| Eat: An Oyster Bar | |
|---|---|
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 The restaurant's exterior, 2021 | |
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2008 |
| Owners |
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| Food type | |
| Location | 3808 North Williams Avenue, Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, 97227, United States |
| Coordinates | 45°33′01″N122°39′59″W / 45.5502°N 122.6664°W |
| Website | eatoysterbar |
Eat: An Oyster Bar is a Cajun and Louisiana Creole restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
Eat is a Cajun and Louisiana Creole restaurant on North Williams Avenue in the northeast Portland part of the Boise neighborhood. Chad Walsh of Eater Portland has described the oyster bar as a "Louisiana-inspired stalwart". [1] The website's Krista Garcia said the menu "nods to New Orleans, and is a bonanza for everything bivalve: baked oysters, fried oysters (a la carte or stuffed into po boys), oyster shooters, and of course, oysters on the half shell, served with classic grated horseradish and mignonette". [2] The menu has also included blackened catfish, fried okra, frog legs, and shrimp etouffée. [3] The restaurant has offered a $1 oyster happy hour, [4] [5] and supplies oysters to many other local restaurants. [6] [7] Eat offered 15 varieties of West Coast oysters, including Puget Sound-sourced Chelsea Gems and Hammersleys, as of 2018. [8]
Owners Tobias Hogan and Ethan Powell opened Eat, once considered a sibling to The Parish, [9] in 2008. [10] [11] Eat has hosted an annual Cajun gumbo cook-off. [12] [13]
Douglas Perry of The Oregonian gave the restaurant a 'B' rating in 2009. [14] Michael Russell included Eat in The Oregonian's 2016 list of Portland's 12 best oyster bars. He recommended, "Don't go expecting speedy service or flawless bivalves at this split-level Cajun/Creole restaurant. Do go on Tuesdays, when select oysters are $2 a pop." [15] Willamette Week included Eat in a 2016 list of "Where to Get the Best Happy Hour Oysters in Portland" and said the restaurant "has some of the freshest bivalves in town from mostly Oregon sources". [16] Staff writers also included the restaurant in a 2016 overview of "the best seafood spots" in the city. [17]
Thrillist included Eat in a 2018 list of "The 21 Best Oyster Bars in the Country". The website said, "There's no pomp and circumstance at this dirty south-influenced fixture of a fast-changing stretch of the hip Williams restaurant district, but you might notice some familiar faces eyeballing the oyster board: The place supplies farm-fresh bivalves to many of Portland's fancier joints. But those joints don't have tiny ½ pints of beer. Or frog legs. Or whatever the hell's smoking outside on the perpetually running smoker, which often wafts in to accompany live blues bands. Grab a set of shooters and a tiny beer and let the shuckers go to work." [18]
Eater Portland included Eat in a 2017 list of "18 Hidden Gem Restaurants in Portland". [19] Jenni Moore and Nathan Williams included the restaurant in the website's 2022 overview of "Where to Find Stellar Seafood in Portland". [3]
