw-bar lists change daily.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Boston oyster bars list their oyster varieties online?

Five of the 11 we checked on October 1, 2026: Neptune Oyster (27 varieties), Row 34 (10 varieties), Black Lamb (6 varieties), Ostra (3 varieties) and Select Oyster Bar (1 variety). The other 6 describe their oysters only in general terms, such as a daily selection.

What are the most common oysters on Boston menus?

Across the 5 menus that name their oysters, the most repeated are Island Creek (3 menus), Mookie Blue (2 menus), Watch Hill (2 menus) and Wellfleet (2 menus). In total we counted 47 menu listings.

Which Boston oyster bars have an oyster happy hour?

Five of the restaurants here advertise a happy hour on their own sites: Row 34, Black Lamb, Select Oyster Bar, Little Whale Oyster Bar and Puritan Oyster Bar. The days, times and what is included are in each listing above, as the restaurant states them. Confirm before you go, because happy hours change without notice.

What should I order at a Boston oyster bar if I'm new to oysters?

Start with names that are easy to find and easy to like. Of the oysters on more than one Boston menu, our profiles mark Mookie Blue as beginner friendly. Order two or three varieties, a couple of each, and taste them plain before adding sauce.

What if the menu does not name its oysters?

Ask your server for the name of each oyster and where it was grown. Most raw bars know both, even when the printed menu does not say. As a rough guide, East Coast oysters tend to be brinier and crisper, and West Coast oysters tend to be sweeter and creamier with cucumber or melon notes. Once you have a name, you can look it up in our oyster profiles.

Why is the list at the restaurant different from this page?

Raw bar lists change daily with what the farms ship. This page records what each restaurant's own website showed on October 1, 2026. Treat it as a guide to the kind of oysters a place carries, and check the menu link in each listing for the current selection.

Browse all oyster profiles How to order oysters Best oysters by taste All oyster bar guides