Congrats to Meritage on its first Oysterfest

[SarahInMinneapolis]

Lovely day yesterday at Meritage's first Oysterfest. The really good: The friendly, chatty shuckers talking about their wares; the as-always great take on cocktail sauce by Meritage; oyster "school" taught by real oystermen. The good: As many oysters as a girl could eat, all beautifully laid out on ice (a feast for oyster lovers' eyes and stomach). The bad: The wooden nickel payment system (understand the need to keep money separate from servers, but this system didn't work); in particular, the fact that each "nickel" cost $2.89. The only real bad: The extremely loud PA system and the high-pitched screams of the oyster shucker judge.

But all in all, a super event. Definitely looking forward to next year!

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Meritage
410 Saint Peter St, Saint Paul, MN 55102

[galewskj]

I didn't go. I thought about it but it sold out before I decided. So just to clarify, it was as many oysters as you can eat, for $2.89 each, correct?

[SarahInMinneapolis]

We did the $100 VIP passes and ate all the oysters we wanted. Other food items and drinks were sold via the nickels. I mentioned the $2.89 per wooden nickel because a small basket of fries was two nickels. Fried clams were three nickels. Delicious but almost nine bucks for six fried clams?

[AnneInMpls]

$100? Oof! To get your money's worth, you'd have to eat more than 35 oysters. How did you do?

[LauraB]

In the initial press about the event, it said that the regular $25 tickets included a dozen oysters + the special beer so that seems decently reasonable...

[galewskj]

Yes, that does sound good. I'll have to look for this next year if they do it. It sounds like fun.

I could definitely eat 35 oysters, but not sure I'd want to! I think I'd be ready for a steak or something after about 20.

[SarahInMinneapolis]

Suffice it to say...I definitely got my money's worth. No need to further define my oyster gluttony!

[chazmo]

We had a great time as well. Agree about the wooden nickels. Don't like any event where you have to buy tickets or tokens for everything. We left be fore the shucking contest. Who won?

[tfay]

I second that Congratulations to Meritage and their teams. The event was fabulous and it was really a treat to be a part of the "first ever" oysterfest. The oyster farmers were delightful and very informative. The Hama Hama oysters were my favorite and we also learned they're a very small oyster farm. Did you know the Penn Cove guys harvest 2mm pounds of mussels a year! I loved the limited selection of drink pairings to compliment the oysters. I stuck with the Farm Girl - the Oyster beer was too thick for me and the IPA too bitter. Another in our party loved the Whiskey Punch - interesting combination of flavors. I agree on the wooden nickel system - plus, the 2 times we went to purchase, the line was looonnnngggg! Gary Corlin's artwork created for the Oyster Fest was spectacular and it was fun to have him there to sign his prints and share his story behind the visual. We loved it and will be back next year!!

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Meritage
410 Saint Peter St, Saint Paul, MN 55102