Old Town’s Irish pubs and seafood spots are celebrating the bivalve this week. The 7th annual Old Town Oyster Week kicked off Saturday, Oct. 10, and runs through Saturday, Oct. 17, with oyster specials at participating restaurants and a lineup of evening events.
Pick up a passport
Diners can pick up an oyster passport at any participating location and collect a sticker at each stop. Every passport earns an entry in the Oyster Week raffle, and the more stickers you collect, the better. Winners will be drawn at a closing ceremony at Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub, 713 King St.
The oyster specials
Here’s what each participating restaurant is serving this week:
Daniel O’Connell’s: Guinness-fried oysters with a lemon beurre blanc.
Fish Market: Special to be announced.
Hank’s Oyster Bar: Fried oyster flatbread pizza.
Hank’s Pasta Bar: Oysters Rockefeller pasta.
Vola’s Dockside: “New Orleans BBQ” oysters with Worcestershire-Guinness butter, garlic, shallots, herbs and garlic breadcrumbs.
The Wharf: Three options: a half-dozen oysters on the half shell with lemon and cocktail sauce; three fried oyster deviled eggs with corn succotash and mustard; and a half-dozen crab-baked oysters with crab meat, cream and parmesan.
Murphy’s: Three Back Creek Beauties oysters baked with Jameson butter, breadcrumbs and parmesan.
Oyster Week events
Irish Music Trivia — Tuesday, Oct. 13, 7 to 10 p.m., Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub. Murphy’s hosts a themed trivia night built around Irish music.
Get Perfect Pint Certified — Wednesday, Oct. 14, 6 to 8 p.m., Cooper Mill, 10 Duke St. Test your pint-pouring skills and learn what goes into the perfect pour at the tavern inside one of Old Town’s historic waterfront spots.
Personalized Pints — Thursday, Oct. 15, 6 to 8 p.m., The Commodore, 220 N. Lee St. A ripple machine will print a personalized picture on top of your pint, and guests can submit suggestions for naming the pint.
Hank’s Oysterfest — Saturday, Oct. 17, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Hank’s Oyster Bar, 818 N. St. Asaph St. Hank’s closes out Oyster Week with its 17th annual Oysterfest. Tickets are $120 and must be purchased in advance through Tock. Past Oysterfests have featured all-you-can-eat oysters raw, barbecued and fried, plus all-you-can-drink beer and wine. The event is 21+.
For updates, visit oldtownoysterweek.com or follow @oldtownoysterweek on Instagram.
A Virginia comeback story on the half shell
If oysters seem to be everywhere lately, there’s a reason. Virginia’s oyster industry has staged one of the great comebacks in Chesapeake Bay history.
In the late 1950s, Virginia harvested more than 4 million bushels of oysters a year, according to Virginia Marine Resources Commission data. Disease, overharvesting and poor water quality took a devastating toll. By the 1995-96 season, the statewide harvest had collapsed to fewer than 18,000 bushels.
Restoration of public oyster reefs, rotational harvest management and the rise of oyster farming have since brought the industry roaring back. During the 2022-23 season, Virginia harvested about 700,000 bushels, the most in 35 years, according to the commission.
Today Virginia markets itself as the oyster capital of the East Coast. In 2015, the state launched the Virginia Oyster Trail, which now connects visitors to eight distinct oyster-growing regions, from the salty Seaside oysters of the Eastern Shore to the milder oysters of the Rappahannock and other Chesapeake tributaries. Like wine grapes, oysters take on the flavor of the water where they grow, which growers call “merroir.” The state celebrates Virginia Oyster Month every November.
Oyster facts for your next raw bar visit
They clean the water. A single adult oyster can filter more than 50 gallons of water a day, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. Oysters remove algae and excess nutrients as they feed, which makes them a key part of Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts.
The “R” rule is mostly retired. The old saying holds that you should only eat oysters in months with an “R” in their name, September through April. The rule dates from the days before refrigeration. It also reflects that wild oysters spawn in warm months and get thin and watery. Today, farm-raised oysters make good oysters available year-round, though fall and winter are still prime time.
October is the start of the season. Virginia’s public wild oyster harvest opens in many areas on Oct. 1, according to VMRC regulations, so Oyster Week lands right as the fall season gets underway.
Oct. 11, 2026
12:52 p.m.
Dining and Cooking