Where to Order Oysters | Growers and Distributors

Buy Oysters

Order oysters online from the world’s best regions, ship them to your door, shuck, slurp, repeat.

Most of the following oyster farmers ship their own oysters directly to consumers, meaning unparalleled freshness. Some harvest the oysters the same day they ship.

American Mussel Harvesters

North Kingston, RI; 401-294-8999
Excellent source for their own Quonset Point oysters and mussels, as well as clams and Pacific oysters.

This online market specializes in sustainable seafood, shipped directly from the fishermen/farmers. Everything they carry is approved by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. With ten different oysters available, and a savvy website, they are the amazon.com of oyster sellers. Kumamoto, Kusshi, Shigoku, Bluepoint, Naked Cowboy, Sewansecott, Lone Point, and (drumroll please)…wild Belon!

Cotuit Oyster Company

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

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.

Forbidden Oysters
York River, VA; 757-879-1504
Nicely balanced Chesapeake oysters from the historic spot where the York River meets the bay.

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.

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. Three dozen oysters for $84 (shipping included) or a sack of 100 for $150.

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.

Kumamotos

I call the Kumamoto “the Chardonnay of oysters” because it’s sweet, fruity, nonintimidating, and everybody likes it. With its deep cup, pillowy flesh, and watermelon-rind aroma, many consider it the perfect oyster, and people are always asking me where they can order them. Your best bets are I Love Blue Sea and Taylor Shellfish.

Kusshi

Tumbled, polished little bonsai jewels from Deep Bay, British Columbia.

Morro Bay

Morro Bay, CA; 925-980-3008
Pacific oysters from California’s middle coast. $1 a piece, plus shipping.

Ned’s Islands

Darien, CT; 203-309-2590
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.

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