Dan & Louis Oyster Bar

Warm milk, melted butter, and lots of briny-sweet oysters: This is Dan & Louis’ oyster stew, one of the stellar specialties of the Northwest. According to the menu, it was invented by Louis Wachsmuth long ago on a cold, winter day. Its oysters are modest-size Yaquinas from the restaurant’s own beds. On the half shell, they are gentle-tempered; in stew, their oceanic aplomb creates a fabulous non-cloying richness that makes this infinitely edible. While it is possible to get the stew with a double dose of oysters, we prefer having a half-dozen or a dozen on the half shell, then having the stew with its normal number.

Beyond oysters — in stew, fried, or on the half shell — Dan & Louis sells Dungeness crab, Shrimp Louis, halibut fish & chips, even a hamburger for diehard meat-eaters who accidentally find themselves in this thoroughly nautical eat-place.