Hog Island Oyster Company

DETAILS:

• Location: 20215 Shoreline Highway, Marshall, CA 94940

• Hours of Operation:

  • Retail (buy oysters to go): Daily - 9AM to 5PM

  • Picnic Area: Daily - 10AM to 5PM

    • Reservations required Friday thru Monday (you can choose between 2 windows; 10:30AM to 1:30PM & 2PM to 5PM).

    • Walk-ups welcome (based on availability) - Tuesday thru Thursday for picnic tables WITHOUT grills.

    • Picnic tables WITH grills require reservations throughout the week.

  • “The Boat” (oyster bar): Friday thru Monday - 11AM to 4:30PM (reservations required)

    • The Oyster bar serves raw and BBQ oysters, local breads, cheeses, and alcohol.

    • Reservations are for 90 minute increments.

    • No grills are available during “Boat” hours.

  • Tours: Monday thru Friday at 10AM & 1PM. Advanced reservations required, but they may accommodate drop-ins based on availability.

• Parking: Free street parking on site.

• Cost:

  • Oysters - market price (and typically come in 3 sizes; medium, small, & extra small)

  • Picnic fee - $5 added onto the total of your purchase. (This doesn’t apply to retail purchases)

  • Tours - $25

• Time Commitment:

  • 1-2 hours will give you plenty of time to enjoy your oyster experience.

  • 90 minutes if you book a reservation at “The Boat”.

  • 1 hour for tours.

• Miscellaneous:

  • Reservations can be made on their website (provided below under “resources”), or by email: farm@hogislandoysters.com, or by phone: (415) 663-9218

  • Oysters come unshucked, which is part of the experience! Shucking knives & gloves are provided upon request (not to keep).

  • Typical condiments like hot sauces, horse radish & lemons are complimentary.

  • Unless you are attending “The Boat”, oysters are the only food item available for purchase at Hog Island Oyster Company. It’s your responsibility to provide any additional food you might want during your oyster picnic.

  • You can purchase charcoal for the grill at Hog Island for $7

  • In addition to oysters, you can grill any other meat that you’ve brought with you.

  • Beer and wine allowed, but no hard alcohol.

  • Dogs welcome in picnic area, but not on tours.

  • There is absolutely no shade in the picnic area so remember hats, sunglasses and sunscreen.

If you have a hankering for oysters and feel like making a road trip to Northern California, you can taste some of the best in the world at Hog Island Oyster Company. Located in the bucolic town of Marshall along the shores of Tomales Bay (about 90 minutes above San Fransisco), the drive up is deserving of the trip alone. You’ll meander up Highway 1 along the northeast end of Point Reyes National Seashore, passing through country landscapes that seem to be pulled straight from a Thomas Cole painting. It’s a scenic journey for sure, but also a remote one that will test the limits of your cell service and gas tank, so prepare for both before your excursion. Thankfully, the shell-encrusted delights that await you will be ample reward for your efforts.

Hog Island Oyster Company actually has several locations (most notably out of the Ferry Building in San Fransisco) in addition to servicing restaurants throughout California and a handful more across the country, but their actual farm and production center occurs at the Marshall location. Founded in 1983 by John Finger and Terry Sawyer, the two used their background in marine biology to help revolutionize the oyster farming industry in order to yield oysters of the highest quality while leaving the smallest footprint possible to the environment. They do this by controlling every step of the process, what they refer to as the “Bay to Bar” philosophy. It begins with careful management of the seeding process at their hatchery further north in Humbolt Bay. Then they safeguard the oysters for 1-2 years as they grow in the nutrient-rich waters of Tomales Bay. Finally, each and every oyster is hand-inspected once they are harvested from the water. This last part is no small feat when you consider that Hog Island produces over 3 million oysters a year. It’s the perfect synergy of science and nature which has lead to Hog Island Oyster Company receiving the honor of being designated as a Certified B Corporation. Along with Patagonia and Bombas, Certified B Corporations are “businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy”.

But none of this would matter if the oysters weren’t worth their salt (water) and I’m happy to report that they are absolutely delicious! I also guarantee that unless you’re a seal or fishing boat captain, you’ll never have oysters this fresh since the ones you’ll slurp on at Hog Island were literally in the bay just hours before. Dining at the Marshall location is conducted on picnic tables that provide a wonderful view of Tomales Bay which lays just a handful of yards away. It’s a no-frills experience that allows the oyster to be the star of the show and that’s exactly how it should be. I’ve provided most of the info you’ll hopefully need in the “details” section above, but it’s important to emphasize that the picnic area is rather small. There are roughly a dozen tables (some equipped with grills in case you want to barbecue your oysters or anything else you choose to bring) so reservations are highly recommended and mandatory on weekends. It would be terrible if you made the trip all the way up, only to be turned away, so reserve in advance! On weekends, Hog Island does offer other food items for purchase, but otherwise it’s just you and your oysters. If you want anything else to accompany these bivalves, it’s on you to bring it. You could definitely tell who the experienced Hog Island picnickers were from newbs like us since they arrived with a full array of picnic sides and accoutrement. And please be aware that your oysters will come unshucked (gloves and shucking knives are provided upon request), so you might want to check out the video tutorial provided above in order to brush-up on your shucking skills beforehand. Better yet, take the tour if you’re able. Not only will you receive a shucking lesson as part of the deal (the video above is taken from the tour we took), but you’ll also get to see the facility up-close while learning about the entire process of how those oysters actually made it all the way into your hands. I promise that this is one experience that won’t have you saying “aw-shucks” in the end.

 

RESOURCES:

• Hog Island Oyster Company website.