Best Oyster Bars in San Francisco #1

Woodhouse Fish Company

• 1914 Fillmore Street (Haight); 2073 Market Street, San Francisco (Castro)
• Highlight: $1 oysters on Tuesdays; lobster roll (*drool*)

If rushing to a happy hour isn’t your thing, we’ve got the answer for you.  Woodhouse Fish Company offers $1 oysters all night every Tuesday in not one, but BOTH locations!  Woodhouse Fish Company is a solid choice for oysters in San Francisco, with its kitschy little East Coast vibe (think mounted fish, nautical tchotchkes and fishing nets for decor) because the oysters are great but so are their entree choices and rotating specials.  Ironically, we’ve seen mostly West Coast varieties on the menu, such as Point Reyes & Kumamoto, which are cool by us. If you’re a fan of East Coast style seafood, Woodhouse also has one of the best lobster rolls around: huge chunks of lobster, just the right amount of mayo, gooey buttery, garlicky bread, ugh.  YUM. Woodhouse is a pretty small place that’s already known and loved in SF, so call ahead or plan to wait a little while. The oyster selection rotates, but you can peruse the menu:  Woodhouse Fish Menu.

Photo Courtesy of Kevin C on Yelp

Best Oyster Bars in San Francisco #3

 Hog Island Oyster Co.

• 20215 Shoreline Highway, Marshall, CA 94940 (farm), One Ferry Building, #11, San Francisco, CA 94111 (Ferry Building), 610 1st Street, Napa CA 94559 (Napa).
• Highlight:  Sweet, sweet Sweetwaters

Pop quiz!  Have you ever made a trip up to Tomales Bay?  Did you go to Hog Island Oyster Co?! If not, you’re doing the Bay Area wrong. So gather your crew, and head to Hog Island’s flagship location and the oyster nursery. It’s located in Marshall on Tomales Bay, which is about an hour and a half drive north of SF (on a good day). Take a chance to get out of town and spend some time up there hiking or playing on the Bay, it’s one of those amazing gifts we Bay Area folks get. When it comes to Bay Area oyster bars, we think that Hog Island is pretty much unparalleled. The flagship location gives you three ways to enjoy their briny little treats: a to-go counter, sunny full-service restaurant, and (if you book far in advance), picnic tables where you can BYOB & other foods to host your own picnic party (with the addition of their oysters, of course). Hog Island’s famous homegrown oysters are called Sweetwaters, and we think if you don’t like Sweetwaters, you don’t like oysters.

For those of us that can’t venture that far, the Hog Island Oyster Co.’s Ferry Building location has a great SF oyster happy hour in its own right.  Hog Island has secured prime real estate in the Ferry Building, one of the most iconic places in the city and an excellent choice for oysters in SF. This location slings fresh, beautiful oysters not just from their Tomales Bay farms, but from all over the world. These folks don’t take reservations, but they do have an efficient queue system (and on the weekends, believe us that it gets busy). They’ve got a similar gig happening at the Oxbow Market in Napa. Peep the menu: Hog Island Oyster Co Menu

Best Oyster Bars in San Francisco #5

Leo’s Oyster Bar

• 568 Sacramento Street, San Francisco CA 94111 (FiDi)
• Highlight: Little Leos ($1.50 from 3-5 Monday-Friday)

Leo’s Oyster Bar is a too-hip-to-quit kind of joint in FiDi, and, dare we say, the most ‘grammable oyster bar in the Bay Area. Any place bold enough to put “oyster bar” in their name better live up to the expectations…Leo’s does that, and then some. Leo’s raw bar is rather famous, at least among seafood aficionados. You can count on an interesting selection of fairly uncommon varieties, including their own proprietary breed of oyster, (aptly) called the Little Leo. In addition to classic oysters on the half shell, at Leo’s Oyster Bar in SF, you can find what they like to call “composed” oysters, which are fresh oysters topped with a variety of special toppings. If you’re really feeling fancy, try the Diamonds & Pearls, which is an oyster topped with caviar.

Pro tip: don’t try to fill up on oysters here, your wallet will seriously hate you. You can get Little Louie’s for just $1.50 here from 3-5 during weekdays, but otherwise, be ready to shell out for this shellfish.  Thankfully, Leo’s also has bomb apps (we see you, loaded Hawaiian bun) and a pretty phenomenal burrata and kale dish for a little less dough, but it still ain’t gonna be cheap. See Leo’s menu for yourself. 

Photo Courtesy of Eric W on Yelp

Best Oyster Bars in San Francisco #7

 Waterbar

• 399 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105 (Embarcadero)
• Highlight: Killer views; daily rotating oysters (just $1.05 each from 11:30-5:30 daily)

Waterbar is a great place to bring someone you want to impress. Literally sitting pretty on the Embarcadero, Waterbar is an expansive (and expensive) SF oyster bar and restaurant that boasts some of the prettiest views of the Bay (and the Bay Bridge).  Hit up the rotating daily oyster selection for just $1.05 each before 5:30, but you should also at least take a look at their other oyster selection. They carry hard-to-find oysters and even have an exclusive deal for a new breed of oyster called Golden Fog (but they’ll cost ya). You can even give yourself an extra pat on the back for ordering oysters here because they donate a portion of the proceeds from their oyster sales to La Cocina, a local nonprofit that empowers local chefs to open their own businesses. Browse their oyster menu.

BONUS: If you’re into bloody marys, they make one of the best bloody marys in SF. It’s not on the menu, but ask for an “Ultimate Bloody Mary” and you’ll be delighted with a cocktail with enough accouterment to double as an appetizer.  Score!

Photo Courtesy of Peninsula & all Shore Seafood Via Yelp