Where to Order Oysters | Growers and Distributors

Order Oysters

Online ordering of the world’s best oysters, shipped to your door.

A few shellfish distributors ship oysters directly to consumers. Each carries about thirty different varieties of oysters at any one time. If you want to try lots of different kinds in one order, this is the way to go.

West Coast

Penn Cove Shellfish
(Shipped through Farm-2-Market)

i love blue sea
San Francisco market that specializes in sustainable seafood. Usually carries six varieties of oysters.

East Coast

K&B Seafood
Based in Long Island, K&B is most convenient for those in New York and New Jersey, and has a particularly fine selection of Long Island oysters.

American Mussel Harvesters
Based in Providence, AMH has an unparalled selection of oysters from New England and the Maritime provinces. They are also the best source for mussels and clams, as well as oyster knives and other tools of the trade.

JP’s Shellfish
JP’s, in Elliot, Maine, makes a specialty of superfresh oysters, raised by boutique growers, in Maine and the Maritime Provinces. They don’t normally ship to consumers, but if you don’t mind ordering by the 100 count, they’ll be happy to fill your order.

Sam Rust Seafood
A good choice for those in the Southeast, Sam Rust, located right on the Chesapeake in Hampton, Virginia, carries many of the top oysters, including Mystics, North Havens, Island Creeks, Watch Hills, and Hama Hamas, as well as several Southeast varieties difficult to find elsewhere. They require consumers to order oysters in boxes of 100.

Growers

The following oyster farmers all ship their own oysters directly to consumers, meaning unparalleled freshness. Some harvest the oysters the same day they ship. It’s best to order from someone fairly close to you so the oysters can be ground-shipped. Overnight delivery can easily top $100 going coast to coast.

Cotuit Oyster Company

Cotuit, MA; 508-428-6747
The oldest oyster company in the United States, selling Cotuit oysters from southern Cape Cod.

Cuttyhunk Shellfish Farms

Cuttyhunk, MA; 508-990-1317
Lantern-raised Cuttyhunk oysters (and beach-raised clams) from the Elizabeth Islands.

East Dennis Oyster Farm

Dennis, MA; 508-398-3123
Classic, briny oysters from the bicep of Cape Cod.

Fishers Island Oyster Farm

Fishers Island, NY; 631-788-7899
Always perfect virginicas from the clean waters of Fishers Island Sound.

Gay Island

Meduncook River, Maine
Ultra-briny oysters from the open waters of Cushing Harbor, Gay Islands have the most intensely Atlantic flavor of any Maine oyster.

Glidden Point Oyster Seafarm

Edgecomb, ME; 207-633-3599
Glidden Point oysters and Damariscotta Belons

Hama Hama Oyster Company

Lilliwaup, WA; 360-877-5811
Natural-set Hood Canal oysters in several sizes, as well as smoked oysters and pickled oysters from Hama Hama’s own recipe.

Hog Island Oyster Company

Marshall, CA; 415-663-9218
Hog Island Sweetwaters (Pacifics), Kumamotos, and Virginicas.

Island Creeks

Duxbury, MA; 781-934-2028
The reigning kings of east coast oysters (read about it here), Island Creeks have become the standard against which others are judged. Crisp, firm, and very briny.

Kachemak Bay

Homer, AK; 907-299-1932
These Alaska beauties, grown in floating lantern nets surrounded by glaciers and whales on the tip of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, having a bright, clean, briny taste of cucumber and nori. The shells are beautiful swirls of white, black, pink, and purple.

Moonstone Oysters

Wakefield, RI; 401-783-3360
Fine and flinty Moonstone oysters from Point Judith Pond. Briny and tannic, they are the Darjeeling of the sea.

Mystics

Mystic, CT
Like a spruce-lined snowscape, the green and white ridges of Mystic oysters scream winter in New England to me. Grown by Steve Plant in Fisher Island Sound, off the Connecticut coast, Mystics get almost round, cup up nicely, and produce strong shells. The salt is just right, and the sweetness lingers.

Ned’s Islands

Norwalk, CT; 203-852-1030
Classic Bluepoints from Long Island Sound.

Olympia Oyster Company

Shelton, WA; 877-427-3193
Olympia and Pacific oysters from southern Puget Sound.

Oregon Oyster Farms

Newport, OR; 541-265-5078
Yaquina Bay oysters.

Oysterville Sea Farms

Oysterville, WA; 1-800-CRANBERRY
Hand-picked Pacific oysters from Willapa Bay.

Rappahannock River Oyster Company

Tappahannock, VA; 804-204-1709
Four different Virginia oysters: Olde Salts, Stingrays, Rappahannock Rivers, and York Rivers.

Salt Pond Selects

Point Judith Pond, RI ; 401-741-5953
Oyster-lover’s oysters: Big, bountiful, and intensely flavorful. If you made a demi-glace with seawater, you’d approximate the concentrated tidepool brine of a Salt Ponds Select. The monstrous Salt Pond Supremes are more like a tidal wave of an oyster: Incredibly meaty and mouth-watering on the grill.

Taylor Shellfish Farms

Shelton, WA; 360-426-6178
One of the largest growers in Washington State, with farms throughout the region. Taylor sells all five species of oyster, including several sizes of Pacifics, plus smoked oysters, fresh clams, geoducks, and more. They are one of the only growers of Olympias, and the exclusive grower of Totten Inlet Virginicas, believed by many to be the most delicious oyster in the world. Their latest wizardry is the Shigoku oyster.

The Oyster Guide

by Rowan Jacobsen