| Oyster Bar | |
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1913 |
| Food type | Seafood |
| Dress code | Casual |
| Street address | Lower Level, Grand Central Terminal, 89 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 |
| Reservations | Yes |
| Other locations | Tokyo |
| Website | oysterbarny.com |
The Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant is a seafood restaurant located on the lower level of Grand Central Terminal at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. [1]
The restaurant space was first opened as the Grand Central Terminal Restaurant. Although Grand Central Terminal opened on February 2, 1913, its opening was celebrated one day prior, February 1, with a dinner at the restaurant, arranged for Warren and Wetmore along with 100 guests. [2]
The restaurant was operated by The Union News Company. [3] [4] It closed briefly for renovations following a 1997 fire. [5]
Jerome Brody sold the Oyster Bar to employees in 1999, and died in 2001. [6] Brody chose to sell to staff to preserve the union and employee satisfaction in his transition. As of 2017, all non-union, managerial staff are part of the Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP). The initial group of managers bought a near-majority of the company's stock with a loan between 1999 and 2001. They purchased the remainder between 2004 and 2008. [7]
In 2016, the Zagat Survey gave it a food rating of 22/30, "Very Good To Excellent". [1]
The Oyster Bar closed for a majority of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It briefly reopened for two weeks and closed again when its underground location failed to attract foot traffic. It then resumed its activities back to normal business from 2021 on. [8]
Its architecture features the vaulted, Guastavino tiled ceilings common in the era of its construction. The archway in front of the restaurant is also famous for an acoustical quirk making it a whispering gallery by which someone standing in one corner can hear someone standing in the opposite corner perfectly no matter how softly they speak. [9]
Two Japanese branches have opened in Tokyo. The first, the GCOBR Shinagawa, is located on the 4th floor of Atre Shinagawa in the Shinagawa Station. The second, GCOBR Marunouchi, is located in Marunouchi MY PLAZA near Tokyo Station. A small branch is located in Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport. [10]
A raw bar is a small restaurant or a bar within a restaurant where live shellfish are shucked and served. Raw bars typically offer a variety of raw and cooked seafood and shellfish that is served cold. Seafood-based dishes may also be offered, and additional, non-seafood foods may also be part of the fare. Raw bars may offer alcoholic beverages such as oyster shooters, as well as wine and sake that is paired with various foods. Additional accompaniments may include condiments, sauces and foods such as lemon and lime. Several restaurants in the United States offer raw bars, some of which are seasonal.
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar is a seafood restaurant in Portland, Oregon described by Fodor's as a "Portland landmark". As its name implies, it specializes in oysters — from Yaquina Bay and beyond — served raw and in an oyster stew the restaurant has been known for since 1919.
Lundy's Restaurant, also known as Lundy Brothers Restaurant, was an American seafood restaurant in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, along the bay of the same name. Lundy's was founded in 1926 by Irving Lundy as a restaurant on the waterfront of Sheepshead Bay; five years later, the original building was condemned to make way for a redevelopment of the bay. The present building opened in 1934 or 1935, and closed in 1979. Another restaurant operated in the Lundy's building from 1996 to early 2007, after which the building was converted into a shopping center.
Gage and Tollner is an American cuisine restaurant on 372–374 Fulton Street in the Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City. The restaurant is named for its initial proprietors, Charles Gage and Eugene Tollner. It is located on the lowest two stories of a converted four-story brownstone residence that was built in the mid-1870s. The restaurant building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its facade and interior are New York City designated landmarks. As of 2021, the restaurant is operated by St. John Frizell, Sohui Kim, and Ben Schneider.
Durgin-Park was a centuries-old restaurant at 340 Faneuil Hall Marketplace in downtown Boston. The Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau stated that it had been a "landmark since 1827", and it was a popular tourist destination within Quincy Market. The restaurant had entrances on both of its facades.
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The Tadich Grill is an American seafood restaurant located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1849, it is the oldest running restaurant in California. Based in the Financial District, the restaurant sits on 240 California Street. The dining experience features Croatian-style cooking techniques that include grilling seafood over mesquite- and charcoal-broilers for varying flavor profiles and uniform broiling.
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The Parish was a Cajun, Louisiana Creole, and seafood restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District, in the United States. It was opened by Tobias Hogan and Ethan Powell in 2012, and became known for its oysters. In 2015, the restaurant was split in half, and one side of the space began serving brunch, lunch, and happy hour as the Palmetto Cafe. The Palmetto was converted into a private event space and pop-up restaurant in February 2016, and The Parish closed abruptly in September of that year.
Swan Oyster Depot is a seafood eatery and cultural landmark located in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It opened there in 1903 and except for a brief hiatus and rebuilding period following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, it has been running continuously in the same venue since that time. This makes it one of the longest continuous businesses and dining establishments in the United States. Swan's menu has remained largely unchanged throughout its history, and it has had exactly the same 18 wooden stools and marble counter that were installed for the post-earthquake reopening in 1912.
The Fish Grotto Seafood Restaurant, or simply Fish Grotto, was a seafood restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1891 as Zack's Oyster House, the business also operated a neighboring bar called Sand Bar at Fish Grotto, or simply Sand Bar. The restaurant stopped operating in January 2014.
Le Pavillon is a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The restaurant is owned by the Dinex Group, a restaurant company led by chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud. Le Pavillon opened in May 2021 in One Vanderbilt, a skyscraper completed in 2020 in Midtown East.
ZZ's Clam Bar is a seafood restaurant in New York City. The restaurant, run by Major Food Group, is on the same street as their restaurant Carbone. ZZ's Clam Bar received a Michelin star in 2014, and retained the rating until 2022.
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Eat: An Oyster Bar is a Cajun and Louisiana Creole restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
Jack's Fish Spot is a fish market and seafood bar at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.
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