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Cheap oysters in SF?

katzenjammy

By katzenjammy
in California: Dining

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katzenjammy

katzenjammy

Posted
Posted

I'm heading to SF for a short vacation in a couple weeks, and I'd like to eat oysters. I'm down with Swann, but there must be other places in the city where I can stuff my face with the tasty bivalves without breaking the bank. Any suggestions?

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." Mark Twain
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chezcherie

chezcherie

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hog island oyster farm at the ferry bldg has great, fresher-than-fresh oysters at what we found to be reasonable prices, with an unbeatable view. cheers!

"Laughter is brightest where food is best."

www.chezcherie.com

Author of The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook ,The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook and The I Love Trader Joe's Around the World Cookbook

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winesonoma

winesonoma

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Drive up to Marshall and go to Hog Island. Bring a nice white wine buy a knife there and as many oysters as you like. And find a table. Pig out. Oh Hog Island does ship go to there website

http://www.hogislandoyster.com/Section1/Got_Oysters.html

Edited by winesonoma (log)

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ludja

ludja

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I'm interested to see if anyone comes up with bargain oyster prices in SF. My two immediate idea were drive up to Hog Island (as Winesonoma suggested)--beautful drive up Hwy 1 if you have the time... or else book a ticket to New Orleans... :smile:

Two good (but not cheap) places for oysters are Zuni Cafe and Absinthe. (and Swan Oyster Depot as you mentioned).

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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katzenjammy

katzenjammy

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Mostly, there are no cheap oysters in San Francisco.  Be prepared to pay about $2.25 EACH for places with a reasonable reputation and selection.  The only bargain I know of is Monday evening Happy Hour at the Hog Island Oyster Bar in the Ferry Building where oysters are $1 each.

Well, fooey! I'm only in the city Thursday through Sunday. Guess I'll have to head for the Ferry Building and pay full retail.

You know, I've come to the conclusion that the fresh oyster market has gone national, and it just doesn't matter how close you are to the point of origin. Here in Denver metro, I can get fresh PEI oysters at Whole Foods for 79 cents. (If you call a day ahead, they'll even shuck 'em for you.) And a local fish house has an oyster happy hour every day, serving fresh oysters (Malpecs, last week) for 75 cents each. I've not yet found any equivalent deals in Vancouver, Seattle, or SF...and I've been looking for a while.

The bar at Hilton New Orleans Riverside used to have a great oyster happy hour (like $5/dozen) but I gave up on Gulf oysters after one tried to kill me. Cold water bivalves only from now on!

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." Mark Twain
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Schneier

Schneier

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You know, I've come to the conclusion that the fresh oyster market has gone national, and it just doesn't matter how close you are to the point of origin.

Isn't overnight delivery great?

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tanabutler

tanabutler

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Hog Island sells its oysters for only $8.50 a dozen when you get them to go (which, of course, means you'd have to shuck them). And a really good deal is the dozen Sweetwater oysters with a glass of very nice French muscadet (I think) for $24. Since the oysters are $22/dozen, that's just $2 for a glass of wine.

Highly recommended, as is the mixed green salad with Point Reyes blue cheese and vinaigrette. Big enough to split.

You could also (seriously) come down to the farmer's market at Cabrillo College on Saturday morning, where Bill the Oysterman's oysters are $1/each, shucked and dressed (as you wish). He sells them for $10/dozen, and they're huge. He's also got clams and mussels, but c'mon, with Miyagis as big as a dog's tongue, who wants those?

Edited by tanabutler (log)
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CheNiPenso

CheNiPenso

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If you want free, yes FREE oysters and a funky time to boot, stop in at El Rio, 3158 Mission St at Cesar Chavez St, Friday from 5-7 pm. El Rio draws a Mission hipster crowd later in the evening, but Friday happy hour is a nice opportunity to hang out in their back garden, have a few bivalves (raw or bbq - your pick) and sip a drink to some worldly tunes. Don't go expecting world-class selection of oysters (you get what you get), but I've never gotten sick from it anyway.

http://www.elriosf.com

Hedonia

Eating, drinking and living the good life in San Francisco

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  • 2 weeks later...
katzenjammy

katzenjammy

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OK, here's the abbreviated trip report:

El Rio in the Mission is in fact very funky, and makes a respectable margarita. However, unless you get there promptly at 5:00, you have no chance of eating an oyster--they are set upon immediately and when they're gone, they're gone (like, by 5:20, when I showed up). Oh well. The high point of my visit was watching a woman berate some guy who'd used the ladies room and left the toilet seat up. You go, sister! :laugh:

No one mentioned the Hyde Street Seafood House and Clam Bar, but I had a Restaurant.com dining certificate for the place, so we went. They have an excellent happy hour, with discounted beer and oysters $12/dozen. Really nice oysters, too -- Kumamotos, some P.E.I.s I forget the name of, and Hog Island the night we were there. Sure beat paying Hog Island's prices at the Ferry store.

Edited by katzenjammy (log)
"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." Mark Twain
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ludja

ludja

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OK, here's the abbreviated trip report:

El Rio in the Mission is in fact very funky, and makes a respectable margarita. However, unless you get there promptly at 5:00, you have no chance of eating an oyster--they are set upon immediately and when they're gone, they're gone (like, by 5:20, when I showed up). Oh well. The high point of my visit was watching a woman berate some guy who'd used the ladies room and left the toilet seat up. You go, sister! :laugh:

No one mentioned the Hyde Street Seafood House and Clam Bar, but I had a Restaurant.com dining certificate for the place, so we went. They have an excellent happy hour, with discounted beer and oysters $12/dozen. Really nice oysters, too -- Kumamotos, some P.E.I.s I forget the name of, and Hog Island the night we were there. Sure beat paying Hog Island's prices at the Ferry store.

Thanks for the report; especially the cool tip on Hyde Street Seafood House. I've never been but will check it out now. The oysters sound great and I'd like to check out the clams too.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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kiliki

kiliki

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Katzenjammy-if you are still looking for that kind of deal in Seattle go to Elliot's Oyster House on the waterfront. During happy hour their oysters are 50 cents from 3 to 4, then they go up something like a quarter an hour until happy hour ends at 6.

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sara

sara

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No one mentioned the Hyde Street Seafood House and Clam Bar, but I had a Restaurant.com dining certificate for the place, so we went. They have an excellent happy hour, with discounted beer and oysters $12/dozen. Really nice oysters, too -- Kumamotos, some P.E.I.s I forget the name of, and Hog Island the night we were there. Sure beat paying Hog Island's prices at the Ferry store.

The citysearch website says the happy hour is 5-7 pm daily; any idea if that includes weekends??

Food is a convenient way for ordinary people to experience extraordinary pleasure, to live it up a bit.

-- William Grimes

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