Swan Oyster Depot San Francisco's Finest

[weinoo]

It's been here forever; well, a long time, anyway...

They're gruff and friendly at the same time; you'll sit at a counter with about 15 seats. Open until 5:30 only. Plan on waiting.

We wanted to eat crab as soon as we arrived in San Francisco, so without hesitation, 2 crab Louis salads appeared...

There's about 1/2 lb. crab on that salad, so at $24 a decent deal. They were selling whole body steamed Dungeness at $10 a pound, and picked crab at $40.

There's a bunch of other seafood to eat...we also indulged in a Calamari salad. Plenty to choose from...

Perfect way to start an SF trip.

[chezcherie]

that is one of my must-do stops every visit to sf. the family of sons who runs the place is friendly and the seafood is so freshly sweet--love swan oyster depot! thanks for the post/reminder.

usually a line out the door, but it moves acceptably fast.

used to be cash only--not sure that's still the case. i struck up a nice friendship with a french couple who didn't know it was cash only, and were a few dollars short. (including a tip, which i liked, because i think a fair number of europeans, in the same situation, would have just skipped the tip, as it's not customary there.) i fronted them a few bucks and we kept in contact for a few years after that.

Edited February 9, 2013 by chezcherie (log)

[patrickamory]

Love that place. They didn't get rid of the amazing old neon sign did they??

[weinoo]

They might've, Patrick. I'll swing by again and do a double take.

[lancastermike]

Was watching Food Network this morning(gasp), and Ina Garten(double gasp) was at this place. She said it had been recommended to her by Tyler Florence(triple gasp).

[HungryC]

Love the place....but $40/lb for picked crab? Whew. And I thought our wintertime price for blue crab was high at $25/lb.

[weinoo]

Was watching Food Network this morning(gasp), and Ina Garten(double gasp) was at this place. She said it had been recommended to her by Tyler Florence(triple gasp).

I was definitely going here before TFN was even a glimmer in someone's eyes.