A raw bar is a small restaurant or a bar within a restaurant where live raw shellfish are shucked and served. These restaurants are traditionally popular in coastal resort areas, and increasingly with the advent of fast shipment of seafood, in major cities away from the coast.
Raw bars serve a selection of oysters and quahogs, and sometimes supplement the menu with cooked versions of the same seafoods such as clam chowder, oyster stew, and steamers. Condiments, such as cocktail sauce, may be available for consumers.
Though there is some similarity to a sushi bar, the two types of restaurant are considered different and are not generally mixed or confused. Sometimes raw liver is served as well.
Famous quotes containing the words raw and/or bar:
“We come altogether fresh and raw into the several stages of life, and often find ourselves without experience, despite our years.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“The bar ... is an exercise in solitude. Above all else, it must be quiet, dark, very comfortable—and, contrary to modern mores, no music of any kind, no matter how faint. In sum, there should be no more than a dozen tables, and a clientele that doesn’t like to talk.”
—Luis Buñuel (1900–1983)