Aw, Shucks: Where to Eat Oysters in the Hudson Valley

Oysters are a strange little luxury: each comes in its own serving dish, tastes like the place it came from, and takes someone with a knife, some technique, and a strong wrist longer to open than it takes to slurp it down. National Oyster Day falls on August 5, which seems as good a reason as any to appreciate the effort.

Today, we don’t think of the Hudson Valley as oyster country, but up to a century ago, the New York Harbor held 220,000 acres of oyster reefs, with oysters growing as far north as the Tappan Zee before overharvesting, dredging, and pollution all but wiped them out. Restoration efforts are slowly bringing them back to the river, but in the meantime raw bars, weekly shucking nights, pop-ups, and dollar-oyster specials keep the mollusk on offer in the Hudson Valley. Some places dress them with caviar or Calabrian chile; others understand that a cold oyster, a lemon wedge, and a very dry martini are the pinnacle of luxury. Here are 24 places to eat oysters in the Hudson Valley for a hit of briney bliss.

Columbia and Greene Counties

Wm. Farmer & Sons, Hudson 

The coppery barroom at Wm. Farmer & Sons serves a rotating selection of East Coast oysters on the half shell. Oyster happy hour runs from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, while Tuesday sweetens the deal with $1 oysters and $10 martinis.

Piaule Catskill, Catskill

At Piaule Catskill, oysters arrive either raw or roasted, but the Oysters Kilpatrick are the real draw: baked with butter, prosciutto, Worcestershire, and Calabrian chile. If you’re feeling fancy, you can also dip into the small but mighty caviar menu while you’re there.

Red’s Restaurant, West Coxsackie

Since 1944, Red’s has been serving seafood in West Coxsackie, including raw oysters with peppadew mignonette and baked oysters with herb butter and bacon. On Thursdays, raw oysters are $1 each and bottles of Prosecco are $20.

Ulster County

The Oyster & Clam Bar at the Bruynswick Inn, Wallkill

Set among the farms at the base of the Shawangunks, the Oyster & Clam Bar rotates through varieties ranging from familiar Blue Points to harder-to-find oysters from both coasts. Order them raw, try one of several cooked preparations, or commit to Oysters and Bubbles, which pairs a dozen with a bottle of house Prosecco. Happy hour at the bar runs Thursday and Friday from 4 to 6 p.m.

The Ridge by Mill House, Highland

Oysters by the half-dozen or dozen share The Ridge’s full raw bar with clams, ceviche, and chilled lobster. Pair them with a Mill House beer and a seat overlooking the surrounding orchards.

Bowery Dugout, Kingston

Few places commit to old-school seafood-house pleasures quite like the Bowery Dugout, especially on its dedicated Thursday Raw Bar Night, when oysters and cocktail shrimp are $2 each, while clams cost $5 for a half-dozen or $9 for a dozen.

Oyster Party, Woodstock

After more than a decade shucking its way through breweries, farms, and markets across the Hudson Valley, Oyster Party opened a permanent Route 28 home in Woodstock in December 2025. The menu includes oysters, lobster rolls, and chowder Thursday through Monday, with $2 oysters every Monday from noon to 9 p.m.; the crew also continues its regional pop-ups and runs a semi-permanent Hudson outpost at the Cannonball Factory in Hudson Thursday through Sunday.

The Red Onion, Saugerties

Cold-water oysters from the Northeast and Canada rotate through The Red Onion, from Thatch Islands harvested in Cape Cod’s Barnstable Harbor to Chebooktooks from Bouctouche Bay, New Brunswick. They’re served simply on the half shell by the half-dozen or dozen.

Montauk Catch Club, Rosendale

Montauk Catch Club brings day-boat seafood from Montauk fishermen straight to its Route 32 clubhouse, where several oyster varieties rotate through the raw bar each week. They’re served on the half shell with a mignonette dotted with salmon roe, a small flourish that suits seafood this fresh. The market case also stocks oysters and other fresh seafood options to take home, if you’re willing to wield the shucking knife yourself.

Dutchess County

Stissing House, Pine Plains

At historic Stissing House, helmed by acclaimed chef Clare de Boer, oysters come plain or dressed, in keeping with the restaurant’s focused, unfussy approach to its live-fire menu. The presentation is simple enough to let the oyster do most of the talking, with the “dressed” option changing regularly.

Pretty to Think So, Rhinebeck

East and West Coast oysters can be ordered individually here, but the raw bar is at its most gleefully excessive with the Royal seafood tower. It piles a dozen oysters with littlenecks, shrimp, a whole lobster, and 30 grams of Pacific sturgeon caviar.

Le Petit Bistro, Rhinebeck

We believe oysters are best enjoyed at Le Petit Bistro’s serpentine lilac-marble bar, where the oyster of the day comes with classic mignonette and lemon. Raw-bar purists can stop there, but the bistro’s wildly popular fried version with tobiko aioli, cucumber, scallions, and flying fish roe makes a strong case for ordering both.

Lyonshare Public House, Beacon

A rotating selection of East Coast oysters has a starring role on Lyonshare’s American-bistro menu. Happy hour specials regularly drop them to $2 apiece, leaving a little more room in the budget for one of the bar’s excellent Negronis.

Carter’s Restaurant, Beacon

Carter’s gives shellfish lovers a standing midweek appointment with Wednesday Shellfish Night. Oysters, clams, and shrimp are all $2 each, so no one has to choose just one.

Isabela, Amenia

Isabela makes a persuasive case for clocking out early: oysters are $2 during happy hour, Wednesday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. Add a martini and some of the Amenia bistro’s crackly house sourdough, and suddenly Route 343 feels almost coastal.

Canoe Hill, Millbrook

At Canoe Hill, oysters share top billing with natural wine, which is exactly the kind of hierarchy we can support. They’re $1 off at the bar from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Monday, while they last.

Orange County

Blu Pointe, Newburgh

Blu Pointe understands that sometimes a few oysters at a table overlooking the Hudson are enough, but sometimes that table also needs a small monument to shellfish. Its towers climb from oysters, clams, and shrimp to a $225 showstopper loaded with lobster, crab, mussels, and tuna tartare.

Glenmere Mansion, Chester

Oysters appear on the lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch menus at Glenmere Mansion, so there’s rarely a wrong time to order them. A half-dozen arrives with Champagne mignonette and horseradish, an appropriately polished start to a meal at the Tuscan-style estate.

Sullivan County

Otto’s, Liberty

Fresh East Coast oysters arrive with mignonette and charred-tomato cocktail sauce at Otto’s, the newly revived restaurant inside the century-old Sullivan County Golf Club. They’re $2 during happy hour and $1 every Wednesday, while the Rockefeller version takes a richer turn with spinach, Gruyère, cream, and garlic breadcrumbs.

Kenoza Hall, Kenoza Lake

Kenoza Hall serves old-school Catskills glamour alongside oysters on the half shell and oysters Rockefeller baked with Dijon, bacon, Tabasco, and panko. A cocktail and a seat overlooking the lake complete the fantasy.

Putnam County

Char Steakhouse and Bar, Mahopac

Although Char is best known as a steakhouse, its raw bar gives oysters their proper attention. Order six on the half shell, or sample a little of everything with a trio of two oysters, two clams, and two jumbo shrimp.

Westchester Counties

Kee Oyster House, White Plains

North River Oyster Bar, Sleepy Hollow

Ruby’s Oyster Bar & Bistro, Rye

The double- and triple-tier seafood towers at Ruby’s pile as many as a dozen oysters alongside whole lobster, shrimp, clams, and tuna tartare. For a less towering order, oysters are also sold by the piece and best enjoyed from a perch at the handsome Parisian zinc bar.