Six of the 11 Chicago oyster bars we checked post the names of their oysters online. Chicago Oyster House (6), Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House (4) and Lure Fishbar (4) publish the longest lists. The names that turn up most often are Blue Point, Kumamoto and Royal Miyagi. Each oyster below links to our tasting notes, so you can decide what to order before you sit down.
Chicago oyster bars and what they serve
A seafood, sushi and steak restaurant in the Prairie District of the South Loop, close to the McCormick Place convention center. It serves dinner seven nights a week.
6 oysters named
4 with tasting notes
-
BrinyMineral
-
BrinyClean
-
SweetMelon
-
SweetCreamy
-
Delaware Bay NJ
No profile yet
-
Sweet Petite P.E.I
No profile yet
- Oysters on the menu
- The menu page links a food menu as a PDF dated September 25, 2026. "Fresh Oysters" lists six, each with a state or province, a one-line tasting note and a price for six pieces, plus a "Dozen Mixed" of two of each. The menu is printed in capitals and origins are as printed. It places Sweet Petite in P.E.I.; our Sweet Petite profile is for the Martha's Vineyard oyster, so we have not linked that one. The menu also has grilled oysters five ways and an oyster shooter.
A seafood restaurant and steakhouse on Rush Street from the group behind Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, open daily from 3pm to midnight. Its menu also has frog legs, sushi and Gibsons steaks.
4 oysters named
3 with tasting notes
-
BrinySweet
-
BrinyButterySweet
-
SweetCreamy
-
Bosu Puget Sound, WA
No profile yet
- Oysters on the menu
- The Chicago menu page shows the main menu in a widget and links the same menu as a PDF. "Oysters" lists four, each with where it was grown, all at one per-piece price. The PDF also marks each as East or West Coast. The menu is printed in capitals. The two seafood platters come with six or twelve oysters.
- Happy hour
- "Mr. Frog's Happy Hour" in the bar, Sunday to Thursday, 3pm to 6pm: half-price oysters and half-price bottles of wine.
- Other locations
- Des Plaines, IL; Naperville, IL
The Chicago location of a New York seafood restaurant, on Rush Street. It serves breakfast and dinner every day, lunch on weekdays and brunch on weekends, with a raw bar and sushi on the menu.
4 oysters named
4 with tasting notes
-
BrinyMineral
-
Mild BrineSweetYeasty
-
SweetMelon
-
CleanDelicateBriny
- Oysters on the menu
- The Chicago menu lists two East Coast and two West Coast oysters by name, each with a state or province and a per-piece price. "Dressed Oysters" tops each of the four a different way, and the three shellfish plateaux come with four, six or eight oysters.
- Happy hour
- Every day, 4pm to 6pm. The happy hour menu has Blue Point oysters at $12 a half dozen or $24 a dozen.
- Other locations
- 142 Mercer Street, New York, NY (SoHo)
A cocktail tavern on Division Street, opened in 2015 in a restored bar that dates to the late 1940s. It takes no reservations, admits only guests 21 and over, and hosts a raw bar from its culinary partners Motorshucker two days a week.
3 oysters named
2 with tasting notes
- Oysters on the menu
- Oysters are served only at the "Raw Bar Happy Hour by Motorshucker", on Sunday and Monday. Its menu is posted as an image. "Oysters on the Half Shell" names three, each with a bay and state, a short tasting note and a per-piece price, ordered in multiples of three. The same menu has pickled oysters and "Hot Buttered Oysters", which it says are butter-poached Murder Point oysters. The bar's regular menu is drinks only.
- Happy hour
- Raw Bar Happy Hour, every Sunday from 3pm to 7pm and every Monday from 5pm to 7pm, while supplies last: oysters at $3 or $4 apiece and $10 martinis.
A seafood restaurant on the Chicago River in River North, from the RPM group. Its menu runs from crudo, sushi and seafood towers to pasta and steaks.
2 oysters named
0 with tasting notes
-
RPM Pearl Bay of Bedec, New Brunswick
No profile yet
-
RPM Prestige Hama Hama Co., Lilliwaup, WA
No profile yet
- Oysters on the menu
- "From Our Cold Bar" lists two private-label oysters, each with its source: RPM Pearl from "Bay of Bedec, New Brunswick" and RPM Prestige from "Hama Hama Co., Lilliwaup, WA". These are the restaurant's own names, so we have not linked either to a profile, though the site says the Prestige is raised by Hama Hama. The seafood towers come with East and West Coast oysters that are not named.
- Happy hour
- At the bar, Monday to Friday, 4pm to 5:30pm. The happy hour menu has RPM Pearl oysters, chilled or char-broiled.
A supper club on State Street serving prime rib, steaks and seafood, with live jazz on Fridays and Saturdays. It is open Tuesday to Saturday for dinner.
1 oyster named
1 with tasting notes
- Oysters on the menu
- The dinner menu has one oyster dish among its appetizers, "Oysters on the Half Shell", described as Nonesuch oysters from Maine with Bloody Mary sauce, sold by the half dozen.
- Happy hour
- Wednesdays and Fridays, 4:30pm to 6:30pm, in the lounge and on the patio: $1 oysters and $1 cocktail shrimp, with half-price signature cocktails on Wednesdays and half-price glasses of house wine on Fridays.
A seafood bar from chef José Andrés in the Bank of America Tower, just below his restaurant Bazaar Meat. The menu mixes raw bar dishes, ceviche and Spanish plates with a lobster roll and fried calamari.
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 main menu's "From the Raw Bar" section has "Oysters On the Half Shell", six pieces with fruit vinegar, piquillo cocktail sauce and lemon. The two shellfish platters come with a "selection of oysters". No varieties are named.
An oyster bar and crab house on Diversey Parkway that opened in 1968 and is still run by the founder's family. The site says it is cash only and takes no reservations.
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 PDF's "Oyster Bar" section lists "Six Oysters" as a rotating selection with cocktail sauce, lemon and saltines, and a dozen oysters or clams, or a mix of the two. No varieties are named. The menu also has fried oysters and an oyster po' boy.
A seafood restaurant open since 1984, with a main dining room and a separate Oyster Bar that is open every day from 11:30am and has live music on Thursday evenings.
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
- "Oysters on the Half Shell" are sold by the half dozen and dozen with the line "We offer 6 varieties daily". The lunch menu adds that you should call the restaurant for each day's selection. No varieties are named online. The menus also have oysters Rockefeller and an oyster shooter.
- Happy hour
- Monday to Friday, 3pm to 5pm, in the Oyster Bar only, dine-in: half-priced select oysters on the half shell, plus bites and drink specials.
- Other locations
- 1900 East Higgins Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173
A tavern and oyster bar steps from Wrigley Field, from the team behind the Swift & Sons steakhouse. The site says oysters and cocktails are served at the bar between lunch and dinner on Fridays.
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 dinner menu, shown in a widget, has a "Seafood & Oysters" section. "Half Dozen Oysters" are described as East and West Coast daily selections with mignonette and cocktail sauce. No varieties are named. The same section has a half dozen chargrilled oysters with garlic butter and parmesan.
- Happy hour
- Monday to Friday, 4:30pm to 6:30pm: $2 oysters and drink specials, not available on Cubs home game days. "Pints & Pearls" has $2 oysters and drink specials on all Cubs game days during the game.
A beer hall-style restaurant in Fulton Market whose site describes a menu built around oysters and shellfish from its raw bar, heritage pork and seasonal vegetables. It serves dinner every day and brunch on weekends.
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 brunch, lunch and dinner menus each open with "Oysters", priced by the piece, half dozen and dozen. The site calls its posted menus samples. No varieties are named. The menus also have a fried oyster toast and a seafood plate with dressed oysters.
- Happy hour
- Monday to Friday, 4pm to 6pm. The happy hour menu has $2 oysters, raw on the half shell with cocktail sauce, mignonette and oyster crackers.
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 16 Chicago seafood restaurants, raw bars and taverns and kept 11: six whose menu names at least one oyster, plus five oyster bars and seafood restaurants that do not. All 11 are in the city itself. Menus came as web pages, dated PDFs, menu widgets and images. Neighborhood labels are the restaurants' own, with three exceptions read off the street address: Shaw's Crab House and Lure Fishbar (Near North Side) and Bar Mar (the Loop). 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 Chicago oyster bars list their oyster varieties online?
Six of the 11 we checked on October 1, 2026: Chicago Oyster House (6 varieties), Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House (4 varieties), Lure Fishbar (4 varieties), Queen Mary Tavern (3 varieties), RPM Seafood (2 varieties) and Tortoise Supper Club (1 variety). The other 5 describe their oysters only in general terms, such as a daily selection.
What are the most common oysters on Chicago menus?
Across the 6 menus that name their oysters, the most repeated are Blue Point (2 menus), Kumamoto (2 menus) and Royal Miyagi (2 menus). In total we counted 20 menu listings.
Which Chicago oyster bars have an oyster happy hour?
Eight of the restaurants here advertise a happy hour on their own sites: Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House, Lure Fishbar, Queen Mary Tavern, RPM Seafood, Tortoise Supper Club, Shaw's Crab House, Swift Tavern and The Publican. 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 Chicago 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 Chicago menu, our profiles mark Kumamoto and Royal Miyagi 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.
