Best Oyster Bars in the East Village, NYC

An oyster bar is a category, not a coupon. The other piece on this site is about the price: where to get $1 oysters in NYC, and the all-day dollar oysters at FKA:. This one is about the room. Who is shucking, how long you can stay, and whether you sat down for oysters or stumbled into a deal on the way to a cocktail.

Downtown still has both. A few rooms are oyster bars in the old sense. A few are wine bars or cocktail bars with a serious raw bar attached. One landmark uptown still defines the word for anyone who learned it from a movie. Here is the 2026 map, priced from the menus and writeups we could check, with the clocks labeled as clocks.

Quick reference: oyster bars downtown

FKA: is the all-night raw bar at a standing menu price. Upstate is the dedicated oyster bar. Penny is the counter you plan. Ama, The Ten Bells, and The Wayland are happy-hour rooms. Grand Central is the pilgrimage, and it is not downtown.

Room	Neighborhood	Oysters	Clock
FKA: Formerly Known As	East Village	West Robbins, $1; seasonal East Coast, $2.50	4 p.m. to 4 a.m., every day
Upstate	East Village	Market list; happy hour widely reported at six plus a beer	5 to 7 p.m. deal; dinner until about 10 or 10:30
Penny	East Village	On the ice box, from $45 for two	Walk-in counter; plan for a wait
Ama Raw Bar	East Village	Early happy hour; price listed differently by roundup	Dinner service into the evening
The Ten Bells	Lower East Side	$1 in Time Out, October 2026; some roundups say $1.50	Until 7 p.m., longer on weekends
The Wayland	East Village	East Coast, listed at $1	Afternoon window; confirm it
Grand Central Oyster Bar	Midtown	Bluepoints listed at $1.25	Weekday happy hour

1. FKA: Formerly Known As

Best for: Oysters that are still there at midnight

The raw bar at FKA: sits at the bar. You can watch the shuck. West Robbins oysters, from Southampton, New York, are $1 each, ordered by the half dozen, with malted mignonette, Aji Amarillo cocktail sauce, and Crystal hot sauce. A seasonal East Coast selection is $2.50 each. Twelve West Robbins and six dumplings from the shop on Mosco Street are $19.

There is no happy-hour cutoff. The kitchen runs 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. every day, and the raw bar runs with it. That is the difference between a deal and a menu. The Infatuation wrote that the daily dollar oysters were not the only good price in the room, and that it was worth seeing a new East Village spot commit to them. Eater’s July 2026 openings note put the same $1 oysters next to burgers and Frito pies.

FKA: is a neighborhood bar with a raw bar, not a marble counter that only speaks bivalve. You can move from a dozen to a cocktail, or to the Fisherman’s Martini: $28, oyster-shell-infused Lustau Vermut, poured ice-cold from the freezer. It is the reason FKA: tops our list of the best martinis in NYC. If the only question is “where is the dollar one,” the dollar-oyster page is the short version. If the question is where to sit for them on a Wednesday or after a show, it is 221 2nd Avenue.

• Address: 221 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003
• Must-order: A dozen West Robbins
• Hours: 4 p.m. to 4 a.m., every day

2. Upstate Craft Beer & Oyster Bar

Best for: A room that is only here for the oysters

Upstate, 95 First Avenue at 6th Street, is the East Village answer to “oyster bar” said with a straight face. Craft beer, a market seafood list, no scene attached. The site’s hours block says Sunday through Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 10:30 p.m., happy hour 5 to 7 p.m. every day. Another block on the same page lists later closes. If you are cutting it close, call.

The happy hour price is not on that page. Guest reports through this year still put it at six oysters and a beer for $12. Treat that as the current word until the bar says otherwise. The kitchen side of the menu, posted on the site, runs from crispy squid and crab cakes in the mid-teens to cioppino and fish specials in the low twenties. You came for the shellfish. The rest is there if the dozen was not enough.

It is small, and it fills. Five o’clock is the move. Ten o’clock is not, if what you wanted was the deal.

• Address: 95 First Avenue, New York, NY 10003
• Must-order: Happy hour oysters at 5, fish if you stay
• Phone: 646-791-5400

3. Penny

Best for: A seafood counter, not a discount

Penny at 90 East 10th Street is upstairs from Claud, about 30 seats, mostly walk-ins, with a few reservations two weeks out at 9 a.m. Eater described a basic ice box at $45 for two: oysters, clams, shrimp, mussels, bass tartare. The confit oysters, cooked and served with chicken fat, Club crackers, and crème fraîche, are the order that is not a raw bar at all.

This is the splurge on an East Village oyster crawl. The price is the opposite of a dollar menu, and the room is still a counter you can walk into. Go when the point is the fish, not the arithmetic.

• Address: 90 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10003
• Must-order: The ice box for two, or the confit oysters
• Reservations: Mostly walk-in

4. Ama Raw Bar

Best for: An early Avenue B sitting

Ama at 190 Avenue B is a narrow raw bar, cocktails, and a happy hour people are still recommending to each other by text. A post on X on October 16, 2026 pointed a friend there for dollar oysters at happy hour. Published roundups split between $1 and $1.25, and between a one-hour window and a longer one. Some mention a per-person cap. The East Village site lists the room’s hours (Monday through Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday 5 to 11, Saturday 4 to 11, Sunday 4 to 10) and does not print the shell price.

Use Ama for the room and the early hour. Confirm the oysters when you order. If you need a price that will still be true at 1 a.m., this is not that room.

• Address: 190 Avenue B, New York, NY 10009
• Must-order: Oysters first, then one of the small plates
• Phone: 212-845-9896

5. The Ten Bells

Best for: Oysters tied to a glass of wine

The Ten Bells at 247 Broome Street is a Lower East Side wine bar that has served a cheap oyster for years. Time Out’s October 2026 bar guide lists $1 oysters and $8 glasses of wine, Monday through Friday 5 to 7 p.m. and weekends 3 to 7 p.m. Other 2026 roundups still say $1.50. Believe the chalkboard over the article.

The room is dim, tight, and better for a glass than for a banquet. Hours in that same Time Out piece run Monday through Wednesday 5 p.m. to midnight, Thursday and Friday to 1 a.m., Saturday from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m., and Sunday 3 to 11 p.m. The oyster math ends before the wine does. For more rooms in this family, see natural wine bars in the East Village and on the Lower East Side.

• Address: 247 Broome Street, New York, NY 10002
• Must-order: Oysters before 7, then a glass

6. The Wayland

Best for: A cocktail bar that happens to shuck

The Wayland at 700 East 9th Street is on the date-night map for a reason, and it shows up on oyster roundups for another. Listings in 2026 have put East Coast oysters at $1 in the late afternoon. The window is not stable enough to print as a promise. Confirm it the day you go. Stay for a cocktail if the ice is gone. The oysters are the excuse to arrive early. The drinks are why the address sticks.

• Address: 700 East 9th Street, New York, NY 10009
• Must-order: Oysters if the window is on, then a cocktail

7. Grand Central Oyster Bar

Best for: The room that named the category

Grand Central Oyster Bar, under the terminal at 89 East 42nd Street, is the historic answer, and it is not a downtown bar. Bluepoints have been listed at $1.25 at the weekday happy hour rather than a dollar. The Guastavino tile is the reason to go. If you are already in Midtown, sit down. If you are starting on 2nd Avenue, you do not need the train.

What to look for in an oyster bar

Freshness is turnover and ice, not a high printed price. A good oyster is cold, sitting in its liquor, and briny. A dry one is a bad oyster at $1 or at $4. Small is normal on a value list. You are supposed to order a dozen.

The second question, after “where,” is “until when.” Happy hours downtown cluster between 4 and 7 p.m. A room that shucks until 4 a.m. is a different plan: after a show, after dinner somewhere else, or instead of cooking. That is the late-night kitchen argument, applied to the raw bar.

Ask the variety. “Oysters” is not a flavor. West Robbins are a Southampton oyster at a dollar. A seasonal East Coast at $2.50 is the other bin. A market list, like Upstate’s, changes with the delivery. None of those facts require a tasting-menu vocabulary. They require the menu.

The dollar version of this crawl, with the clocks compared, is the $1 oysters guide. The sitting version starts here: 221 2nd Avenue, half dozens until 4 a.m.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best oyster bar in the East Village?

For oysters you can order from open to close, FKA: Formerly Known As at 221 2nd Avenue. West Robbins from Southampton are $1 each until 4 a.m. A seasonal East Coast oyster is $2.50. Upstate, at 95 First Avenue, is the small dedicated oyster bar, with a daily 5 to 7 p.m. happy hour.

Where can I get oysters downtown after midnight?

FKA:'s raw bar stays open until 4 a.m. every night. Upstate closes by about 10 or 10:30. Ama closes by 10 or 11. The Ten Bells runs later as a wine bar; the oyster deal is the early window, not last call.

Are FKA: oysters only $1 at happy hour?

No. West Robbins are $1 each the entire time the kitchen is open, 4 p.m. to 4 a.m., seven days. A seasonal East Coast oyster is $2.50. Most other dollar deals downtown are a clock.

What is the difference between an oyster bar and a bar with a dollar-oyster deal?

An oyster bar is built around the shellfish: a list, a shucker, a reason to sit down for them. A happy-hour deal is a price on a clock. FKA: is a raw bar inside a neighborhood bar, and the dollar price is the menu, not a promotion. The citywide price guide is separate.

How many oysters should I order?

At FKA:, order by the half dozen. Six West Robbins are $6 and a dozen is $12. A dozen West Robbins plus six dumplings from Mosco Street is $19. Dollar and happy-hour oysters are the smaller ones. That is the format. Order a dozen.