Easy Bistro's raw bar features fresh, farm-raised oysters from three regions, sourced daily based on what's at peak quality. Chef Erik Niel personally selects from each coast for distinct flavor profiles guests can taste side by side.
Gulf Coast oysters lean softer in texture, milder in salinity, and more buttery — close to Erik's Louisiana roots. Apalachicola, Beausoleil-adjacent varieties, and Murder Point oysters appear when the harvest allows.
East Coast oysters are firmer with sharper brine and a crisp mineral finish. Wellfleets, Beausoleils, Wianno, and Naked Cowboys rotate through the case depending on the season and the farmer relationships.
West Coast oysters — Kumamotos, Pacific Golds, and Hama Hamas — read smaller, sweeter, and almost cucumber-like. They're the choice when guests want something delicate and brackish.
Selection changes daily. The full list is on the chalkboard above the raw bar and on every printed menu the kitchen rolls out at service.
It's the most direct way to taste through the daily selection at the lowest price point we offer. Guests often build a flight across the three coasts side by side during Happy Hour — a Gulf, an East, a West — to taste the regional differences in one sitting.
The hearth alongside the raw bar handles wood-fired preparations — hearth-roasted oysters with cured pork and herbs, whole roasted fish, and grilled octopus. The wood-burning oven adds smoke and char that pairs naturally with oyster service, and dishes from the hearth rotate alongside the raw bar list each day.
Our menus change with what's in season, what's coming off the boats, and what's at the peak of its window. The dinner menu, raw bar list, cocktail and wine programs are all updated regularly. The whiskey book runs more than 300 pours including private barrel selections personally curated by chef Erik Niel.
Chef Erik Niel grew up in Mandeville, Louisiana, about an hour from the Gulf, fishing and shucking with his family from a young age. That early relationship with shellfish is the foundation of Easy Bistro's raw bar — the standards for freshness, the regional sourcing instincts, the insistence on tasting through coasts side by side rather than settling on one variety. Erik is a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast, and Easy Bistro is recognized in the inaugural 2025 MICHELIN Guide American South.
For weekend nights and holidays, we recommend reserving in advance through Resy. The raw bar seats are first-come, first-served at the bar itself — drop in to taste the day's selection or stay for a full dinner.