Oysters / good seafood in SF

[bluesteel]

Hi! I'm going to be visiting SF for a night this weekend from LA. I was hoping to find a really good seafood restaurant for dinner. I'm not looking for something insanely expensive but definitely not really casual.

I used to live in boston and miss the oyster bars terribly. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

[Robert Lauriston]

Zuni or Hog Island for oysters. For seafood, Bar Crudo.

Swan closes at 5:30.

[SteveG]

Bar Crudo was going to be my rec--they do have plenty of oysters, and are much stronger on seafood generally than Zuni. I've had pretty boring pieces of fish at Zuni before, so now I stick to shellfish, veggies, and meats. The current list at bar crudo:
* Point Reyes, Marin
* Kumamoto, Washington
* Olympia, Washington
* Kusshi, British Colombia
* Beausoleil, New Brunswick
* Wellfeet, Massahusetts
http://www.barcrudo.com/menu.php

[bluesteel]

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions! Not sure which one I'll try yet but definitely one of them. Thanks!!

[vulber]

Strongly recommend Anchor Oyster Bar in the Castro. They even have oysters from Wellfleet - although I prefer the Kumamoto Oysters.

As a fellow Bostonian, I would not recommend the clam chowder however. It's not that it's bad, it's actually pretty decent, but not as thick as I like it.

I would recommend everything else, but be careful not to fill up on the delicious bread!

Also nearby is Woodhouse Fish Company - not so much a dedicated oyster bar as AOB, but they still do have oysters and they're specifically trying to recreate the New England seafood experience (such as having Maine lobster). Not quite as good as Anchor overall, but would still recommend.

And if we're talking oysters, Foreign Cinema should also be mentioned - very similar to Zuni in oyster selection (not surprising given the former's chefs used to work at the latter), with delicious (especially brunch) food.

[bbulkow]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/552455

[nocharge]

These are good places, but keep in mind that neither Swan nor Hog Island are really "definitely not really casual" dinner places. Both are very casual and close relatively early. Zuni is not a seafood restaurant (if that is important). However, it usually has an excellent selection of oysters and it's a great restaurant in general. For a seafood restaurant with a serious raw bar, my first choice would probably be Farallon.

[bbulkow]

I take the OP to be asking for two recs, one for "seafood not casual" and one for "oyster bar", thus my link. Zuni usually has a 1/2 page list of oyster types, Salt House has a list on a large slate by the bar. I like them both for oyster bars.

I could be wrong.

[nocharge]

You could be right. It wasn't completely clear whether it was one or two separate requests. As for the list of oyster places, again, they are great, but it may be worth pointing out that checking out their hours is a good idea.