Sunny, Chic New Oyster Bar with Low-ABV Cocktails & Irresistible Seafood Opening Today: Little Shucker
San Francisco is blessed with iconic oyster bars, from the one, the only Swan Oyster Depot for over a century, to the Castro’s great Anchor Oyster Bar since the 1970s. As the city that gave birth to the likes of cioppino and Crab Louie salad, these oyster houses are decidedly West Coast, often showcasing our glorious local oysters and dungeness crab. But we don’t have one like brand new Little Shucker, opening today August 9, 2023, on bustling Fillmore Street.
In my extensive research at over 13,000 restaurants globally, I find Charleston (CHS) arguably the U.S. strongest oyster bar city for chic, cute, modern oyster bars that often have quality cocktails. I was just back in CHS, returning to key examples of such oyster bars: 167 Raw, The Ordinary, The Darling Oyster Bar. SF’s chicest is the utterly romantic Leo’s Oyster Bar, while newcomers like Popi’s Oysterette fit the bill, but are more casual.
Blessedly open all day, 11am to 10pm, Wednesday through Sunday, Little Shucker does what you’d expect: serve oysters and seafood dishes. But it offers so much more, from gorgeous low-ABV cocktails to open air indoor seating leading to sidewalk tables to take in the passing foot traffic.
The high quality of food, drink and service is not surprising once you know the team behind neighboring The Snug opened this spot, which was one of my top new bars at Time Out the year it opened. Owners/managing partners are Shane Matthews, Liv Ringo Zack Schwab and Jacob Racusin, with a standout team from beverage director of both the Snug and Little Shucker, John Fragola, to industry vet Maxwell Salvati, the former bar manager at Cole Valley Tavern.
Walking into Little Shucker on a sunny weeknight during soft opening, it’s the design that immediately impresses me and my partner Dan (“The Renaissance Man”). The space is like a breath of fresh air, a burst of sunshine — and doesn’t look like anywhere else. Overseen by Jim Maxwell of Architects II, Ringo is behind the design, while Racusin built everything wood, from custom tables to banquettes. A terracotta exterior leads to cream and blue-gray tiles with peach accents inside, while open air windows allow for the place to open up to the bustling sidewalk on nice days.
Once you settle into this sunny breeziness, it’s time to order. And Fragola’s tight drink list is the right place to start. It’s all low-proof, from a thoughtful wine list that offers only one red wine (I love the white, rosé, sparkling focus!) — a lovely Austrian Zweigelt, at that — to a couple local beers on draft (initially, it was Moonlight Brewing Pilsner and Ghost Town Brewing IPA). But you’d be remiss to pass over any of the four low-proof cocktails, garnished with gorgeous flowers. The Vermouth Hi-Ball is my initial favorite, a bracing mix of Cardamaro Vino Amaro, Yzaguirre Vermouth Rojo Reserva (red Spanish vermut), Okinawan umeshu (plum) liqueur and a touch of barley tea. It has depth, bitter heft and complexity, but it’s also crushable.
However, prettiest drinks that are also crushable are the Pink Spritz (Liquore delle Sirene Aperitivo Americano Rosso, Cappelletti vermouth, rosé vermouth and champagne acid (there’s also an NA version: “all of the fun, none of the booze”) or the softly purple Lavender Yuzu (Cap Corse blanc quina, manzanilla sherry, pineapple and a generous dose of lavender bitters). It’s refreshingly dry, aromatic and happily lavender-forward without being soapy or overdone. But we also found it tough to avoid the wines, whether one of my Sicilian faves, Girolamo Russo Etna Rosato, a crisp, fun Avinyó Petillant Blanc from Penedés, Spain, or a lean, mineral Barta Furmint from Tokaji, Hungary.
It’s clear this is an ideal place for a drink, but all that backs executive chef/co-owner Adrian Garcia’s beautiful, seasonal dishes. Of course, there are a wealth of oysters. Raw oysters — from local Tomales Bay to Maine — parallel three kinds of baked oysters: classic oysters Rockefeller, garlic butter or miso bone marrow. Going decadent, there’s also a striking, $98 Big Shucker seafood tower, and Tsar Nicoulai caviar service for a reasonable $88.
These are all meant for Lambrusco or other sparkling wine, but it’s just the beginning. Chips & Dip is a winning drink snack as the fluffy sour cream dip feels deceptively light, accented with chives and fried shallots, scooped up with blissfully onion-y Maui onion chips. Add caviar for $25 and it’s perfection. So is silky local halibut (kampachi) crudo dotted with avocado mousse, gooseberries and pickled white daikon radishes. Oh, and scooping up the crudo with the onion chips is also a good time.
Smoked salmon tartine is not yet just another salmon toast. I mean, it is, but is different than the usual on airy-crispy milk bread, layered with dill cream cheese and caramelized capers they dub “jam.” The briny capers are robustly sweet, contrasting satiny salmon and lush cream cheese. An amped up Caesar or smoked trout salad fill out small-to-medium plates.
Your toughest decision of the meal may be whether to go hot or cold with their buttery lobster roll on pitch-perfect brioche. Cold shows off the celery crunch, while the hot just dissolves in the mouth, from bread to crustacean. Maybe the tougher call is whether to make the lobster roll or a whole roasted branzino your entree choice. Better to come with friends so you can do both and share the flaky branzino fish, drizzled in an herbed pistou sauce heavy with parsley, given umami notes from anchovies. The fish is partnered with creamy feta, cooked cherry tomatoes and marble potatoes for the heftiest dish on a menu that runs light and effortless.
Per usual, I had no room for dessert but am thankful I didn’t miss the Greek yogurt tart, which tasted dreamy with espresso for breakfast the next morning as I took more than half of it home. A layer of strawberry jam on top plays off the joyous sour of yogurt, the tart’s flaky crust and filling contrasted by summer stone fruit diced on top.
In a city with some brilliant and legendary oyster houses, Little Shucker brings something special, stylish, high quality and consummate. From wine and low ABV cocktails to a wealth of seafood, each menu is worth going in for. But the sweet news is we can go for all of it, all day long. Welcome, Little Shucker.
// 2016 Fillmore Street, www.littleshucker.com