Hog Island Oyster Co. (Ferry Building)

Hog Island Oyster Co.'s Ferry Building location, at 1 Ferry Building, Shop 11, on San Francisco's Embarcadero, is the city restaurant of the oyster farm based on Tomales Bay in Marin County, California. The cuisine is oysters and seafood, built around the farm's own shellfish, with no tasting-menu format or Michelin context; the appeal is traceability and freshness. The signature order is a platter of Tomales Bay oysters on the half shell, served with mignonette and lemon, and the menu also includes clam chowder, a grilled cheese sandwich that has become one of the restaurant's emblematic dishes, and other seafood plates. Oysters can also be ordered grilled or baked. The restaurant has a bar with seats facing the bay, a main dining room and outdoor space, and the atmosphere is lively and loud, with a crowd of locals, office workers and Ferry Building shoppers; the dress code is casual. Wine, beer and cocktails are served, with white wines, sparkling wine and crisp beers matched to the oysters. Reservations are accepted on the restaurant's website, hogislandoysters.com, and bar seating is walk-in, so visitors without a booking can still be seated at off-peak hours. Hours run daily from about 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Typical spending is about $35 to $65 per person, depending on how many oysters are ordered. Happy-hour pricing on oysters is a common draw, and weekday late afternoons are busy with commuters. The location puts the restaurant within the Ferry Building Marketplace, so visitors can combine a meal with the farmers' market on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, a stroll along the Embarcadero and ferries to Marin or the East Bay, in San Francisco, California. Seats facing the bay are the best in the house.