An oyster bar needs a cold display with an ice bed and a drain, an ice machine big enough for both the display and the drinks, a shucking station with a prep sink and a hand sink close by, cold storage for shellstock in its tagged containers, and the bar itself. The paperwork matters as much as the steel: shellfish tags have to be kept for 90 days, and raw oysters need a consumer advisory on the menu.
Shop the equipment in this article: fish display cases, ice machines, hand sinks and commercial beer coolers. Freight is included on every order.
The raw bar display
Guests at an oyster bar expect to see the shellfish on ice. A refrigerated fish case with a built-in ice bed keeps product cold from below and from the air around it. The Coldline SDC48-F is 48 in. wide with an ice bin and drain, a 6.5 sq. ft. display area and a 32 to 40 F range; the SDC72-F gives you 72 in. of display, and the LDC48-F has a flat straight glass front and a glass middle shelf. All three need a floor drain or drain line for melt water, so plan the plumbing before you set the counter.
Ice: two supplies, not one
Ice that has been used to chill the outside of food such as fish or shellfish, or packaged drinks, cannot then be used as food (Food Code 3-303.11). In an oyster bar that means the ice under the oysters and the ice in the cocktails must be kept apart. A simple way to keep them apart is to give drink ice its own bin, such as our FSIB-1836 ice chest with a 34 x 15 x 15 in. insulated bowl and sliding lid, from our underbar ice bins.
Size the ice machine for both uses together. An undercounter unit such as the Westlake SK-289S makes up to 280 lb a day with an 80 lb built-in bin; a modular head such as the SK-729P makes up to 700 lb a day and pairs with a separate Westlake bin. A display ice bed is topped up through the whole service, so it is common practice to size the machine up rather than down.
The shucking station
- A stainless work surface at a comfortable height, with room for trays, shells and towels
- A prep sink for rinsing shellstock, such as a one compartment sink with an 18 x 18 x 12 in. bowl and drainboard
- A hand sink within easy reach of the shuckers; our underbar hand sink with faucet comes in six sizes from 18 x 12 to 22 x 18 in.
- Shell waste containers that can be emptied often
- Shucking knives and cut resistant gloves
Cold storage and the shellfish tags
Shellstock must come from sources on the FDA Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List (Food Code 3-201.15), in containers tagged with the dealer, harvest date and harvest area (Food Code 3-202.18). The tag stays on the container until it is empty. You record the date the last oyster from that container was sold or served, then keep the tags in date order for 90 days, and you may not mix oysters from different tagged containers before they are ordered (Food Code 3-203.12).
That rule shapes your cold storage: you need shelf space for each tagged container on its own, at 41 F or below (Food Code 3-501.16). A walk-in or a two door reach-in with green epoxy wire shelving suits most oyster bars.
The menu advisory
Raw oysters are a raw animal food, so the menu needs a disclosure, such as “oysters on the half shell (raw oysters)”, and a reminder that consuming raw or undercooked shellfish may increase the risk of foodborne illness (Food Code 3-603.11). Your local health department has the final say on the exact wording and on everything else in this list.
The bar side
An oyster bar is a bar too. Plan bar sinks, the drink ice bin and back bar refrigeration together. Our bar refrigeration includes back bar coolers with two or three solid or glass doors, horizontal bottle coolers and direct draw beer dispensers for kegs.
What to buy
- Refrigerated fish display cases with an ice bin and drain
- An ice machine sized for display ice and drink ice together
- A separate ice bin for drinks
- A one compartment prep sink and hand sinks at the shucking station
- Cold storage with wire shelving for tagged containers
- Back bar coolers for beer and wine
Express KitchQuip stainless sinks, ice bins and wire shelving are NSF certified, and freight to the 48 contiguous states is included in the price.